May 23: Yvonne 'Missy' Woods: Colorado: Question of the day: The disgraced Colorado crime analyst’s review over 1,300 Denver sexual assault cases is six months delayed. Why won't anyone say why? As Staff Writer Hannah Metzger reports in Westword: "The full fallout of the Yvonne “Missy” Woods scandal is still unclear, over two years after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation revealed that its former star forensic scientist is accused of intentionally mishandling and manipulating DNA evidence."..."The CBI internally reviewed more than 10,000 cases that Woods handled during her 29-year career as a DNA analyst, identifying problems in 1,045 of them. In April 2025, the Denver Police Department announced that its crime laboratory would conduct an independent review of Denver-based cases, as well. DPD initially said the lab would re-examine reports from 422 sexual assault evidence kits handled by Woods. The department later expanded its review to over 1,300 sexual assault cases, without explaining the reason behind the massive addition, the Denver Gazette reported in August. Today, the findings of that review have still not been made public — six months after the anticipated release date. In August, DPD told the Gazette the findings would be released in around three months. Nine months later, DPD says there is now no estimated release date."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Denver’s review came after Woods admitted to cutting corners when testing Denver sex assault cases, according to a CBI internal investigation. Woods reportedly told investigators that she believed the Denver lab sent the CBI cases it did not expect to solve, so she took shortcuts, such as deleting data on low quantities of male DNA, to avoid conducting additional testing. “Denver PD gave us all the cases that they knew they weren’t going to prosecute, and they told us that,” Woods said in a 2023 interview with investigators, explaining that she was “overwhelmed” and “burned out” by the workload. Denver Police called its review a “proactive effort” in April 2025. “Our crime laboratory will determine the number of sexual assault evidence kits it will re-test,” DPD said in a statement at the time. “Any offender profiles that may be discovered through re-testing will be submitted to the Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, for potential investigative leads.”

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

PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The scandal has so far resulted in a murder conviction being vacated, and an impending lawsuit from a family who claims their father committed suicide in prison after being wrongfully convicted to life behind bars due to Woods’ influence on the evidence.

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

PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Woods faces 52 counts of forgery, 48 counts of attempt to influence a public servant, one count of first-degree perjury and one count of cybercrime. She pleaded not guilty to all 102 felony charges in February. Woods’ trial is scheduled to begin on September 24. She is next due in court for a motions hearing on August 27."

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

STORY: "Disgraced Colorado crime analyst’s case review is six months delayed. No one will say why," by Staff Writer Hannah Metzger. published by Westword, on May 22, 2026. "Hannah Metzger is a staff writer at Westword, reporting on news, arts and culture since joining the staff in October 2023. She previously worked at publications including Colorado Politics and the Denver Gazette, where she covered the Colorado Legislature, the Denver and Aurora city councils and breaking news. Hannah has been honored with numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Student Media Association and Denver Press Club. She graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a major in journalism and a minor in political science."

SUB-HEADING: "The crime lab was expected to release results in November, after re-examining over 1,300 Denver sexual assault cases handled by the CBI." (Colorado Bureau of Investigation); 

GIST: "The full fallout of the Yvonne “Missy” Woods scandal is still unclear, over two years after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation revealed that its former star forensic scientist is accused of intentionally mishandling and manipulating DNA evidence.

The CBI internally reviewed more than 10,000 cases that Woods handled during her 29-year career as a DNA analyst, identifying problems in 1,045 of them. In April 2025, the Denver Police Department announced that its crime laboratory would conduct an independent review of Denver-based cases, as well.

DPD initially said the lab would re-examine reports from 422 sexual assault evidence kits handled by Woods. The department later expanded its review to over 1,300 sexual assault cases, without explaining the reason behind the massive addition, the Denver Gazette reported in August.

Today, the findings of that review have still not been made public — six months after the anticipated release date.

In August, DPD told the Gazette the findings would be released in around three months. Nine months later, DPD says there is now no estimated release date.

