Sunday, December 3, 2023

Physician do no harm; (A guiding principal of The Charles Smith Blog): ...Fox News U.S. and World Reporter Christina Coulter reports on experimental doctor Paolo Macchiarini, subject of a new Netflix docuseries called 'Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife' which details the international doctor's fall from medical world stardom to jail time after eight of his patients died post-op' - and is sub-headed, "Paolo Macchiarini, 65, was sentenced to two years and six months behind bars in Sweden for gross assault against three of his patients. He is the subject of the new Netflix Docuseries "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife." (Netflix)."…"Despite his skyrocketing reputation as a rock star surgeon and pioneer of regenerative medicine in the early aughts, Italian stem cell scientist Paolo Macchiarini's patients just kept dying after receiving his experimental trachea transplants. The increasing scrutiny surrounding the embattled researcher and his alleged web of lies is laid out by his former fiancée and NBC News producer Benita Alexander in a new three-part Netflix docuseries "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife," which was directed by Emmy-nominated Ben Steele and debuted on Nov. 29. Macchiarini, 65, became world-renowned for offering patients a second chance at life with the very first plastic organs – coating plastic or cadaver-sourced windpipes in the recipient's own stem cells. At least eight of Macchiarini's transplant recipients died after their surgeries – the brand-new procedure had never been tested on animals, and instead debuted on desperate "human guinea pigs," ex-fiancée Alexander claims. At least 20 patients in a slew of countries, including Spain, Russia, Iceland, Britain and the United States, received the doctor's windpipes, per the Associated Press. Although there are no guarantees in innovative medicine, the doctor repeatedly lied about his research, according to the findings of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, where he once taught and conducted his studies. Eleven of his published papers have since been retracted, Esquire reported. Ultimately, Macchiarini was charged by a Swedish appeals court in 2022 with aggravated assault and bodily harm against three of his former patients, per the institution."


BACKGROUND: Wikipedia: "Paolo Macchiarini (born 22 August 1958)[1][2] is a Swiss thoracic surgeon and former regenerative medicineresearcher who became known for research fraud and manipulative behavior.[3][4] He has been convicted of research-related crimes in Italy and Sweden.[5][6]

Previously considered a pioneer for using both biological and synthetic scaffolds seeded with patients' own stem cells as trachea transplants, Macchiarini was a visiting professor and director on a temporary contract at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet (KI) from 2010.[7] Macchiarini has been accused of unethically performing experimental surgeries, even on relatively healthy patients, resulting in fatalities for seven of the eight patients who received one of his synthetic trachea transplants.[8] Articles in Vanity Fair and Aftonbladetfurther suggested that he had falsified some of his academic credentials on résumés."

Paolo_Macchiarini


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PASSAGE OF THE DAY:  "On Christmas of the next year, before NBC had aired their documentary, Macchiarini proposed to Alexander, telling her that he would plan their opulent wedding in Italy and Pope Francis would officiate.  But, she would later learn, the surgeon was already married and had two children.  In addition to the leader of the Catholic church, the surgeon told his fiancée that he had operated on the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Emperor Akihito of Japan and other powerful figures.  "There's a lot of gaslighting and brainwashing," Alexander said of the conniving surgeon. "It's a slow, meticulous process. It's not like he hits you over the head with these lies all at once. It's a very cunning weaving of a web like a spider.”


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STORY: "Experimental doctor Paolo Macchiarini seduced journalist to mask deadly surgeries, new docuseries reveals," by Christina Coulter, published by Fox News, on December 2, 2023.


SUB-HEADING: (Christina Coulter is a U.S. and World reporter for Fox News Digital.)


PHOTO CAPTION: "Paolo Macchiarini, 65, was sentenced to two years and six months behind bars in Sweden for gross assault against three of his patients. He is the subject of the new Netflix Docuseries "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife." (Netflix)."

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STORY: "Despite his skyrocketing reputation as a rock star surgeon and pioneer of regenerative medicine in the early aughts, Italian stem cell scientist Paolo Macchiarini's patients just kept dying after receiving his experimental trachea transplants. 


