Opinion ID: 3156438
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mr. Jordan’s Newly Discovered Evidence

Text: Mr. Jordan introduced the new DNA analysis and Mr. Riker’s statements.
Mr. Jordan called Dr. Roger Vincent Miller, a DNA expert, to testify during the Rule 33 hearing. Consistent with other DNA experts who had testified at the trial, Dr. Miller testified that the DNA on the shank came from more than one person and the “major source” contributor was Mr. Stone. ROA, Vol. 4 at 228. The experts at trial, who had lacked a DNA sample from Mr. Riker, had been unable to identify the minor source contributor. Using the new DNA samples from Mr. Riker, Dr. Miller conducted additional analysis. He testified that, based on his analysis, Mr. Riker “could not be excluded as a contributor to the shank handle.” Id. at 212. He further testified he “would expect to be able to exclude all but one in 2.3 million” Hispanic, Caucasian, and AfricanAmerican individuals. Id. at 222. b. Mr. Riker’s Letters, Declaration, and Testimony In April and September 2012, Mr. Riker wrote two letters to Mr. Jordan’s counsel. The first letter stated Mr. Jordan was innocent. The second reversed course, asserting Mr. Jordan killed Mr. Stone. One month after sending the second letter, Mr. Riker sent a third letter to Mr. Jordan’s trial prosecutor, confessing to the murder of Mr. Stone. The -7- letter said Mr. Riker stabbed Mr. Stone in the back and then passed the shank to Mr. Jordan. In November 2012, Mr. Riker sent another letter to Mr. Jordan’s counsel, again confessing to the crime. In yet another letter to the same attorney, he reiterated Mr. Jordan’s innocence, stating, “I am trying to set him free and trade places w[ith] him. I want to go to the feds.” Aplee. Suppl. App. at 26. Mr. Riker wrote these letters while serving a sentence of over 200 years in Wisconsin state prison for abusing his ex-wife and sexually abusing her children, along with various other crimes. In April 2013, Mr. Riker signed a sworn and notarized declaration, prepared by Mr. Jordan’s attorneys and hand-edited by himself, confessing to the crime and stating the following: On the morning of the murder, Mr. Jordan asked Mr. Riker to make him a knife, explaining that an inmate had threatened to attack him. Mr. Riker responded by making him a shank. Later that day, while Mr. Stone, Mr. Riker, and Mr. Jordan were gathered together in the recreation yard, an argument began. Mr. Riker and Mr. Jordan walked away together, at which point Mr. Riker took the shank back from Mr. Jordan and stabbed Mr. Stone. During the resulting commotion, Mr. Riker “forced Jordan to take the knife and told him to run.” Aplt. Suppl. App., Vol. 1 at 5, ¶ 10. Mr. Riker subsequently wrote another letter to Mr. Jordan’s counsel, revoking his confession and stating he would assert his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent if called to the stand. -8- On June 26, 2014, the defense called Mr. Riker to testify at the Rule 33 hearing. Mr. Riker repeatedly testified that his previous confessions were lies and that Mr. Jordan had stabbed Mr. Stone. He also testified he touched the weapon the day of the stabbing. While he was in a cell with a friend, the friend “whip[ped] out the knife and [went] to stab [him] in [his] stomach, playfully.” ROA, Vol. 4 at 125. Mr. Riker “grabbed ahold of it and . . . said, ‘Quit [messing] around.’” Id. He also stated he had lied when he confessed to the murder because he thought he would be better off a murderer in a federal prison than a child molester in a state prison. During the course of Mr. Riker’s testimony, the aforementioned letters and declaration were presented to the district court.