"With his lofty motto - Exposing Unrighteousness for the Sake of Righteousness - and a string of letters after his name, Gene Morrison was paid at least £250,000 in taxpayers' money over a 27-year period, giving evidence from the witness box and writing reports for the courts. In fact, his years of experience were entirely ficticious and his qualifications purchased online.
Yesterday Morrison, 48, of Hyde, Cheshire, was described as a complete charlatan and found guilty of a host of deception charges."
KAREN MCVEIGH: THE GUARDIAN;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Gene Morrison and Charles Smith had many things in common - but one stands out. They both managed to bamboozle people in their respective justice systems, including judges, prosecutors, police and even defence lawyers, into believing that they were genuine forensic experts. Morrison purported to be a forensic expert in the areas of handwriting, drugs, lie detection, toxicology, facial mapping and forensic dentistry, who had earned his qualifications through who a BSc in forensic psychology, an MSc in forensic investigation, and a PhD in criminology which he purchased from Rochville University, an online website offering 'life experience degrees'. Smith misrepresented himself as a qualified forensic pathologist (while staring down those who dared to disagree with him) even though he had no professional qualifications in the area, no specialized training to speak of as a forensic pathologist, and had never been trained or mentored by a genuine forensic pathologist. He would later admit to the independent Goudge inquiry into many of his cases that his knowledge of forensic pathology was "woefully inadequate," that his training was "minimal," that he was basically ''self-taught", and that he was "profoundly ignorant" of the role of expert witnesses and the way in which the criminal justice system works. (Not true. He wrote impressive articles on the role of experts, and lectured to homicide officers on issues involving the criminal justice system); In spite of his admission of being "woefully inadequate" and "self-taught," Smith's evidence from the witness box brimmed with confidence, certainty, experience, and a sense of deep knowledge of his field. One major difference: Morrison was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to prison for five years for his fraud upon the justice system; Charles Smith remains untouched. I am publishing this series of posts on Gene Morrison without editorial comment (not an easy task) so that our readers can make up their own minds about whether Smith should be prosecuted. I will publish my personal views at the end of the series.
HAROLD LEVY: PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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"A man who appeared as an expert forensic psychologist in hundreds of court cases was yesterday revealed to be a conman who had duped judges, barristers and their clients for almost three decades," the Guardian story by reporter Karen McVeigh published on February 22, 2007 begins, under the heading, "The £250,000 'psychologist' who fooled the courts for 27 years: Expert witness' convicted of deception charges; Miscarriage of justice fear in hundreds of cases."
"With his lofty motto - Exposing Unrighteousness for the Sake of Righteousness - and a string of letters after his name, Gene Morrison was paid at least £250,000 in taxpayers' money over a 27-year period, giving evidence from the witness box and writing reports for the courts. In fact, his years of experience were entirely ficticious and his qualifications purchased online," the story continues.
"Yesterday Morrison, 48, of Hyde, Cheshire, was described as a complete charlatan and found guilty of a host of deception charges.
Police are now having to reassess around 700 cases in which Morrison gave evidence, looking for possible miscarriages of justice and potentially opening the floodgates for appeals against convictions.
Neil Flewitt QC, prosecuting, said the defendant was not a "harmless but deluded amateur" but a cynical conman who had meddled in court cases to line his own pockets. He gave evidence in cases involving armed robbery, rape, death by dangerous driving, unexplained death and drugs offences.
Morrison managed to convince lawyers of his expertise despite his unorthodox ways. He once wore a fluorescent jacket with "forensic investigator" on it to a meeting with a client. On another occasion he was asked by a businessman to weed out a thief on his workforce. Morrison hired a lie detector from a firm called "Spies Are Us" and then, when he could not understand how to use it, told the client he could tell who was guilty of lying just by touching them. In another case he charged almost £2,000 to carry out a fingerprint examination of a condom wrapper on behalf of a suspect accused of rape.
Morrison, who is believed to have fathered up to nine children by a number of different women, told police he began working as a forensic investigator in 1977 after spotting an advert in a detective magazine offering correspondence degrees customers could buy.
It looked easier than going to a real university, he told the court.
The defendant held paper degree certificates for a BSc in Forensic Science, a Masters with excellence in Forensic Investigation and a Doctorate in Criminology - all purchased from a website called affordabledegrees.com. Customers could even choose their own grades.
The qualifications were awarded by the Rochville University in the US - which does not exist, except in cyberspace.
He claimed to have learned his skills from a retired West Yorkshire detective called John Pearson and a mysterious Mr X, a member of the Czech Republic ministry of defence he met by chance on a visit to Prague.
Morrison told officers he had begun an Open University degree in forensic or social psychology. But in court he admitted really only phoning the OU for a brochure and tape recording OU TV programmes from BBC2 in the 1970s.
Morrison set up a firm called the Criminal & Forensic Investigations Bureau and a website which boasted he had more than 20 years experience in forensic investigations.
Working from an office near his home in Hyde, Cheshire, he placed adverts in the Solicitors Journal, and started out by hiring real forensic scientists to carry out handwriting and fingerprint analysis which he would then claim as his own and charge clients twice the true price. Later he cut-and-pasted old reports together and changed details claiming the analysis was new.
Jamaican-born Morrison was convicted of 20 offences including obtaining a money transfer by deception, obtaining property by deception, perverting the course of justice and perjury, after a four-week trial at Minshull Street crown court, Manchester. He was cleared of one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and the jury were still deliberating on a single count of intending to pervert the course of justice and one of attempting to obtain property by deception."
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THE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/feb/22/ukcrime.uknews4
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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;