The increasing scrutiny surrounding the embattled researcher and his alleged web of lies is laid out by his former fiancée and NBC News producer Benita Alexander in a new three-part Netflix docuseries "Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife," which was directed by Emmy-nominated Ben Steele and debuted on Nov. 29. 


Macchiarini, 65, became world-renowned for offering patients a second chance at life with the very first plastic organs – coating plastic or cadaver-sourced windpipes in the recipient's own stem cells. 


At least eight of Macchiarini's transplant recipients died after their surgeries – the brand-new procedure had never been tested on animals, and instead debuted on desperate "human guinea pigs," ex-fiancée Alexander claims.


At least 20 patients in a slew of countries, including Spain, Russia, Iceland, Britain and the United States, received the doctor's windpipes, per the Associated Press


Although there are no guarantees in innovative medicine, the doctor repeatedly lied about his research, according to the findings of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, where he once taught and conducted his studies.


 Eleven of his published papers have since been retracted, Esquire reported


Ultimately, Macchiarini was charged by a Swedish appeals court in 2022 with aggravated assault and bodily harm against three of his former patients, per the institution.


Last June, the court sentenced Macchiarini to 2 ½ years for the charges, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors reportedly requested a longer sentence.

"It seems clear to me that these have been completely unlawful human experiments and the penalty should be a long prison sentence, given the nature of the crime and the high penal value."

It was not immediately clear whether Macchiarini is currently behind bars. 


The institute, which initially backed Macchiarini, had expressed concern that the doctor was misrepresenting his successes years before the sentence was handed down, in 2014. 


In 2016, Swedish police investigated whether the doctor had committed involuntary manslaughter, per BBC News. But after a yearlong investigation, the country's attorney general determined that although Macchiarini was medically negligent in four of five cases reviewed, a crime could not be proven because his patients would have died under any other treatment. 


Three years earlier, in 2019, per the AP, the Italian doctor was sentenced to 16 months in prison in his own country for forging documents and abuse of office – but he was ultimately acquitted of the charges.


When he was fired from the Karolinska Institutet, he went on to research at Russia's Kazan Federal University. But according to the outlet Science, the university revoked the doctor's funding after learning he had operated without a Russian medical license in 2017.


But despite the criminal charges and controversies, the documentary claims Macchiarini is still licensed to practice – although it is unclear in what countries he maintains his license. 


Alexander, who met the so-called "supersurgeon" in 2013 while she was filming a documentary on regenerative medicine, said that the George Clooney lookalike "fooled his patients very much the same way he fooled [her]."


"They were convinced that he was the greatest hope of their loved ones surviving," she said in the docuseries. "He made them believe that he could help them the way he made me believe that he loved me and that he loved my daughter, and he was going to take care of us for the rest of our lives." 


But Alexander would later learn the truth about the doctor who charmed her – and bring her findings to the Swedish institute. 


Macchiarini was preparing to outfit 3-year-old Hannah Warren, who was born without a trachea, with a plastic replacement from Harvard apparatus when he and Alexander met. 


Alexander and her coworkers were charmed by the doctor, and began joking that Macchiarini had "George Clooney" vibes due to his looks and love of motorcycles. 


After renting one to film windswept b-roll of the surgeon, he took Alexander on a ride with extra time on the rental. The ride turned into dinners after shoots and, finally, a whirlwind romance. 


The girl's surgery appeared to be a resounding success, with the doctor saying at a press conference that new cells could be seen growing on the plastic trachea. 


Macchiarini took Alexander on lavish trips to Russia, Greece and the Bahamas, stunning the journalist with "giant, grandiose gestures" and promises of a fairy tale lifestyle before NBC's production aired.


On Christmas of the next year, before NBC had aired their documentary, Macchiarini proposed to Alexander, telling her that he would plan their opulent wedding in Italy and Pope Francis would officiate. 


But, she would later learn, the surgeon was already married and had two children. 

In addition to the leader of the Catholic church, the surgeon told his fiancée that he had operated on the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Emperor Akihito of Japan and other powerful figures. 


