Successful Atlanta entrepreneur Lance Herndon usually got what he wanted. But when he was found bludgeoned to death in his waterbed, it appeared he got more than he could handle.
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00:00I want to introduce you to Mr. Lance Herndon.
00:09Lance Herndon was young, he was attractive, he was an entrepreneur.
00:13Lance had three different girlfriends at the same time.
00:20No lack of suspects.
00:22They found him in his bed and his skull was caved in.
00:28I think every bone in his face was broken.
00:40Lance Herndon was a 41-year-old entrepreneur and prominent figure in Atlanta.
00:45He was recognized for his business achievements in the African-American community by countless
00:50Georgia-based organizations, as well as the George H. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.
00:56But all that success came to a tragic end when he was found bludgeoned to death in his
01:03suburban Atlanta mansion on the morning of August 8th, 1996.
01:07His family, friends, and neighbors were all shocked.
01:12No one could figure out who would do this to Lance Herndon and why.
01:22In the mid-90s, Atlanta was the place to be.
01:26No one wanted to be here, specifically if you were a Black American in the South.
01:31The Olympics was happening.
01:32It was making Atlanta seem like an international city.
01:35This was a place where you felt like you could come and live your dreams.
01:42I wanted to write about the new Atlanta.
01:46I wanted to write about Black people who were creating a nouveau riche, really.
01:52And so I wanted to write a cautionary tale about a Gatsby-esque figure who shows up in
02:02Atlanta and sort of pays a big price for sort of flying too close to the sun.
02:12Lance Herndon was a very interesting person.
02:15He was a who's who in Black Atlanta.
02:19He had achieved a great deal of success professionally.
02:23So Lance Herndon was cited by a couple of administrations, the Bush administration,
02:28the first Bush administration, as well as the Clinton administration for his entrepreneurship.
02:33His company, Access, Inc., was one of the fastest growing computer technology companies
02:38in the Southeast.
02:42He was young.
02:43He was attractive.
02:44He was an entrepreneur.
02:46He had a very nice home.
02:47He had lots of cars.
02:48He lived his life to the fullest.
02:50Lance Herndon was a charming, charming guy.
02:53Everybody liked Lance Herndon.
02:54You know, women, men.
02:56He was kind of a flirt.
02:58He really was the sort of guy that everyone wanted to know.
03:06So Lance Herndon kept his office in his home.
03:11And so he had workers in the home.
03:13They didn't have access to the living quarters, but they had access to the office suite.
03:21One sort of custom of his was that he would dictate directions to his employees on a tape
03:28recorder.
03:29He would do it routinely.
03:32And so on this morning, those tapes weren't there.
03:36And it set off some alarms for the staff.
03:40And so they called his mom.
03:42She came over, and she went upstairs.
03:46And that's when they heard this scream.
03:50For Lance Herndon's mother, it was a horrifying discovery.
03:53Her 41-year-old son was lying bleeding in his bed.
03:56Mrs. Herndon made a frantic call to 9-1-1.
03:59Emergency.
04:00Somebody killed my baby.
04:01Okay, where's your baby?
04:02Okay.
04:03Tell me what's going on.
04:04I don't know.
04:05I came in the house.
04:06He's 40 years old.
04:07I found him in the bed.
04:12She called 9-1-1.
04:15When they arrived, they found him in his bed with his arms sort of crossed over him, and
04:23he was nude.
04:25And his skull was bludgeoned and caved in.
04:30The garage door was partially open, but there was no sign of forced entry, no sign of robbery.
04:36Police said the highly respected businessman suffered blunt trauma to the head.
04:40Right now, there was no weapon located at the scene.
04:43The investigators interviewed neighbors and conducted a search of the area for evidence.
04:52There were no signs of any forced entry to the home, and on first glance, there was nothing
04:57taken from the home.
04:58And so at the time that he was discovered by family members, it was a real whodunit.
05:04But it was clear that it was a crime of passion.
05:08That's what they felt, like whoever had done this knew him.
