Error in autopsy leads judge to overturn plea

COLUMBIA -- A judge has overturned the guilty plea of a Columbia man in the death of his girlfriend because of a typo in the victim's autopsy report that the judge called a "glaring error."

The report mentioned the victim had a gall bladder condition, even though the organ had been removed nine years earlier.

BeJay Harley, now serving 15 years in prison, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2005, accepting a plea deal after his murder conviction had been overturned by a different judge. But Mr. Harley decided to contest the plea because of the error.

Medical examiner Dr. Clay Nichols testified that the mistake was a typo and reiterated his findings that 45-year-old Grace Courtney died from head injuries after being kicked and beaten.

But Circuit Judge William Keesley said the mistake was important enough to bring Mr. Harley's plea into question.

"It was a glaring error in a document that virtually all people would presume to be one where accuracy is of the most extreme importance," Judge Keesley wrote. "It raised red flags about the accuracy of the methodology of the autopsy and the conclusions in the report."

Judge Keesley ruled Mr. Harley's original lawyers didn't give him adequate representation because they didn't discover the mistake before allowing him to plead guilty.

Prosecutors could not be reached to determine whether they plan to try Mr. Harley again.

Mr. Harley's lawyer for his appeal said a second pathologist reviewed the autopsy results and thinks Ms. Courtney died of a natural condition that caused random bleeding in her brain.

"While DNA has been used successfully to exonerate a lot of people, this case is an example where much older science was successfully used," Columbia attorney Tara Shurling said.