BWI & Attorney Rodger Waynick Overcome Shocking Abuses of Power to Defend Client Accused of Murder in Suicide Case

In January 2017, a man shot himself, dying by suicide. In the coming months, an overzealous detective with a questionable background targeted a man with a criminal record, falsely accusing him of murder in the suicide case.

The injustice didn’t stop there. The Middle Tennessee case was rife with shocking abuses of power that highlighted how a client “known to law enforcement” would have been railroaded by police and prosecutors if not for diligent defense lawyers, private investigators, and crime scene analysts.

Berry-Waltz Investigations (BWI) of Nashville, TN, private investigator Alan Charvis of Clarksville, TN, and Criminal Defense Attorney Rodger Waynick of Dickson, TN, recently partnered together to piece together the truth and resolve the case in which:

• A client with a past criminal record was charged with first-degree premeditated murder in a case that was clearly suicide. The suicide occurred when the client (whose name is being withheld) was not present.
• The overzealous detective targeting the client had been fired from several departments – including the Metro Nashville Police Department – for withholding evidence, lying on his own employment record, and misrepresenting facts to obtain a search warrant. A panel of Metro Nashville chiefs of police had recommended decommissioning the detective, stripping him of his status as a police officer, but he was never decommissioned. He still works in law enforcement.
• The detective kept key evidence in an unsecured boot box under his desk, mixed with evidence from other cases.
• The detective intimidated witnesses to secure false statements to bolster his trumped-up case: “We have recordings and documents from witnesses showing they were told what to say, and they said the detective said he didn’t care if this case ever went to trial, but he would do whatever he could to keep [our client] in jail rest of his life,” Rodger Waynick says.
• Prosecutors asked a responding police officer to change his original statement five years after the fact to be unfavorable to the client. The responding officer originally stated the incident was a suicide but was asked to retract his statement – a fact attorney Rodger Waynick discovered after demanding to see all the evidence.
• The medical examiner was shocked anyone was charged, as he had ruled the incident a suicide.
• As the client awaited trial, law enforcement moved the client to far-flung jail facilities that were hours away from his attorney to make preparing his defense more difficult.
• The client spent 66 months in jail awaiting trial before his case was resolved.

“There was no part of this case untouched with corruption on the state’s side,” Rodger Waynick says.

Johnny Lawrence of BWI Reviews Evidence

BWI Crime Scene Analyst Johnny Lawrence said his review of the evidence and crime scene photos showed “beyond a reasonable doubt that this was definitely a suicide and could not have been anything else. This could not have been staged.”

Johnny credited Rodger Waynick, a relatively new attorney, with doing an outstanding job defending the client.

Rodger Waynick attended law school after a life-changing incident prompted his career switch from engineering. He and his wife were attacked by her ex-husband, and Rodger shot her ex-husband in self-defense. “The police arrested me, and I had to hire an attorney,” Rodger says. “I was eventually cleared, and the shot guy was indicted.

“The attorney charged me $10,000 for one case, he didn’t return phone calls or respond to emails, and he did not even tell me about a court date one time. He has now been disbarred and is still in federal prison for stealing from a client.”

Rodger Waynick Treats Clients as He Would Want to Be Treated

The poor treatment Rodger received from his own lawyer during such a challenging, traumatic time absolutely floored him – and prompted him to go to law school.

“I work cases like how I wanted mine worked and treat my clients how I wanted to be treated,” Rodger says. “I was able to jump right into a case where my client was frustrated by mistreatment. I was fortunate enough to be able to represent him.”

In August 2019, Rodger spent two days visiting with the client in a jail 2.5 hours away from the county in which the client was charged. He took the client’s statement and went through all the discovery they had at the time.

“We were able to start talking to witnesses, finding out the whole story. My client wasn’t even there when the man committed suicide, but there were other people in the house. Everybody involved was well-known to law enforcement,” Rodger says. “When we started contacting them, we found out there were threats being made unless they would say certain things and, in several cases, they were told exactly what to say.”

Johnny Lawrence’s Expertise Is Sought

Rodger was working with private investigator Alan Charvis, who recommended Rodger contact preeminent Crime Scene Analyst Johnny Lawrence of BWI.

Johnny Lawrence gained his crime scene expertise by being involved in nearly 1,000 homicide investigations, in addition to other types of death investigations, since 1982. He is a former Nashville Metropolitan Police Department detective. Johnny has completed extensive training in crime scene investigations and bloodstain patterns during his 39-year career and now provides similar training to lawyers and other independent investigators.

“Johnny was able to look at the crime scene photographs and some of the lab reports, and he explained everything in such simple terms that we had no doubt this was absolutely a suicide,” Rodger says. “Johnny Lawrence did an amazing job of not only educating me, but in helping me prepare how I could explain this evidence to the jury.

“Johnny’s involvement was totally a game changer,” Rodger says. “The way he explained things has made me look at even other cases differently.”

On-Site Review Finds Key Evidence

Rodger was able to go on-site to examine physical evidence at the sheriff’s department after multiple delays and push-back from prosecutors. Some evidence was locked in a vault, but other pieces of evidence were in a boot box in the detective’s office.

One of Rodger’s key finds was the responding officer’s original statement that the incident was a suicide. Prosecutors, however, had prepared a revised statement for the responding officer and had turned only the revised statement over to Rodger.

Shortly thereafter, “I received a phone call from the sheriff that the case needed to settle” and prosecutors made an offer.

Rodger says his client decided to take an offer that resolved the first-degree premeditated murder and other pending charges in exchange for concurrent sentences and release from jail after 66 months awaiting trial. “His plea eliminates any course of legal action we can take,” Rodger says. “He just wanted it to be over. A sure thing was much better for him than taking a risk. He lost a lot during this process – he had family and close friends die while he was in jail. In the end, this resolution was positive for him because my client wants to live his life.”

Offering Insight to Other Lawyers

Rodger says he invites defense attorneys to contact him for details about the detective, sheriff’s office, and prosecutors’ office.

“I think the best course of action that I can take is to share the materials I have with other defense attorneys and to make them aware when this department is associated with cases where people are truly innocent.”

He says quickly bringing on talented crime scene experts and private investigators is essential to truly digging into the facts of a case and mounting a strong defense.

“I believe the number of cases in which the evidence does not suggest guilt is a lot higher than the public would want to believe,” Rodger says. “It’s easy to get someone indicted. There’s a saying in Tennessee, ‘You can indict a ham sandwich.’ And then you must prove your innocence more than that state has to prove guilt. You’re presumed guilty until proven innocent, is what I tell my clients. … And that’s why bringing the experts in, like Johnny Lawrence, as soon as possible is absolutely crucial.”

For more information, contact BWI at (615) 646-0860 or fill out this form. To reach attorney Rodger Waynick, please call (615) 326-4529 or fill out the following form.