Sunday, May 17, 2015

Pedro Hernandez: New York; Etan Patz murder case: Publisher's View: (Editorial); How far will the New York police go outside of court to make sure that they win the retrial? Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.


PUBLISHER'S VIEW:  I have enormous sympathy for Stan Patz, father of a son, whose murder has not been resolved for so many years. But I cannot summon the same support for the New York  police officers on the case who must have been aware of the impact that a mistrial, such as the one that occurred would have on Mr. Patz  - and yet permitted him to talk to the media and risk damaging Mr. Hernandez's right to a fair trial on the  inevitable retrial. The police are only too  aware that the criminal prosecution is not about the injured party (the crime victim)  bringing a suspect to justice. To the contrary, in America's British-based criminal justice system, the prosecution is brought by the state on behalf of the people against the accused - to minimize the personal element.  Jurors, and prospective jurors, must  feel that they can  freely and safely perform their duties  free of interference from the accused -  and  from crime victims. In a previous Publisher's view, I commented on an anonymous quote to Columnist Hamil that the police needed "a win."  Permitting Mr. Patz to talk to the media is a sign that the New York police will  go  to extreme lengths outside of court to secure that win on the retrial.  Pedro Hernandez, Adam Sirois -  and New York's criminal justice system -  deserve a lot more from New York's finest than this.

Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

COMMENTARY:  "Hamill: Etan Patz's father criticizes holdout juror who caused mistrial," by Denis Hamil, published by the new York Daily News on May 16, 2015.

SUB-HEADING:  "Stan Patz, father of Etan Patz, talks to the media after a mistrial in his son's murder case on May 8."

SUB-HEADING: "Adam Sirois stood his ground and voted to acquit Pedro Hernandez in the murder of Etan Patz Friday, May 8, 2015 in Manhattan."

SUB-HEADING:  "Etan Patz was 6 when he was last seen in 1979."

SUB-HEADING:  "Surrounded by fellow jurors, Adam Sirois, seated left, raises his hand confirming he was the lone holdout juror, after a judge declared a mistrial for Pedro Hernandez."

SUB-HEADING:  "How the News covered the mistrial."

SUB-HEADING:  "Pedro Hernandez (pictured) confessed to the killing, but Sirois said he didn't find confession credible."

GIST:  “I think Adam Sirois is a stubborn egoist,” the angry dad said on Saturday morning. “That statement attributed to him in your newspaper that ‘I will keep everyone here for months’ alone tells you that. The other jurors were very unhappy with him. Seven of them are so outraged and embarrassed that they couldn’t convict Pedro Hernandez that they have sought a meeting with lead prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon to assist her in convicting him in a second trial. If there is a second trial.”.........“The defense had psychologist experts testify that Hernandez has a schizotypal personality, on the schizophrenic spectrum,” he says. “But if you pay psychologists enough money they can find something wrong with you or anyone. But this is a man who taught himself English and how to play the accordion on his own. He advised his daughter on how to use a credit card. Told his wife how to file tax returns. A man who never got fired from a job in his life for incompetency. I’ll tell you what’s ‘cuckoo’: Adam Sirois is cuckoo or looney saying that Hernandez’s confessions were some kind of police conspiracy. They didn’t give Hernandez the third degree. Believe me, I know what the third degree is. They gave my wife and I the third degree back in 1979. The cops did nothing to influence Hernandez’s confessions.”

The entire commentary can be found at:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/patz-dad-criticizes-juror-article-1.2225102

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.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;