1	STOP the INJUSTICE Help Us in Our Commitment to Seek Justice for Michael Wayne Hash WRONGFULLY Accused and UNJUSTLY Convicted to a Life Sentence – “Guilty” Until PROVEN INNOCENT
2	Meet Michael and see how you can Show your Support The Crime and Investigation Case History Recent Actions and Proceedings Articles of Reference Contact Us Ways You Can Help PLEASE PRAY with Us A Message from the Family
3	The Crime and Investigation
4	Case History On May 17^th of 2000, Michael Hash was arrested for the murder of Mrs. Thelma Scroggins of Lignum, Virginia. The crime took place in July of 1996, at which time Michael was only 15 years of age. Michael declared his innocence and entered a plea of NOT GUILTY. In just one week after his arrest, Michael was moved to the Albemarle/Charlottesville Regional Jail for approximately two days, allegedly due to overcrowding in the Culpeper County Jail. A jury trial commenced in February of 2001. The Jury found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE linked Michael to the crime. His conviction hinged primarily on the testimony of a “king pin” drug dealer and “professional snitch” (who had a life plus 5 year sentence) who ultimately received his freedom for testimony against Michael. The trial court imposed the sentence set by the jury and denied various motions to set aside the verdict. On appeal, the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court in an unpublished opinion. The Virginia Supreme Court denied the petition for appeal and denied the petition for rehearing. A Federal Habeas Petition was filed in Roanoke, Virginia in 2011. Hearings were held in November of 2011 and in January of 2012. On February 28^th, 2012 the Federal Court granted the petitioner full habeas relief.
5	Recent Actions / Proceedings Newly retained attorneys, Matthew P. Bosher and Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project outlined numerous errors where the court-appointed defense attorneys failed . In addition, Attorney Bosher discovered prosecutorial and law enforcement misconduct in concealing exculpatory evidence. The Federal Court Granted Discovery at Evidentiary Hearing – November 2011. Depositions were acquired November 2011 - January 2012 from law enforcement officials and The Commonwealth Attorney. Discovery and Depositions REVEALED hidden documents and corruption of law enforcement officials and The Commonwealth Attorney. On February 28, 2012 Federal Judge James C. Turk granted full habeas relief and stated Hash had proven his actual innocence. Judge Turk gave the commonwealth six months to retry Hash, or to set him free. Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh has been appointed as the special prosecutor who will decide whether Michael Hash will be retried, or set free. On March 14, 2012 Michael was released on an unsecured bond. A hearing is set for April 16^th for a decision as to whether case will be retried. On April 16^th , 2012 The Prosecution requested a continuation to allow time for further DNA testing and interviews. The court continued the case until June 18^th, 2012.
6	Articles to Reference Area’s Unsolved Mysteries: Are Killings Related; The Free Lance-Star; article by: Donnie Johnston; published 3/9/02 www.fredericksburg.com) Was Evonitz the Mystery Killer?; The Free Lance-Star; article by: Donnie Johnston; published 10/25/03 (www.fredericksburg.com) Scroggins Case Back in Court; The Free Lance-Star; article by: Donnie Johnston; published 7/19/05 (www.fredericksburg.com) Ruling Could Lead to New Trial; Culpeper Star-Exponent; article by Alicia Petska; published 7/21/05 (www.starexponent.com) Attorney General’s Office Won’t Appeal Reversal in Culpeper Capitol Murder; Richmond Times Dispatch; article by: Frank Green; published 3/03/12 (www.timesdispatch.com)
7	You May Contact Us At: Matthew P. Bosher Hunton and Williams, LLP Riverfront Plaza East Tower 951 East Byrd Street Richmond, VA 23219 Phone number: 804-788-8200 Website: www.hunton.com
8	Ways You Can Help
9	Please PRAY with Us THANK YOU for taking the time to visit this site and for your care, concern, support, and prayers. We can’t express enough the gratitude we have knowing that there is someone out there who cares enough to send out a prayer on Michaels’ behalf. Please pray for Michael, who is so respectfully and graciously waiting for this to end. Please pray for Pam and Jeff Hash, his parents, who are spending endless hours and enduring multiple expenses for Michael’s voice to be heard. Please pray for Matthew Bosher, Michael’s newly retained attorney. He has been a God-send to this family through his care, efforts, knowledge, and hard work. May God continue to guide and bless him for his efforts. Please pray for the judges, witnesses, and all involved or connected with this case. Continue to open their eyes, their minds and their hearts to correct the injustice that has wrongfully convicted Michael. Most of all, pray for the truth to continue to be revealed. We have always known in our hearts that Michael was innocent, we have proven his innocence, and now we want him to come home to be with his family. Finding the proof needed to convince the courts of Michaels’ innocence has been an uphill battle. But, we know that God’s awesome grace and perfect timing has been the requirement needed to help us reveal and unleash the truth for Michael’s life to one day be restored. May GOD BLESS YOU and yours for your support and care.
10	A Message from the Family If you have read through the case history, recent proceedings and updated referenced articles written on this case and are unsure as to how you stand on Michael’s innocence, we do understand your caution as an outsiders viewpoint. BUT, if you were to have seen first-hand the enormous amount of concealed information which was uncovered after his conviction, we believe that you would have a better understanding to the misconduct and corruption surrounding this case, in which Michael was ultimately done a severe injustice. Even though the majority of the discovery was made after the trial, the state court still barred findings from being presented and habeas relief was denied. It has taken twelve years for facts of Michael’s innocence to be heard at the federal court level, to be able to seek and pursue a federal writ of habeas corpus, to be allowed an evidentiary hearing with discovery where this evidence was heard, considered, and finally overturning his conviction. Fighting the system has been an extremely long, hard, and costly process to find any legal avenue possible. It has been by the awesome grace of God who has placed people and organizations in our path that believed in our search for justice, that has supported and assisted us, which has been the crucial partnership we needed to help us unravel the corruption and present the truth. Even through the heartache of it all, it has been our faith and determination that has given us the strength not to give up! Before Michaels’ case, we had faith in our justice system and believed that someone was “Innocent until Proven Guilty”. It astounds us that it took nine months to pronounce Michael guilty with absolutely no physical evidence. Yet, it has taken twelve years for the injustice to be revealed. The loss of Michael’s prime years is something he will never have the opportunity to recover, ultimately because of these erroneous acts of corruption within our system. We can not help but think, how many others are unjustly marked as “Guilty until Proven Innocent”. Our goal has always been to get to the TRUTH, not only for Michael but also for Mrs. Scroggins. It is our heartfelt hope that Mrs. Scroggins’ case will be reopened with a honest investigation, and that the actual perpetrator be found and brought to justice.