STRAUSS-KAHN; FORENSICS PROVIDE CLEAR EVIDENCE OF SEXUAL ENCOUNTER; BUT PROSECUTORS QUESTION HER ACCOUNT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND OF HERSELF; NYT;

"Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself," the story continues.

"Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials said.

Senior prosecutors met with lawyers for Mr. Strauss-Kahn on Thursday and provided details about their findings, and the parties are discussing whether to dismiss the felony charges. Among the discoveries, one of the officials said, are issues involving the asylum application of the 32-year-old housekeeper, who is Guinean, and possible links to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering."

REPORTERS JIM DWYER, WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and JOHN ELIGON; THE NEW YORK TIMES;

GUIDE TO THE NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATION;

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html


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"The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials," The New York Times story by reporters Jim Dwyer, William K. Rashbaum and John Eligon published earlier today under the heading, "Strauss-Kahn Case Seen as in Jeopardy," begins.

"Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself," the story continues.

"Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials said.

Senior prosecutors met with lawyers for Mr. Strauss-Kahn on Thursday and provided details about their findings, and the parties are discussing whether to dismiss the felony charges. Among the discoveries, one of the officials said, are issues involving the asylum application of the 32-year-old housekeeper, who is Guinean, and possible links to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will return to State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Friday morning, when Justice Michael J. Obus is expected to consider easing the extraordinary bail conditions that he imposed on Mr. Strauss-Kahn in the days after he was charged.

Indeed, Mr. Strauss-Kahn could be released on his own recognizance, and freed from house arrest, reflecting the likelihood that the serious criminal charges against him will not be sustained. The district attorney’s office may try to require Mr. Strauss-Kahn to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, but his lawyers are likely to contest such a move.

The revelations mark a stunning change of fortune for Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who was a leading candidate for the French presidency before being accused of sexually assaulting the woman who went to clean his luxury suite at the Sofitel New York.

Prosecutors from the office of District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who initially were emphatic about the strength of the case and the account of the victim, plan to tell the court on Friday that they “have problems with the case” based on what their investigators have discovered, and will disclose more details of their findings to the defense.

“It is a mess, a mess on both sides,” the official said.

According to the two law enforcement officials, the woman had a phone conversation with an incarcerated man within a day of her encounter with Mr. Strauss Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against him. The conversation was recorded.

That man, the investigators learned, had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana. He was among a number of individuals who made multiple cash deposits, totaling around $100,000, into the woman’s bank account over the last two years. The deposits were made in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia and New York.

They also learned that she was paying hundreds of dollars every month in phone charges to five different companies. The woman insisted she only had a single phone and said she knew nothing about the deposits except that they were made by a man she described as her fiancé and his friends.

In addition, the official said, she told investigators that part of her application for asylum included a previous rape, but there was no such account in the application. She also told them that she had been subjected to genital mutilation, but her account to the investigators differed from what was contained in the asylum application.

A lawyer for the woman, Kenneth Thompson, could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday evening.

In recent weeks, Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers, Benjamin Brafman and William W. Taylor III, have made clear that they would make the credibility of the woman a focus of their case. In a May 25 letter they said that they had uncovered information that would “gravely undermine the credibility” of the housekeeper.

Still, it was the prosecutor’s investigators who found the information about the alleged victim.

The case involving Mr. Strauss-Kahn has made international headlines and renewed attention on his alleged past inappropriate behavior toward women, while, more broadly, triggering soul-searching among the French about the treatment of women.

The new revelations are likely to buttress the view of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s supporters, who complained that the American authorities had rushed to judgment in the case.

Some of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s allies even contended that he had been set up by his political rivals, an assertion law enforcement authorities said there was no evidence to support.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn resigned from his post as managing director of the International Monetary Fund in the wake of the woman’s allegation and was required to post $1 million bail and a $5 million bond.

He also agreed to remain under 24-hour home confinement while wearing an ankle monitor and providing a security team and an armed guard at the entrance and exit of the building. The conditions are costing Mr. Strauss-Kahn $250,000 a month.

Prosecutors had sought the restrictive conditions in part by arguing that the case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn was a strong one, citing a number of factors including the credibility of his accuser, the housekeeper, saying her story was “compelling and unwavering.”

The French politician was such a pariah in the initial days after the arrest that neighbors of an upper East Side apartment building complained when he and his wife attempted to rent a unit there. He eventually rented a three-story town house on Franklin Street in TriBeCa.

Under the newly relaxed conditions of bail set to be presented on Friday, the district attorney’s office would retain Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s passport and he would be permitted to travel within the United States.

After the indictment was filed, Mr. Vance took to the steps of the courthouse and characterized the charges as “extremely serious,” and that the “evidence supports the commission of non-consensual forced sexual acts.”

Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers, Mr. Brafman and Mr. Taylor, declined comment on Thursday evening.

The case was not scheduled to return to court until July 18."


The story can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/nyregion/strauss-kahn-case-seen-as-in-jeopardy.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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

CASEY ANTHONY; HER LAWYER TELLS COURT SHE WILL NOT TESTIFY; DEFENCE THEN RESTS. ORLANDO SENTINEL;

"George Anthony's daughter, Casey Anthony, 25, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie in the summer of 2008.

But in his opening statement, defense attorney Jose Baez said Anthony did not kill her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, as prosecutors allege.

Baez claims Caylee drowned in her family pool in June 2008 and that George Anthony knew and helped dispose of the body — claims George Anthony has denied."

REPORTER ANTHONY COLOROSSI; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL;

A backgrounder on this high profile Florida case cane be found on Wikipedia at:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony

GUIDE TO THE NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATION;

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=858012168717160055
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"Minutes after Casey Anthony told Chief Judge Belvin Perry she won't testify in her own defense, her lead attorney said the defense has rested its case," the Orlando Sentinel story by reporter Anthony Colorossi published earlier today under the heading, "Casey Anthony trial: 'Caylee, here I come' George Anthony writes in suicide note: Defense rests; Casey says she won't testify," begins.

"Anthony, 25, briefly answered Perry's questions about her decision after proceedings resumed following today's lunch break," the story continues.

""Is it your decision not to testify?" Perry asked her.

"Yes, sir," Casey Anthony said.

Casey Anthony will not take the stand

She agreed that she has not been forced or pressured to arrive at that decision. She agreed that she made it freely and voluntarily. Then her defense team rested its case, signaling the latest milestone in a trial that began in late May.

George Anthony's suicide note shown to jurors

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton revealed the George Anthony suicide note to jurors

Some excerpts: (It is addressed to Cynthia and these excerpts are not in order)

•"Caylee, here I come."

•"My loss of life is meaningless."

•"I have never been the man any of you can count on."

"I know you love me and I still question all these years, how can she love me, put up with me? Well I guess you took the vows of marriage and meant it."

•"I love you Cynthia Marie. I really do. That is why I must join Caylee Marie now,"

•"I cannot be strong anymore. Caylee Marie our granddaughter, i miss her. I miss her so much. I know you do too."

•"I blame myself for her being done."

•He says "Casey does not deserve to be where she is."

•"her personal safety is always on my mind,"

•"I love you Cynthia Marie. You are the best. You always have been. Caylee here I come."

"It is my hope that on Saturday afternoon that you will hear the final summation by the state of Florida and the defense," Perry said.

Perry said he will give jury instructions on Saturday afternoon and then they will begin deliberations.

The court is in recess for the afternoon.

"Please have a restful evening," Perry said.

State wants jurors to smell death

Judge Perry said he will not allow any "smell tests" by jurors in sniffing a can with an air samples from Casey Anthony's car.

Perry said that item will not go back to the jury room with other evidence. He felt that their smelling the can would be unfair to Casey Anthony because she would not be able to cross examine the jurors and confront them on their opinions regarding the smell.

"Judge's are not supposed to be potted plants," Perry said in ruling that he would use his judicial discretion to prevent the can smelling.

Perry cited two other cases in Florida that have dealt with this so-called "jury experimentation" issue. But he decided to keep it out.

Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton wanted to allow jurors to smell the can with the air sample from Casey Anthony's Pontiac Sunfire, if they asked to do that.

