NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A man convicted in two of Nashville’s most notorious cold cases has won a small victory at the state Court of Criminal Appeals.
Jerome Barrett will get a new hearing on claims that his attorney was ineffective in a 2009 trial that led to his conviction in the murder of Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez more than 30 years before. Barrett will also get a new hearing on a request to independently test DNA evidence.
The Appeals Court on Monday found the judge who ruled against Barrett on those claims after a 2015 hearing ignored Barrett’s protests that he had never previously spoken to his court-appointed attorney.
Barrett is serving a life sentence for Des Prez’s murder and a 44-year sentence for the 1975 murder of Girl Scout Marcia Trimble.