Parole sought by cop shooter

Attorneys for William J. Barnes convinced a jury in May that he was not responsible for the death of a Philadelphia police officer who died of an infection 41 years after Barnes shot and paralyzed him.

Now, Barnes' attorneys are trying to convince Pennsylvania's parole board that he should be released from prison - where he has resided for more than three years because of technical parole violations.

Barnes, 74, was arrested in August 2007, two days after former Officer Walter Barclay died. Though Barnes shot him during a 1966 burglary and served 16 years in prison, city prosecutors said that the death was a direct result of the shooting and filed murder charges.

At the time of his arrest, at the Roxborough supermarket where he worked, Barnes had been paroled from prison and had a cell phone and car keys in his pocket. Having those items without his parole officer's permission violated his parole terms and is why he is still in prison despite beating the murder charges.

Barnes' attorneys sent a brief in support of his release to the nine-member parole board last week and received notice that he will receive an interview with board representatives in a week or two, said Samuel W. Silver, the lead attorney.

"Anybody who has seen Bill in the last three years knows he is not a risk to public safety. He is an old man who is hobbled," said Silver, who noted that Barnes had a heart attack in 2006 and had been remorseful and productive before being rearrested.

"He's exactly what you want somebody to be who has been in prison," Silver said.

Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron, the lead prosecutor in the murder trial, said Barnes committed crimes even after shooting Barclay and should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

After being released from prison in the early 1980s for Barclay's shooting, Barnes was convicted and imprisoned for two robberies, for escaping from prison and for possessing a weapon while escaping.

"Do I think he should be paroled?" asked Cameron. "No. He has a lifelong history of committing crimes. I don't think that he is rehabilitated."