Ashton wanted to call Michael Vincent with the Orange County Sheriff's Office to describe the smell in the can and establish the possibility that jurors could do the same.

"This jury in my estimation is going to want to smell the evidence," Ashton said. He found no case law preventing jurors from using their "olfactory senses" to evaluate evidence, Ashton said.

But Baez argued that allowing the can smelling would amount to "changing rules in the middle of the game."

He argued that letting jurors smell the evidence would be turning jurors into witnesses in the case.

Defense upset about last-minute records

Perry, meanwhile, turned away the defense team's complaints about more than 200 pages of records it just received from the state about Cindy Anthony's records from her former employer, Gentiva.

Getting the records at this time essentially amounts to a violation of the record-sharing rules between the defense and state, according to defense attorneys Jose Baez and J Cheney Mason.

"The timing is way too late," Baez said.

The records could be crucial because Cindy Anthony has previously testified that she was the one who looked up "chloroform" on the family's computer – not Casey.

She testified that she did this even though work records showed she was working at the time of the searches. Her employer, she testified, allowed her to do that.

Perry decided it was not a discovery violation. That means the state can use the records during the trial.

Anthonys quizzed about dead pets

Before the break, her main defense attorney quizzed members of the Anthony family today about the manner in which they disposed of their dead family pets.

Attorney Jose Baez asked George Anthony if he recalled burying his pets through the years by wrapping them in plastic bags and with duct tape —the way Caylee was left in the woods a short walk from the Anthony's home in east Orange County.

George Anthony said he couldn't recall.

He asked similar questions of Cindy Anthony. She recalled a dog named Mandy that was put down in Ohio about 20 years ago because she had been very ill. She brought a blanket to the veterinarian's office.

The dog was wrapped in black plastic with packing tape over it — not duct tape.

Lee Anthony said he remembered duct tape used to secure a bag in the burial of a pet.

"Typically, it would have been my parents," Lee said when asked who was responsible for burying pets.

Bo, another dog, passed in the summer of 1990. George and Cindy took Bo to the vet. Bo was buried in black plastic with tape.

Ginger and Cinnamon were buried with a towel or a favorite toy in plastic bags secured with clear packing tape, Cindy said.

Penny the cat died in 2009 and he was put it one of Caylee's hooded bath towels and placed in a bag secured with packing tape.

Casey was present when Cindy wrapped thedogs. In Florida, the Anthonys designated a spot for the pets with a memorial marker, Cindy said.

Casey was present for a couple of the burials, possibly Bo and maybe Ginger or Cinnamon.

Casey was aware of the method of burial in the yard by the time she was a senior in high school, Cindy Anthony said.

After the Anthonys testified about pet burials, the proceedings went into a two-hour recess until 1:30 p.m.

George's alleged mistress testifies

The unusual line of questioning came after testimony from a woman who claims to have had an affair with George Anthony.

A woman who goes by two names — Krystal Holloway and River Cruz testified that George Anthony told her once that Caylee's death was an accident that snowballed out of control — a statement George Anthony has already denied making.

Holloway said she was caught off guard by the statement and looked up to see George Anthony's eyes filled with tears.

"I didn't say anything after that,'' the woman said.

The jury and Holloway were called out of the courtroom while Chief Judge Belvin Perry discussed crafting instruction regarding her testimony.

When the jury returned, Perry told them that Krystal's testimony may be considered only as it relates to impeaching George Anthony's prior statements. They should not be considered proof as to the manner in which Caylee died and the testimony shouldn't be used in determining the defendant's guilt or innocence.

George Anthony's daughter, Casey Anthony, 25, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie in the summer of 2008.

But in his opening statement, defense attorney Jose Baez said Anthony did not kill her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, as prosecutors allege.

Baez claims Caylee drowned in her family pool in June 2008 and that George Anthony knew and helped dispose of the body — claims George Anthony has denied.

Holloway says she initially lied to police

This morning, Holloway said she met George Anthony at a tent in July 2008 when his granddaughter, Caylee Marie, was still considered a missing child. She said she developed an intimate relationship with George Anthony.

He went to her home about 12 times, he said.

George Anthony previously testified that he was only a friend and he went to her place to comfort her because of herbrain tumor.

She said their relationship ended on what would have been Caylee's 4th birthday during a memorial balloon release.

George is in court wearing a tie and staring straight ahead with his hands clasped. His wife, Cindy Anthony, is seated next to him, as usual.

Defense attorney Jose Baez asked his witness to read from a text message she said was from George just before they broke up. She said it said I'm "just thinking about you. I need you in my life."

She said police contacted her about two years after they broke up and she denied having a relationship with George because she didn't want him to get in trouble, she was in another relationship and because she felt if she told police, the media would find out.

"So, I initially lied because I was embarrassed," she said.

She agreed to an interview with someone from the National Enquirer in exchange for $4,000 because she was worried other media would heavily edit her story and make her look like "trash."

Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton is cross-examining the woman and suggesting she made up the affair to make her story more interesting.

He also noted that George and Cindy had celebrity status at this time because of their frequent media appearances.

Ashton said it's much sexier, and the story is better, "if you're actually sleeping with George Anthony."

Holloway insisted: "I did have an affair with George.''"

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The story can be found at:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-trial-day-32-20110630,0,7460571.story

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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 found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

ASHLEY SMITH: BELEAGUERED INQUEST; CORONER BONITA PORTER ABRUPTLY REMOVED; REPLACED BY CORONER WITH LEGAL BACKGROUND; LEGAL RULINGS TO BE RE-ARGUED;

"The announcement pointed to Dr. Porter's pending retirement this fall as the reason for the abrupt move.

Due to the expected length of the inquest, "Dr. Porter, who is scheduled to retire in November, would have been unable to complete the inquest when it resumes in the fall," the release said.

But a line in the announcement hints at another significant reason for the mid-race switch to a new horse -Dr. Carlisle is not only a medical doctor, but also a lawyer and veteran law professor.

If ever an inquest illustrated the need to have a lawyer or judge in the driver's seat, as some other provinces do, it was this one."

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD; THE NATIONAL POST;

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html


GUIDE TO THE NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATION:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html

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BACKGROUND: Ashley Smith, 19, died in her prison cell at Grand Valley Institution near Kitchener, Ont., in October 2007 from self-strangulation. She had been transferred between federal institutions 17 times during her final 11 months, most of that time kept in segregation and often on suicide watch dressed in a highly restrictive gown. Jailed at age 13 for a crab apple-throwing incident in New Brunswick, Smith was eventually transferred to an adult facility after she kept getting into trouble behind bars by constantly kicking, grabbing and spitting at guards. Lawyer's for her family and the media have been fighting Coroner Dr. Bonita Porter's efforts to limit the scope and evidence to be called at the inquest which had been placed on hold. The inquest is of interest to this Blog because it relates to the openness of public death investigations - and the necessity to ensure that deaths warranting inquests get full scrutiny.

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"The Ashley Smith inquest has a new coroner at the helm," the National Post story by Christie Blatchford published earlier today under the heading, "Coroner replaced in prison death inquest: Oral arguments presented to coroner Bonita Porter willnow have to be repeated, Smith's lawyer says," begins.

"Dr. Bonita Porter, who had presided over the oft-delayed and troubled inquest into the strangulation prison death of the mentally ill teenager, has been replaced by Dr. John Carlisle," the story continues.

"The Ontario government made the announcement in a brief press release Wednesday.

The announcement pointed to Dr. Porter's pending retirement this fall as the reason for the abrupt move.

Due to the expected length of the inquest, "Dr. Porter, who is scheduled to retire in November, would have been unable to complete the inquest when it resumes in the fall," the release said.

But a line in the announcement hints at another significant reason for the mid-race switch to a new horse -Dr. Carlisle is not only a medical doctor, but also a lawyer and veteran law professor.

If ever an inquest illustrated the need to have a lawyer or judge in the driver's seat, as some other provinces do, it was this one.

Dr. Porter had formally granted "standing" to about a dozen groups and individuals -meaning these parties are entitled to cross-examine witnesses -some of them represented by some of the fiercest advocates in the Ontario bar.

Almost daily, she faced procedural and evidentiary challenges from these lawyers, and from those representing the press, and was often clearly out of her depth.