“The DPD Crime Lab’s initial findings have not been finalized as they are awaiting legal review. We do not have an anticipated date for when the findings will be finalized,” DPD says in a statement to Westword.

DPD did not respond to repeated inquiries about why the process is taking so much longer than anticipated, nor did the crime lab director, Greggory LaBerge. The Denver Department of Public Safety, which oversees DPD, similarly declined to offer an explanation.

“Because this matter is under review, the department is unable to provide comment at this time,” says Elizabeth White, spokesperson for the department.

Denver’s review came after Woods admitted to cutting corners when testing Denver sex assault cases, according to a CBI internal investigation. Woods reportedly told investigators that she believed the Denver lab sent the CBI cases it did not expect to solve, so she took shortcuts, such as deleting data on low quantities of male DNA, to avoid conducting additional testing.

“Denver PD gave us all the cases that they knew they weren’t going to prosecute, and they told us that,” Woods said in a 2023 interview with investigators, explaining that she was “overwhelmed” and “burned out” by the workload.

Denver Police called its review a “proactive effort” in April 2025.

“Our crime laboratory will determine the number of sexual assault evidence kits it will re-test,” DPD said in a statement at the time. “Any offender profiles that may be discovered through re-testing will be submitted to the Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, for potential investigative leads.”

The scandal has so far resulted in a murder conviction being vacated, and an impending lawsuit from a family who claims their father committed suicide in prison after being wrongfully convicted to life behind bars due to Woods’ influence on the evidence.

Woods faces 52 counts of forgery, 48 counts of attempt to influence a public servant, one count of first-degree perjury and one count of cybercrime. She pleaded not guilty to all 102 felony charges in February.

Woods’ trial is scheduled to begin on September 24. She is next due in court for a motions hearing on August 27.

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.westword.com/news/missy-woods-cbi-case-review-delayed-six-months-40884312

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.  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. 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;

May 22: Stefon Morant: Connecticut: Ongoing federal civil rights wrongful conviction trial: The New Haven Independent (Reporter Mona Mahadevan) reports on testimony from Kim Morant (Stefon's wife) who talked about how they met in fifth grade, and later got married in prison, noting that: "After 17 years of marriage, Kim took the stand in a Hartford federal courtroom Wednesday to support her husband’s wrongful-conviction claim against the City of New Haven. She told the bittersweet story of their love, describing how Stefon’s incarceration still shapes their lives together. “We have a beautiful home. We can’t even enjoy it…because he carries this with him,” she said through sobs. “I want to know: when will this be over?”..."Stefon is pressing a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the City of New Haven and six former police detectives. He alleges that he and Scott Lewis were framed by former Det. Vincent Raucci for the 1990 double homicide of former alderman Ricardo Turner and his partner, Lamont Fields. Morant was convicted in 1994 and received a 70-year sentence. He was released on a sentence reduction in 2015 and later won a full pardon. He eventually received a $5.84 million wrongful-conviction award from the state.Morant’s ongoing civil-rights trial began three weeks ago before U.S. District Judge Sarala Nagala. The case is expected to go to the jury next week."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "She spoke as a wife and as a mother about how Stefon’s conviction changed the lives of everyone around him. As a partner, Kim cannot “move forward until [Stefon] knows” that he has been heard. “I tell him, ‘You’re not gonna have to carry this on your name, because we know who you are.’” At this point, the audience in the courtroom began to pass around a tissue box. People took off their glasses and dabbed away their tears.  As a mother, Kim fears for her children. “If it could happen to Stefon, it could happen to any one of us.” She begs her kids to always tell her where they are, just in case something happens.  Then she turned to the jury box. “Can you imagine, just like that — you’re a young man, and your life changes, just like that?”

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

STORY: "Decades of love, decades in prison," by Reporter Mona Mahadevan, published by The New Haven Independent, on May 21, 2026. (Kim Morant takes the stand in her husband’s wrongful-conviction trial and talks about how they met in fifth grade, and later got married in prison.)