05:15There was a picture of one of his girlfriends, Kathy Collins, on one of the dressers, and
05:21the face of it was turned down.
05:24She was kind of in a teddy, and it was an intimate photograph.
05:28It definitely raised questions about who put the picture face down, right?
05:34Why didn't they want to see that?
05:36The police had conducted interviews of many people, but fundamentally, there was no smoking
05:42gun and there was no arrow that really pointed to a person who was responsible.
05:48With Jackie Herndon by his side this morning, Mayor Bill Campbell said he hopes offering
05:53a $12,000 reward will shake loose a lead and eventually an arrest.
05:59This is a very difficult and gruesome murder for all of us.
06:05Lance had three different girlfriends at the same time, and it was just a chaotic scene
06:15where two or three women would be at the house on the same night.
06:21And I think most people would agree it is just not possible to sustain that type of
06:27a lifestyle.
06:29At the same time, he had people that were very angry with him about business dealings.
06:35He owed money.
06:36He had recently had several confrontations about money.
06:41He had financial problems.
06:42He probably had debts that nobody doesn't even know about.
06:45So there were plenty of people who might very well have wanted Lance Herndon dead.
06:49No lack of suspects.
06:51As Roswell police investigate the crime, Fulton County deputies stand guard in front of the
06:56home.
06:57The Herndon family has hired more protection because at this point, they still don't have
07:01a clue about who murdered 41-year-old Lance Herndon.
07:08I think that people were very surprised in the community that Lance lived in.
07:12It was relatively quiet.
07:14It was wealthy.
07:16They certainly did not see a lot of homicides.
07:18There was a sense that this Roswell Police Department may have been a little over its
07:23head.
07:24When the Roswell Police Department brought their case to the Fulton County District Attorney's
07:29Office for assistance, there wasn't a whole lot there.
07:33Well, it wasn't really until the Georgia Bureau of Investigation kind of moved in that it
07:38just got that sense that, look, we have this now.
07:42Let the big boys handle it.
07:45There were no fingerprints.
07:46It apparently had been wiped down.
07:48That was enough for them to be very suspicious of her.
07:57Police have no murder weapon.
07:58No time of death and no motive.
08:01What they do have is a long list of possible suspects.
08:05They begin their investigation by interviewing his inner circle, which consists mainly of
08:10women with whom he's intimate.
08:17In a homicide case like this, the police look at all persons in his inner circle, and certainly
08:24the recent divorce between Janine and Lance was something that they looked at very carefully.
08:29So the first suspect would have naturally have been his ex-wife, Janine Herndon.
08:34She had actually was dating someone at the time.
08:37She was able to prove her whereabouts, and they quickly, quickly dismissed that.
08:45Talana Carraway was an old girlfriend of Lance Herndon, who at the time of his death worked
08:52in a part-time basis as a receptionist in his home office.
08:58They were generally known to be very good friends.
09:01They shared lots of personal details with each other.
09:05She actually saw, went to Lance's house that night, but it was at a time that was incompatible
09:14with the time of death.
09:16So she was more or less excluded because of the timeline.
09:23The third suspect probably would have been Kathy Collins.
09:27That was his kind of girlfriend, the woman that he was seen with the most publicly.
09:35She had clothes at his home.
09:38They traveled together.
09:39I think he viewed her as his, someone that he might develop a longer-term relationship
09:46with.
09:48Kathy Collins, who we referred to as Miss Hollywood, she presented like, like some Hollywood
09:55starlet.
09:57Kathy Collins was at a restaurant near Lance's house with her niece, and apparently had stayed
10:07at that restaurant for several hours on the night Lance was killed.
10:14We thought it strange that she was so near the scene.
10:21And when I looked at her bill from the restaurant, it was only a few dollars.
10:31Sovereign Harris, as I understand it, was a business associate of, of Lance Herndon's,
10:37who at the time had some complaints and some disputes about financial issues between the
10:43two of them.
10:44He had made some threat, allegedly, that he would get back at Lance.