Several times, lawyers appealed one or another of her decisions to the Ontario Divisional Court, most famously when Dr. Porter ruled that prison videos, showing Ms. Smith being forcibly injected with anti-psychotics and subjected to other harsh treatment at Quebec's Joliette Institution, weren't relevant to her state of mind.

Ms. Smith, then 19, strangled herself with a ligature in her cell at Kitchener's Grand Valley Institute for Women on Oct. 19, 2007, about three months after she had been repeatedly strapped to a stretcher and drugged at Joliette.

Last month, the court called Dr. Porter's decision not to seize the videos confusing, overturned her and told her to re-think the matter.

Neither did it appear Dr. Porter was getting particularly good advice from her own legal team, made up of three lawyers from the provincial attorney-general and a fourth who appeared occasionally to argue particular issues.

If originally coroner's inquests were medical investigations into a death, the high profile ones, particularly those involving matters that have captured the public's attention, have long since morphed into contests that are much more legal in nature than medical.

Dr. Porter adjourned the inquest late last month, and about a week ago, with her key decision about the Joliette videos and two others still pending, announced the proceeding would resume in September.

She promised at that time to deliver her rulings -critical to the scope and openness of the inquest -this week.

Instead, Dr. Carlisle will now "review and decide" on these issues.

Before joining the coroner's office in 2004, Dr. Carlisle served as a medical officer with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and as a professor at York University, where he taught a course in law and medicine for more than 25 years. These credentials appear to make him almost uniquely well-qualified to steer the inquest back on the right course.

When the proceeding adjourned last month, the five member jury had heard only part of the evidence from only one witness.

Julian Falconer, lawyer for Ms. Smith's family, was furious at the announcement, calling the inquest "a colossal waste, a mess."

He said he and other lawyers have "wasted weeks and weeks" of oral argument on the three motions that were before Dr. Porter, and pointed out that now these will have to be reargued because Dr. Carlisle has heard none of what they have to say.

"It begs the question of what's going on at that office," Mr. Falconer snapped. "And remember what this delay does to the family."

Ms. Smith, originally sent to a youth facility in her home province of New Brunswick for throwing crabapples at a mailman, ended up spending most of the last three years of her life in isolation, or segregation, units of youth and adult facilities, provincial and federal prisons, and several hospitals.

She was transferred among these various facilities no fewer than 17 times in less than a year, once being strapped to her airplane seat in the process."

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The story can be found at:

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Coroner+replaced+prison+death+inquest/5027238/story.html

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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 found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

RADLEY BALKO; (1); MYTHS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM; PART ONE; HUFFINGTON POST;

"But despite the fact that these law enforcement officials wrongly raided, arrested, jailed and charged Graber based on a mistaken understanding of the law, they face no repercussions. It's unlikely Graber will even be able to sue. Prosecutors have absolute immunity from lawsuits related to the decisions they make about whether or not to charge someone with a crime, even when they are clearly wrong about the law."

RADLEY BALKO; THE HUFFINGTON POST; Radley Balko is a senior writer and investigative reporter for the Huffington Post, where he covers civil liberties and the criminal justice system. He also writes about music and culture in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives. Radley Balko is a former senior editor for Reason magazine, where his weekly column and investigative features were finalists for a number of journalism awards. His 2009 investigative report on expert witness fraud in a Louisiana death penalty case won the Western Publication Association’s “Maggie Award” for reporting. In 2011 The Week named Balko a finalist for “Opinion Columnist of the Year," and the L.A. Press Club named him a finalist for “Journalist of the Year." Balko's work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court (Hudson v. Michigan), and cited and excerpted by the Mississippi State Supreme Court (Mississippi v. Edmonds). His reporting on the Cory Maye case, in which Maye mistakenly killed a police officer in a mistaken drug raid, helped Maye get off death row and win a new trial, due to take place later this year. His extensive reporting on controversial Mississippi medical examiner Steven Hayne helped win a new trial and an acquittal for a 13-year-old murder suspect Tyler Edmonds, and eventually to Hayne's termination. Balko's work on police militarization, forensics, and the criminal justice system has been profiled in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, and the Showtime program, Penn & Teller's Bullshit!.

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Radley blako is one of my heroes in the world of journalism. He is one of the most insightful commentators on America's criminal justice system and is responsible for exposing more than his share of miscarriages of justice. I have devoted numerous posts to his phenomenal reporting on Mississippi medical examiner Steven Hayne. The Huffington Post is fortunate to have added him to its roster. I very much enjoyed his three part series on myths and misconceptions about the criminal justice system. Here is Part One: a look at double jeopardy, enhanced sentencing and ignorance of the law.

HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;

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Myths Of The Criminal Justice System: Part 1:

Myth 1: You Can't Be Tried More Than Once For The Same Crime

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that no person shall "be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." This protection against "double jeopardy" is intended to prevent the government from retrying the same defendant over and over until prosecutors can get a conviction.

But there are some exceptions. First, the protection only comes into play once a jury has convicted or acquitted a defendant. So in trials that end with a hung jury or a mistrial, the prosecution can usually bring the same charges again. One particularly egregious example is Curtis Flowers of Mississippi, who has been tried an incredible six times for the murder of four people in 1996.

Second, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government can charge a defendant with both a crime and the conspiracy to commit that crime without violating the constitutional prohibition on double jeopardy. This gives the government two opportunities to convict for is essentially the same offense. Conspiracy is often easier to prove than the underlying crime. It also gives prosecutors a way to rope in alleged offenses they can no longer charge separately due to statutes of limitations.

Finally, there is the "separate sovereigns" exception to double jeopardy. This allows a defendant to be tried, convicted and sentenced for the same crime in both state and federal court. The most well-known example of the separate sovereigns exception is when the Los Angeles police officers who beat Rodney King were acquitted in state court, then convicted in federal court of violating King's civil rights.

But it's becoming more common in high-profile cases, where both state and federal prosecutors want a chance at a career-making conviction. Michael Vick, for example, was twice convicted on charges related to his dogfighting operation, once under Virginia law and once under federal law. (He was also indicted on various dogfighting-related crimes and conspiracy to commit those crimes.) As the federal criminal code continues to grow, it seems likely we'll see more examples of defendants who are tried twice for the same crime, particularly in cases involving celebrities and politicians.

Myth 2: The Government Can't Punish You For A Crime Without First Convicting You

Under federal sentencing law, once a defendant has been convicted of any federal crime, when determining a sentence, the judge can consider other crimes he or she may have committed. That includes crimes for which the defendant has never been charged and even crimes for which he or she has been acquitted.

In 2007 Antwuan Ball of Washington, D.C., was charged and tried for a long list of alleged federal crimes, including drug dealing, conspiracy, racketeering and murder. The jury was apparently unimpressed with the prosecution's case. They acquitted Ball on all charges, save for a relatively minor $600 sale of half an ounce of crack. But last March, a federal judge sentenced Ball to 18 years in prison, a disproportionately long sentence the judge said was due to his disagreement with the jury's decision to acquit on the other charges.

According to Douglas Berman, who teaches at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and writes the blog Sentencing Law and Policy, three federal appeals courts (the 7th, 8th, and 11th circuits) have allowed judges to consider uncharged or acquitted murders in handing down enhanced sentences to defendants who have been convicted of less serious crimes. In one case, a Virginia defendant was given a life sentence for drugs and firearms charges because the judge found convincing evidence the defendant had been involved in three murders, despite the fact that he had never been charged for those murders, much less convicted.

The doctrine of civil asset forfeiture allows the government to seize the property of people it believes are engaged in criminal conduct before they've been convicted. In fact, the government isn't even required to file criminal charges, only to show some vague connection to criminal activity. Though the policy varies from state to state, the general idea is that the government can seize property if it can show any link between the property and some sort of a crime. The policy is most often used in drug crimes.

Under most civil asset forfeiture laws, the property itself is accused of the crime. The government then files a complaint against the property in civil court. Because it's a civil proceeding, the government's standard of proof is much lower. In fact, in some states the burden is on the property owner to prove he or she earned the property legally. That can be a difficult thing to prove.

