Greg Kelley's attorney explains new evidence pointing to lookalike suspect
Greg Kelley was only 19-years-old when he was convicted of Super Aggravated Sexual Assault. In 2014, a Williamson County jury convicted him of performing a lewd act on a small boy at an in-home daycare.
Kelley waived direct appeal and has been serving out a 25 year sentence. He is now 22-years-old.
We spoke with his longtime girlfriend Gaebri Anderson on Thursday. "We talk every single day, at least for 20 minutes. I go back and forth, visit him. We get a 4-hour visit because I live out in LA," Anderson said.
After Kelley's conviction, Keith Hampton became his attorney.
For the past 2 years he says he's tried unsuccessfully to get a new trial for his client.
Recently he filed a writ with evidence Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick feels is credible enough to take a second look at the case. We spoke with Dick on Thursday. "If we got it right I want the public to understand what we did and how we got it right and if we got it wrong then we need to make sure we fix it."
"The legal issue is 'would a reasonable jury acquit Greg if they knew all of this evidence...if they were given this evidence?' And I think the answer is clearly 'yes,'" Dick said.
Hampton has analyzed Kelley's phone records. "Almost 51,000 texts, there are 9,000 images. None of which have any naked children on them. Mainly it is Gaebri," Hampton said.
Hampton also says a phone conversation recently came to light between the initial investigator and CPS. The investigator said the incident most likely happened on July 12th, not in April like previously alleged.
"That's significant because it is memorable to people on what happened on July 12th and where Greg Kelley was. So he is nowhere near the McCarty home on that day. He's helping his brother move, he takes pictures, he gets stuck in traffic, he takes a selfie," Hampton said.
In the writ, Hampton says it's likely the victim confused Kelley for another young boy staying in the home that looks similar to Kelley and had SpongeBob pajamas -- a detail described by the victim.
And that other young man, according to Hampton was found to have pictures of pre-pubescent naked children on his home computer. Pictures not of kids staying at the daycare but they were taken in the home.
"You'd ask the question, 'what is a 16-year-old boy doing with these pictures?' It's kind of odd." Hampton said.
Hampton also says a witness claims after Kelley's conviction, the other young man referred to himself as "boss" and admitted to the crime at a party. "[The other suspect] had the kids call him 'boss' and he called himself ‘boss’ and ‘the boss.’ There's no way that witness could have known that. So I think that's a very strong piece of evidence," Hampton said.
As far as Hampton knows, investigators honed in on Greg Kelley and never investigated the other young man.
"I fault the investigators for not talking to all of the people that I talked to or gather the records up or approach the case skeptically -- and I do wish the defense had pursued this same investigation. I don't really care where the fault lies just as long as it gets him relief," Hampton said.
We did reach out to Cedar Park Police to see whether they investigated this other young man.
They sent this statement from Chief Sean Mannix:
"We are a nation of laws, and I believe in the due process of law. This is part of that process. It doesn’t change my opinion of the trial or the outcome. We remain focused on upholding justice for the sexual assault survivor in this case."
The Williamson County DA says there will be a public hearing in August.
Hampton says a judge will evaluate evidence and make a recommendation but the Court of Criminal Appeals will make the ultimate decision on relief for Kelley.
WilCo DA Shawn Dick says they are looking for legitimate tips with information on the case.
They've set up an e-mail (kelleycaseinfo@wilco.org) and a number 512-943-1299.