10:51And then Dionne Ball, who was his mistress, really, he was seeing her, he had been seeing
10:59her for a while, had been lavishing her with gifts, and she was married.
11:04Dionne Ball was a beautiful young woman.
11:07She worked at MARTA, which is the transit system here in Atlanta.
11:12And she was also a student.
11:13She went to Georgia State University.
11:17She was working.
11:18Lance Herndon walked in one day to the MARTA offices, and that presumably is when they
11:24saw each other.
11:25She would later learn that he was having a birthday party.
11:28She had really finagled her way to get invited to his birthday party, which would have been
11:35in April of that same year, about four months, roughly, before his death.
11:40And over the course of those four months, they developed a physical, mostly, relationship.
11:46Well, he'd give me money every week.
11:50He'd pay for my school fee and my medical.
11:53He basically gave me a credit card, too.
11:55He quickly puts her in a good life.
11:59He gives her a credit card.
12:00He gives her a Mercedes.
12:02He had a pretty strong relationship, and at some point, I think he just wasn't doing as
12:08well financially.
12:09And I don't know how many girlfriends he had.
12:11He probably had several.
12:13But he decided to cut back, and he basically asked her for his car back and a credit card
12:19back.
12:21Oh, no.
12:24What can $50 do?
12:25That's a lot of money.
12:28No, sometimes, it'd be $700.
12:32Sometimes, it'd be $500.
12:36Sometimes...
12:37Every week?
12:38Um, basically.
12:41Nice guy.
12:44Damn.
12:45I'm embarrassed.
12:46That's OK.
12:47I hope this is not on camera.
12:51Her husband, Sean Nelson, who lived in Jamaica, did, in fact, find out that his wife was cheating
12:58on him.
12:59There was a moment where Sean actually called Lance on the phone and confronted him.
13:06And that became kind of something that they ginned up as evidence as well, that Sean had
13:13maybe flown in and killed him and gotten back on a flight.
13:18So the police had the task of narrowing down these suspects, and they eventually came to
13:25focus on Dion as the primary suspect for several reasons that are all circumstantial.
13:48The police did not have a good case against Dion Baugh at all, but they did manage to
13:52find a single hair from Dion on his body and another one in the bed.
13:57There was some skin under his fingernails.
14:00Now, none of that really meant a whole lot because, I mean, she was having sex with him.
14:05The police had no evidence that Dion was on the scene that night.
14:12I mean, obviously, there was the DNA, but that's not time specific.
14:17So the DNA of a lover and the other lover's bed is not compelling evidence of when she was there.
14:48No, because I didn't come right back from the airport.
14:52I stayed there until they got on the plane, and then I came back.
15:01Dion Baugh claimed at the time, when she was interviewed by police, that she was actually
15:06at home on the night that Lance Herndon was actually murdered.
15:10But she also contended that Lance Herndon had come to her home about 9.30 in the evening
15:17to bring her a laptop computer for her to use to do schoolwork.
15:22He only stayed for a few minutes, and then he left and returned to his home.
15:41I just wanted to be there by myself.
15:44There wasn't an eyewitness at all putting her there.
15:47There were no fingerprints.
15:48It apparently had been wiped down.
15:50I don't think they found any fingerprints.
15:52That was enough for them to be very suspicious of her.
15:56The big break in the case was when I got a phone call from a lawyer here in town.
16:01We learned some very interesting and damaging evidence.
16:11With no hard evidence tying Dion Baugh to the murder, detectives focused on her claim
16:16that Lance himself brought a laptop computer to her home on the evening he was killed.
16:24Did you know he was coming?
16:26Did I know he was coming?
16:27Yeah.
16:28Yeah, because he told me that, you know, if you're going to come over here, I'll stop by there.
16:33And I said, well, I really don't feel like any company.
16:36And then he said, well, I'm coming anyway.
16:38And I said, well, okay, well, you come and bring the computer then.
16:41And that's when he brought the computer.