The cost of fighting a seizure in court can often exceed the value of the property itself. As of 2008, the federal asset forfeiture fund had over $3 billion in assets. Less than 20 percent of the people from whom that property was taken were ever charged with a crime.

Myth 3: Ignorance Of The Law Is No Defense

Every introductory criminal justice class teaches this one. If you're pulled over for speeding, you can't claim you didn't know the speed limit. If you're pulled over while driving through, for example, in Virginia and the cop notices your radar detector, you can't claim you had no idea the device is illegal in that state.

This particular "myth" is mostly true. And the problem is that it's becoming nearly impossible to know what the law actually is. The U.S. Constitution outlines just three federal crimes -- treason, counterfeiting, and piracy. Various projects have tried to count the number of federal criminal laws passed since, and many have simply given up. But by most estimates, there are at least 4,000 separate criminal laws at the federal level, with another 10,000 to 300,000 regulations that can be enforced criminally.

In his most recent book, the civil libertarian and defense attorney Harvey Silverglate argues that most Americans now unknowingly commit about three felonies per day.

To make matters worse, vaguely-written, broadly-interpreted laws like conspiracy and money laundering give prosecutors yet more discretion and leeway, and make it more difficult for well-intentioned citizens to simply comply with the law. Even the members of Congress who actually pass these laws often don't know what they've just passed, even laws that directly apply to them.

But there is one exception to this rule: If you work for the government, particularly in law enforcement, you can be forgiven for not knowing the law.

Last year, Maryland motorcyclist Anthony Graber was stopped by a state trooper for speeding and reckless driving. The confrontational stop was recorded by Graber's helmet camera, and Graber later posted the audio and video to YouTube. Graber was later raided, arrested, jailed and charged with two felonies for recording his conversation with the state trooper.

Had Graber lived in Illinois, he would have broken the law, and he would be looking at up to 15 years in prison. Several people in Illinois are facing similar charges, and none of them will be permitted to defend themselves by saying they didn't know what they were doing was illegal.

But it turns out that is perfectly legal to record on-duty police officers in Maryland. A state judge later dismissed the charges against Graber in a strongly-worded opinion, stating in no uncertain terms that the cops who raided Graber's home and the prosecutor who charged him were wrong about the law.

But despite the fact that these law enforcement officials wrongly raided, arrested, jailed and charged Graber based on a mistaken understanding of the law, they face no repercussions. It's unlikely Graber will even be able to sue. Prosecutors have absolute immunity from lawsuits related to the decisions they make about whether or not to charge someone with a crime, even when they are clearly wrong about the law.

In a Supreme Court case decided earlier this year, former New Orleans DA Harry Connick and his assistants failed to turn over exculpatory evidence in the case of John Thompson. Thompson was later exonerated of murder, but only after serving 18 years in prison, 14 of them on death row.

In depositions, Connick and his assistants claimed they didn't know the Brady rule, which requires prosecutors to turn over all such evidence. Connick was already protected by absolute immunity, and the Court added that the parish that employed him couldn't be sued either.

A number of studies have shown that while Brady violations are common, they rarely go punished, even in egregious cases that lead to wrongful convictions.

Police officers and most other government employees don't enjoy the broad absolute immunity afforded to prosecutors and judges, but they do have what's known as "qualified immunity:" In order for an officer to be held civilly liable for violating a citizen's rights, the law must be so clearly established that a reasonable person would have known that the officer's actions were illegal.

In Pennsylvania, the courts have repeatedly ruled that it is legal for citizens to record on-duty police officers. But people continue to get arrested for doing so. And so far, federal courts have refused to allow those who have been arrested to sue the law enforcement officials who arrested them, even though the officials did so illegally.

Last February, police officers in Philadelphia confronted Mark Fiorino for openly carrying a handgun in the city. They then threw Fiorino to the ground, handcuffed him, pointed their guns at him, and repeatedly threatened to kill him. He was then arrested and jailed.

As it turns out, Fiorino had done nothing illegal. He had his gun permit with him, a fact he told the officers before they arrested him. The police officers didn't know the gun laws in their own city. Fiorino did.

Not only were the officers not punished for nearly killing a man who had done nothing wrong, Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams then charged Fironio with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct because Fiorino had a tape recorder with him, and recorded the entire confrontation.

Next post: Looking at misconceptions about appeals courts, holding public officials to a higher standard and "getting off on a technicality."

The post can be found at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/myths-of-the-criminal-justice-system_n_879768.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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

GREGORY CARTER; LAWYER ARGUES THERE IS NO EVIDENCE HE EVER TOLD ANYONE "I AM A PSYCHOLOGIST."

"Mr. Carter has pleaded not guilty to five counts of fraud under $5,000. Witnesses at his trial have testified they wouldn't have consented to him being involved in their cases if they'd known the true nature of his qualifications.

But Mr. Lafontaine argued Tuesday none of the complainants have presented evidence Mr. Carter claimed to be a psychologist. In many cases Mr. Carter was retained by lawyers and appointed by judges, he said. Those court officials were acquainted with Mr. Carter's curriculum vitae, which identifies him as a psychological associate, he said.

REPORTER JEFF MITCHELL; NEWSDURHAMREGION;

A GUIDE TO NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA'S "THE CHILD CASES."

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html

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"OSHAWA -- There's no evidence that Greg Carter deliberately misled any of the clients who are now complaining they had a mistaken impression of the psychological associate's qualifications when they hired him, a defence lawyer has argued," the Newsdurhamregion story by reporter Jeff Mitchell filed earlier today under the heading, "Defence calls for Carter charges to be tossed," begins.

"Lawyer Greg Lafontaine urged Ontario Court Justice Paul Bellefontaine to toss out five counts of fraud against Mr. Carter, saying the case the Crown has presented doesn't back up the allegations against the Whitby man," the story continues.

""There's no evidence upon which Your Honour could find ... that there was a misrepresentation," Mr. Lafontaine said Tuesday in Oshawa.

The Crown alleges clients for whom Mr. Carter conducted therapy and assessments in child custody cases were duped into believing he is a fully accredited psychologist. Mr. Carter is a psychological associate.

Mr. Carter has pleaded not guilty to five counts of fraud under $5,000. Witnesses at his trial have testified they wouldn't have consented to him being involved in their cases if they'd known the true nature of his qualifications.

But Mr. Lafontaine argued Tuesday none of the complainants have presented evidence Mr. Carter claimed to be a psychologist. In many cases Mr. Carter was retained by lawyers and appointed by judges, he said. Those court officials were acquainted with Mr. Carter's curriculum vitae, which identifies him as a psychological associate, he said.

"Where is there any evidence my client said to anyone, 'I am a psychologist?'" Mr. Lafontaine said.

Arguments were scheduled to continue Wednesday."

The story can be found at:

http://www.durhamregion.com/news/crime/article/180347

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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

CASEY ANTHONY; DEFENCE TO REST AS SOON AS TOMORROW; BIG QUESTION: WILL SHE TESTIFY? ORLANDO SENTINEL;

"In an incredibly emotional morning of testimony, George Anthony, the grandfather of Caylee Marie, broke down several times on the witness stand today after he denied sexually abusing his daughter Casey and acknowledged he tried to kill himself "to be with Caylee."

George Anthony was especially emotional as he spoke of his early 2009 suicide attempt and feelings he had after investigators recovered his granddaughter's remains on Dec. 11, 2008.

He also was grilled by defense attorney Jose Baez much of the morning. Baez has claimed that George Anthony sexually abused his daughter Casey and also knew that his granddaughter died in an accidental drowning in June 2008.

George Anthony's testimony today directly contradicted all of those claims.

Caylee's grandfather also said he purchased a gun to force Casey Anthony's friends to tell him what happened to his granddaughter."

REPORTERS ANTHONY COLOROSSI AND WALTER PACHECO; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL;

A backgrounder on this high profile Florida case cane be found on Wikipedia at:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony

A GUIDE TO NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA'S "THE CHILD CASES."

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html

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"The defense could rest its case as soon as tomorrow, attorney Jose Baez told Judge Belvin Perry at the end of court today," the Orlando Sentinel story by reporters Anthony Colarossi and Walter Pacheco published earlier today begins under the heading, "Casey Anthony trial: Defense to rest tomorrow."