"There's a lot of gaslighting and brainwashing," Alexander said of the conniving surgeon. "It's a slow, meticulous process. It's not like he hits you over the head with these lies all at once. It's a very cunning weaving of a web like a spider.”


Hannah died within a year of the procedure, becoming one of eight fatalities Macchiarini left in his wake. 


At least three patients who underwent the doctor's knife had already died before the girl was operated on in September 2013. 


Macchiarini was "absolutely insistent that her death had nothing to do with the windpipe failing," and was instead the result of other complications, Alexander said. 


The girl's parents insisted that their daughter's death was not in vain, and that she was a pioneer for a surgery that could help others in the future.


In the same spirit, NBC shifted its documentary's focus to Macchiarini and began uncovering more of the deaths left in his wake. 


The family of Chris Lyle, a Maryland cancer patient who also died after receiving one of Macchiarini's synthetic windpipes, were ardent supporters of the doctor at the time.


 Less than a year after the surgery in Sweden, an expert said in the documentary, he developed an infection in his airway.


"Chris joked about it to Paolo the night before his surgery, he said 'tell me doc, I'm a guinea pig, right?' But Paolo didn't want to hear that," Lyle's mother recalled. "He didn't want Chris to feel that way. And I believed him – he's world renowned, he's the best."


Before her death in 2014, former patient Yulia Tuulik wrote of the "rotting" of her replaced windpipe and that people "shuddered away" because she smelled so badly after her surgery, per the documentary. 


Another patient, Yesim Cetir of Philadelphia, died in 2017 after suffering through 191 corrective surgeries and two strokes following her transplant.


Her mother told documentary makers that her daughter "went through pure horror" until her death, "coughing up pieces of her flesh" and needed her airway cleared manually multiple times per day. She decried Macchiarini's procedure as "torture and murder."


For Alexander, the doctor's facade began to crack when a friend told her that Pope Francis would be out of the country on their proposed wedding date. 


"In that moment, I just knew," she recalled. "All those little red flags that had been nagging me exploded to the surface.”


But at that point, Macchiarini doubled down, telling her that his career in medicine was a cover and that he was actually a sniper for the CIA. 


"Clearly, something was very seriously wrong, and he's a pathological liar," Alexander recalled. "But when he told me that, I thought, ‘This man’s crazy.' I mean, legitimately crazy or so demented… I didn't know what to think." 


She would hire a private investigator and confront Macchiarini – meeting his wife and children – in Barcelona on the planned day of their wedding. 


Suspicion surrounding the doctor came to a head when she shared her story – both her findings surrounding his patients and her own experience with his pathological lies – to Vanity Fair in 2016. 


Years later, in 2022, Alexander traveled to Sweden to see his prison sentence handed down in court. 


Despite the brevity of his sentence, Alexander said, she still found satisfaction in his prosecution.


"It's very difficult to prove that he intentionally killed these people," she said. "He hides behind the fact that these are experimental procedures.""


The entire story can be read at:



PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929

FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.

Lawyer Radha Natarajan;

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————


FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!


Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;


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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:


David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.



https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-123488014

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Botched drug tests: Bulletin: Disturbing news about New York's prison system: The Associated Press (Reporter Maysoon Kahn) reports that more than 2,000 prisoners have been unfairly punished after tests of suspected contraband substances falsely tested positive for drugs, according to a recently released report…"In hundreds of cases, the prisoners had committed no offense, but the flawed results were used to put them in solitary confinement, halt family visits, or cancel parole hearings."…"The report by Inspector General Lucy Lang found that state prison staff failed to confirm the test results with an outside lab. The manufacturer of the contraband screening drug tests, Sirchie Finger Print Laboratories, says in its instructions that the results from the drug tests should be treated as preliminary and unconfirmed. The report also found that New York state prison staff failed to abide by protocols meant to prevent misidentifying contraband or cross-contaminating samples. The Sirchie NARK II contraband screening tests are used to detect synthetic cannabinoids and other types of drugs by putting substances into testing pouches. They sometimes cross-react with commonly used over-the-counter medications, as well as tea or protein powders sold within some state facilities, the report detailed. The manufacturer said their tests are designed to confirm probable cause the substance was likely a member of a family of commonly used drugs, not a specific substance, according to the report. The report recommended New York state prisons provide additional training to testing officers and require them to notify their supervisors when potential discrepancies arise. It also called for tracking drug test results through a central inventory of tests to monitor for any trends that may hint at future errors."



PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "This isn’t the first time the department had issues with false positive drug test results. A previous investigation by the state Inspector General in 2022 found that the state correctional agency ignored test instructions and disciplined inmates based on inaccurate results from another kind of drug screening test made by manufacturer Microgenics Corp. Martin Garcia, a resident of Queens who served eight years at Fishkill Correctional Facility, was nearing the end of his sentence when, much to his shock, his Microgenics urine drug test came back positive. “I was going home. Why would I get high? It didn’t add up,” said Garcia, 38. “But I was distraught because, I’m like, how do you fail a drug test? Is this medical?” He raised the issue with a prison supervisor who acknowledged that something was wrong. He says the disciplinary charge was dismissed based on a bureaucratic technicality, not retesting. In 2019, hundreds of New York prisoners filed a federal class action lawsuit against Microgenics Corp., claiming the manufacturer failed to ensure that its device produced accurate results."


————————————————————————————


STORY: "New York punished 2,000 prisoners over false positive drug tests, report finds," by Associated Press Reporter Maysoon Khan, published on November 30, 2023. (Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.)


SUB-HEADING: "New York’s prison system unfairly punished more than 2,000 prisoners after tests of suspected contraband substances falsely tested positive for drugs, according to a report released Thursday. In hundreds of cases, the prisoners had committed no offense, but the flawed results were used to put them in solitary confinement, halt family visits, or cancel parole hearings."


GIST: "New York’s prison system unfairly punished more than 2,000 prisoners after tests of suspected contraband substances falsely tested positive for drugs, according to a report released Thursday. 


 In hundreds of cases, the prisoners had committed no offense, but the flawed results were used to put them in solitary confinement, halt family visits, or cancel parole hearings.


 The report by Inspector General Lucy Lang found that state prison staff failed to confirm the test results with an outside lab. 


The manufacturer of the contraband screening drug tests, Sirchie Finger Print Laboratories, says in its instructions that the results from the drug tests should be treated as preliminary and unconfirmed.


 The report also found that New York state prison staff failed to abide by protocols meant to prevent misidentifying contraband or cross-contaminating samples.  


The Sirchie NARK II contraband screening tests are used to detect synthetic cannabinoids and other types of drugs by putting substances into testing pouches. 


They sometimes cross-react with commonly used over-the-counter medications, as well as tea or protein powders sold within some state facilities, the report detailed. 


The manufacturer said their tests are designed to confirm probable cause the substance was likely a member of a family of commonly used drugs, not a specific substance, according to the report. 


The report recommended New York state prisons provide additional training to testing officers and require them to notify their supervisors when potential discrepancies arise.  


It also called for tracking drug test results through a central inventory of tests to monitor for any trends that may hint at future errors.


“This investigation and the subsequent policy changes and record expungements represent one step closer to ensuring the level of integrity we should all expect and demand from the State," Lang said in a statement.


New York's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision raised the issue concerning the drug tests with the state Inspector General in August 2020, almost a year after the NARK II contraband screening tests were phased in state correctional facilities. 


Based on findings during the investigation, prison officials eventually reversed and expunged 704 disciplinary infractions based on the positive test results, according to the report. Some prisoners may have had more than one charge. They also reduced guilty charges in another 2,068 infractions.


By 2021, the corrections department contracted an outside lab to provide confirmatory testing and also created a new position for a senior officer responsible to ensure drug testers follow appropriate instructions.


"While the detection and removal of these substances is imperative, it must be done with accuracy and fairness,” the department's Acting Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III said.


The department said that since the investigation, the department has since made improvements that align with the report's recommendations.


This isn’t the first time the department had issues with false positive drug test results.


A previous investigation by the state Inspector General in 2022 found that the state correctional agency ignored test instructions and disciplined inmates based on inaccurate results from another kind of drug screening test made by manufacturer Microgenics Corp.


