Joey Watkins

Joey Watkins
2000 mugshot
Born	Joseph Samuel Watkins (1980-07-07) July 7, 1980
Residence	Walker State Prison

Joey Watkins is a Georgia man (born 1980) who has been in prison since 2001 for a murder that his supporters, who include the Georgia Innocence Project, claim he could not have committed; and that cell phone records prove his innocence. At least five separate sets of records relating to his conviction are either wholly missing, or appear to be partly missing. The details of this case were discussed in season 2 of the Undisclosed Podcast, with the evidence of his claims of innocence being summarized in episode 21. Listeners are recommended to start from the beginning to gain context.

The murder

On the night of January 11, 2000, Isaac Dawkins was shot in the head while driving his truck along U.S. 27 near Rome, Georgia. A 9mm bullet impacted his head from the right and Dawkins died 24 hours later. He had previously briefly dated Watkins' ex-girlfriend.

Summary of evidence

The evidence is complicated, but the full record is said to prove Watkins innocence more thoroughly than any summary.

The shooting caused the victim's truck to crash, and bystanders immediately called 911. Computer printouts which would have shown the exact times of those 911 calls went missing shortly after the murder. Multiple other official records which should have existed have also disappeared, though handwritten police and ambulance records survive. Both show them responding to the crash at 7:19 pm (the handwritten records did not note seconds). At least 1 minute would have been needed for the actual shooting, the resulting crash, the taped 911 call, and the resulting police and ambulance responses, which the dispatcher requested 42 seconds after the call began. Therefore, Watkins' defense claims that the actual shooting had to be at 7:18:59 at the latest, and more likely around 7:17 or 7:18, with the exact time unknown.

However, Watkins called his girlfriend at 7:15:?? (records of the exact second the call began were not kept), and cell records show that this call lasted for 4 minutes and 23 seconds. Therefore, Watkins was likely on the phone with her at the time the shooting occurred. However, his girlfriend, who by the time of the trial was his ex-girlfriend (they both say he cheated on her), did not testify hearing any gunshot.

Records of additional calls, combined with the logical route from Watkins' home to his then-girlfriends' home, and testimony of witnesses at both ends of the trip, show that Watkins' vehicle then traveled down the same highway as the victim's truck, but in the opposite direction. The bullet hit Dawkins from the right, and the presumed shooter's car was seen shortly before the murder, traveling in the same direction as Dawkins' truck. So to commit the murder, Watkins would have had to turn around, shoot Dawkins in the head, and then turn around again. Furthermore, because of the additional cellphone calls, multiple witnesses testified he was in possession of his phone around this time. Lastly, based on cell tower records, at the time the 7:15:?? call began, the phone had to be at least 5.5 miles from where the presumed killer's car and the victim's truck were seen together shortly prior to the shooting. Based on the distance and speed traveled, "shortly prior" would likely have been 1-3 minutes prior to the actual shooting; hence between 7:14:?? and 7:17:??. That would not be consistent with the killer being at least 5.5 miles away, down a well traveled highway at 7:15:??.

Co-defendant Mark Free was acquitted in early 2002.

Missing and secret evidence

• Computer printouts of the exact times of the 911 calls disappeared shortly after the murder.
• Phone company records show that the police did a cell phone drive test, but for unknown reasons the police records of that test don't exist.
• The number of 911 calls in the surviving handwritten records are smaller than the number the 911 dispatcher believes should exist.
• The taped 911 calls that were handed over to the defense do not contain a record of who made the tape, and the person who made the tape at the end did not state at the end that the recording is complete. Both are discrepancies from Floyd County's usual practice at the time.
• The number of official photos of the wreck site is much smaller than the number the photographer typically takes.
• Floyd County is fighting in court to prevent the release of tapes of the Watkins trial.

Legal Situation

Legally, the case appears to be in a hopeless position for Watkins. Though he is widely held to be provably innocent, he has exhausted his appeals, and appears likely to spend the rest of his life in prison for a murder that available evidence suggests he could not have committed. His supporters hold the authorities in Floyd County, Georgia responsible for this alleged miscarriage of justice. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles could reprieve him, however.