""I certainly think we will accomplish that tomorrow," Baez said, when asked when he would rest his case," the story continues.

"But what remains unclear is whether Casey Anthony will testify in her own defense.

After Baez's announcement, Perry advised the state to get rebuttal witnesses together on Thursday. The state's rebuttal could take two days, and closing arguments could take a day.

The trial, which has been going on since May, could be turned over the jury this holiday weekend, with closing arguments for Saturday or possibly Sunday.
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"I wouldn't make any plans for Sunday or Monday," Perry said.

Earlier this afternoon Florida State University grief expert Sally Karioth told jurors different people respond to grief in different ways.

"They don't suffer it in the same way. If I were to poll the room I would find that each of you handle it differently," Karioth says.

The defense has called Karioth as a witness to help explain Casey Anthony's behavior in the aftermath of her daughter's disappearance and death. She claims she was not given any details in this case and was contacted by the defense earlier this month.

But Karioth is speaking in general terms. She has not evaluated Casey Anthony and cannot talk about her case directly.

Karioth is on the stand now detailing her experience dealing and teaching about grief and trauma.

During questioning by defense attorney Dorothy Clay Sims, Karioth was given a set of hypotheticals identical to the claims made by Casey Anthony's defense team. She was then asked how someone with a family who had denial issues would respond to the death of a child.

"Young adults are reluctant grievers," Karioth said. "They may drink too much. They may do drugs too much."

She repeated that different people respond to grief and loss in a wide variety of ways.

But then prosecutor Jeff Ashton spelled out a hypothetical identical to Casey Anthony's history of lying in the days after Caylee went missing and he asked if that would be the normal grief response.

"I would agree that that's a young woman in crisis who is unable to figure out how to make things better," Karioth says. "I would think that we need to get her some help...I would call that more magical thinking..."

Then Ashton asked her to add the hypothetical that "the mother killed the child!"

That's when the defense objected and called for a sidebar discussion.

Karioth is a Florida State University professor who has worked with families who have lost loved ones experiencing loss. She doesn't charge for seeing people, Karioth said.

"Death and grief and big losses and trauma are the big reasons someone would come to see me," Karioth said.

Son of Kronk contradicts father's testimony

Earlier, Brandon Sparks, the son of former meter reader Roy Kronk, testified and contradicted his father previous testimony from today.

Sparks said his estranged father told him he had found Caylee's remains in Nov. 2008 — several weeks before they were recovered in the woods near the Anthonys east Orange County home.

Kronk told him he knew something about Caylee's disappearance over a cellphone conversation.

"He told me that he knew where the remains were," Sparks said in November of 2008. This was around Thanksgiving time of that year, he recalled.

His testimony contradicts what Kronk told jurors Tuesday.

Sparks told Burdick he didn't remember when he spoke with Kronk until he was reminded by his mother and wife on Dec. 11, 2008.

He said he thought his father's initial story was "far-fetched" but it became relevant on Dec. 11, 2008, when it turned out he had found the remains.

Sparks also said that Kronk told him he was going to be rich and famous. Kronk never told him that he had taken the skull from the scene.

Brandon Sparks, the son of former meter reader Roy Kronk, said his estranged father told him he had found Caylee's remains in Nov. 2008 — several weeks before they were recovered in the woods near the Anthonys east Orange County home.

Sparks said he had been estranged from his father since childhood, but had developed a new relationship with him during that year. Kronk told him he knew something about Caylee's disappearance over a cellphone conversation.

"He told me that he knew where the remains were," Sparks said in November of 2008. This was around Thanksgiving time of that year, he recalled.

His testimony contradicts what Kronk told jurors Tuesday.

Sparks told Burdick he didn't remember when he spoke with Kronk until he was reminded by his mother and wife on Dec. 11, 2008.

He said he thought his father's initial story was "far-fetched" but it became relevant on Dec. 11, 2008, when it turned out he had found the remains.

Sparks also said that Kronk told him he was going to be rich and famous. Kronk never told him that he had taken the skull from the scene.

Man arrested for handing out pamphlets

Also, shortly before court started, a protester known for distributing pamphlets or leaflets meant to influence jurors outside Orange and Osceola courthouses, was arrested.

Mark Schmidter, a member of the Fully Informed Jury Association, was handing pamphlets outside the designated free speech zones outside the Orange County Courthouse. Court spokeswoman Karen Levey said Schmidter dropped to his knees and refused to move.

The organization distributes what they call jury "education" information aimed at sitting or potential jurors. The documents advise that jury members may vote their conscience and they cannot be forced to obey a "juror's oath," and have the right to "hang" a jury if they do not agree with others on the panel.

His arrest is not related to the Casey Anthony trial.

Perry arraigned him today on a charge of indirect criminal contempt. His bail is set for $2,500.

George Anthony's emotional testimony

In an incredibly emotional morning of testimony, George Anthony, the grandfather of Caylee Marie, broke down several times on the witness stand today after he denied sexually abusing his daughter Casey and acknowledged he tried to kill himself "to be with Caylee."

George Anthony was especially emotional as he spoke of his early 2009 suicide attempt and feelings he had after investigators recovered his granddaughter's remains on Dec. 11, 2008.

He also was grilled by defense attorney Jose Baez much of the morning. Baez has claimed that George Anthony sexually abused his daughter Casey and also knew that his granddaughter died in an accidental drowning in June 2008.

George Anthony's testimony today directly contradicted all of those claims.

Caylee's grandfather also said he purchased a gun to force Casey Anthony's friends to tell him what happened to his granddaughter.

He also told the jury he went to Daytona Beach to kill himself because "I needed at that time to be with Caylee...I believed I failed her," he said.

Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton showed George Anthony his suicide letter in court and asked him to identify it.

George Anthony wrote the suicide letter to his wife Cindy Anthony while drinking beer and taking blood pressure pills. He expressed that he wrote several pages, often repeating himself.

"I had to express what I was feeling and not feeling," he testified. "I couldn't tell her face to face."

Earlier, outside of the presence of the jury, Ashton asked George Anthony about the suicide note he wrote in January 2009. Arguing that the note should be admitted, Ashton earlier said the note would prove that George felt guilt about things in his life, but is not guilty of anything the defense has alleged.

While Ashton argued, he looked over toward the defense table. And during this point, Casey Anthony started mumbling angrily aloud to her attorneys, but could not be heard beyond the defense table.

Baez said the note was hearsay and should not be admitted.

"It appears Mr. Ashton is creating a self serving exception to the hearsay rule," Baez argued.

Baez argued George should not have a free pass to say "I'm innocent. I'm innocent. I'm innocent."

But Perry said, "Someone opened the door; Mr. Ashton is trying to walk through it."

Impact of George Anthony's testimony

Already experts watching the case say that George Anthony did very little to help the defense team's case

"George Anthony categorically and unequivocally denied abusing or hurting his daughter Casey in open court today and the defense' theory he did so fizzled in a New York minute," said veteran forensic trial consultant Dean Tong, based in the Tampa Bay area.

Tong added that in his mind the defense team failed to prove this child sex abuse theory it raised in its opening statement and that failure to deliver "may not sit well with the jury."

"It's one thing to raise a hypothesis, but when launching something as heinous and reprehensible as child sexual assault, you had better be able to 'prove' it in court later," Tong concluded.

Anthonys at the stand earlier

Both of Casey Anthony's parents took the stand this morning in their daughter's first-degree murder trial as her defense team continued efforts to raise doubts about the circumstances of Caylee Marie's death.

Defense attorney Jose Baez after the break asked George Anthony if he recalled being asked by the prosecution whether he ever molested his daughter.

"I would never do anything like that to my daughter," George Anthony said.

While being questioned by the prosecution earlier this morning, George Anthony broke down on the stand even after saying, "I need to get through this" when asked if he needed a break.

His crying started as Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton asked questions of how he and his family responded when they learned the remains were Caylee's.

He said he felt "a deep, deep hurt inside" and confirmed that the family had held out hope she was alive.

Meanwhile, the defense has objected to Ashton questioning George Anthony about a gun he had in January 2009. Outside the presence of jurors, Ashton said George had the gun and was going to force others familiar with the case to reveal what they knew about Caylee's death and then kill himself.