GIST: On the first day of fifth grade, Stefon Morant asked Kim to be his girlfriend. Nearly 30 years passed, and they drifted apart. Then, in 2007, Kim wrote Stefon a letter in prison. They wed two years later in a small room at the Cheshire Correctional Institution. 

After 17 years of marriage, Kim took the stand in a Hartford federal courtroom Wednesday to support her husband’s wrongful-conviction claim against the City of New Haven. She told the bittersweet story of their love, describing how Stefon’s incarceration still shapes their lives together. 

“We have a beautiful home. We can’t even enjoy it…because he carries this with him,” she said through sobs. “I want to know: when will this be over?”

Stefon is pressing a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the City of New Haven and six former police detectives. He alleges that he and Scott Lewis were framed by former Det. Vincent Raucci for the 1990 double homicide of former alderman Ricardo Turner and his partner, Lamont Fields. 

Morant was convicted in 1994 and received a 70-year sentence. He was released on a sentence reduction in 2015 and later won a full pardon. He eventually received a $5.84 million wrongful-conviction award from the state.

Morant’s ongoing civil-rights trial began three weeks ago before U.S. District Judge Sarala Nagala. The case is expected to go to the jury next week.

Throughout the proceedings, Kim has watched from the back row. On Wednesday, when she was called to testify, she walked from her usual seat in tan platform wedges — her go-to court shoes.

She told Amelia Greene, one of Morant’s attorneys, about her first encounter with Stefon in 1979.

“I walk[ed] into the classroom, and this little cutie sits behind me and taps me on the shoulder,” said Kim. Stefon and his friends had been debating who would ask Kim to be their girlfriend. “He let them know — let me know, that I was gonna be his girlfriend.”

Their fifth-grade romance did not last long. “I didn’t mind being Stefon’s girlfriend, but as he says, he was a ladies’ man,” she recalled. “But he also forgets that I was the girl that everyone wanted.”

Kim married a different man and had three children with him. He died in 2005. Two years later, she decided to write a letter to Stefon in prison. Soon afterwards, she got a call from Stefon’s mother, Linda, who helped connect Stefon and Kim by phone.

The next few months were filled with many more letters and phone calls. Kim was able to visit Stefon for the first time in 2008.

When Stefon walked into the room, “it blew my mind,” she said. “I was in shock to see that this man that was in prison for all these years looked and appeared to be the way that he was.”

What most moved her about Stefon was his faith. Men in prison often explore religion without truly becoming faithful, she said. “But there was something different about the way Stefon presented [his faith] to me.”

She also loved seeing Stefon develop close connections with her three children, which they “needed” after their father’s passing. Stefon is their stepfather, she said, and “that man stepped up.” She broke into sobs describing how her second daughter “just opened her heart to Stefon.”

In 2009, Kim and Stefon married in a small room at the Cheshire state prison. In the days before the ceremony, Kim was panicked because the package with their rings had been delayed. It was delivered the night before the wedding. “That was my sign that this was the man I was supposed to marry,” said Kim.

Kim and Stefon were allowed to invite only two guests each. Kim gave her slots to Stefon so his brothers and mother could attend. They did not know it then, but it marked the last time the brothers would all be together.

When Stefon took the stand in his own wrongful-conviction trial on Tuesday, he said he wore “the best prison suit that they gave me” when he got married at Cheshire.

Stefon came home in 2015, but his release was “bittersweet,” said Kim. With a felony conviction on his record, “he wasn’t coming totally free.”

The conviction was expunged in 2021. After he won the pardon, Kim remembered meeting Stefon outside of the courthouse — and how he “jumped with joy” and called out, “Jesus!”

“I Have Never Felt So Ashamed To Be A Citizen Of New Haven”

The wins have meant a lot to Stefon, but they have not given him back the 21 years that were taken. He “wears a mask” most of the time, said Kim. He is “very gentle” with his grandchildren, but he can be short with Kim and Linda.