Martin Garcia, a resident of Queens who served eight years at Fishkill Correctional Facility, was nearing the end of his sentence when, much to his shock, his Microgenics urine drug test came back positive.


“I was going home. Why would I get high? It didn’t add up,” said Garcia, 38. “But I was distraught because, I’m like, how do you fail a drug test? Is this medical?”


He raised the issue with a prison supervisor who acknowledged that something was wrong. He says the disciplinary charge was dismissed based on a bureaucratic technicality, not retesting.


In 2019, hundreds of New York prisoners filed a federal class action lawsuit against Microgenics Corp., claiming the manufacturer failed to ensure that its device produced accurate results.


The state’s contraband drug testing program requires two tests for suspected illegal substances. The first is a presumptive test, which then has to be sent to an outside lab for confirmation.


Even in the preliminary tests, prison staff regularly failed to carry out the tests in a reliable way, the report found. 


In one case, officers used pen caps and pocketknives to place suspected contraband into the drug test kits, instead of using a clean loading device. That could have led to contamination of the test sample, leading to a false positive.


During the almost five-year period in which the department used the NARK II tests in its facilities, there were more than 9,000 guilty dispositions for drug possession.


Despite restricting families from sending packages to inmates and routinely screening prisoners for drugs, New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision continues to struggle to curb the flow of illegal drugs in their facilities, the report said.


The entire story can be read at:


https://www.thestar.com/news/world/united-states/new-york-punished-2-000-prisoners-over-false-positive-drug-tests-report-finds/article_02d11d43-861a-55c3-82f8-5cb86aa71f07.html


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929

FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.

Lawyer Radha Natarajan;

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————


FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!


Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;


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


YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:


David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.


https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-123488014

Friday, December 1, 2023

Bart McNeil: Illinois: Evidentiary hearing: Illinois State University student paper reports on the evidentiary hearing of this former student convicted of murdering his daughter in 1999 whose case was reopened when another suspect was later found guilty of murder. (Reporter Paul Aguilar)…"The primary focus of the hearing was to look at evidence that pointed towards Misook Nowlin-Wang — McNeil’s ex-girlfriend at the time of his daughter’s death — has been the true guilty party in his case. His defense team joined McNeil, made up of attorneys Karl Leonard and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller of the Exoneration Project and John Hanlon of the Illinois Innocence Project. McNeil’s defense team planned to review affidavits by Nowlin-Wang’s daughter — Michelle Nowlin-Spencer — and the wife of Nowlin-Wang’s ex-husband —Dawn Shannon-Nowlin. However, the defense team’s presentation did not go as planned. The hearing was overseen by Judge William Yoder. Yoder has handled many of the hearings surrounding McNeil’s case since succeeding Charles Reynard, McNeil’s prosecutor, in 1999. Assistant State’s Attorney Brad Rigdon represented Nowlin-Wang. The hearing began with an opening statement by Myerscough-Mueller, who gave a summary of the McNeil murder case. “Barton McNeil is innocent,” Myersrcough-Mueller said. “He suffered every parent’s worst nightmare when he found his three-year-old daughter Christina lifeless in his bed.” “What your honor will hear today is that Misook Nowlin — Barton’s ex-girlfriend — killed Christina,” Myerscough-Mueller continued. “The case before your honor is relatively simple as post-conviction cases go. You will hear powerful evidence of Misook’s killing — evidence that will probably grant [McNeil] a new trial.” Myerscough-Muller went on to remind the court that on the day of his daughter’s death, McNeil was distraught and had called the police station four times."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Nowlin-Wang took the stand next. She was transported from Logan Correctional Center where she is currently serving a 55-year sentence for the murder of her mother-in-law, Linda Tyda. Nowlin-Wang was questioned by attorney Karl Leonard, to which she pleaded the fifth amendment to a handful of questions. “I am trying to do my plea of the fifth,” Nowlin-Wang said. “I don’t want to talk about anything right now.” A couple of Leonard’s questions were in reference to Nowlin-Wang’s interview with Detective Wykoff immediately following the death of McNeil’s daughter, to which Nowlin-Wang pleaded the Fifth Amendment in response. After Rigdon expressed concern with the relevance of one of the questions with an objection, she spoke. “I never killed Christina McNeil,” Nowlin-Wang said."