Ashton said Baez raised this issue by bringing up the suicide attempt and the suicide note during his direct examination.

Ashton said that information proves that on Jan. 22, 2009, "This man had no idea who killed Caylee Anthony," in direct contradiction to the defense theory.

Judge Belvin Perry is now reviewing case law to see if this line of questioning is admissible.

Gas cans

Baez has grilled George Anthony about duct tape on one of his gas cans and when he placed the tape on the can.

He said he cannot remember exactly when, but it was sometime after a brief argument he had with Casey Anthony after he had reported the cans stolen in June 2008. At that point, Casey pulled the gas cans out of her car and told him "here are your (expletive) gas cans."

George Anthony said he thought he placed the tape on the can "eventually" because he didn't want the fumes escaping when the can was placed in a shed outside the home.

"Maybe I did, I don't remember," George said.

George Anthony on jail visit, human decomp

During his testimony, Casey Anthony shook her head and looked upset at her father's comments about her lies and deception.

Earlier, defense attorney Jose Baez asked George Anthony about conversations he had between Orange County Sheriff's Office Detective Yuri Melich and his own daughter at the Orange County Jail.

Baez asked George Anthony about differences in his rough tone when he told Melich about her web of lies and deception, but then was pleasant with her during a recorded jail visit.

"My daughter lives on the edge," he told Baez, a comment similar to one he told investigators in an earlier deposition.

It appears that her defense team could be trying to portray him as a liar, but George Anthony maintained that he was attempting to work with law enforcement, while consoling his daughter at the jail.

Baez also asked George Anthony about differences between testimony today and a previous deposition with Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton regarding the smell of human decomposition coming from Casey Anthony's Pontiac Sunfire.

George Anthony doesn't mention the smell of human decomposition when he spoke to Ashton in the earlier deposition, but in court today, he said he could smell human decomposition three feet away from the car.

He explained that his emotions were "all over the place" in regards to the differences in comments.

Baez mentioned media appearances when asking George Anthony if he was advocating for his daughter's innocence.

"I didn't want to believe back then that my daughter could be capable of taking the life of her daughter," George Anthony said. "I did everything I could possibly do to bring awareness [to Caylee]."

Baez also asked George Anthony about his January 2009 suicide attempt; however, Ashton objected to most of the questions and Perry sustained those objections.

George Anthony often appeared to be on the verge of crying during these questions.

After he stepped down during a recess, Cindy Anthony hugged him and took a deep breath after the emotionally charged line of questioning. They walked out of the courtroom together.

Cindy Anthony testimony

Baez asked Cindy Anthony about allegations that Lee Anthony had inappropriate contact with his sister Casey Anthony.

He asked her about Lee going into Casey's room at night, but Cindy said she did not recall this problem.

The state objected to the line of questioning, prompting the first "sidebar" of the day.

Later, Baez asked Cindy about a jail visitation video in which Cindy told Casey about a media theory that Caylee drowned in a pool.

"I said it was the latest story or theory from the media," Cindy Anthony said.

Earlier, Casey Anthony sat by herself in the Orange County Courthouse while a member of her defense team phoned in a request for a mistrial in her first-degree murder case.

It's not clear why Casey Anthony's attorneys, including Jose Baez and J. Cheney Mason, were not present at the start of court today. Other news reports suggest long lines at the security entrance and at the elevator bank prevented them from arriving on time. They walked in to the courtroom just before 9 a.m.

One of her attorneys, Ann Finnell, called in to the courthouse, stating that a recent federal ruling faulting Florida's death-penalty laws should be used in this case to trigger a mistrial.

Casey Anthony herself was forced to speak briefly when Chief Judge Belvin Perry asked her if she wanted to proceed without her attorneys in the courtroom.

She said she did: "I agree with Miss Finnell,'' Casey Anthony said.

Perry reserved ruling on the mistrial request, meaning that he will make a decision at some other time.

Casey Anthony, 25, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie in the summer of 2008. The state wants to execute Anthony if she is convicted.

The defense began presenting its case June 16, and should be wrapping up shortly.

It's unclear exactly which witnesses will be called today, but the defense team said Tuesday there were about six remaining. It's unknown if Casey Anthony will take the stand.

On Tuesday, the defense called a variety of witnesses, including Anthony's parents and brother. Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony, denied having an affair with a woman he met after Caylee was reported missing.

The defense also questioned Roy Kronk, the Orange County meter reader who found Caylee's remains.

Kronk said he initially spotted something suspicious in the woods in August 2008. He explained how he notified law-enforcement, but they didn't conduct a thorough search in the woods.

The former meter reader returned to the woods in December 2008 and ultimately found Caylee's remains.

Late Tuesday, attorneys argued over a grief expert the defense wants to bring in today. It's unclear if she will be able to testify.

Once the defense rests its case, the state will call rebuttal witnesses. Prosecutors predicted that could take one or two days.

After the state completes its rebuttal, the attorneys will make their closing arguments."

The story can be found at:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-trial-day-31-20110629,0,7263970.story

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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

"THE CHILD CASES"; AFTERMATH. (1); ELLEN GRAY; PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS; INSIGHTFUL COLUMN;

"Messy and emotional is the lifeblood of TV, where the Anthony case seems to be the one daytime drama no one's ready to see canceled. But emotions can wreak havoc with the dispensing of actual justice, as PBS' "Frontline" demonstrates tonight in "The Child Cases," a look at how lax standards for investigating the deaths of children can - and does - sometimes lead to the conviction of innocent people.

"The mind-set is prosecutorial . . .. They get caught up in the anger, the emotion, the despair," says Dr. Jon Thogmartin, a chief medical examiner in Florida who reversed his predecessor's findings in two child-death cases because, he says, the injuries recorded as evidence were in some instances "imagined.""

TV CRITIC ELLEN GRAY: PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS;

A GUIDE TO NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA'S "THE CHILD CASES."

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html

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"We didn't really need the ratings-grabbing trial of Casey Anthony - the Orlando, Fla., woman accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008 - to tell us that the death of a child, any child, is a messy, emotional business," the Philadelphia Daily News column by Ellen Gray published earlier today under the heading, "Cases' probes suspicious child deaths" begins.

"We certainly didn't need HLN's Nancy Grace, whose zeal to see Anthony convicted may exceed even the prosecution's," the column continues.

"Messy and emotional is the lifeblood of TV, where the Anthony case seems to be the one daytime drama no one's ready to see canceled. But emotions can wreak havoc with the dispensing of actual justice, as PBS' "Frontline" demonstrates tonight in "The Child Cases," a look at how lax standards for investigating the deaths of children can - and does - sometimes lead to the conviction of innocent people.

"The mind-set is prosecutorial . . .. They get caught up in the anger, the emotion, the despair," says Dr. Jon Thogmartin, a chief medical examiner in Florida who reversed his predecessor's findings in two child-death cases because, he says, the injuries recorded as evidence were in some instances "imagined."

As complicated as determining cause of death in an adult can be - a situation not helped by the fact that many medical examiners aren't board-certified in pathology - it can be harder in children, he tells "Frontline."

"It's gonna take less disease to kill a kid than it does an adult," he says. "And whatever you're looking for is going to be smaller and less."

The result of a joint investigation with NPR and the independent investigative-news organization ProPublica, "The Child Cases" includes experts who argue that a variety of conditions can mimic the symptoms of child abuse, and looks at the changing science behind "shaken baby syndrome," a postmortem diagnosis once routinely used to explain the suspicious deaths of infants that seems to be falling out of favor.

Faced with snapshots and videos of tiny, once-smiling children, we can't be blamed for wanting a tidy explanation for their deaths, and for many people, scientific explanations might not cut it.

That's where Ernie Lopez comes in.

Lopez, an Amarillo, Texas, man who was convicted and sentenced to 60 years for one of the most heinous crimes imaginable - the aggravated sexual assault of a 6-month-old girl he was babysitting - puts a human face on a problem that ProPublica's A.C. Thompson says turned up in more than 20 cases examined in the U.S. and Canada: people prosecuted for killing children, based on what appears to have been faulty medical evidence.