“We take the licks,” said Kim. “But he comes back, and realizes, and that’s what I love about him.”

He also struggles with physical touch. He jumps when Kim touches him, as if she is “someone coming to invade his space.” They switched from a queen bed to two twins so he could sleep without being on edge. 

On date nights, Stefon wants to visit ten different restaurants in an hour. When you spend 21 years with no control over your life, she said, deciding what to eat and where to spend your time becomes a hard question.

What weighs on them the most, said Kim, is that Stefon sometimes forgets that he is no longer in prison. When he came home, she hoped that they would have a completely normal relationship. “But I think Stefon still lives with the rules” of prison, she said — including the one that prohibits touching in public.

Greene asked Kim how the ongoing trial itself has affected Stefon. Kim’s answer came in bursts, as she struggled to form words through her sobs.

“I have never felt so ashamed to be a citizen of New Haven,” she said. “This is eating Stefon alive, day and night — to hear and to feel people still don’t believe him.” 

She spoke as a wife and as a mother about how Stefon’s conviction changed the lives of everyone around him.

As a partner, Kim cannot “move forward until [Stefon] knows” that he has been heard. “I tell him, ‘You’re not gonna have to carry this on your name, because we know who you are.’”

At this point, the audience in the courtroom began to pass around a tissue box. People took off their glasses and dabbed away their tears. 

As a mother, Kim fears for her children. “If it could happen to Stefon, it could happen to any one of us.” She begs her kids to always tell her where they are, just in case something happens. 

Then she turned to the jury box. “Can you imagine, just like that — you’re a young man, and your life changes, just like that?”

James Tallberg, the attorney representing Raucci, objected. He said Kim’s answer exceeded the scope of Greene’s question. Kim apologized, clearly overwhelmed with emotion. 

Greene ended with one final question: After everything — the decades of incarceration and endless legal battles — has Stefon ever given up?

Kim did not hesitate. “I’ve never seen him, from the day I met him, give up,” she said. “He won’t quit. He won’t stop.""

The entire story can be read at:

decades-of-love-decades-in-prison

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.  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. 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.

Tony Carruthers: Tennessee: Very Welcome Development; Emily Cochrane and Nicolas Bogel-Burroughs, report in The New York Times that Tennessee has called off his execution (scheduled for earlier today) when prison staff could not find the death row prisoner's vein after a series of attempts - noting that, "Bill Lee, a Republican, issued a reprieve on Thursday, delaying any execution for a year."...'Mr. Carruthers’s case had already drawn attention as his allies and his lawyers argued that he was wrongfully convicted'...“Tennessee has effectively made the case against the death penalty,” said Laura Porter, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty."...'The renewed fight starts right now to have the untested DNA and fingerprint evidence that could prove he is innocent tested. A year can go by oh, so quickly. HL);

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: End the cruelty:  I

"Tennessee’s botched attempt to execute Tony Carruthers today spotlights how the death penalty truly is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Nobody should be treated this way. Instead of issuing a one-year reprieve from execution, we call on Governor Lee to end this cruelty and commute Tony Carruthers death sentence."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I couldn't agree more - (and test the DNA):

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

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

WORDS TO HEED: FROM OUR POST ON KEVIN COOPER'S  APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING; CALIFORNIA: (Applicable wherever a state resists DNA testing): "Blogger/extraordinaire Jeff Gamso's blunt, unequivocal, unforgettable message to the powers that be in California: "JUST TEST THE FUCKING DNA." (Oh yes, Gamso raises, as he does in many of his posts, an important philosophical question: This post is headed: "What is truth, said jesting Pilate."...Says Gamso: "So what's the harm? What, exactly, are they scared of? Don't we want the truth?" 

 https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2018/06/kevin-cooper-2-california-application.html

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

BACKGROUND: From a previous post of this Blog: (May 18, 2026); "Carruthers was one of three men convicted of a brutal 1994 triple murder in Memphis, where three people were shot and then buried under a shallow grave at a cemetery. Advocates argue untested DNA and fingerprint evidence could point to another suspect. The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)  is now fighting in both state and federal courts to delay the execution while more forensic testing is done. The nonprofit says he was wrongfully convicted on a jailhouse informant's testimony, adding that there's no physical evidence. Advocates have argued that untested DNA and fingerprint evidence could point to another suspect, but it never came up during trial because Carruthers represented himself."