————————————————————————————————————

After the hearing, members of the community and two of McNeil’s old friends gathered in the lobby. “I think Bart [McNeil’s] case is unique,” (Bart McNeil Attorney Karl)  Leonard said. “We know who did it, and she pleaded the fifth when she was asked about it when she had the opportunity to deny it.” “One of the reasons we believe in [McNeil’s] case is because we know who the killer is,” Leonard continued. “We have DNA evidence and we have scientific evidence showing that everything the state said about Barton at trial was wrong.” A ruling was not reached by the end of the hearing, but is expected from Yoder within the coming weeks."

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STORY: "Former ISU student Barton McNeil attends hearing in pursuit of new trial," by Reporter News and Features Reporter Paul Aguilar, published by Vidette Online, The Student Voice of Illinois State University,  on November 29, 2023.

Former Illinois State University student Barton McNeil was convicted of murdering his daughter in 1999, but his case was reopened when another suspect was later found guilty of murder.

The People v. Barton McNeil hearing took place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday in room 5A of the McLean County Courthouse.

The primary focus of the hearing was to look at evidence that pointed towards Misook Nowlin-Wang — McNeil’s ex-girlfriend at the time of his daughter’s death — has been the true guilty party in his case.

His defense team joined McNeil, made up of attorneys Karl Leonard and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller of the Exoneration Project and John Hanlon of the Illinois Innocence Project.

McNeil’s defense team planned to review affidavits by Nowlin-Wang’s daughter — Michelle Nowlin-Spencer — and the wife of Nowlin-Wang’s ex-husband —Dawn Shannon-Nowlin.

However, the defense team’s presentation did not go as planned.

The hearing was overseen by Judge William Yoder. Yoder has handled many of the hearings surrounding McNeil’s case since succeeding Charles Reynard, McNeil’s prosecutor, in 1999.

Assistant State’s Attorney Brad Rigdon represented Nowlin-Wang.

The hearing began with an opening statement by Myerscough-Mueller, who gave a summary of the McNeil murder case.

“Barton McNeil is innocent,” Myersrcough-Mueller said. “He suffered every parent’s worst nightmare when he found his three-year-old daughter Christina lifeless in his bed.”

“What your honor will hear today is that Misook Nowlin — Barton’s ex-girlfriend — killed Christina,” Myerscough-Mueller continued. “The case before your honor is relatively simple as post-conviction cases go. You will hear powerful evidence of Misook’s killing — evidence that will probably grant [McNeil] a new trial.”

Myerscough-Muller went on to remind the court that on the day of his daughter’s death, McNeil was distraught and had called the police station four times.

Attorney Brad Rigdon opposed the defense, and said that McNeil had been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt and that the defense team’s claims showed no violation of constitutional rights.

Nowlin-Spencer was the first witness called to the stand. She was asked a series of questions by defense attorney John Hanlon.

“[McNeil] was, at the time, like a father figure to me,” Nowlin-Spencer said. “He would never do any harm to me. He was just playing the role that he was in at the time.”

Nowlin-Spencer was then asked about her relationship with her mother, Nowlin-Wang.

“I would say I’m her full support system as of right now,” Nowlin-Spencer said. “She is my mother at the end of the day, and I communicate with her probably once a week just to make sure she’s doing okay. There’s just a lot of emotions and a lot of questions I have.”

Nowlin-Spencer then answered questions about Don Wang — Nowlin-Wang’s ex-husband — and his telling of Nowlin-Wang’s confession to him.

“We were just having a conversation about Linda, and randomly he — out of the blue — said, ‘You know what your mom told me one time?’ I said, ‘No, what is that?’ He said, ‘That she had killed Christina,’” Nowlin-Spencer said. “I could tell that he was in a very hard place at the time too, so it wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, but it caught me off guard.”

