Gary Bennett says he didn’t kill. Here’s why he says he should be freed after 17 years.
A man convicted of a 2000 murder he says he didn’t commit argued the state destroyed a key piece of evidence and his charges should be tossed.
Gary Wayne Bennett was in an Horry County courtroom on Friday to ask a judge to dismiss his case. Bennett has been in prison since he was convicted in 2002 of killing Eva Marie Martin.
A judge ordered a new trial for Bennett after determining his first lawyer was ineffective. Bennett is being held in J. Reuben Long Detention Center as he awaits a new trial.
His current lawyer Amy Lawrence said the state’s case against Bennett was based solely on the testimony of co-defendant Andrew Lindsey.
Lawrence said Bennett’s case should be dismissed because the state destroyed a video of Lindsey confessing. The confession happened as Lindsey met his then-wife at the M.L. Brown building during a police interview as officers investigated Martin’s killing, Lawrence said.
Lindsey and his then-wife also allegedly had sex during the encounter and police recorded the entire interaction between the couple.
“The Horry County police destroyed the tapes in bad faith,” Lawrence said.
Videos the state provided were either edited or only released after months of requests, she said. She used phrases such as “miscarriage of justice” and “bad faith” when she described the state’s actions in its prosecution of the case.
“The state maliciously prosecuted Gary Bennett for murder in 2002 and should not be presented the opportunity to do so again,” Lawrence said.
However, Senior Assistant Solicitor Mary Ellen Walter said the only evidence the confession sex tape existed was a reprimand letter against one of the officers involved in the interview. The letter states there is no audio of the encounter between Lindsey and his then-wife. If there was audio, it can’t be heard, Walter said the letter reads.
“There is no basis whatsoever that either Horry County police or the Solicitor’s Office has done anything in bad faith,” Walter said.
Judge Robert Hood questioned Lawrence and noted that she didn’t have proof officials destroyed the original tapes. He also said the defense can cross-examine some of the witnesses with knowledge of the confession during a trial.
Hood declined Friday to rule on the request to dismiss the charge and said he would file a written order.
The state also filed two new charges, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and first-degree burglary, against Bennett in connection to the case.
