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The Story of Belynda F. Goff

~~ An Innocent Incarcerated ~~

Belynda Goff has been incarcerated in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for over 15 years and has endured an immeasurable loss due to the incompetent miscarriage of justice applied to her by Carroll County Arkansas officials. With that being said, the intention is to provide evidential facts to verify her innocence. The information here will also confirm the prosecution’s failure to provide a proper investigation and an unbiased trial.  Belynda Goff was convicted of First Degree Murder and was sentenced on August 5, 1996 for the murder of her husband, Stephen E. Goff. Stephen was killed on June 12, 1994. He was discovered in his apartment by Belynda Goff at approximately 4:20 a.m.

Our sincerest gratitude goes out to you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to study this information. Belynda’s family and supporters remain strong in the resolve to return her to her loving family. This determination is only fueled by the full conviction, based not only on personal knowledge, but evidence that Belynda Goff is innocent.

There is a plethora of details regarding her case that will reveal the prosecution’s blunders and prejudice as well as a lack of action by the defense. We will be certain to include the most thorough and accurate information to expose these things.  Furthermore, there is documentation available to support all these findings.

 Furthermore, we have supported Belynda in reaching to the fullest extent of the legal system in our hope that her case could be resolved through the natural course of justice.  Yet after 16 years of striving for her freedom we realize that help of interested individuals may be the route that must be taken to ultimately bring an end to this struggle. Therefore, with the utmost integrity and honorable intentions we and our extended family are humbly asking for your help as we faithfully put our personal plight into the capable hands of others.

Bringing you up to where we are today, Mr. John Felts and Mr. John Belkin of the Arkansas Parole Board specifically gave the family recommendation for the following course of action......Simply put, they specifically asked if anyone had any political connection “to get our foot in the door”.  It was not necessarily a surprise when they made this statement, this has been an obvious need from the beginning. However, when they were told that there was no one with connections, the response was “that’s a shame”.  In other words, if you are seeking justice in Arkansas, it is not what you know but who you know.

During Belynda's clemency hearing the administrator of the meeting, Mr. Richard Mayes of the Arkansas Parole Board, admitted to a room full of suporters that he never read the clemency application. This file was filled with vital information including manipulated lab reports. Just a few short days later the clemency board voted unanimously that Belynda’s claims to innocence were unsubstantiated. This consensus was not from studying the material but by listening to Archie Rousey, the homicide investigator at the time of the crime. During a meeting with the board Rousey stated that there were two hammers found in the residence that "were consistent" with the wounds the victim suffered.  He failed to mention that the state crime lab found no DNA evidence on either hammers (that were tested twice at request of prosecution). In fact, there was there no blood or trace evidence of any kind on the hammers,  and the said hammers did not match the markings left on the wall behind the victim. 

Belynda's daughter, Bridgette Jones, along with the Senator Ruth Whitaker, who became interested in the case, met with Amy Click (Gov. Beebe’s corrections liaison at the time) asking that they take a conscientious look at the case.  We were grateful for this opportunity and for Senator Whitaker's support, but once the Governor had the information on his desk, he took "No Action." While no action is certainly better than a denial, it pretty much confirms what the parole board claimed, “the governor will never grant clemency in a murder case; it is political suicide." Again, justice is not dependent on facts but a mere popularity contest, or so it seems in Arkansas.

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