UPDATED: AUGUST 15, 2019

On August 2, 2019 Adam Braseel was faced with an impossible decision. Take an Alford plea to an assault charge he was innocent of and go home to his family or remain behind bars and hope that he would win a second trial and be acquitted. Adam chose to take this “best interest” plea, come home and fight for a full exoneration.
 
As Adam’s supporters we are respectfully asking that Governor Lee review the facts of Adam’s case and act in the interest of justice. Adam Braseel is innocent of all charges and should be exonerated to live his life without the weight of a felony conviction. 
 
Judge Justin Angel shared his feelings after Adam’s release when he said this was the first time he was able to exonerate someone.  Full story, https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/40878224/judge-says-it-was-an-emotional-moment-to-set-adam-braseel-free
 
Please sign and share this petition to help support Adam being fully exonerated.  We appreciate your past and continued support.

Case Summary

Adam Braseel, was convicted on November 9, 2007 for the murder of Malcolm Burrows and the assault of Rebecca Hill, in Tracy City, Tennessee. Adam was sentenced to life in prison for the crimes. He was 24 years old at the time of his sentencing.

On January 7, 2006, Grundy County deputies responded to a 911 call made by Kirk Braden from a home on Melissa Rock Road in the small town of Tracy City. Braden called to report that his mother, Rebecca Hill, had been assaulted in the home. Upon arrival, deputies found that Hill had been beaten and had suffered severe head wounds.

The body of Malcolm Burrows was found a short time later outside of the home, in a wooded area, a short way down the road. Burrows had been beaten to death with a blunt object. Burrows was the owner of the residence. Hill and her son were living in the home with Burrows at the time the crimes took place.

On the same day that Burrows’ body was discovered, Adam Braseel had gone to see some friends for a planned weekend of four-wheeling in the mountains in Grundy County. Adam has multiple alibis who have all confirmed his whereabouts for that entire weekend, including the times that the crimes in Tracy City allegedly took place.

According to the Grundy Country Sheriff’s department, they set their sights on Adam based on anonymous information they had received. This information remains a mystery to this day.

The murder of Malcolm Burrows occurred in a small town so word traveled fast that police were looking for Adam. Upon hearing the news, Adam voluntarily turned himself in and cooperated fully with police. He turned in his mother’s car that he had been driving, as well as his clothing.

The crimes in question resulted in two separate bloody crime scenes. Investigators did not find a single trace of blood in Adam’s car or on his clothing.

Investigators had their sights set on Adam Braseel, but the information available shows that their focus should have been on Rebecca Hill and Kirk Braden. Witness statements show that the two consistently lied throughout their testimonies. Both witnesses were shown a single photo of Adam, by Sheriff Myers, which led them to identify him in a picture line up. Investigators failed to properly investigate the case, by immediately labeling Hill and Braden as victims.

After spending nine years in prison, Adam finally received good news on December 25, 2015, when Circuit Court Judge Justin C. Angel granted Adam’s request for relief by voiding his convictions and ordering a new trial. Judge Angel ruled that Adam’s constitutional rights had been violated. He also ruled that Adam’s previous attorneys, Floyd Davis and Bob Peters, provided ineffective counsel, by failing to suppress flawed evidence in the case.

January 8, 2016, was a good day for Adam and our family. Adam was released on bond and came home for a period of ten months. During that time, Adam worked every day and went to church every time the church doors were open.

Many people, who had supported Adam’s innocence throughout the years, were grateful to have the chance to meet Adam while he was home. Adam was thought of as a positive, influential, and high spirited guy, by those who he came in contact with.

As Adam prepared for a new trial, the prosecution was busy appealing the Circuit Court’s decision to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. As a result, the appellate court reversed the lower court’s decision to grant relief.

On October 7, 2016, Cumberland Bonding came to Adam’s home and told him his bond was broken. No reason was given. Adam was taken to the Grundy County Sheriff's Department and he was returned to prison.

Adam should not have been immediately returned to prison. After the appellate court decision, a letter was sent to Sheriff Shrum from the court clerk informing him of the reversal. At no point did the court tell the sheriff’s office to immediately revoke Adam’s bond. In fact, the court order stated that Adam was to remain out on bond until the decision of the criminal appeal was read during a hearing which was set to take place on October 11, 2016.

Because Adam’s attorney planned on immediately filing an appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the criminal court made a fair decision for Adam to remain out on bond for an extra $75,000 until the high court made their decision. The State appealed the bond and the court reversed the criminal court’s decision, meaning that Adam would have to remain in prison as his appeals continued on.

