CLEVE FOSTER; US SUPREME COURT GRANTS SECOND REPRIEVE FROM EXECUTION: FAILURE OF HIS LAWYERS TO CHALLENGE BLOOD-SPLATTER EVIDENCE AT CORE OF CASE;

"Foster, 47, convicted in the 2002 rape-murder of 30-year-old Nyaneur Pal, was scheduled to be put to death at 6 p.m. Tuesday. He would have been the first Texas killer executed using the state's reformulated lethal three-drug cocktail.

At the core of Foster's case is the contention that his early trial and appeals attorneys provided insufficient representation when they failed to challenge blood-spatter evidence prosecutors said linked him to the crime......

A former Army recruiter, Foster was convicted of Pal's murder after a Fort Worth pool hall bartender testified she saw Ward and Foster leave with the victim in February 2002. Pal's body, shot in the head, later was found in a Tarrant County ditch. Police and a medical examiner testified that Pal likely had been killed elsewhere, and carried - probably by two people - to the place her body was found. That scenario was supported by blood-spatter at the scene, they said.

Semen from Foster and Ward were found in her body.

Last December, an expert for the defense, Ohio forensics consultant Gary Rini, examined blood-spatter evidence and concluded Pal had been killed at the spot she was found, lawyers said."

REPORTER ALLAN TURNER: HOUSTON CHRONICLE;

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"For the second time in four months, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an eleventh-hour stay for convicted killer Cleve Foster, agreeing to consider arguments urging it to revisit an earlier decision that cleared the way for the Fort Worth man's execution," the Houston Chronicle story by reporter Allan Turner published on April 5, 2011 begins, under the heading, "In final hours, Supreme Court halts execution 2nd recent reprieve: Judges issue stay so they can reconsider earlier decision in case."

"Foster, 47, convicted in the 2002 rape-murder of 30-year-old Nyaneur Pal, was scheduled to be put to death at 6 p.m. Tuesday. He would have been the first Texas killer executed using the state's reformulated lethal three-drug cocktail," the story continues.

"At the core of Foster's case is the contention that his early trial and appeals attorneys provided insufficient representation when they failed to challenge blood-spatter evidence prosecutors said linked him to the crime.

In January, the Supreme Court spared Foster's life — minutes before his execution - to consider that claim. Days later, it rejected the appeal and an April execution date was set.

Tuesday's stay came eight hours before the deadly drugs were to be administered.

Foster's convicted accomplice, Sheldon Ward, died of cancer last year on death row. Foster's lawyers contend Ward on four occasions admitted he had acted alone in the murder.

Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling came as the Texas Supreme Court considered a motion from Foster's attorneys attacking the state's substitution of pentobarbital, a drug used to euthanize animals, for now-scarce sodium thiopental.

Thiopental, an anaesthetic traditionally used as the first of three drugs to cause death, has been in short supply since its European maker, opposed to its use in executions, curbed production.

Foster's lawyers argued that the state purchased the new drug using the federal permit of a prison hospital no longer in existence. They also contended the state adopted the new drug without consulting medical or pharmacological experts.
Alabama killer's case

A state district court and the Third Texas Court of Appeals earlier had rejected the appeal.

Foster's attorney, Maurie Levin of the University of Texas Capital Punishment Center, expressed delight in Tuesday's stay. She said the decision to ask high court justices to consider arguments for reopening the case came after their March decision in favor of Alabama convicted killer Cory Maples.

Maples' case, she said, contained elements similar to those in Foster's.
Semen evidence

A former Army recruiter, Foster was convicted of Pal's murder after a Fort Worth pool hall bartender testified she saw Ward and Foster leave with the victim in February 2002. Pal's body, shot in the head, later was found in a Tarrant County ditch. Police and a medical examiner testified that Pal likely had been killed elsewhere, and carried - probably by two people - to the place her body was found. That scenario was supported by blood-spatter at the scene, they said.

Semen from Foster and Ward were found in her body.

Last December, an expert for the defense, Ohio forensics consultant Gary Rini, examined blood-spatter evidence and concluded Pal had been killed at the spot she was found, lawyers said."

The story can be found at:

http://130.80.29.3/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/7508515.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 found 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;