Attorney John Hanlon gave a summary of what has become known as the “paper towel holder incident,” which refers to a time in 1998 when Nowlin-Wang beat Nowlin-Spencer as a child with a wooden paper towel holder. The summary followed Nowlin-Spencer’s barring from answering questions related to it.

“Her mother hit her with a paper towel holder on her thighs and it left bruises,” Hanlon said. “Later, when she was at a mall, [Michelle’s] aunt noticed her bruises. Her aunt took pictures of the bruises on her thighs in the parking lot later.”

Hanlon went on to speak about how the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) confronted Nowlin-Spencer.

“In school, Michelle was called into the principal’s office. A representative from DCFS was there and questioned young Michelle about her relationship with her mother,” Hanlon said. “The DCFS person saw the bruises and asked, ‘How did those occur?’ [Nowlin-Spencer] told the DCFS person that she had fallen down, so the DCFS person asked her if she was telling the truth.”

“At that point, Michelle started crying and told the DCFS person that her mother had struck her,” Hanlon continued.

The next witness was Shannon-Nowlin, who was asked a series of questions by Hanlon. The questions were concentrated on her conversation with Wang about Nowlin-Wang’s confession to him.

“We were in the lobby area, sitting and talking,” Shannon-Nowlin said. “He said that he and Misook were in a big fight and that she confessed to killing Christina. It was a very heated argument and she said she killed Christina.”

When Shannon-Nowlin was asked about the “paper towel holder” incident, the question was objected and sustained.

Nowlin-Wang took the stand next. She was transported from Logan Correctional Center where she is currently serving a 55-year sentence for the murder of her mother-in-law, Linda Tyda.

Nowlin-Wang was questioned by attorney Karl Leonard, to which she pleaded the fifth amendment to a handful of questions.

“I am trying to do my plea of the fifth,” Nowlin-Wang said. “I don’t want to talk about anything right now.”

A couple of Leonard’s questions were in reference to Nowlin-Wang’s interview with Detective Wykoff immediately following the death of McNeil’s daughter, to which Nowlin-Wang pleaded the Fifth Amendment in response.

After Rigdon expressed concern with the relevance of one of the questions with an objection, she spoke.

“I never killed Christina McNeil,” Nowlin-Wang said.

Objections were made and sustained to questions posed by attorney Leonard about the DCFS case, as was the same when asked of the previous witnesses.

Detective Steven Fanelli, with whom Wang had had an interview in February 2012, was the next witness called to the stand.

With Fanelli under oath, the courtroom observed footage of this interview which shows Wang discussing the background of his relationship with Nowlin-Wang in an interview room at the Bloomington Police Department.

Rigdon chose only an increment of the interview to show to the courtroom. McNeil’s defense team expressed the desire to show other excerpts of the interview that they believed to be incriminating, which was granted by Yoder.

At the time of the recording, Wang denied that Nowlin-Wang had ever confessed to him. Fanelli said that the interview was the last time he was in contact with Wnag.

McNeil’s defense team then showed their chosen excerpt of the video in which Wang makes a strong statement about Nowlin-Wang.

“If you asked me, ‘Don, do you think she had the capability of doing this?’ Absolutely, yeah, because she killed my mother,” Wang said.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Leonard said that it is obvious that Nowlin-Wang is guilty of murdering McNeil’s daughter. He also reminded the court that no forensic evidence tied McNeil to the murder.

“The point is there never was much evidence against Bart. There’s even less evidence today that we can cover in a new trial,” Leonard said. “It would not take much to outweigh the state’s case. And we know that the question of Misook’s involvement hung over everything in this case at every stage.”

“Just like we don’t need to prove that Bart McNeil is innocent we don’t need to prove that Misook is guilty,” Leonard continued.

In his closing statement, Rigdon said that the evidence presented by the witnesses and the defense team does not undermine the confidence of the original verdict.

“Two individuals, who are uncertain of when the statement was made, would disagree as to who was even present when the statement was made, and who gave slight differences into even the exact content of the statement,” Rigdon said. “Don Wang denies having ever said that. That is the first-level stop at any and all of this being something that would even go to the jury.”

