Thursday, January 23, 2014

Darlie Routier: Texas; "Investing Innocence" has taken on her case - a case which hinges on controversial bloodstain pattern evidence, and is reminiscent of the prosecution of former Indiana police officer David Camm. Her life lies in the balance. "Must Read; HL);


POST: "Darlie Routier: Our featured case: "How long must she sit behind the prison bars of injustice," published by  "investigating innocence"

GIST: "Like the case of David Camm who was finally exonerated after serving 13 years in prison, Darlie Routier was accused and convicted of the brutal murders of her two precious children--based solely on controversial forensic evidence known as bloodstain pattern analysis. She suffered the trauma of having been awakened by an intruder who slit her throat.  This unknown assailant also stabbed her two boys sleeping next to her.  Darlie's 911 call is chilling and horrific.  Stricken with panic, fear, and the shock of having to watch the life drain out of the bodies of her two small boys, she nearly bled to death waiting for help to arrive.  And to make matters worse, she was tried, convicted and sentenced to death based on the testimony of Tom Bevel, a hired bloodstain pattern expert.  Bevel testified that he magnified small patterns of stains on the mother's nightshirt that he interpreted as cast-off patterns, which to him suggested that it was the mother who wielded the knife that killed her two children. Bevel was the same bloodstain expert who was responsible for the wrongful conviction of David Camm.  Camm, a ten year veteran of the Indiana State Police, was acquitted and set free on Oct. 24, 2013, after spending 13 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. ........Bloodstain scientists Terry Laber and Bart Epstein, who assisted with the defense of David Camm,  were hired by Darlie Routier’s public defenders.  They analyzed the bloodstain interpretations of Bevel and came to a different conclusion about these patterns.   They provided a favorable report to her defense attorneys.  However, the testimony of the prosecution’s bloodstain expert, Tom Bevel, went unchallenged.  A private attorney was hired by Darlie’s family a month before trial and failed to call Laber or Epstein.  He told the family he thought he could handle this through his cross-examination of Bevel.  The attorney kept the retainer for himself, and spared the family the expense of flying the experts to Dallas.........Darlie Routier, however, remains on death row in Texas, awaiting execution based on the same bloodstain interpretation evidence that convicted Julie Rea.  Private investigator Gary Dunn commented after the release of his client, David Camm: “Bloodstain evidence is mostly subjective.  One bloodstain expert said it’s like looking at the clouds, they all see something different”......... With this much uncertainty and doubt about the reliability of the interpretations of bloodstain experts like Tom Bevel, can we tolerate the execution of a woman who has always maintained her innocence.   Can we tolerate the execution of Darlie Routier, who by all appearance, was a crime victim, along with her children who died that night?
 
The entire post can be found at:

http://investigatinginnocence.org/Our_Featured_Case.html

See the Wikipedia entry: "In 2008 Routier was granted the right to new DNA tests. Her appeals have been remanded to the state level for improved DNA testing. Once all state-level testing has been completed, the testing ordered by the federal courts will begin. Routier remains incarcerated on death row located in Gatesville, Texas at the Mountain View Unit of the Texas Department Of Criminal Justice. She is assigned Department of Criminal Justice Identification Number 00999220. In 2013 Routier was featured in one episode of Werner Herzog's television show Death Row.[7] In December 2013 it was announced that recent exoneree David Camm had been hired as a case coordinator for Investigating Innocence, a national nonprofit that provides criminal-defense investigations for inmates, and that Routier would be his first case.[8] The cases are linked by the testimony of blood spatter expert, Tom Bevel. Supporters point to several cases where Bevel's testimony has been questioned, such as Jason Payne[9], Warren Horinek[10], David Camm, Timothy Masters, Ron Williamson, and Dennis Fritz."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie_Routier

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

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.

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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com;