BOOKER DIGGINS: INNOCENCE PROJECT: BLOOD TESTS COULD HAVE PROVED HIS INNOCENCE BUT WERE NEVER PRESENTED AT TRIAL; MOTION FILED TO FREE HIM;

"Diggins was sentenced to life in 1988 for a rape he has always said he didn’t commit. DNA testing can’t be conducted in the case because evidence in the case has been missing since Hurricane Katrina. Blood tests conducted before trial show that the perpetrator had type A blood, however, and tests conducted recently show that Diggins’ blood is Type O — meaning he could not have been the perpetrator.

Prosecutors failed to alert Diggins’ attorneys that a rape kit collected from the victim in the case contained semen that could be compared to Diggins. Since the defense didn't know about the crime scene evidence, Diggins’ blood was not tested for comparison before trial."

INNOCENCE PROJECT ONLINE: AUGUST 2010;

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BACKGROUND:"Diggins was convicted of aggravated rape, which carries mandatory life without parole, plus 30 years for armed robbery and five years for conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The judge ordered him to serve the three sentences in consecutive order. But 22 years after Diggins was shipped to the state penitentiary, he and his attorneys have unearthed the fact that prosecutors kept quiet the medical evidence that could have helped him at trial. Well before January 1988, then-District Attorney Harry Connick's prosecutors -- Glen Woods and Wendy Baldwin Vitter -- knew that blood and semen had been collected from the victim, along with a blood type that didn't match the woman's. Diggins wants a day in court to present the blood evidence that Connick's team failed to hand over to the defense, according to the Innocence Project, the New York-based group dedicated to freeing wrongly convicted people through DNA testing...(Times-Picayune);

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"Innocence Project client Booker Diggins has spent 22 years in Louisiana prisons for a crime scientific evidence shows he didn’t commit. Blood tests could have proven his innocence before trial — but they were never presented. The Innocence Project filed a motion this month seeking to free him based on this evidence," the Innocence Project post published in August, 2009 begins, under the heading, "Withheld Evidence and Injustice in Louisiana: Booker Diggins Remains Behind Bars Despite Blood Tests Proving His Innocence."

"Diggins was sentenced to life in 1988 for a rape he has always said he didn’t commit. DNA testing can’t be conducted in the case because evidence in the case has been missing since Hurricane Katrina. Blood tests conducted before trial show that the perpetrator had type A blood, however, and tests conducted recently show that Diggins’ blood is Type O — meaning he could not have been the perpetrator," the story continues.

"Prosecutors failed to alert Diggins’ attorneys that a rape kit collected from the victim in the case contained semen that could be compared to Diggins. Since the defense didn't know about the crime scene evidence, Diggins’ blood was not tested for comparison before trial.

In a similar Louisiana case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, John Thompson was convicted of armed robbery in 1985 after prosecutors failed to turn over blood evidence that could have exonerated him. He was eventually freed, and he alleged in a civil case that he was wrongfully convicted as a result of prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutors are appealing a decision holding them liable. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case this fall.

Prosecutorial misconduct is a common cause of wrongful conviction. An Innocence Project report on prosecutorial misconduct released today finds that allegations of prosecutorial misconduct have been raised in one-quarter of DNA exoneration cases. In 31 of the first 255 DNA exoneration cases, courts found that some form of prosecutorial misconduct or error played a role in the conviction."

The post can be found at

http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/IPonline/Aug2010.php

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://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;