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/989087439323936592

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

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The American Civil Liberties Union said Mr. Carruthers would have been the first person in more than a century to be executed after representing himself at trial. Lawyers wrote in a petition for clemency that he has mental illnesses that “continue to impair his understanding of his legal situation and his impending execution.”

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

PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: Several states have similarly canceled executions in recent years because executioners were unable to find a vein. Alabama suspended all executions for several months from 2022 into 2023 after several executions in which officials could not access prisoners’ veins. Those Alabama cases, as well as others in Arizona and elsewhere, led the Death Penalty Information Center to describe 2022 as the “year of the botched execution.”

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

STORY: Tennessee Calls Off Execution After Staff Can’t Find Prisoner’s Vein," by Emily Cochrane (reporting from Nashville)  and Nicolas Bogel-Burroughs, (Reporting from New York)  published by The New York Times, on May 21, 2026. (Emily Cochrane is  one of the reporters responsible for covering the South, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolinas and Tennessee. She has  driven or flown hundreds of miles to write about the latest natural or man-made disaster, dissect state and local politics and explore the varied music, food and cultural trends of this region.  Nicolas Bogel-burroughs writes that he is  an investigative reporter at The New York Times writing on a broad range of topics in the United States. He travels  around the country to write about natural disasters, protests, unsolved mysteries, high-profile criminal cases and more. These are often tragic stories but, hopefully, also ones that shed light on something important.")

SUB-HEADING: "Tony Carruthers, convicted in connection with three 1994 murders, was scheduled to be executed Thursday morning."

GIST: "Tennessee called off the execution of Tony Carruthers, convicted in connection with three 1994 murders, after staff members were unable to find a vein to administer lethal injection drugs.

The state Department of Corrections said in a statement on Thursday that medical staff members were unable to find a “suitable vein” to administer the drugs after a series of attempts. Lawyers for Mr. Carruthers had asked in emergency filings for the execution to be delayed.

Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, issued a reprieve on Thursday, delaying any execution for a year.

Mr. Carruthers’s case had already drawn attention as his allies and his lawyers argued that he was wrongfully convicted.

“Tennessee has effectively made the case against the death penalty,” said Laura Porter, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

The American Civil Liberties Union said Mr. Carruthers would have been the first person in more than a century to be executed after representing himself at trial.

Lawyers wrote in a petition for clemency that he has mental illnesses that “continue to impair his understanding of his legal situation and his impending execution.”

Several states have similarly canceled executions in recent years because executioners were unable to find a vein.

Alabama suspended all executions for several months from 2022 into 2023 after several executions in which officials could not access prisoners’ veins. Those Alabama cases, as well as others in Arizona and elsewhere, led the Death Penalty Information Center to describe 2022 as the “year of the botched execution.”

States have recently begun authorizing alternative methods, including the firing squad, largely because of problems obtaining lethal drugs. South Carolina executed three people last year by firing squad, the first such executions in the United States since 2010.