16:48I have a computer, but I loaned it to my aunt, so I needed one in the house,
16:52and I didn't feel like going back to the office.
16:54So I told him to bring a portable one.
16:57Did the computer have the case, the cover to it?
17:00No.
17:01Nothing?
17:02No, no. He just gave it to me just like that.
17:05Lance could be really fastidious.
17:08He was a guy who never let his laptop computer leave without the bag.
17:16And so that computer was found at Dion Ball's home in a closet without the bag.
17:27So the case started to turn on when the computer left that office and wound up at her home.
17:37Right now there's about four people that swear that he was at his house working in his office until 10.30.
17:47I don't know what to tell you.
17:48I know he came over there, he gave me the computer, and he gave me the credit card, and then he left.
17:54They thought they had a lie with the laptop.
17:57It looked pretty strong that there was a lie.
17:59Still wasn't a lot of evidence about when he delivered the laptop, but it was something.
18:03And the forensic evidence they had, I think their biggest view on that was
18:09Lance Herndon was supposedly so meticulous with his cleanliness
18:12that he wouldn't have her skin under his fingernails unless he had had sex with her that night or that day,
18:19and he wouldn't have had one of her hairs on his body, probably not even one in the bed.
18:25This was a guy who also wouldn't even eat spare ribs with his hands, you know?
18:31I mean, he ate it with a fork, right?
18:34This is a guy who showered three or four times a day.
18:38There were just certain things that were present in, on, and around his body
18:45that would not be expected to be there when you understand he was a person who washed his hands consistently, for instance.
18:56The big break in the case was when I got a phone call from a lawyer here in town
19:01who represented Sean Nelson, who was the husband of Dionne Ball.
19:06That indicated to me that Sean wanted to give me some information about my case.
19:12Sean Nelson and Dionne Ball were in the midst of a very contentious divorce here in Metro Atlanta.
19:18I had a chance to speak with Mr. Nelson and his lawyer and Mr. Nelson's mother,
19:24who had traveled here from Jamaica for the purposes of the divorce trial,
19:29and it was during that meeting that we learned some very, very, very interesting and damaging evidence against Ms. Ball.
19:39Dionne told the police that she had not been to Lance's house the night he was killed,
19:46but Dionne's mother-in-law later told police, no, Dionne told me that she was at the house.
19:56So the way the state prioritizes that is that's our break,
20:04and now we know that she was there and this contradicts everything else she's told us,
20:11and therefore she must be guilty.
20:14That statement from the mother-in-law is what actually got the trial going.
20:23Mr. Nelson described for us an argument that he had had with Dionne Ball,
20:28and ultimately that argument led her to say something to the effect of,
20:32if you keep messing with me, Sean, I'm gonna beat you upside the head the same way I did Lance.
20:38One of the elements of this story is that she could be really jealous,
20:44and there was a moment in which she'd come by and she looked through the window
20:52because Lance didn't answer the door, and Dionne saw Kathy Collins in the house,
21:00and Kathy had a nightgown on, and Lance very cowardly did not answer the door.
21:08Instead he called the cops, but in the end they arrested her because she didn't leave.
21:18So the next day she was supposed to go to court,
21:22and Lance was supposed to go and sort of get her off,
21:27to sort of say, big misunderstanding, da-da-da,
21:31and his calendar was always tight, and there was nothing on his calendar.
21:37So the thought is that she slept with him that night, he went to sleep,
21:43she went downstairs and saw that her case, which was coming up the following morning,
21:52was not on his calendar, and she was livid.
22:02The state had evidence, obviously, of a motive,
22:04because it appeared that Lance was losing interest in her.
22:07The state had some evidence of DNA,
22:10they had evidence that she'd been at the house that night,
22:13so clearly there was proximity, there was opportunity, and there was motive,
22:18and often that's all the prosecution needs to go forward.
22:23We're ready to go, Mr. Rucker, you ready?
22:25Sir.
22:26Okay, go right ahead.
