Wilson murder trial set despite questions

The murder of Brittany Willis three years ago galvanized Wilson. Just days after her high school graduation, the popular honor student was carjacked from a local shopping mall, raped and shot to death.

Today, a trial is to begin for a man accused of joining in Willis' murder, but his defenders say the attempt at justice may only add a second victim -- an innocent man wrongly convicted.

The case of James Arthur Johnson, who has been in jail for more than three years awaiting trial, is the latest in North Carolina to be held up by some lawyers and advocates as an example of police and prosecutors pressing on despite a lack of physical evidence.

In the Willis case, one man, Kenneth Meeks, confessed to the crimes and is serving a life sentence. Meeks originally told police Johnson was his accomplice. He has since recanted and said he acted alone.

Meeks' DNA was linked to the crime. There is no physical evidence implicating Johnson.

Until this year, prosecutors relied on only one witness to connect Johnson to the crime. That person, Charlene Gray Godvey, died four months after she told Wilson police that she had seen two black males walking with Willis near the shopping mall. Nearly three years later, two new witnesses have come forward. They, too, say they saw Johnson with Willis and Meeks. They have explanations for why they only recently came forward.

Johnson's supporters -- family members, community leaders, NAACP officials, lawyers and others -- are suspicious of the new witnesses, their timing and their ties to police.

"There was a meltdown in the first investigation," said Al McSurely, attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"Now, every person they're getting has some connection with the city or law enforcement officers."

Willis' parents declined to comment, as did police investigators and assistant district attorney William Wolfe, who is prosecuting the case.

Johnson's lawyers would not discuss details of the case.

Today, Johnson, 21, goes on trial on a charge that could put him in prison for the rest of his life.

Johnson's family, members of the NAACP and community supporters say he should not have been arrested, should not have been jailed and should never have to stand trial. They've taken their case to the State Bar, to the governor and to the prosecutor. But today, Johnson's lawyers will have to begin taking it to a jury.

Transcripts of court hearings and investigators' notes describe accounts of events that led to Willis' murder.

On the day of the murder, Meeks and Johnson had planned to meet at the Brentwood mall in Wilson, but Johnson canceled because it was raining and he did not want to go out, he told police.

The two young men hadn't known each other long, Johnson's father said, and they were unlikely companions. Johnson was a standout high school soccer player who planned to attend Louisburg College. Meeks, now 20, was a dropout, and students say he was a troublemaker.

Meeks said in a court hearing last year that he walked alone in the rain to the mall, where he spotted Willis approaching her Lexus SUV. He said he pulled a gun and forced her to let him into her vehicle.

The next day, Willis' body was found at nearby construction site. Willis, who was 17, had been shot twice, once in the head. She had also been raped.

Meeks said in the hearing that after he killed Willis, he drove to Johnson's house and honked his horn. Johnson told police that after he got in the vehicle, Meeks told him about the murder. Johnson said he was afraid. He said Meeks showed him the gun and then drove to the crime scene to show him Willis' body.