Many of those people were eventually cleared, though not before undergoing years of legal nightmares, up to and including imprisonment. (One woman spent 13 months in jail, accused of killing a child who apparently died of natural causes.)

Lopez hasn't yet been even that lucky.

Already imprisoned for eight years in connection with the death of tiny Isis Vas, the daughter of a local doctor, he's awaiting a decision by a Texas appeals court on a new trial after a judge ruled last year that he'd received ineffective counsel at his first one.

Ineffective probably barely begins to describe a defense that reportedly didn't put up a single medical expert to counter the prosecution's witnesses, whose findings "Frontline's" interviewees counter effectively tonight while suggesting an alternative explanation for Isis' death that seems far more credible.

That Lopez also comes off as a more sympathetic presence than Anthony shouldn't matter - justice, after all, is supposed to be blind - but this being television, it does, of course."

The story can be found at:

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/television/124624044.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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

PAUL SHRODE: DISGRACED FORMER TEXAS MEDICAL EXAMINER CLEARED BY MEDICAL BOARD; NEWSCHANNEL 10; MENTIONED IN "THE CHILD CASES";

"Here's what the complainant says the board sent him explaining their decision:

"The investigation has been dismissed because the Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove that any violations of Medical Practice Act occurred. Specifically, the Board found there was sufficient proof that Dr. Shrode was qualified for the position of medical examiner.""

NEWSCHANNEL10;

A GUIDE TO NPR/FRONTLINE/PROPUBLICA'S "THE CHILD CASES."

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/child-cases-guilty-until-proven.html

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"AMARILLO, TEXAS - The Texas Medical Board has decided not to take disciplinary action against a disgraced former High Plains medical examiner," the Newschannel10 story published on June 28, 2010 under the heading, "Medical Board clears former Medical Examiner," begins.

"The person who filed the original complaint against Doctor Paul Shrode says he's told the medical board has concluded their investigation and found no wrong doing," the story continues.

"This comes after one woman walked free of murder charges and another person had their murder sentence reduced because Shorde's evidence was ruled "not scientifically supported."

Here's what the complainant says the board sent him explaining their decision:

"The investigation has been dismissed because the Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove that any violations of Medical Practice Act occurred. Specifically, the Board found there was sufficient proof that Dr. Shrode was qualified for the position of medical examiner."

Dr. Shrode was the medical examiner in one of the cases featured by the NPR/Frontline/Propublica :Child Cases" investigation. A portion of the transcript reads as follows:

A.C. THOMPSON, Correspondent, ProPublica: [voice-over] After combing through court records, FRONTLINE, ProPublica and NPR found nearly two dozen cases in the U.S. and Canada in which people were prosecuted for killing children based on questionable autopsies and testimony. All of them were eventually cleared of wrongdoing.

We found one of these cases just a day's drive from Ernie Lopez, in El Paso. Monea Tyson spent nearly two years in lockdown in the county jail before being acquitted of the murder of her 2-year-old son, Jayceon.

MONEA TYSON: That last thing I seen was my son not breathing, you know, and I seen his face turning pale and everything.

A.C. THOMPSON: The case was based largely on the findings of the medical examiner.

MONEA TYSON: It was kind of hard to comprehend that somebody would charge you with something like that. I knew me and I knew what I didn't do, and was hard to go through that.

A.C. THOMPSON: The autopsy on Tyson's infant son was performed by Dr. Paul Shrode. He found the case a homicide, based on blunt force trauma to the head. But that's not what the forensic pathologist for the defense found.

LEONARD MORALES, Defense Attorney: Looking at the kind of force you need to create that kind of injury to the brain, there was no skull fracture. There was no other injury to the brain in any other location. So it seemed to her that the injury described as blunt force trauma really didn't exist.

A.C. THOMPSON: In the end, the defense expert argued Jayceon died of an infection. She also testified that some of the bruises Dr. Shrode saw as signs of abuse were likely birthmarks. The defense attorneys made a point of Dr. Shrode's lack of board certification, and challenged his truthfulness.

LEONARD MORALES: He had falsified his resume, in the first place. We had also discovered that he was involved in another capital case where a man was apparently on death row due in large part to Doctor Shrode's testimony and his findings in another autopsy, which were apparently debunked, unfounded.

A.C. THOMPSON: Dr. Shrode declined our repeated requests for an interview.

Dr. JON THOGMARTIN: Anybody who's doing an autopsy on a kid that's not board-certified in the field, they should be blown out of the water. I don't know how they make it when they're not. Anyone who's not consulting the specialists, not getting the medical records, I don't see how they make it on a day-to-day basis. I don't see how they're not run out of town on a rail.

A.C. THOMPSON: Dr. Shrode's background came under review by the county commissioners. They fired him just months before Monea Tyson's trial but did not specify why.

NEWSCASTER: Only KFOX cameras were rolling as Monea Tyson heard the words, "Not guilty."

LEONARD MORALES: At the end of this trial, the jurors asked to see Monea Tyson. In all the years that I've been doing this, I've heard of that before. The jurors hugged her. They cried with her. They asked her when she was going to see her kids again.

The Newschannel10story can be found at:

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/14994067/me

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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

CASEY ANTHONY: DAY 30; METER READER TESTIFIES. ORLANDO SENTINEL;

"Earlier this afternoon, a meter reader who used to work with Roy Kronk was called to the stand today in Casey Anthony's first degree murder trial.

David Dean, who testified after Kronk was excused, was asked to help Kronk out on that day in August when Kronk first reported seeing something suspicious in the woods near the Anthony home.

"I told him I felt the girl's body was in there,'' Dean said. Kronk told Dean and others what he thought he spotted. But then, the skull became secondary to a dead snake they found

"Everything turned on to the snake afterwards," he says.

Kronk, who discovered Caylee Marie's remains while working as an Orange County meter reader, testified today how he initially tried to alert authorities about his discovery of Suburban Drive in August."

REPORTER ANTHONY COLOROSSI; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL;

A backgrounder on this high profile Florida case cane be found on Wikipedia at:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony

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"Defense attorneys are attempting to have the judge allow a couple of corrections officers to testify on Casey Anthony's demeanor while in jail, but the judge said no," the Orlando Sentinel story by reporter Anthony Colorossi published earlier today under the heading, "Casey Anthony trial: Defense asking to allow corrections officers to testify: This is happening outside the presence of the jury before court is adjourned for the day," begins.

"Defense attorney Jose Baez called two corrections officers to the stand outside the presence of the jury this afternoon, presumably to have them testify about how she was happy and cordial to them all the time she has been in custody," the story continues.

"But the judge will not allow those witnesses, he said, citing relevance.

Earlier this afternoon, a meter reader who used to work with Roy Kronk was called to the stand today in Casey Anthony's first degree murder trial.

David Dean, who testified after Kronk was excused, was asked to help Kronk out on that day in August when Kronk first reported seeing something suspicious in the woods near the Anthony home.

"I told him I felt the girl's body was in there,'' Dean said. Kronk told Dean and others what he thought he spotted. But then, theskull became secondary to a dead snake they found

"Everything turned on to the snake afterwards," he says.

Kronk, who discovered Caylee Marie's remains while working as an Orange County meter reader, testified today how he initially tried to alert authorities about his discovery of Suburban Drive in August.

He also described how he returned to vacant lot in December to look at what he thought might be askull.

Kronk wasn't sure what it is, and placed his meter-reader stick in theskull's right eye socket to move it slightly.

"I apologize for doing so, I did not know what it was. I gently pivoted it up. I never lifted it off the ground," Kronk said. "That was a very horrific thing for me to find, obviously."

He immediately called a supervisor.

"I said I needed him there immediately. I had found a human skull," Kronk said.

He admitted some anger for being yelled at by a deputy months earlier when he earlier called authorities out to the scene and they could not find the skull.

Kronk said he told authorities in August that he spotted something that looked like a skull in the woods near the Anthony family home. His co-workers were more interested in a dead rattlesnake.

Kronk told defense attorney J. Cheney Mason that he spotted something that "appeared a little odd to me" when he stepped in the woods off Suburban Drive in August 2008.

The item was something he thought looked like a skull, and he contacted law enforcement to check it out. He said he never came closer than 30 feet to the object.