“She was convicted of killing his mother. If there is anybody on earth who has more of a reason to shout from the rooftops that Misook Nowlin confessed to another murder, it’s Don Wang, because she already wronged him in the worst way possible,” Rigdon continued.


Chris Ross, McNeil’s cousin, said that Wang’s interview should not be viewed as more credible than the two affidavits signed by Nowlin-Spencer and Shannon-Nowlin. Both were under oath when they signed them, while Don Wang was not under oath during his interview with Fanelli.

After the hearing, members of the community and two of McNeil’s old friends gathered in the lobby.

“I think Bart [McNeil’s] case is unique,” Leonard said. “We know who did it, and she pleaded the fifth when she was asked about it when she had the opportunity to deny it.”

“One of the reasons we believe in [McNeil’s] case is because we know who the killer is,” Leonard continued. “We have DNA evidence and we have scientific evidence showing that everything the state said about Barton at trial was wrong.”

A ruling was not reached by the end of the hearing, but is expected from Yoder within the coming weeks.


The entire story can be read at:

https://www.videtteonline.com/news/former-isu-student-barton-mcneil-attends-hearing-in-pursuit-of-new-trial/article_64d49bd6-89ad-11ee-8089-57a12c7264b6.ht

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929

FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.

Lawyer Radha Natarajan;

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————


FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!


Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;


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


YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:


David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.


https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-123488014


Innocence Project Annual Report: (Part 2): Another section of the annual report headed 'Transforming systems,' demonstrates measures the Innocence Project has taken in 2023 to tackle unreliable forensic practices, including: "Expert testimony, eyewitness testimony, earwitness testimony, fabricated evidence, tool mark matching evidence, facial recognition and firearm tool matching evidence...


POST: Transforming systems, with a focus on efforts on courts, statehouse, and Congress to confront the causes of wrongful conviction, including racial bias, eyewitness conviction, police misconduct and more. These efforts led to statements and admissions by juveniles  being made inadmissible in court when police deception was used during custodial interrogations - and, In conjunction with the Korey Wise Innocence Project, The Innocence  Project ensured that wrongfully convicted Coloradans can access DNA testing to prove their innocence.

GIST: EXPERT TESTIMONY: We submitted an amicus brief that successfully urged the admission of expert testimony on false confessions in the retrial of Andrew Krivak, who was convicted of a 1994 murder and rape in New York. Mr. Krivak was eventually acquitted after a jury determined that a statement he had signed implicating himself was a false confession. 


Eyewitness Testimony: We participated as amici in a Washington robbery case that led to the Washington Supreme Court ordering the state’s trial courts to consider new scientific research when determining the suggestiveness and reliability of eyewitness identifications.


Earwitness Testimony: After a New York judge ordered a new trial for Prakash Churaman, who was convicted of murder based on an unreliable confession and “earwitness” testimony, we assisted with the defense counsel’s successful effort to exclude both pieces of evidence during pre-trial hearings. The district attorney later dropped murder charges against him, leading to his exoneration. 


Fabricated Evidence: Together with co-counsel, we filed a civil rights lawsuit against Mississippi officials on behalf of Jocelyn McLean, who was wrongly charged and jailed for the death of her newborn daughter based on fabricated evidence by forensic pathologists. 


TOOLMARK MATCHING EVIDENCE: A Colorado court ordered a new trial for our client Jimmy Genrich, after an extensive post-conviction hearing demonstrated the lack of reliability and scientific validity of the toolmark matching evidence that was used to convict him of a series of bombings over 30 years ago. 


Facial Recognition: "In a New Jersey case, we participated as amicus, obtaining a court order mandating disclosure of discovery relating to facial recognition software used to identify people who have been accused of a crime. In a Maryland case, we participated as amicus and won a decision in the Maryland Supreme Court precluding firearm toolmark analysts from testifying to a conclusive identification between pieces of fired ammunition.


The entire section can be read at:


https://report2023.innocenceproject.org/#S03


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929

FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.

Lawyer Radha Natarajan;

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————


FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!


Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;


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


YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:


David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.


https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-123488014\