22:27So it's all circumstantial, and Clint Rucker has one significant problem,
22:32and that is the murder weapon.
22:41The state's case against Dionne Baugh was light on evidence,
22:45and the evidence they did have was all circumstantial.
22:49For a savvy young assistant district attorney, it was the perfect challenge.
22:57We're ready to go, Mr. Rucker, you ready?
22:59Sir.
23:00Okay, go right ahead.
23:03I have been given the responsibility of presenting to you the case of the suspect,
23:08presenting to you the case of the state versus Mrs. Dionne Andrea Baugh.
23:16The evidence will show you that on August the 8th,
23:19Ms. Baugh was very angry, she confronted Mr. Herndon,
23:25and she killed him.
23:27Clint Rucker had that rare combination of really great street sense
23:34and intuition with kind of a real knowledge of the law
23:40and how to blend that in extraordinary ways with very little evidence at times.
23:47One of the things that you will not hear from in this case is an eyewitness.
23:54There were no eyewitnesses to this crime.
23:58And although the investigation in this case was thorough and it was exhaustive,
24:03you will not see the murder weapon.
24:08The police were not able to recover it.
24:11It will be the inconsistent words of the defendant
24:15and the inconsistent actions of the defendant
24:18that will prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
24:22This woman has been laboring under these accusations,
24:27under these innuendos, for six years of her life.
24:33And to this day,
24:38the state cannot tell you a time of death for Lance Herndon.
24:43They cannot tell you a murder weapon that killed Lance Herndon.
24:47They have no fingerprints of my client.
24:51They have no blood evidence related to my client.
24:56The defense pushed back by saying,
24:59look, Lance Herndon absolutely was a man about town.
25:04But within that, there were a lot of people that didn't like him.
25:08He had a lot of money floating around and debts that he owed.
25:13The Dionne Ball would have been the only woman who was scorned.
25:17I mean, that Lance Herndon kind of had a mark on him.
25:21They don't know if Lance Herndon was murdered by one of his other girlfriends
25:28and I'll tell you in a minute,
25:31by a jealous husband of any number of women he was dating,
25:38whether he was killed by somebody that was mad at him
25:41in conjunction with his business, in conjunction with his nightclub,
25:45in conjunction with his loans.
25:49They don't know.
25:52I wanted the jury to see that there's no real reason
25:59to believe that this one lady did it, Dionne Ball,
26:04compared to the three or four other lovers and the bad business dealings.
26:12Why is it that the state is so convinced that she did it
26:16in the absence of any real direct evidence?
26:20As you step on into the room there, you see the victim laying there.
26:24You can readily see that he had been bludgeoned very severely.
26:28The blood spatter on the wall showed that he had been struck numerous times.
26:35The first blow was to the back of the head.
26:37He was sitting on the bed.
26:39That blew it by itself, if it came down hard enough, would have killed him
26:43because that's the softest part of the skull.
26:45But after that, she just battered his face at least 10, 12 times with blows
26:51that pretty much devastated it and made it, you know, very personal.
26:55How did you set up the interview of Miss Ball on the 17th?
26:59We called her and asked her to come to the office to talk to us.
27:03Did she agree to do so?
27:04Yes, sir.
27:05If I'd known, I was going to go on camera and look better.
27:09At that time, who were suspects?
27:14There were several.
27:15I mean, the people who were within his life.
27:19Hadn't ruled anybody out yet?
27:21No.
27:22It seemed to me that we found out, you know, that he was seeing all kinds of young ladies.
27:27Really?
27:28He had a lot going on.
27:31And I was kind of curious, you know, why you would put up with that?
27:35Why did you stay with him when he was cheating on you?
27:40Because I didn't know.
27:42The one time when I went, well, the one time I saw that girl in there,
27:46I never said anything to him.
27:48That one I just kind of dismissed.
27:50But the night when I got arrested, I got upset.
27:52I said, obviously there was something going on
27:55and maybe I need to terminate this relationship right here and now.
27:58And he swore to me that there, I mean, he told me so many different stories.