He said it was near a fallen tree with a white board down across it. There was a gray bag there, too. He identified in court the site on a hand-written drawing of the scene.

Kronk says he cannot say how far the site was from the edge of the road. He says he never took deputies who came out to meet him on Suburban to the exact spot.

When he went there on Aug. 11 and 13, 2008, Kronk said he didn't smell anything peculiar."

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The story can be found at:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-trial-day-30-20110628,0,6543072.story

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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 found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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

CHARLES SMITH; CANDICE RIDDELL; PREMATURE CHARGES IN DEATH OF 3-WEEK-OLD BABY. RECOMMENDATIONS OF GOUDGE INQUIRY NOT FOLLOWED, PROSECUTOR SAYS;

"Semeniuk, who worked as the child abuse Crown in Windsor for years, told the court he wasn't consulted by Chatham-Kent police before the manslaughter charges were laid a few days after the boy's death. Police did consult with another local Crown, he said.

"The preliminary cause of death would lead everyone to believe it was a homicide," he said, adding those findings are currently under review by a pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

He said the charge shouldn't have been laid before the cause of death was confirmed.

"It was clear that some of the recommendations in the Goudge Inquiry were not complied with," Semeniuk told the court.

He said the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario (the "Goudge Inquiry) was commissioned after a number of highly publicized mistakes made by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, some of which led to overturned cases.

Semeniuk said a key recommendation in the 2008 inquiry was that a case conference be held within two weeks of an autopsy in a criminally suspicious child's death — before a charge is laid.

"There's no rush to charge until you have all the evidence, especially when the case depends largely on forensic pathology evidence," Semeniuk told The Chatham Daily News outside court.

He told the court he's spoken with Police Chief Dennis Poole and a new protocol on dealing with the suspicious deaths of children is being put in place in Chatham-Kent "so we can ensure the public that innocent people are not charged . . . and that those responsible are held responsible.........

Riddell's defence lawyer Frank Retar said his client is relieved to have the charge withdrawn.

"She is finally able to grieve the loss of her son," he said. "She's never been able to do that because she's had the charges hanging over her head."

Retar hopes the stigma of the charges doesn't follow Riddell.

"There was nothing to suggest she was involved in the death of her child — nothing," he said. "She's a kind, sweet, gentle soul. It was heartbreaking to see the devastation this caused."


REPORTER ERICA BAJER; THE CHATHAM DAILY NEWS;

MARK CALENDER NOW: IMPORTANT JOINT NPR, FRONTLINE, PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATION OF CHILD DEATH CASES INVOLVING ABUSE, ASSAULT AND "SHAKEN-BABY SYNDROME." ASKS IF DEATH INVESTIGATORS ARE BEING PROPERLY TRAINED FOR CHILD CASES; FIRST OF THREE SEGMENTS ON "THE CHILD CASES" AIRS ON JUNE 28 AT 9.00 PM:

When a child dies under suspicious circumstances, abuse is often suspected. That's what happened in the case of six-month-old Isis Vas, whose death was deemed "a clear-cut and classic" case of child abuse, sending a man named Ernie Lopez to prison for 60 years. But now a Texas judge has moved to overturn Lopez's conviction, and new questions are being asked about the quality of expert testimony in this and many other similar cases. In this joint investigation with ProPublica and NPR, FRONTLINE correspondent A.C. Thompson unearths more than 20 child death cases in which people were jailed on medical evidence -- involving abuse, assault and "shaken-baby syndrome" -- that was later found unreliable or flat-out wrong. Are death investigators being properly trained for child cases? The Child Cases is the first of three magazine segments airing June 28 at 9 p.m. (check local listings);

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-child-cases/

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Almost three years have passed since Justice Stephen Goudge released his report on many of former pathologist Charles Smith's cases on September 30, 2008. That should certainly have been enough for the Ontario government to put in place Justice Goudge's numerous recommendations designed to prevent innocent grieving parents from being wrongfully charged with killing their children. It is clear from this case that this has not happened in Chatham, Ontario, and we are left wondering whether the recommendations have been put into effect anywhere else in Ontario - in spite of all of the government's assurances to the public that the recommendations would be quickly put in place. This has happened on Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley's watch. He has a lot of explaining to do. How sad it would be if Justice Goudge's efforts - and the hard-hitting Inquiry he conducted - turn out to have been in vain.


HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;

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"Manslaughter charges in the death of a three-week-old baby have been dropped against his mother and stayed against his father," the Chatham Daily News story by reporter Erica Bajer published earlier today under the heading, "Mother's charge dropped, father's stayed in baby's death," begins.

"The manslaughter charge against Candice J. Riddell, 26, was withdrawn Monday by assistant Crown attorney Randy Semeniuk," the story continues.

"He said she fully co-operated with the Chatham-Kent police investigation into her son Kavan's death in November of 2010.

Semeniuk stayed the manslaughter charge against Justin J. Kozlof, 25, noting the investigation is ongoing and a conclusive cause of death is not yet known. Stayed charges can be re-activated within one year.

Riddell wasn't in court Monday and Kozlof refused to comment following the hearing.

Riddell's defence lawyer Frank Retar said his client is relieved to have the charge withdrawn.

"She is finally able to grieve the loss of her son," he said. "She's never been able to do that because she's had the charges hanging over her head."

Retar hopes the stigma of the charges doesn't follow Riddell.

"There was nothing to suggest she was involved in the death of her child — nothing," he said. "She's a kind, sweet, gentle soul. It was heartbreaking to see the devastation this caused."

Kozlof's lawyer Gudrun Mueller-Wilm said he is also relieved.

"It's very unfortunate that two parents who lose a child have to go through this," she said, noting they almost missed Kavan's funeral because they were behind bars.

She said the couple, who lived on Sheldon Avenue when Kavan died, is no longer together.

Mueller-Wilm said she hopes in the future police wait and complete investigations before people are charged.

"We were very lucky we had Randy Semeniuk, a very experienced prosecutor who made the right decision," she said.

Semeniuk, who worked as the child abuse Crown in Windsor for years, told the court he wasn't consulted by Chatham-Kent police before the manslaughter charges were laid a few days after the boy's death. Police did consult with another local Crown, he said.

"The preliminary cause of death would lead everyone to believe it was a homicide," he said, adding those findings are currently under review by a pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

He said the charge shouldn't have been laid before the cause of death was confirmed.

"It was clear that some of the recommendations in the Goudge Inquiry were not complied with," Semeniuk told the court.

He said the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario (the "Goudge Inquiry) was commissioned after a number of highly publicized mistakes made by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, some of which led to overturned cases.

Semeniuk said a key recommendation in the 2008 inquiry was that a case conference be held within two weeks of an autopsy in a criminally suspicious child's death — before a charge is laid.

"There's no rush to charge until you have all the evidence, especially when the case depends largely on forensic pathology evidence," Semeniuk told The Chatham Daily News outside court.

He told the court he's spoken with Police Chief Dennis Poole and a new protocol on dealing with the suspicious deaths of children is being put in place in Chatham-Kent "so we can ensure the public that innocent people are not charged . . . and that those responsible are held responsible."

Acting Insp. Trevor Crane, head of the major crime unit, said the protocol is in the early stages of development.

He said in all serious cases, police collaborate with the Crown's office.

The investigation into Kavan's death is ongoing and Crane said he couldn't discuss specifics of the case.

"The medical report has to go through a number of hands and we don't know when we will get it," he said.

"Investigative decisions with respect to charges were made in consultation with the Crown and were appropriate given the evidence before us."

Semeniuk said when the protocol is in place, he will meet with police and other agencies, such as the children's aid society, before charges are laid.

This way, decisions drawing on all available expertise can be made.

It's hoped that as part of the protocol, two detectives will be dedicated to child death cases and be extensively trained to investigate them, he said.

Semeniuk said he had a handful of cases involving the disgraced pathologist Charles Smith but all the convictions were upheld, partly because he instituted a similar protocol in Windsor.

"The whole protocol is to be very proactive, yet cautious," he said.

Ontario Court Justice Donald Ebbs pointed out that after the pediatrician review, the coroners' report will again be examined.

"In my experience, preliminary findings are really not findings," the judge said."

The story can be found at:

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3189751

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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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