Another charge was filed this week against a man who served nearly 15 years for a sexual assault another man was later convicted of.
Joseph A. Buffey, 34, was charged Monday with fraudulent schemes. He is alleged to have passed a fraudulent check for about $1,150 at a Clarksburg Kroger in September.
Buffey's trial is set to begin Oct. 11 in Harrison County Circuit Court, said Mike Hissam, one of his lawyers.
In 2002, Buffey pleaded guilty after a nine-hour interrogation and after his court-appointed lawyer advised him that his sentences would not be any greater than the sentences he would receive for separate non-violent robbery charges.
Soon after, Buffey asked to recant his plea and requested the results of the DNA test. The test had been completed - and indicated Buffey was not the assailant - prior to his plea being finalized, but neither he nor his lawyer had ever seen the results, despite asking for them.
The state Supreme Court found in February that Harrison County prosecutors violated Buffey's due-process rights by not disclosing the results of a DNA test before Buffey pleaded guilty. Justices unanimously sent Buffey's case back before a Harrison County circuit judge, where he was allowed to withdraw from the plea.
After the high court's ruling Harrison Circuit Judge Thomas Bedell recused himself from the case. Harrison Circuit Judge J. Lewis Marks will preside over the trial, which will be at Marks' bench, without a jury.
A December jury trial is set on the charges a Harrison County grand jury indicted Buffey on last month. Prosecutors presented more allegations to a grand jury against Buffey, because he withdrew from the plea deal.
In addition to charges stemming from the deal he withdrew from, Buffey was indicted Friday on charges of third-degree sexual assault, aiding and abetting breaking and entering and conspiracy to commit breaking and entering. Those charges stem from more than 20 years ago and allege Buffey assaulted a girl in her early teens when he was 19. The charges also accuse Buffey of a break-in at an animal clinic.
The charge filed Monday states that Buffey went to the Kroger store on Sept. 26. Clarksburg police Lt. Jason Snider filed the charge. Buffey was awaiting next week's trial on bail and on home confinement. A magistrate set a $5,000 bond Monday.
On Tuesday, Hissam said lawyers were working to free Buffey from the North Central Regional Jail so he could help with their trial preparation.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.