"Or consider the many examples, reported by the News & Observer of Raleigh, of State Bureau of Investigation agents who, as the N&O wrote, “cut corners, bullied the vulnerable and twisted reports and court testimony when the truth threatened to undermine their cases.” An independent audit of the SBI’s blood lab found analysts had misrepresented or hidden test results in 230 cases.
In one of those, Greg Taylor was imprisoned 17 years for a murder he didn’t commit. SBI agent Duane Deaver testified that tests found blood on Taylor’s SUV, although Deaver’s later, more accurate tests found no blood. Deaver said it was SBI policy to ignore those “confirmatory” blood tests. The N&O found an SBI culture in which “prosecutors’ needs are met at a high cost to defendants.”
EDITORIAL: THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER;
PHOTO: GREG TAYLOR; Wikipedia informs us that, "The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper, in terms of circulation, in North and South Carolina."
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BACKGROUND: Seventeen years ago, Greg Taylor was convicted of the September, 1991 murder of Raleigh prostitute Jacquetta Thomas, 26, whose body was found dumped on South Blount Street in Raleigh. Taylor, 47, said he spent the night of September 25, 1991 drinking and doing drugs with friends while he drove around southeast Raleigh to buy crack cocaine. Taylor said he believed police latched on to him for the murder because he and a friend drove along a dirt path off the same cul-de-sac where Thomas's body was found. Taylor and the friend smoked crack, but his SUV got stuck as they tried to drive away. They abandoned the SUV and walked to a nearby street to get a ride. Taylor testified they saw what they thought was a body but didn't report it to police. When Taylor returned in the morning to get the SUV, the police were already there. Taylor had exhausted his appeals, but the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission reviewed the evidence against him last year and recommended the case to the three judge panel for further review. The commission is the only state-run agency in the country that investigates claims of innocence. Now the Commission has declared him innocent - the first time an inmate has been freed through the actions of the state's Innocence Inquiry Commission.
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"Even the most ardent crime-fighting cops have probably noticed, while watching “Law & Order,” that whoever gets arrested at 25 minutes past the hour is almost never guilty despite the cops’ impassioned belief otherwise," the Charlotte Observer editorial published on August 25, 2010, begins, under the heading, "When officers cut corners, justice loses: Too much eagerness to help prosecutors can backfire badly."
"You’d think no law enforcement officers could pass Policing 101 without learning the “Law & Order” lesson: Just because you believe someone’s guilty doesn’t make it so. It appears, though, a shocking number might flunk that lesson," the editorial continues.
"Consider Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Arvin Fant. Monday he testified that he threw away some of his notes in the case against Demeatrius Montgomery, on trial for murder in the 2007 shootings of CMPD officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark. Fant said he had used other officers’ information to rewrite parts of his notes and had copied and pasted parts of another officer’s notes into his. Though it isn’t clear whether Fant was trying to cover up mere disorganization or something else, Montgomery’s lawyers say the missing notes may include an interview pointing to Montgomery’s innocence.
Because of Fant’s actions, Superior Court Judge Forrest Bridges ruled Tuesday that Montgomery would not face the death penalty.
Or consider the many examples, reported by the News & Observer of Raleigh, of State Bureau of Investigation agents who, as the N&O wrote, “cut corners, bullied the vulnerable and twisted reports and court testimony when the truth threatened to undermine their cases.” An independent audit of the SBI’s blood lab found analysts had misrepresented or hidden test results in 230 cases.
In one of those, Greg Taylor was imprisoned 17 years for a murder he didn’t commit. SBI agent Duane Deaver testified that tests found blood on Taylor’s SUV, although Deaver’s later, more accurate tests found no blood. Deaver said it was SBI policy to ignore those “confirmatory” blood tests. The N&O found an SBI culture in which “prosecutors’ needs are met at a high cost to defendants.”
In another appalling case, a mentally disabled Wadesboro man, Floyd Brown, languished 14 years at a state mental hospital, charged with the beating death of a retired schoolteacher but incapable of understanding the charges against him. SBI agent Mark Isley in 1993 had produced a “confession” that strains credulity given Brown’s difficulty speaking and writing. A judge finally freed Brown in 2007, and Charlotte lawyer David Rudolf has sued the SBI on his behalf. Thanks in part to Isley’s actions, whoever killed Katherine Lynch has not been brought to justice.
Consider former death row inmate Alan Gell, freed in 2004. The state and its insurers paid Gell $3.9 million in 2009 because an SBI agent ignored evidence that showed the victim was seen alive while Gell was jailed on another charge.
Judges are expecting a flood of motions from prisoners who now want their cases reviewed. The SBI’s efforts to “help” prosecutors will, instead, swamp the courts, cost the taxpayers plenty and delay real justice for criminals.
Cutting corners turns out not to be the fastest route to justice. Hasn’t anyone noticed that kind of “help” is no help at all?"
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The editorial can be found at:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/08/26/1643351/when-officers-cut-corners-justice.html
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;