Judge opens door to a review of man's conviction in killing

MIAMI -- A judge accepted an innocence claim Monday from a retarded man convicted as a teenager of killing a Broward County sheriff's deputy in 1990.

The decision doesn't clear Timothy Brown of his life prison sentence, but it allows further review of the constitutionality of his conviction in state or federal court.

Brown's attorneys said the ruling was historic in a murder case without DNA evidence. Another suspect was unearthed last year in the killing of Deputy Patrick Behan, and most of the evidence against him comes from his own mouth.

"This is an amazing order," said Assistant U.S. Public Defender Tim Day, one of Brown's attorneys. "It's the highlight of a career."

Brown's attorneys relayed the decision to his mother, Othalean Brown. Brenda Bryn, another attorney for Brown, said, "She was ecstatic."

There was no immediate comment from the state Attorney General's Office, which argued against Brown's claim.

U.S. District Judge Donald Graham set a hearing Thursday to determine whether he should consider the constitutionality of Brown's conviction or send it back to state court for review.

"The ultimate issue in this case is whether petitioner (Brown) has been sentenced to life in prison for a crime he did not commit," the judge wrote.

Brown's attorneys argue he was not mentally qualified to waive his Miranda rights and his confession was coerced through a beating and intimidation.

Brown was allowed to pursue his innocence claim after the new suspect, Andrew Johnson, and his wife told undercover agents he killed Behan in a mistaken ambush targeting another deputy who got him fired as a Broward County jail deputy.

Brown, 26, and Keith King, 28, were teenagers when they were convicted of shooting Behan as he sat in his patrol car writing a report outside a Pembroke Park convenience store.

King, who also is retarded, was released from prison after serving nine years for manslaughter.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office decided after an undercover investigation that it didn't have enough evidence to charge Johnson.

On orders from Gov. Jeb Bush, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now reviewing the Behan case.

Graham did not decide whether Brown is innocent. The legal standard he applied was whether any reasonable juror would convict Brown after hearing the evidence against Johnson.

That opens a legal gateway to attack Brown's conviction.

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