28:02I really don't know which one to believe, to be honest with you, even till today.
28:06When they played the police interview with her, the court was very quiet.
28:10Obviously, in that interview, she comes across as someone who felt very jilted by Lance
28:17and very wronged by Lance.
28:19Did you know that he was going to end the relationship?
28:22End what relationship?
28:23With you?
28:24That he didn't plan on it?
28:25No.
28:26I was the one who told him that I wanted out of the relationship.
28:30Well, the way, the other side of the coin was he was the one who wanted that
28:34end the relationship and take the car.
28:36Who said that?
28:37Well, it's, there's tapes and besides people.
28:41So he was going to terminate the relationship with me?
28:44I can't imagine it not having an impact on the jury at that time.
28:48Of the questioned head hair, the five that you recovered from the victim's body
28:54in the medical examiner, were you able to get a match from those head hairs?
28:59There were two head hairs that could have originated from Dion Baugh.
29:04Three head hairs that were consistent with Lance Herndon.
29:08Of course, there was evidence that linked her to the house.
29:11They were lovers.
29:12She spent a lot of time at the house.
29:14You just have two hairs and a little bit of skin among two people who were sexually involved
29:19with each other.
29:20Doesn't seem like a lot of evidence.
29:22In fact, you can't testify as to how long the cubic hairs of Ms. Baugh
29:29and or head hairs of Ms. Baugh have been there, can you?
29:32No, I cannot.
29:33What complicated the DNA evidence was that Lance Herndon was quite the playboy.
29:40And so there were a lot of women in and out of his bedroom.
29:45Now, were any hairs ever found that in fact actually excluded my client?
29:50There were two head hairs from the tape lifts that did not match the known head hair of Dion Baugh.
29:58There were also three pubic hairs from the victim's right side that did not match Dion Baugh.
30:06So it's all circumstantial, and Clint Rucker has one significant problem,
30:10and that is the murder weapon.
30:13During the course of the investigation, we discovered that the murder weapon was a crescent wrench,
30:20much like this one.
30:22This wrench, or something similar to it, is the closest thing of all,
30:26because it has characteristics that satisfy the injury patterns on his face and head.
30:32The medical examiner was able to talk to the jurors and explain how even the striated toggles
30:39left marks on the face of Lance Herndon that were consistent with the wrench
30:45when we laid it down against the photographs.
30:48It was really just phenomenal testimony about how Mr. Herndon was killed.
30:53Clint Rucker, it looked like he himself could have put the entire case into jeopardy.
30:58It was a huge deal.
31:01The state's case clung to two hairs of DNA and a potential murder weapon.
31:07Would it be enough to convince a jury of Dion Baugh's guilt?
31:11Assistant D.A. Clint Rucker believed it would,
31:14but William Quinn and the defense were not going down without a fight.
31:21The state has to put a dagger through her heart by showing that she killed him.
31:28Where is the evidence that she's killed someone?
31:32Where is the evidence of any bad feeling on her part for Lance Herndon?
31:38They cannot find a murder weapon, so they buy a murder weapon.
31:43They thought they had a case because there was a pubic hair,
31:48and they thought they had a case because there was a head hair.
31:52When the medical examiner says those hairs could have been there from sex
31:58and could have been there for days,
32:00then how could you ever convict somebody of murder from those hairs?
32:06If there's any reasonable explanation other than her guilt, it's your job.
32:11It's your job to find her not guilty for a lot of people.
32:17Your verdict will bring a sense of closure.
32:20You will finally, finally bring his killer to justice.
32:31He was 41 years old at the time of his death.
32:35It's not right, and this is what is defensive.
32:43And this is what this defendant did to him.
32:48It is not right.
32:52Basically, it was a weak case on evidence.
32:55He had a strong prosecutor because the prosecutor made a very compelling closing argument.
33:01Convict this defendant of each and every count in the state's bill of indictment.
33:06Do not let her escape.
33:10I didn't feel like it was a slam dunk in this case.
