Countdown to Wrongful Conviction Day: Friday, October 2, 2105; 17 days. For information: http://www.aidwyc.org/wcd-2015/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: An Oklahoma district attorney is reported by the Guardian to have described efforts to introduce new evidence that could exonerate Richard Glossip as “a bullshit PR campaign” and "spreading a bunch of garbage." I can't help thinking about Marty Stroud, the prosecutor who far too late realized the ugly effect his own arrogance and insatiable drive to win the case: As Stroud wrote to the Shreveport Times; "This case is another example of the arbitrariness of the death penalty. I
now realize, all too painfully, that as a young 33-year-old prosecutor,
I was not capable of making a decision that could have led to the
killing of another human being..........At
the time this case was tried there was evidence that would have cleared
Glenn Ford. The easy and convenient argument is that the prosecutors
did not know of such evidence, thus they were absolved of any
responsibility for the wrongful conviction. I
can take no comfort in such an argument. As a prosecutor and officer of
the court, I had the duty to prosecute fairly. While I could properly
strike hard blows, ethically I could not strike foul ones.........The
jury was all white, Mr.
Ford was African-American. Potential African-American jurors were struck
with little thought about potential discrimination because at that time
a claim of racial discrimination in the selection of jurors could not
be successful unless it could be shown that the office had engaged in a
pattern of such conduct in other cases. And I knew this was a very
burdensome requirement that had never been met in the jurisprudence of
which I was aware. I also participated in placing before the jury
dubious testimony from a forensic pathologist that the shooter had to be
left handed, even though there was no eye witness to the murder. And
yes, Glenn Ford was left handed.All too late, I learned that the
testimony was pure junk science at its evil worst.......... In my
rebuttal argument during the
penalty phase of the trial, I mocked Mr. Ford, stating that this man
wanted to stay alive so he could be given the opportunity to prove his
innocence. I continued by saying this should be an affront to each of
you jurors, for he showed no remorse, only contempt for your verdict.
How totally wrong was I. I speak only for me and no one else. I
apologize to Glenn Ford for all the misery I have caused him and his
family. I apologize to the family of Mr. Rozeman for giving them the
false hope of some closure. I apologize to the members of the jury for
not having all of the story that should have been disclosed to them. I
apologize to the court in not having been more diligent in my duty to
ensure that proper disclosures of any exculpatory evidence had been
provided to the defense. “Looking
back at that period of time in my life, I was not a very nice person,
and I had no business trying a death case for the state. My unintended
victim, Glenn Ford. Glenn
Ford deserves every penny owed to him under the compensation statute.
This case is another example of the arbitrariness of the death penalty. I
now realize, all too painfully, that as a young 33-year-old prosecutor,
I was not capable of making a decision that could have led to the
killing of another human being. No one should be given the ability
to impose a sentence of death in any criminal proceeding. We are simply
incapable of devising a system that can fairly and impartially impose a
sentence of death because we are all fallible human beings. The
clear reality is that the death penalty is an anathema to any society
that purports to call itself civilized. It is an abomination that
continues to scar the fibers of this society and it will continue to do
so until this barbaric penalty is outlawed. Until then, we will live in a
land that condones state assisted revenge and that is not justice in
any form or fashion. I end with the hope that providence will have
more mercy for me than I showed Glenn Ford. But, I am also sobered by
the realization that I certainly am not deserving of it." My post on Stroud's agonizing outpouring can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2015/03/breaking-news-louisiana-glenn-ford-pure.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
"An
Oklahoma
district attorney has denounced claims that a death row inmate
scheduled to die this week is innocent as “a bullshit PR campaign”,
saying that legal representatives for the condemned prisoner have failed
to produce any new documentation supporting their argument. Attorneys for Richard Glossip, who are appealing to Governor Mary
Fallin for a 60-day stay of execution, held a press conference at the
Oklahoma state capitol on Monday to present new information they claim
supports efforts to exonerate him. Glossip – whose high-profile
supporters include former senators, the actor Susan Sarandon and
anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean – is scheduled to die
by lethal injection on Wednesday for the 1997 murder of his boss, Barry
Van Treese. “All they are trying to do is abolish the death penalty in the state
of Oklahoma and this country by spreading a bunch of garbage,” Oklahoma
County district attorney David Prater
told the local Fox 25 TV station
after attending Monday’s press conference. Prater, who did not
prosecute Glossip, told Fox 25 he believes Glossip is guilty and said
the man’s attorneys have refused to hand over to him any of the evidence
they presented on Monday. The evidence produced on Monday by defense attorney Don Knight
includes a sworn affidavit from a man who claimed to have heard a
confession from the man on whose testimony Glossip was convicted, Justin
Sneed. It also includes a statement from another man who claims the
prosecution’s argument that Glossip controlled Sneed was false. Sneed
is currently serving a sentence of life without parole at Joseph Harp
Correctional Center, a medium-security prison in Lexington, Oklahoma.
Glossip was convicted twice of Van Treese’s death, once in 1998 and
again in 2004 after his first verdict was thrown out for ineffective
council. Richard Allan Barrett, a man who claims to have been a friend of
Glossip’s brother, Bobby, and a drug dealer at the Best Budget Inn the
year Van Treese was killed, claimed Sneed had regularly used robbery to
finance a methamphetamine addiction that was more severe than
prosecutors had admitted."...Knight said attention to their investigation was producing witnesses that exonerate Glossip, but would benefit from more time. Fallon’s office has so far consistently denied efforts to secure a stay of execution."
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/14/oklahoma-richard-glossip-district-attorney-death-penalty