"WANT TO BE TOUGH ON CRIME? THEN MISSISSIPPI TAXPAYERS MUST PAY FOR QUALIFIED FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS, ADEQUATE POST-CONVICTION COUNSEL, ADEQUATE CAPITAL CASE DEFENSE, MODERN DNA EVIDENCE GATHERING AND STORAGE CAPABILITIES AND AN OVERALL PROFESSIONAL DEATH INVESTIGATION SYSTEM. FAILURE TO DO SO UNDERMINES RIGHTEOUS CONVICTIONS. FAILURE TO DO SO EXPOSES HOLES IN THE CURRENT SYSTEM - A SYSTEM THAT CAME FRIGHTENINGLY CLOSE TO EXECUTING KENNEDY BREWER WHO WAS INDEED INNOCENT."
SID SALTER: THE CLARION-LEDGER; (Wikipedia informs us that, "The Clarion-Ledger is the Pulitzer Prize winning daily newspaper of Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second oldest company in the state of Mississippi and is one of only a few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide.")
PHOTO: AMELIA BYRD: ASSOCIATED PRESS; PHOTO: LEVON BROOKS (LEFT); KENNEDY BREWER (RIGHT);
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BACKGROUND: Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks are two black men from Noxubee County who were convicted in separate cases in the early 1990s of the brutal killings of two toddlers. Brewer was convicted of capital murder in 1995 and sentenced to death for raping and killing 3-year-old Christine Jackson. Levon Brooks was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of Courtney Smith. She also was 3. Brewer was eventually moved from death row after it was discovered DNA evidence found on Christine didn't match him, but he remained in prison until 2007. Brewer and Brooks were exonerated of the crimes in 2008, months after a third man, Justin Albert Johnson, allegedly confessed to both murders. Authorities also said the DNA evidence linked Johnson to Jackson's murder. What made the convictions of Brooks and Brewer so stark was the fact that they were convicted mostly on the testimony of odontologist Dr. Michael West of Hattiesburg and Dr. Steven Hayne, a former state pathologist. Hayne identified bite marks on the body. West claimed the bite-marks were made by the two front teeth of the suspects. A panel of experts later shot down the theory.
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"Mississippi is a state where people talk tough about being tough on crime. Mississippi politicians on the whole set the pace for those discussions," the Clarion-Ledger column by Sid salter, published on March 24, 2010, under the heading, "Tough on crime? Then fund qualified medical examiner," begins.
"But in truth, a lot of that talk is just talk - because when push comes to shove Mississippi taxpayers haven't wanted to foot the bill to be tough on crime," the column continues.
"The current flap over legislation requiring higher standards for Mississippi's next state medical examiner and others who perform autopsies in criminal investigations is a clear example. Since the 1980s, Mississippi has for the most part been unwilling to pay the freight on a qualified, certified state medical examiner to conduct autopsies.
Instead, we settled for many years for a cheaper alternative in using pathologists who didn't have board certification in forensic pathology.
House Bill 1456 calls for the state and county medical examiners to be medical doctors certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology. However, the bill also would allow someone without those credentials to handle autopsies if a board-certified pathologist isn't available for a reasonable time - which leaves the door open to the status quo.
HB 1456 is an effort by the state to repair its abysmal forensic investigation system. Mississippi has been without a board certified medical examiner since 1996.
Dr. Steven Hayne was under contract to conduct many of the state's autopsies in criminal investigations. Hayne doesn't have national board certification in forensic pathology.
Some of his evidence and testimony in criminal cases have come under fire, including his work in two 1990s capital murder convictions in Noxubee County.
In 2008, Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks were exonerated in the killings of two toddlers in separate cases. Both were convicted mostly on the testimony of Hayne and odontologist Dr. Michael West. Hayne had identified bite marks on the body of the children.
West claimed the bite marks were made by the two front teeth of the suspects. A panel of experts later successfully refuted the theory. Hayne's contract with the state was terminated in 2008.
Mississippi has taken steps toward eliminating wrongful convictions.
State lawmakers acted in 2000 to remove some of the financial strain of defending the indigent by creating the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel and the Office of Capital Defense Counsel to pay for the defense of the poor charged with capital murder and the death row appeals of inmates.
Want to be tough on crime? Then Mississippi taxpayers must pay for qualified forensic pathologists, adequate post-conviction counsel, adequate capital case defense, modern DNA evidence gathering and storage capabilities and an overall professional death investigation system.
Failure to do so undermines righteous convictions. Failure to do so exposes holes in the current system - a system that came frighteningly close to executing Kennedy Brewer who was indeed innocent.
The Legislature passed and Gov. Haley Barbour is expected to sign HB 1456 over objections from Attorney General Jim Hood - who has yet to explain his opposition to the bill.
Even in hard times, funding a reliable, certified death investigation system remains good public policy."
The story can be found at:
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100324/COL0412/3240318/Tough-on-crime-Then-fund-qualified-medical-examiner
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
