Free Courtney Bisbee - Actual Innocence

We the undersigned are requesting that Ms. Courtney Bisbee be allowed to present the overwhelming evidence of her innocence.  Ms. Bisbee was convicted of a crime that never happened and is currently being wrongfully imprisoned for 11 years flat time with no early release or parole.  The evidence that has come to light since her conviction shows her complete innocence of this alleged crime.  Following is a partial list of documents proving her innocence, which are recorded in the Maricopa County Superior Court:

1.   Affidavit from State witness Nikolas Valles, brother of the accuser and a witness to the alleged crime. Nik is recanting his testimony and stating that this crime never happened.  He also writes, %u201CNow, as an adult, away from my mother, I can no longer allow an innocent woman to remain in prison for a crime that she did not commit.  I believe Courtney Bisbee [defendant] should be released from prison immediately and exonerated and the real criminals who enabled this tragedy should face criminal charges.%u201D

2.   Transcript of a video deposition taken from Sarah Babcock, friend and sometime girlfriend of the accuser, that states Jonathan Valles told her several times that he never did anything with the nurse and that his mom was making him say it for the money (Deposition page 60).

3.   Affidavit from Samantha Strandhagen that states while Brittany Heehler was staying with her in Hawaii she overheard a conversation on speaker phone between Brittany Heehler and Courtney Bisbee where Brittany says that they (Donovan Kemp and Jonathan Valles, the accuser) were being stupid and she knew nothing happened.  She also states in the affidavit that she overheard a conversation between Donovan Kemp and Brittany Heehler about how they had to help Courtney because they knew she didn%u2019t do anything to Jonathan Valles.

4.   Copy of a polygraph test taken by Courtney Bisbee.  Banta Polygraph Inc. states that %u201CEach of the charts were scored using the system of numerical scoring developed and validated at the University of Utah resulted in the finding of no deception indicated. It is this examiner%u2019s opinion Ms. Bisbee was truthful when she answered the above relevant questions.%u201D  (Polygrapher approved by and used by the State).

5.   Affidavit from Gene Valles, father of the accuser Jonathan Valles and State witness Nikolas Valles, that states his sons were used %u201Cas political pawns to ensure a wrongful conviction in Ms. Bisbee%u2019s High-Profile Case.%u201D  He also goes on to state, %u201COn February 10, 2004, five days after this alleged incident, my oldest son, Nikolas Valles, who was present when the alleged crime supposedly occurred, stated to Detective Christopher Kinder (Scottsdale Police Department), that %u201Cnothing happened%u201D between his brother, the accuser, and Ms. Bisbee. He went on to state, that his brother would in fact lie if he feared getting in trouble.  (I have reviewed the police report %uFFFD Bates pg. 196).%u201D

6.   Affidavit from Shannon Field who attended the trial of Ms. Bisbee.  She writes of her concerns regarding Ms. Bisbee%u2019s defense council being ineffective and unprofessional.  She also states, %u201CJoel Thompson failed to investigate and attack the State%u2019s case and the State%u2019s primary witnesses were highly vulnerable to impeachment, yet counsel did nothing to prepare an effective cross-examination to test their credibility.  In addition he failed to interview and prepare obvious defense witnesses who would have contradicted the testimony of the State's star witnesses.%u201D  She also goes on to name a list of 16 troubling items, some of which include important points the defense counsel did not challenge, important details he did not bring up at trial, or just plain unprofessional behavior exhibited by Defense Attorney Joel Thompson.

7.   Affidavit from Ian Brent Tilley, a physician and brother of Courtney Bisbee.  Dr. Tilley also states many troubling concerns of how Defense Attorney Joel Thompson defended Ms. Bisbee%u2019s case.  He says, %u201CAs a witness of Joel Thompson, Phillips Law Firm, during Courtney%u2019s trial, Joel Thompson never seemed prepared to litigate her case.  As the trial transcript demonstrates, he struggles with names and dates from beginning to end, despite the fact the claims involved only a very few people participating in a small number of events over a short period of time.  He consistently demonstrated his ignorance of even the most basic details of my sister%u2019s case.%u201D

8.   Courtney Valle Bisbee%u2019s 42 page Pro Per Motion for Release (with supporting documents is approximately 2 %uFFFD inches thick) recorded in the Superior Court, County of Maricopa, State of Arizona on November 16, 2007.  A pro per Motion for Release was also recorded in June, 2007.

Obviously, we are concerned with how this case has been handled with all this overwhelming new evidence proving that Ms. Bisbee is innocent and wrongfully imprisoned.  Quoting Ms. Bisbee%u2019s Pro Per Motion for Release %u201CIn Arizona, a defendant is entitled to have a conviction and sentence vacated after trial upon the presentation of new evidence which %u2018could not have been produced by the defendant at trial even with due diligence on his part and which is of such character as to create a probability that had such evidence been received at the trial the verdict would have been more favorable to the defendant.%u2019%u201D

Ms. Bisbee has been imprisoned and has not seen her young daughter in several years based on a lie, improper prosecution and ineffective defense counsel.  We feel this has been too long for an innocent person to be in prison when new evidence of her innocence was made available years ago.  Before her S.W.A.T. Team arrest on February 11, 2004 (No Search Warrant and No Arrest Warrant) she had no criminal record, was a 3.96 grade point average student on the verge of completing her Master%u2019s Degree in Elementary and Special Education.

What has been done to Ms. Bisbee is a travesty of justice.  She, her daughter and family are the true victims here.