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/us/tennessee-execution.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

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.  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. 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;

John Doe: Toronto: (Accused's anonymity is explained at the end of this story HL) Toronto Star Courts Reporter Betsy Powell, my friend and former Toronto Star Colleague - a consummate journalist - raises the question of the day: "Did Toronto police conspire to plant a man’s ID as evidence in a gun case — or was it one officer’s ‘honest lie?,’ in a story sub-headed, "The accused walked out of court not only a free man, but with the $5,100 police had seized as alleged proceeds of crime - noting that: "The plea also ends a potentially explosive Charter motion. (The accused's lawyer HL) Hussain had asked a different judge to stay the proceedings entirely, arguing officers lied about finding the ID in a backpack located inside the downtown apartment of his client’s girlfriend. The defence position is that during a debrief, the officers in the case realized that there was “virtually nothing” linking the man to the contraband. The officers then “conspired to lie” that his ID was found inside the apartment, (Defence Lawyer) Hussain wrote in a factum filed with the court."

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Toronto police spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer wrote in an email Friday that she can’t comment on the specifics of the case, but added that the man “pleaded guilty to possession of a loaded prohibited firearm.” She added, more broadly, if the Crown believes misconduct occurred involving a police officer in court proceedings, that information is brought forward for review by Toronto police. “We take allegations of this nature very seriously and any concerns related to officer misconduct will be addressed through the appropriate processes.”

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

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The officer’s evidence was “plainly wrong and contradicted” by police photos and videos, the prosecutors wrote in their court filings. “It is unclear how this factual inaccuracy came about, but it is most likely an honest confabulation, not a deliberate fabrication.” Hussain calls this a “pseudo-scientific explanation,” noting that “confabulation” can refer to a medical disorder. Often associated with a brain injury, such as a stroke, confabulation is when a patient “generates a false memory without the intention of deceit,” according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health — “The patient believes the statement to be truthful, hence the descriptive term ‘honest lying.’”

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

PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Earlier this month, when Hussain cross-examined a Toronto officer during the pretrial motion, he learned more photographs had been taken on the day of the arrest. One of them showed his client’s ID on a table, taken April 7, 2024, in a police office during a debrief with all of the officers involved in the search. “The IDs were photographed amongst all the evidence taken from the search of the apartment in order to paint the picture that they were seized in the apartment. No one is willing to explain how they ended up amongst the evidence,” Hussain’s court document argued. Days later, the defence and prosecution had a deal."

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

STORY: "Did Toronto police conspire to plant a man’s ID as evidence in a gun case — or was it one officer’s ‘honest lie?’, by my former Toronto Star Colleague Courts Reporter Betsy Ross, published by The Toronto Star, on May 19, 2026. (Betsy Powell is a reporter with the crime, courts and justice team at the Star. She is the author of Bad Seeds: the True Story of Toronto’s Galloway Boys Street Gang.)

SUB-HEADING: "The accused walked out of court not only a free man, but with the $5,100 police had seized as alleged proceeds of crime."

GIST: Did a Toronto police officer “honestly lie” about finding a suspect’s driver’s licence and health card inside a backpack along with fentanyl, cocaine, cash and two loaded firearms?

Or did he deliberately fabricate the damning evidence — and get backed up in court by lying colleagues — as defence lawyer Humza Hussain alleges.

It’s likely we’ll never know for sure, but this past week, Hussain’s client — who had previous convictions for firearm possession and drug offences — walked out of the downtown courthouse a free man after prosecutors agreed to drop a set of serious charges; he instead pleaded guilty to a single firearms offence.

He had been in custody since his arrest on April 7, 2024, and Superior Court Justice Rob Goldstein accepted the joint Crown‑defence submission that the appropriate sentence was time served.

The plea also ends a potentially explosive Charter motion. Hussain had asked a different judge to stay the proceedings entirely, arguing officers lied about finding the ID in a backpack located inside the downtown apartment of his client’s girlfriend.

The defence position is that during a debrief, the officers in the case realized that there was “virtually nothing” linking the man to the contraband. The officers then “conspired to lie” that his ID was found inside the apartment, Hussain wrote in a factum filed with the court.

