GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — A former Gwinnett County police officer who has spent more than three decades in prison for a 1993 murder is set to present new evidence in court as he seeks to overturn his conviction.
Michael Chapel was convicted in the shooting death of 53-year-old Emogene Thompson, who was found inside her running car with a gunshot wound to the head in April 1993. Prosecutors said Chapel robbed and killed Thompson, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Now, Chapel is scheduled to appear before a judge Tuesday for a virtual hearing to present evidence his team says could clear him.
Investigator Henry Ball says new forensic and witness evidence could prove Chapel was wrongly convicted.
“I believe he’s wrongfully convicted and I believe it’s past time that the state rectifies a very egregious injustice,” Ball said.
Ball says some of the evidence includes a rain jacket prosecutors described as “blood-spattered,” but which he says was never tested for DNA.
He also questioned the strength of the original case.
“Not only did it seem circumstantial, some of the aspects of it were very questionable, very suspect,” Ball said.
Ball says some have long questioned the case.
“People have long speculated that perhaps it was a staged crime scene,” he said.
Family members of the victim remain divided. Thompson’s granddaughter, Parilee Goldman, says some relatives still believe Chapel is guilty, while others now have doubts.
“I do believe that he was framed by Gwinnett County. I do pray that he is set free,” Goldman said.
She also says Chapel’s time in prison has impacted others.
“I believe that God has used Chapel and the prisons that he’s been in to bless men around him and to change lives of the men around him,” she said.
The original prosecutor has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the conviction.
Tuesday’s hearing comes after a judge denied the state’s motion to dismiss the case earlier this month.
A superior court judge could decide to dismiss the charges with or without prejudice. If the charges are dismissed without prejudice, Gwinnett County prosecutors could choose to retry Chapel.
Ball says he believes the evidence could either clear Chapel or lead to a new trial.
“I think it will be really hard for the judge to say ‘yeah but we’re not going to consider that evidence and we’re going to continue to incarcerate Mike,” Ball said.
Former Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter, who was in office at the time of the trial, could testify during the hearing.
WSB Radio’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story.