A state appeals court has brought justice to the case of the girlfriend of cop-killer Hank Earl Carr. Bernice Bowen may now have to answer for what she did, rather than for the acts of a man who shot three law enforcement officers in 1998. By reversing two of her five convictions for acting as an accessory, and ordering retrials on the remaining three, the court justifiably embarrassed Hillsborough County's judicial system and narrowed the grounds for prosecuting Bowen again.

The case against Bowen was prejudiced by the brutality of the murders, and by a judicial system bent on vengeance and political opportunism. The state argued Bowen lied about Carr's real name, concealed his violent criminal history and created the means for his murderous escape. She was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

The tragedy unfolded on May 19, 1998, when Bowen's 4-year old son was shot to death while in Carr's care. Carr insisted to police the boy's death was an accident. While being taken to police headquarters for questioning, Carr apparently used a concealed handcuff key to unshackle himself. He grabbed an officer's gun and killed Detectives Randy Bell and Ricky Childers. He then stole a car, drove north from Tampa and killed Florida Highway Patrol Trooper James Crooks, who was pursuing him on Interstate 75.

If Bowen had told police about Carr and the handcuff key, the prosecution claimed, the murders could have been prevented. The appeals court was right to dismiss that simplistic argument. It found that prosecutors overstated the value of the handcuff key and tied Bowen to crimes she was unaware of. The court wrote: "A feature of the trial became what Ms. Bowen could have done to prevent the crimes, not her criminal responsibility for aiding Carr after the crimes were committed."

Carr committed suicide that day as police closed in, and public outcry over the murders made Bowen an easy scapegoat. She was painted as a bad mother and is serving time for neglect for exposing her children to Carr. The emotion of the case should have made the courts especially careful to provide Bowen a fair trial. But the former state attorney, Harry Lee Coe, pushed forward a muddled prosecution. Julianne Holt, the elected public defender who is paid to represent defendants such as Bowen, phonied up an excuse to get off the case. No prominent defense attorney in Tampa offered to help Bowen's court-appointed lawyer. The appeals court also implicitly criticized the trial judge. "This is an emotional and tragic case that requires special attention," the court wrote, "to ensure that any conviction obtained is achieved through appropriate and rational deliberation, not through moral indignation or unfair prejudice."

Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober has two weeks to decide whether to retry the case. He will be under political pressure to do so, at least from the police. While the appeals court acknowledged a basis for a retrial, it narrowed the ground rules for presenting the case. The court launched a pre-emptive warning against the use of "prejudicial" testimony and suggested that any new case built around the handcuff key would receive tighter scrutiny. The appeals court said it expects to review the case again if Ober decides to move ahead. Bowen's case may be one in which human emotion is left wanting by the law, but the appeals court injected a dose of fairness that now guides any subsequent prosecution.

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