"Last month's sentence guaranteed Kofoed would serve more time than either Matthew Livers or Nicholas Sampson, the two men wrongly accused in the 2006 deaths of Wayne and Sharmon Stock of Murdock, Neb.
But their conditions were more dismal than Kofoed's placement. Sampson lived in a solitary confinement cell in the Cass County Jail for nearly six months, with only a bed and toilet. Livers had similar conditions before being moved to the Sarpy County Jail, where he shared a larger cell with other inmates, including accused child molesters. He spent nearly eight months behind bars.
Both men were denied bail and did not leave the facility except for court appearances. For those outings, they were in handcuffs and leg shackles. Visits from family came only at the jail, where a glass partition separated them, talking was done over a phone and deputies monitored everything.
Nebraska Department of Corrections Director Robert Houston defended the decision to move Kofoed into a community corrections setting."
REPORTER JOHN FERAK: WORLD-HERALD; Wikipedia informs us that, "The Omaha World-Herald, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is the primary daily newspaper of Nebraska, as well as portions of southwest Iowa."
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BACKGROUND: (David) Kofoed's work came into question after his 2006 investigation into the slaying of a rural Cass County couple, Wayne and Sharmon Stock. Detectives zeroed in on the couple's nephew and his cousin, but found no physical evidence tying the two to the killings. They managed to get a confession from the nephew, but he retracted it the next day. A day later, Kofoed said he found a drop of one of the victims' blood in a car linked to the suspects that had already been combed over by another forensic investigator. The suspects were charged with murder and jailed for several months before being released because prosecutors determined the confession was unreliable and didn't fit the facts of the case. A man and woman from Wisconsin eventually pleaded guilty to murdering the couple and are serving life prison terms. The FBI began investigating Kofoed after the slain couple's nephew filed a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations. The agency's findings led authorities to charge Kofoed with evidence tampering in April. During his trial, Kofoed blamed the speck of blood found in the car on accidental contamination. But Cass County District Judge Randall Rehmeier said he didn't buy it, and that the evidence showed Kofoed intentionally planted the blood in the car...Kofoed has not been charged in any other investigation.....Before issuing his verdict, Rehmeier said there were similarities between that investigation and one in which a man, Ivan Henk, was convicted of murdering his young son, whose body was never found. In both cases, there were confessions by the suspects and a lack of physical evidence to corroborate them until Kofoed found a speck of blood that had previously been overlooked, the judge said.
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"David Kofoed's jail time doesn't involve steel bars, barbed-wire fences or even 24-7 confinement," the World-Herald story by reporter John Ferak, published on July 11, 2010 begins, under the heading, "Kofoed's jail time not behind bars."
"Rather, Kofoed is serving his sentence of at least 10 months at a nonsecure, coed state facility in Lincoln that has a feel more like a college dormitory atmosphere than a prison," the story continues.
"Kofoed — who is known within Nebraska Department of Correctional Services as inmate No. 71642 — already has been cleared to work outside his facility. He wears civilian clothes and qualifies for community activity passes for recreation, shopping or worship services.
The disgraced former Douglas County CSI director was moved recently into the Lincoln Community Corrections Center, considered one of the least-restrictive environments among the 10 institutions in the state prison system. The Community Corrections Center opened in 1993 and houses 88 women and 312 men.
Kofoed, 53, began his sentence June 1 at the Lincoln Diagnostic & Evaluation Center, where he underwent the standard assessment to determine his placement within the prison system.
That same day, Cass County Judge Randall Rehmeier had sentenced Kofoed to a term of 20 to 48 months for tampering with evidence in a double murder investigation. At sentencing, the judge said Kofoed had failed to accept responsibility and to show remorse. The judge also said that Kofoed's crime was particularly egregious because his actions tarnished the reputation of Nebraska's criminal justice system.
The judge said Kofoed's decision to manufacture false blood evidence in order to provide corroborating evidence for Cass County authorities investigating the homicides allowed the prosecution of two Nebraska cousins to proceed, when, in fact, the men were innocent in the slayings.
Last month's sentence guaranteed Kofoed would serve more time than either Matthew Livers or Nicholas Sampson, the two men wrongly accused in the 2006 deaths of Wayne and Sharmon Stock of Murdock, Neb.
But their conditions were more dismal than Kofoed's placement. Sampson lived in a solitary confinement cell in the Cass County Jail for nearly six months, with only a bed and toilet. Livers had similar conditions before being moved to the Sarpy County Jail, where he shared a larger cell with other inmates, including accused child molesters. He spent nearly eight months behind bars.
Both men were denied bail and did not leave the facility except for court appearances. For those outings, they were in handcuffs and leg shackles. Visits from family came only at the jail, where a glass partition separated them, talking was done over a phone and deputies monitored everything.
Nebraska Department of Corrections Director Robert Houston defended the decision to move Kofoed into a community corrections setting.
Kofoed was not afforded any special treatment or consideration, Houston said, adding he was not involved in conducting the risk assessment. Other Department of Corrections staff members made that determination, which Houston said he was made aware of only afterward.
Houston said Department of Corrections staff concluded that community corrections was most the appropriate placement based on multiple factors, including Kofoed's age, background, sentence, employment history and lack of criminal history. They also said he posed no danger to the public.
Houston said Nebraska tries to assign each inmate to the least restrictive setting while still maintaining public safety. “You don't want to overclassify someone because that costs more money. People placed in community corrections have been assessed to be the lowest risk to reoffend, and they are within three years of their release date,” Houston said.
Houston said Kofoed can have supervised furloughs, assuming he remains on good behavior and follows rules as directed by the staff. Furloughs typically range from several hours to two or three days, Houston said.
Houston said it's his understanding that Kofoed is assigned to a work detail outside the facility for now, not the prisoner work-release program. (The Parole Board must first approve an inmate's move to the latter program as well as unsupervised furloughs.) Houston said he did not know to what job Kofoed had been assigned.
Typically, inmates assigned to community corrections work on grounds crews outside a state prison. They also work inside warehouses, industries, at a state office, the governor's mansion, parks or on a road crew.
They are furnished work clothes for use when they are on the job and receive a wage of $1.21 up to $3.78 per day.
Houston sees no problems with Kofoed's placement.
“We have a classification system we have confidence in, and it is applied equally to all inmates. It has provided us with a very good model with which we make informed decisions and provide the public protection in Nebraska,” Houston said.
Special prosecutor Clarence Mock said he had no objection to Kofoed's placement.
“Obviously, the State Department of Corrections runs the show,” Mock said. “That is totally up to them, and he has got a right to be treated like every other prisoner.”
Kofoed is eligible for parole on March 30, 2011."
The story can be found at:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100711/NEWS01/707119899
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 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 accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-feature-cases-issues-and.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
