AMERICA’S TOP FIVE DEADLIEST PROSECUTORS

In his first capital case, in which twelve witnesses confirmed the defendant’s alibi
that he was “300 miles away at a rodeo,” Macy hid a much more credible suspect’s
identity from the defense. 59 A federal appellate court reversed the death sentence,
holding that “Bowen’s alibi would have been viewed in a different light” if the jury
heard about the other suspect. 60 But Macy did not learn his lesson from the Bowen
case.
Joyce Gilchrist, a disgraced scientist once known as the “darling of Macy’s lethal
forensics squad,” helped Macy win cases by “misidentifying evidence” and “giving
improper courtroom testimony.” 61 Bob Macy wrongfully prosecuted Robert Lee
Miller, Jr. after Gilchrist characterized hair follicle evidence as conclusive of guilt
during trial; 62 many years later, DNA evidence exonerated Mr. Miller. 63 When Macy
prosecuted Loyd Lafevers, Gilchrist lied in her trial testimony, denying that she had
performed any blood tests because the results would have hurt the prosecution. 64
Macy then relied on Gilchrist’s lies to mislead the jury, suggesting that the blood
belonged to Lafevers and the victim, even though both he and Gilchrist knew that it
belonged to someone else. 65
Indeed, Macy retired early due to revelations about misconduct shortly after his use
of fabricated evidence was publicly exposed. 66
59 Ben Fenwick, Bob Macy: A Look Back, Oklahoma Gazette, Jan. 12, 2011, http://okgazette.com/2011/01/12/bob-macy-a-look-back/.
60 See Bowen, 799 F.2d at 612-13.
61 Randall Coyne, Dead Wrong In Oklahoma, 42 Tulsa L. R. 209, 236 (2006).
62 Id.
63 Id.
64 Lafevers v. Gibson, 238 F.3d 1263, 1266 (10th Cir. 2001).
65 Id.
66 Megan K. Stack, Prosecutor’s Days in Saddle Ending in Controversy, L.A. Times, May 17, 2001, http://articles.latimes.com/2001/
may/17/news/mn-64599. Jeffrey Todd Pierce, convicted of rape despite faulty testimony from Gilchrist and “extreme prosecutorial
misconduct” by Macy, was exonerated in 2001 due to DNA evidence. See Elisabeth Salemme, Faces of the Innocence Project: Jeffrey
Pierce, Time (2007), http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1627368_1627366_1627379,00.html (last visited
May 9, 2016).
America’s Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors
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