Violations, misconduct, and newly discovered evidence found in Adam’s case

In 2017, a juror came forward to state that she did not believe Adam was guilty. Since the trial, the juror in question has left the Grundy County area and has said that "she is not afraid anymore". She stated that she came forward because she does not want to carry the guilt any longer. She exclaimed that she was visibly upset, and was crying during jury deliberations. She stated that she was bullied by the jury foreman to say that Adam was guilty. She thought either the prosecution or Adam’s defense attorney would poll the jurors...but they did not. She stated that she has fought depression and anxiety for the past ten years, due to the result of the trial. She wants do the right thing and let everyone know what happened while discussing the case in the deliberation room. She said that there are others who feel the same way and she hopes they will do the right thing and come forward as well.
In 2016, the former Investigating officer, Mike Brown, came forward to say that a mistake was made, and that Adam is innocent. Brown moved from the Grundy County area not long after the crimes took place. Brown stated that he called the prosecutor’s office to asked when he was needed, but they said he was not needed and that they would take care of it. As a result, former Deputy Brown was denied the opportunity to testify. It appears that the intention of the District Attorney’s Office was to divert attention away from the fact that there were two investigators with the last name of “Brown”, who were both working the case. As a result, Troy Brown was later introduced as the initial investigating officer at the scene, but it was actually former Deputy Mike Brown who was on the scene on day one. In fact, Mike Brown was the one who found the body of Malcolm Burrows. It was also Mike Brown who initially talked to the witnesses in the case. Most importantly, statements from Mike Brown work to refute the prosecution’s theory of the crime. Prosecutors argued that Adam’s motive for murder was the theft of Burrows’ wallet, which allegedly contained eight hundred dollars. The prosecution claimed that Burrows’ wallet was not on him when his body was collected. According to Mike Brown, he saw a “big fat wallet” in the pocket of Burrows’ back jeans pocket. If that wallet was in Burrows’ pocket, then whoever murdered Burrows certainly did not take it when he or she fled the scene. Therefore, the motive was most certainly not theft.

In 2016, a former deputy of former Sheriff Brent Myers , stated that Myers destroyed all of the records on Adam’s case. When Myers’s successor Sheriff Shrum was confronted about the missing records, he claimed there was absolutely nothing in his office related to Adam’s case when he took over the job.
District Attorney Steve Strain misled the jury about witness statements given by Angie White. Strain told the court that White identified Adam’s car as a car she saw at the scene on the day of the murder. Strain also stated to the court that "she said" she saw Adam’s car on the day before the murder, in an attempt to show premeditation. The truth is that White did not identify Adam’s car on either occasion. Strain showed White a picture of Adam’s car and she said that it was not the car she saw. She said that the car she saw did not have dents on it. Strain then showed White a picture of the other side of the car and she said she could not be certain if that was the car she saw. The court never heard White’s actual statements. Strain blatantly altered White’s testimony in an attempt to incriminate Adam Braseel.

Sheriff Myers also altered statements given by a witness. A neighbor of Malcolm Burrows told police that he saw a “long bushy haired man in a gold car with a blonde girl”. In an egregious act of misconduct, Myers altered the statement to read; “red headed guy in a gold car”. Adam Braseel has red hair, and he was driving his mother’s gold car when he went to visit friends. The altered statement from Sheriff Myers shows his intentions to set up and frame Adam Braseel.
Special Agent Larry Davis perjured himself at the preliminary hearing. Davis testified that Sergeant Mike Brown had the possible weapons in the back of his patrol car, and that he placed the items back into the crime scene to take pictures. When Davis was questioned by Strain at Adam’s Jury trial, he testified that he came into the crime scene and saw a bat in the trash and a fire extinguisher on a chair. He stated that he took pictures of the scene, and then collected the evidence. At trial, Davis was actually testifying as if he was the one performing the actions of Sergeant Mike Brown at the original scene. As a result, Mike Brown was completely removed from the story line. This is another case of egregious misconduct. Strain and Davis knew the evidence was contaminated because it had been removed and replaced at the scene. Eliminating Mike Brown from the equation, allowed prosecutors to hide the possibility of evidence contamination from the jury.
The alleged murder weapon changed multiple times, from the time of the original statements, to the preliminary hearing, to the jury trial. The weapon morphed from a 10 to 12-inch object, into a tire tool, into a baseball bat, into a fire extinguisher. The truth is that the murder weapon was never clearly established. It is important to note that Adam’s DNA was not found on any of the items suggested by the prosecution. In fact, there is absolutely no physical evidence whatsoever linking Adam to the crimes.

Please visit http://freeadambraseel.org  to learn more about Adam’s case. If you believe that Adam deserves the chance at a fair trial, we are asking that you make the right decision and please help us to bring Adam home.

Thank you to everyone who supports our brother. Words alone cannot properly express how much Adam and his family appreciate the support that we receive. 

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