Floyd Bledsoe, sentenced to life for murder of teen sister-in-law, set free; ineffective assistance of counsel cited
TOPEKA ? A man who had been sentenced to life in prison for the 1999 slaying of his 14-year-old sister-in-law near Oskaloosa has been freed by a federal court order.
Floyd Scott Bledsoe, now 32, was denied his constitutional right of effective counsel, according to a ruling last month by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Rogers of Topeka.
Bledsoe was released under a supervised bond and is living in Hutchinson, according to Alice White, supervising attorney at the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project at Kansas University, which won his release.
“His goal is to start anew,” White said.
Bledsoe still faces legal proceedings.
Timeline
- Nov. 9, 1999: Police hold relative of slain girl
- Nov. 10, 1999: Bledsoe recieves murder charge
- Nov. 14, 1999: In-law jailed in slaying of teen-ager
- Nov. 16, 1999: Wife proclaims husband’s innocence in girl’s death
- Dec. 10, 1999: Murder suspect enters innocent plea
- April 26, 2000: Tom Bledsoe seeks to explain lies
- April 28, 2000: Bledsoe murder case goes to jury, Bledsoe found guilty
- July 15, 2000: Bledsoe gets life, Victim’s family unsure justice was served
- Feb. 2, 2002: Murder conviction is upheld
The Kansas attorney general’s office has appealed Rogers’ decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. An expedited hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 17.
Bledsoe was convicted in the shooting death of Zetta “Camille” Arfmann. He was also convicted of aggravated kidnapping and indecent liberties with a child in the case.
Bledsoe accused his brother Tom Bledsoe of the slaying. Tom initially claimed to have killed Arfmann, and he led authorities to where her body was. She had been shot with Tom’s pistol.
But then Tom recanted, saying Floyd had told him to confess or he would expose some things Tom had done in the past.
Floyd Bledsoe denied killing the girl. In his appeals, he alleged his trial lawyer, John Kurth, was ineffective and committed mistakes that led to his conviction.
Contacted by the Lawrence Journal-World, Kurth, of Atchison, defended his work during the trial. “I don’t think the state proved its case, but I didn’t think (the guilty verdict) was my doing,” Kurth said. “We got a bad verdict.”
In a ruling last year, the Kansas Supreme Court agreed that Bledsoe’s attorney committed mistakes but the court said it wasn’t convinced that those mistakes affected the trial’s outcome.
The Supreme Court had said, “Two brothers accused each other of vile crimes. There was ample evidence to support each accusation. Although in the hands of another defense lawyer, the case may have been tried to another conclusion, ‘may’ is not good enough.”
But Rogers disagreed. “It is unclear why ‘may’ is not good enough,” he wrote.
He said there was no physical evidence connecting Floyd Bledsoe to the crime. He said the prosecutor misstated evidence in the case, and Bledsoe’s defense attorney failed to challenge those inaccuracies.
Timeline: Floyd Bledsoe murder conviction overturned
● May 29, 2016 — Lawsuit filed by wrongfully convicted man details how law enforcement officials allegedly framed him
● May 21, 2016 — Floyd Bledsoe, wrongfully imprisoned for 15 years, pushes to end death penalty in Kansas
● May 10, 2016 — Floyd Bledsoe, wrongfully imprisoned for 15 years, says he was ‘framed,’ files lawsuit against Kansas justice officials
● Feb. 12, 2016 — Wrongfully convicted Floyd Bledsoe seeks videotaped interrogations in Kansas
● Feb. 8, 2016 — Kansas bill would allow $235K for wrongfully convicted man who spent 15 years in prison
● Jan. 18, 2016 — Jefferson County attorney doesn’t expect further action against former sheriff, others involved in wrongful murder conviction
● Jan. 17, 2016 — Bledsoe case spurs measure to allow compensation for wrongful convictions
● Jan. 10, 2016 — Requiring that police interrogations be recorded might have prevented tragedy of wrongful conviction
● Dec. 30, 2015 — ‘Who are you going to tell?’ — Floyd Bledsoe, wrongfully convicted of murder, discusses pain of prison, journey to forgiveness
● Dec. 27, 2015 — 1999 Oskaloosa murder case reopened; possibility that killer ‘had assistance’
● Dec. 13, 2015 — Web of lies, indifference to justice led to wrong Kansas brother being imprisoned for more than 15 years
● Dec. 13, 2015 — Kansas has no law on payouts for wrongly incarcerated prisoners
● Dec. 8, 2015 — Judge throws out 2000 murder conviction, frees Oskaloosa man after 15 years in prison
● Nov. 13, 2015 — Original suspect in girl’s murder dies of apparent suicide as case about to be revisited
● Oct. 21, 2015 — KU Project for Innocence, Midwest Innocence Project seeks to free convicted murderer with DNA evidence
● July 8, 2012 — Objection to DNA testing not likely
● June 20, 2012 — Motion seeks DNA testing in 1999 murder of teen
● Sept. 30, 2009 — Further appeals limited in Bledsoe case
● July 5, 2009 — 1999 murder case won’t settle
● June 28, 2009 — Federal court reverses release in murder case
● Oct. 7, 2008 — Floyd Bledsoe, sentenced to life for murder of teen sister-in-law, set free; ineffective assistance of counsel cited
● Feb. 3, 2007 — Court upholds murder conviction
● Feb. 2, 2002 — Murder conviction is upheld
● Dec. 5, 2001 — Attorneys appeal conviction of teen-ager’s murderer
● Dec. 2, 2001 — Oskaloosa murder case to be heard
● July 15, 2000 — Victim’s family unsure justice was served
● July 15, 2000 — Bledsoe gets life
● July 14, 2000 — Bledsoe sentenced to life in prison
● June 23, 2000 — Bledsoe sentencing delayed
● May 31, 2000 — Lawyer: Mother’s story changes
● April 30, 2000 — Minister supports Bledsoe in spirit
● April 28, 2000 — Bledsoe found guilty
● April 28, 2000 — Bledsoe murder case goes to jury
● April 27, 2000 — Bledsoe charges amended
● April 27, 2000 — Bledsoe prosecution rests
● April 27, 2000 — Bledsoe murder trial wrapping up
● April 26, 2000 — Tom Bledsoe seeks to explain lies
● April 26, 2000 — Bledsoe told his mother he didn’t kill Arfmann
● April 25, 2000 — Pool of potential jurors knows all about case
● April 25 2000 — Trial starts in murder of girl, 14
● April 24, 2000 — Murder trial to begin today
● Dec. 10, 1999 — Family of victim tries to cope with pain, loss
● Dec. 10, 1999 — Murder suspect enters innocent plea
● Dec. 9, 1999 — Murder suspect to be arraigned
● Nov. 30, 1999 — Case pits brother vs. brother
● Nov. 18, 1999 — Friends relieved charges were dismissed against Oskaloosa man
● Nov. 16, 1999 — Wife proclaims husband’s innocence in girl’s death
● Nov. 14, 1999 — In-law jailed in slaying of teen-ager
● Nov. 14, 1999 — Family, friends mourn Camille
● Nov. 10, 1999 — Quiet hearing for defendant charged with girl’s slaying
● Nov. 10, 1999 — Bledsoe recieves murder charge
● Nov. 9, 1999 — Police hold relative of slain girl
● Nov. 9, 1999 — Girl’s death leaves family, children with questions