Sunday, November 20, 2016

Chris Tapp: Idaho: False confession case: Post Register; Bulletin: Important evidentiary hearing on Tuesday: "Tapp is serving 30 years to life for the 1996 murder of Angie Dodge, though many top experts have submitted reports finding that he was wrongfully convicted. Tuesday’s hearing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m., concerns Tapp’s allegation that Bonneville County prosecutors didn’t turn over tapes of some interrogation and polygraph sessions Tapp underwent ahead of his confession. Such evidence is called “Brady evidence” after the Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, in which the court ruled that prosecutors must turn over all evidence which tends to show a defendant isn’t guilty."..."(Public Defender) JohnThomas asked Stephens to allow Judges for Justice co-founder Mike Heavey, Boise State University polygraph expert Charles Honts and either retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Gregg McCrary or professor Steve Drizin, legal director of Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, to testify at an evidentiary hearing. All have authored reports concluding that Tapp falsely confessed under police coercion." Reporter Bryan Clark: Post Register; November 19, 2016.


REMINDER: "Rodricus Crawford: Louisiana;  Bulletin: Domonique Benn's exclusive News 12 investigation 'Fighting for a Father's Freedom'  will be streamed  live on Monday evening (November 21) - at 10.00 pm on ksla.com;

-------------------------------------

"An important hearing is scheduled Tuesday in one of Chris Tapp’s two active petitions for post-conviction relief. It could end with Tapp’s petition moving forward toward an evidentiary hearing, or with it being thrown out of court. Tapp is serving 30 years to life for the 1996 murder of Angie Dodge, though many top experts have submitted reports finding that he was wrongfully convicted. Tuesday’s hearing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m., concerns Tapp’s allegation that Bonneville County prosecutors didn’t turn over tapes of some interrogation and polygraph sessions Tapp underwent ahead of his confession. Such evidence is called “Brady evidence” after the Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, in which the court ruled that prosecutors must turn over all evidence which tends to show a defendant isn’t guilty. At a September hearing, Judge Alan Stephens ruled that it was most likely those tapes hadn’t been turned over since they weren’t noted in court discovery records. But some of the tapes were subsequently found in the files of one of Tapp’s prior appellate attorneys.........In the arguments Public Defender John Thomas has filed subsequently, he has sought to turn Stephens’ attention to the evidence against Tapp and whether he is, in fact, guilty of the crime for which he has been imprisoned. “No objective trier of fact, after seeing the polygraph videos and hearing expert testimony, could come to any conclusion other than that Tapp should be acquitted,” he wrote. “He is an innocent man who falsely confessed due to police coercion.” Thomas also argued that since the tapes were mislabeled, their content was effectively “hidden” from Tapp’s defense attorneys. And there’s still another polygraph video which has never been found. Thomas also emphasized a second basis for the petition — that the information on those tapes is new evidence which is likely to produce an acquittal. John Thomas asked Stephens to allow Judges for Justice co-founder Mike Heavey, Boise State University polygraph expert Charles Honts and either retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Gregg McCrary or professor Steve Drizin, legal director of Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, to testify at an evidentiary hearing. All have authored reports concluding that Tapp falsely confessed under police coercion."
http://www.postregister.com/articles/news-daily-email-todays-headlines/2016/11/19/tapp-hearing-tuesday#