33:12I was anxious about it, but I certainly felt like I had done the best that I could do.
33:22Will you publish the verdict?
33:24Yes, sir.
33:25We, the jury, found the defendant, Dionne Ball, guilty of murder.
33:30Dramatic win, maybe undercut by a dramatic misstep by the prosecutor
33:37after he won his conviction.
33:39It looked like he himself could have put the entire case into jeopardy.
33:43Mr. Quinn, you made a motion for mistrial based on what factors?
33:49My motion for mistrial was that the prosecutor, in the middle of the case,
33:54it was determined that he was not in good standing with the state bar.
34:00Clint Rucker had neglected to pay his membership dues to the bar.
34:05It was a huge deal.
34:07Mr. Rucker, you will admit, won't you, that at the time we started this trial,
34:12you were not in good standing with the state bar?
34:15Yes, that appears to be the case.
34:17There is law that says that if the prosecutor is not licensed,
34:22then the whole formality is wasted.
34:26The trial is wasted.
34:28The defendant is entirely betrayed by a member of the bar.
34:32I expect him to play by the same rule I do,
34:35and when he don't play by the rules, there's consequences.
34:38The consequence in this case is a mistrial.
34:41The judge, he didn't throw the case out.
34:44I'm going to allow the jury verdict to stand,
34:47and we're ready for sentencing in the case.
34:51Ultimately, the law allows for the prosecution of a case,
34:56even though the administrative fees have not been paid,
35:00and so we quickly rectified that,
35:03and of course the judge ruled correctly.
35:06The court sentences life imprisonment in the malice murder conviction.
35:12Dionne Ball was sentenced to life in prison, and off she went.
35:16And the family and I, along with the community,
35:19believed that the case was closed until a very, very good lawyer
35:24was hired to handle her appeal
35:27before the Supreme Court here in Georgia.
35:30We got involved in the Dionne Ball case
35:33originally right after the first trial when she was in jail,
35:36and we did the appeal.
35:38It was actually an evidentiary error,
35:40which led to the reversal of the first conviction.
35:42It was the use of hearsay in that a police officer
35:45was allowed to testify to what everybody told him.
35:48She was parked in her car.
35:50Again, this is all hearsay.
35:52Somebody told him where people parked.
35:54I want to hear from the people as to where they parked,
35:56and I want to hear from the police officer.
35:58I was about to have a stroke of objecting.
36:01I think I objected to that like 21 times.
36:04This is hearsay, and there's another thing I want to object to.
36:07This was improper bolstering with hearsay,
36:10and the Supreme Court agreed with that position.
36:15For the second trial, Dionne Ball just came loaded up.
36:19They attacked his character, trying to paint him as a cad.
36:24I got a note just a few minutes ago.
36:39Dionne Ball's second trial began in October of 2003,
36:43seven years after Lance Herndon was found bludgeoned to death
36:47in his Roswell, Georgia, mansion.
36:49Clint Rucker once again would lead the prosecution,
36:52but Ms. Ball had a new defense team, and they were all stars.
37:00I speak for Dionne Ball.
37:02I, along with Don Samuel, have the privilege of representing her.
37:07She's charged with murder, felony murder,
37:09and she's charged with stealing a computer and credit card.
37:11You know that.
37:13To those charges, through us, she says,
37:16I didn't kill him, I didn't steal him, I'm not guilty.
37:21For the second trial, Dionne Ball just came loaded up.
37:26She had a couple of fantastic lawyers in Don Samuel and Tony Axum,
37:32and she just was able to start to put together
37:36a very, very compelling case that she hoped could get her off.
37:41The Lance Herndon of 41 years old
37:44had been recently divorced in January of 1996.
37:48This is his third marriage,
37:51and she will report he's divorced because of infidelity.
37:55He is having a relationship with other women while he's married,
38:00and that is only a tip of the iceberg.
38:03The second go-round, the defense focused a lot more
38:07on the character of Mr. Herndon.
