STORY: "Panel overturns rape conviction against Willie Grimes in 1987 Hickory rape," published by the Charlotte Observer on October 5, 20112;
GIST: "A panel of judges on Friday overturned the rape conviction of Willie Grimes, who was imprisoned for more than two decades for the sexual assault of a Hickory woman. Grimes has long said that he did not commit the crime, and a state panel ruled this spring that enough evidence of his innocence existed. It referred the case to a three-judge panel to decide whether the conviction should be overturned. The panel has been meeting since Monday.........Court offered Grimes no sense of vindication, only more problems. He had asked Hickory police for a “rape kit” after they arrested him for the crime. He said that request actually hurt him. In court the prosecution said there was a strand of hair belonging to a black man on the items of the white rape victim. In court the hair was never positively identified at Grimes’ hair, just the hair of an African American man. Grimes said that he was at a house more than a mile-and-a-half away with friends who all testified that he was at the house during the time of the rape. But that testimony did not sway his jury. There was other evidence that never made it into the Catawba County courtroom for jurors to hear like fingerprints."
The entire story can be found at:
GIST: "A panel of judges on Friday overturned the rape conviction of Willie Grimes, who was imprisoned for more than two decades for the sexual assault of a Hickory woman. Grimes has long said that he did not commit the crime, and a state panel ruled this spring that enough evidence of his innocence existed. It referred the case to a three-judge panel to decide whether the conviction should be overturned. The panel has been meeting since Monday.........Court offered Grimes no sense of vindication, only more problems. He had asked Hickory police for a “rape kit” after they arrested him for the crime. He said that request actually hurt him. In court the prosecution said there was a strand of hair belonging to a black man on the items of the white rape victim. In court the hair was never positively identified at Grimes’ hair, just the hair of an African American man. Grimes said that he was at a house more than a mile-and-a-half away with friends who all testified that he was at the house during the time of the rape. But that testimony did not sway his jury. There was other evidence that never made it into the Catawba County courtroom for jurors to hear like fingerprints."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/05/3578650/hearing-continues-in-1987-hickory.html
See Willie Grimes brief for his innocence hearing:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CFAQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.innocencecommission-nc.gov%2FForms%2Fpdf%2FGrimes%2FGrimes%2520full%2520scanned%2520Brief.pdf&ei=KVZxUJHjDILg0gHt5IDwDA&usg=AFQjCNFtJj1mDP9uHegZiZ5FexyRSHrr5Q&sig2=aQRp2LEWlH_cMVG2C7_1CQ
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site. One word of caution: It may take several weeks for content from current posts to respond to the search. Search away!
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