The Toronto police gun and drug investigation

The Crown insisted the police had no reason to fabricate evidence because the case was so strong. The man had been seen carrying the Guess backpack on video. It also contained his bank card, and a lease agreement with his name was found inside the room where the backpack was found. The woman also told police the night of the search that the backpack belonged to the accused.

After the seizure, his DNA and fingerprint evidence were found on the drugs and one of the guns.

Prosecutors conceded that the defendant’s wallet was discovered in the purse of his co-accused girlfriend — but argued it was only one officer who “incorrectly stated” that the man’s driver’s licence and health card had been found, loose, in the backpack. The officer also wrote in his notes and testified at the preliminary hearing and during the pretrial motion that he found the ID in the backpack.

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

PHOTO CAPTION: "Evidence from the backpack seized from the apartment. An officer later wrote down that the man’s driver’s licence had been found in the backpack — it hadn’t.

Ontario Superior Court Exhibit;

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

The officer’s evidence was “plainly wrong and contradicted” by police photos and videos, the prosecutors wrote in their court filings. “It is unclear how this factual inaccuracy came about, but it is most likely an honest confabulation, not a deliberate fabrication.”

Hussain calls this a “pseudo-scientific explanation,” noting that “confabulation” can refer to a medical disorder. Often associated with a brain injury, such as a stroke, confabulation is when a patient “generates a false memory without the intention of deceit,” according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health — “The patient believes the statement to be truthful, hence the descriptive term ‘honest lying.’”

Earlier this month, when Hussain cross-examined a Toronto officer during the pretrial motion, he learned more photographs had been taken on the day of the arrest. One of them showed his client’s ID on a table, taken April 7, 2024, in a police office during a debrief with all of the officers involved in the search.

“The IDs were photographed amongst all the evidence taken from the search of the apartment in order to paint the picture that they were seized in the apartment. No one is willing to explain how they ended up amongst the evidence,” Hussain’s court document argued.

Days later, the defence and prosecution had a deal.

In court last Wednesday, prosecutors told Goldstein the trial date — set for next month — was going to have to be rescheduled over “disclosure issues,” which would put at “significant risk” the man’s right to be tried within a reasonable time of 30 months.

“That’s the primary reason why the Crown has agreed to the resolution,” prosecutor Benjamin Janzen told the judge.

Defence allegations ‘certainly not frivolous’

During the brief hearing, the judge agreed to Hussain’s request to file a defence “memo” as an exhibit, described as a “timeline of events that have taken place in this proceeding.” Goldstein said he was admitting it “not for the truth of its contents,” but so it’s clear for the record what the defence position was.

Federal prosecutor Anna Martin said the statement was “largely opinion,” adding that some of the claims didn’t line up with the evidence she recalled from earlier proceedings.

Among other things, the memo states that all the officers who attended the debrief testified in court that they had no knowledge of the IDs. Those officers “lied under oath to protect their participation in the coverup,” Hussain wrote. 

Toronto police spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer wrote in an email Friday that she can’t comment on the specifics of the case, but added that the man “pleaded guilty to possession of a loaded prohibited firearm.” She added, more broadly, if the Crown believes misconduct occurred involving a police officer in court proceedings, that information is brought forward for review by Toronto police.

“We take allegations of this nature very seriously and any concerns related to officer misconduct will be addressed through the appropriate processes.”

Before granting the man’s release, Goldstein noted the accused had a 2011 conviction for firearm possession and that he “would have been in line for a more significant sentence” if he’d been convicted.

The judge refrained from commenting on the defence allegations, other than to say Humza’s application for a stay was “certainly not frivolous.”

The accused walked out of court that day not only a free man, but with the $5,100 police had seized as alleged proceeds of crime returned to him. (The Star is not naming him because his case is completed and he is no longer facing a period of incarceration.) 

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/did-toronto-police-conspire-to-plant-a-mans-id-as-evidence-in-a-gun-case--or-was-it-one-officers-honest-lie/article_d7d9cab5-fe23-489a-91d7-8f86fa3ac2e5.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.  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. 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;