38:10He would enact his character repeatedly,
38:13trying to paint him as a cad, a womanizer,
38:18in that manner kind of suggesting
38:21that maybe he got a little bit of what he deserved.
38:26The strategy of the second trial wasn't terribly different
38:28than the strategy of the first trial.
38:30It remained a circumstantial case.
38:32The prosecution's case did not improve over time.
38:34The prosecution was still going with motive, opportunity,
38:38Before you can return a verdict,
38:40the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
38:44that they have proven their case,
38:47that the defendant is guilty.
38:50I will submit to you when you consider
38:53the evidence in this case,
38:55when you consider the lack of evidence,
38:57and when you consider contradictions in the evidence,
39:01that they have not even met the preponderance standard.
39:04They have not even proved that it's more likely than not.
39:08And what I want to do
39:10is I want to introduce you to Mr. Lance Herndon.
39:14The state's case really required the jury
39:18to forfeit the beyond a reasonable doubt standard
39:21and just say it had to be her
39:23because we haven't seen any good alternatives.
39:28I got a note just a few minutes ago,
39:33and it says Judge Baxter, the jury,
39:38is hopelessly deadlocked, signed by the foreperson,
39:43and I'm going to bring him out, declare a mistrial,
39:46and I guess we'll start over.
39:53They were not going to get a conviction.
39:55It was not going to be a unanimous verdict,
39:57and Judge Baxter said,
39:59okay, forget it, we'll start over again.
40:03I think most defense lawyers would tell you
40:05if the client walks out of the courtroom
40:07the same door that you walk out of, it's a win.
40:09Of course, you know, the downside is
40:11you got to start trial number three.
40:13I was prepared to go back to trial a third time
40:16until the untimely death of Special Agent Sam House
40:20from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
40:22He was the person who processed the Lance Herndon crime scene.
40:27The testimony that he provided
40:29could only have been provided by him,
40:31and so with his death, we were automatically put in a position
40:35that led us to conclude that we would have to compromise
40:39and make some offer in the case,
40:42something that would perhaps hold her accountable
40:45with a sentence that was less than a life sentence.
40:49She knew her life wasn't coming to an end,
40:52and she made, I think, a rational decision,
40:54whether she's guilty or not.
40:56I'm not a judge.
40:57She said, I'm willing to accept that offer and put this behind us.
41:13After eight years, Dionne Baugh admits to the judge for the first time
41:17that she killed her former boyfriend,
41:20prominent Roswell businessman Lance Herndon.
41:24Mr. Herndon's family were in agreement with us
41:27to resolve the case in this manner.
41:30Quite frankly, Jackie Herndon, Lance Herndon's mother,
41:33was emotionally worn out.
41:36She took a plea of guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter
41:42and received a 10-year sentence.
41:44I'm just glad for it.
41:46There's no closure, but at least it's ended.
41:54In 2011, when Dionne was released from prison,
41:58I attempted to find her.
42:00I was not successful.
42:01I did manage to find one of Dionne's relatives
42:04who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity,
42:07and this relative indicated that while they did not know where Dionne was
42:12and had not spoken to her in quite some time,
42:15they said that they hoped that with Dionne's release and her moving on,
42:19that both families would be able to find some peace.
42:24So when I think about this case,
42:26I think about a card that Harrison Herndon, Lance's son,
42:35who was about 4 years old when his dad was murdered,
42:39and that was a little card that said,
42:43Hey, Dad, I miss making donuts with you.
42:47And then I think about the crime scene photographs.
42:52No person should ever have to die like that.
42:58Whoever did this should pay.
43:02And 7 years, if in fact she did it,
43:06that ain't enough for what happened in that bedroom
43:10and the way she left his skull just shattered,
43:15and so many lives shattered as well.
43:22Dionne Baugh has maintained a low profile
43:24since her release from prison in July of 2011.
43:28She's managed to avoid the media,
43:30and as of this taping, her whereabouts are unknown.
43:34I'm Tamron Hall. Thank you for watching Someone They Knew.