| Brett was arrested on September 10th, 1997 for the murder of Winda D. Snipes. Brett was the person who discovered Winda, and placed a series of 911 calls to report it. Initially Brett was not the key suspect in this murder. It was only his actions after finding her and how he reported it that placed a shadow over his innocence, making him a convenient and instant suspect. There was a jump to arrest and convict Brett which is shown by the way the investigation was conducted, evidence was handled, and the press releases made by the police department. In fact, after Brett's arrest, but prior to Brett's indictment, deputy Police Chief Michael Matulavich admitted during a press conference that they did not have enough evidence to charge Brett. That was until they thought they had found new evidence that would break the case. They indicted Brett and then went to collect this evidence. Even though this "big break" turned out to be nothing, they had already indicted Brett and released it to the media, they then went ahead with his trial. When Brett went to trial he faced a prosecutor who was well known to be overzealous, and would try to win at all costs. She was also known to over indict, violate disclosure rules, withhold evidence, and then target defense attorney's who opposed her. Brett faced this with a defense team that did little to nothing to defend him. Never asking or accepting Brett's side of events, saying that they preferred to let the evidence tell them what happened, and then relied on the "State's evidence" for trial. The crux of the state's case relied on erroneous blood spatter evidence in regard to Brett's tee shirt, and the testimony of a man who has misrepresented his credentials, manipulated data, is facing ethics charges, and under suspicion due to evidence that had been altered while in his chain of custody. In addition to this, the state also sites the jail house snitch testimony as one of the key factors in Brett's conviction. Testimony that was known to be perjured, yet difficult to show, until recently. The state has also sited that Brett's DNA that was recovered from the body, as was the second DNA test that was obtained post conviction, as an indication of guilt, What they have avoided was the fact that Brett did have consensual sex with the victim prior to her death, she had been seen alive afterwards, and that the second test showed that the time of death was tailored to negate Brett's alibi and obtain a conviction. What should also be of note is a watch and a knife found sitting in plain view upon Brett's dresser. A watch that was entered into evidence at trial as belonging to the victim, yet had never been tested for DNA and was a common brand. A watch that has since been, cleaned and released from evidence. The knife, a pocket knife that was never connected to the murder. The state's case not only contains circumstantial evidence, but also includes, hidden exculpatory evidence, testimony that shows deliberate misleading statements, perjured testimony, sloppy investigation and processing of evidence. Brett was sentenced to death May 22nd, 1998. He has been given an execution date of August 16, 2011. Continue to; Events That Led to Brett's Arrest page |
| Case Synopsis |
| Brett Hartmann Case Synopsis |
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