OCTOBER CALENDER: CRUCIAL HEARINGS IN OCTOBER; HANK SKINNER, JOHN THOMPSON AND CAMERON TODD WILLLINGHAM;

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This month, all eyes will be on three extremely cases of interest to the readers of this Blog: the appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court launched by Hank Skinner and John Thompson, and the unprecedented review to be conducted by Judge Charlie Baird to determine if the State of Texas executed an innocent man (Cameron Todd Willingham); The appeals and review are scheduled as follows;


John Thompson: U.S. Supreme Court: October 6, 2010;

Cameron Todd Willingham: review: October 06 and 07, 2010;

Hank Skinner: U.S. Supreme Court: October 13, 2010;



BY WAY OF BACKGROUND: Hank Skinner and John Thompson appeals, as per reporter Adam Liptak, New York Times, in a story headed, "Supreme Court Term Offers Hot Issues and Future Hints," published earlier today.

0: "In a pair of cases involving death row inmates, the justices will consider what an inmate may do to try to establish his innocence and what legal recourse is available to exonerated prisoners.

The first question is presented in Skinner v. Switzer, No. 09-9000, an appeal from Hank Skinner, an inmate in Texas who is seeking access to DNA evidence that he says could prove his innocence. In March, the court granted a stay of execution less than an hour before Mr. Skinner was to be put to death in the murder of his girlfriend and her two sons.

Mr. Skinner seeks to test blood, fingernail scrapings and hair found at the scene of the killings. He maintains that he was sleeping on a sofa in a stupor induced by vodka and codeine when the killings took place on Dec. 31, 1993.

Prosecutors say he is making his request too late. They add that testing would be pointless because "no item of evidence exists that would conclusively prove that Skinner did not commit the murder."

The case concerning a prisoner's exoneration is Connick v. Thompson, 09-571, which arose from a $14 million jury award in favor of a former inmate who was freed after prosecutorial misconduct came to light.

The former inmate, John Thompson, sued officials in the district attorney's office in New Orleans, saying they had not trained prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence. A prosecutor there failed to give Mr. Thompson's lawyers a report showing that blood at a crime scene was not his.

Mr. Thompson spent 18 years in prison, 14 in solitary confinement. He once came within weeks of being executed.

BY WAY OF BACKGROUND; Cameron Todd Willingham review:

O: District Judge Charlie Baird will hold a two-day hearing in October to consider evidence on whether Cameron Todd Willing­ham was actually innocent of and executed for a crime that never occurred. Willingham was executed in 2004 in connection with a fire in his home in Corsicana that claimed the lives of his three young children. State officials – including the State Fire Marshal's Office – concluded that the 1991 fire had been deliberately set by Willingham; Willing­ham maintained his innocence, including in his last words before death...Baird, who will retire at the end of the year, will consider testimony and evidence in the case on Oct. 6 and 7. Baird last year presided over the state's first posthumous hearing in the case of Tim Cole.

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;