NORFOLK FOUR: THREE MEMBERS ARE PURSUING A NEW APPEAL: FALSE CONFESSIONS COERCED; NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE TYING THEM TO THE CRIME; AP;

"Thirty former FBI agents and some ex-prosecutors had lobbied to exonerate the Norfolk Four, whose cause was also championed by novelist John Grisham. Their story was also featured in a PBS documentary, "The Confessions."

After Kaine granted the conditional pardons, Tice won a separate appeal. He is the only member of the Norfolk Four who has been fully exonerated. The other three still must endure the same hardships as other convicted felons and register as offenders, their lawyers say.

Wilson's attorney, Stephen Northup, said the case against Ford showed that "he was not just an overly zealous, bullheaded detective" but was someone who would intentionally lie and manipulate the system to cover up his misdeeds.

Ford was convicted of taking tens of thousands of dollars from drug dealers in exchange for getting them favorable treatment at sentencing."

REPORTER LARRY O'DELL; THE ASSOCIATED PRESS;

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BACKGROUND: Case status: On August 6, 2009, three of the Norfolk Four received conditional pardons from Governor Tim Kaine. Derek Tice, Danial Williams, and Joseph Dick, Jr. have been released from prison and rejoined their families after more than 11 harsh years in prison. Please click here for the Norfolk Four press release. On September 14, 2009, Judge Richard L. Williams of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted Derek Tice’s federal habeas petition and overturned Mr. Tice’s conviction. In the opinion, Judge Williams finds that the state trial court’s grant of Mr. Tice’s habeas petition based on the violation of his constitutional rights was correct, and that the Virginia Supreme Court’s reversal of that decision was an “objectively unreasonable” application of federal law...Four innocent men, Danial Williams, Joseph Dick, Derek Tice, and Eric Wilson, all veterans of the U.S. Navy, were convicted of crimes they did not commit. An objective, comprehensive review of this case by the nation’s leading experts in the fields of forensic pathology, forensic DNA analysis, crime scene reconstruction, and false confessions leaves no doubt that Danial, Joe, Derek, and Eric were wrongly accused, falsely confessed, and are all innocent. They were convicted based on false confessions extracted by a detective who has a documented history of eliciting false confessions and has recently been indicted by a federal grand jury on extortion charges. On October 27, 2010, the detective was convicted by a U.S. District Court on two counts of extortion and one count of making false statements to the FBI. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each count of extortion and up to five years in prison on the count of making false statements. In Virginia and around the nation, innocent people are being freed in cases where the exonerating physical evidence is much less compelling than here. (Norfolk 4 web-site:

www.norfolkfour.com

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"Three former sailors convicted in a 1997 rape and murder asked the Virginia Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive an appeal that is based on the corruption convictions of the former Norfolk detective who allegedly coerced them into making false confessions," the Associated Press story by reporter Larry O'Dell published earlier today under the heading," Three members of 'Norfolk 4' pursue new appeal," begins.

"Attorneys for three members of the so-called Norfolk Four told a three-justice panel that although last year's convictions of Robert Glenn Ford are not directly related to their case, they are powerful new evidence of his willingness to manipulate the justice system to serve his own ends. Ford is serving a 12 ½ year prison sentence for extortion and lying to the FBI," the story continues.

"Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Everett Martin ruled that the men missed their deadline for raising the claim, but lawyers for the three said they had no way to know the extent of Ford's corrupt actions before he was indicted in May 2010. They asked the panel to reverse Martin's ruling so the appeal can be heard on its merits.

"This is a new due process claim," said Harmony Loube, attorney for Joseph Dick. "It involves bad faith and malicious intent."

Dick, Danial Williams, Eric Wilson and Derek Tice were convicted in the rape and slaying of 18-year-old Michelle Moore-Bosko despite the absence of physical evidence connecting them to the crime. They later said that they falsely confessed after hours of grueling interrogation, intimidation and threats by police. A fifth man, Omar Ballard, also was convicted and has since said he acted alone. His was the only DNA found at the scene.

In 2009, then-Gov. Timothy Kaine granted Williams, Dick and Tice conditional pardons, freeing them from prison but leaving their convictions intact. Wilson was not eligible for the conditional pardon because he had already been released after serving 8 ½ years for rape.

Thirty former FBI agents and some ex-prosecutors had lobbied to exonerate the Norfolk Four, whose cause was also championed by novelist John Grisham. Their story was also featured in a PBS documentary, "The Confessions."

After Kaine granted the conditional pardons, Tice won a separate appeal. He is the only member of the Norfolk Four who has been fully exonerated. The other three still must endure the same hardships as other convicted felons and register as offenders, their lawyers say.

Wilson's attorney, Stephen Northup, said the case against Ford showed that "he was not just an overly zealous, bullheaded detective" but was someone who would intentionally lie and manipulate the system to cover up his misdeeds.

Ford was convicted of taking tens of thousands of dollars from drug dealers in exchange for getting them favorable treatment at sentencing.

Warren T. Allen II, who represents Williams, said Ford had a motive to persist in the case against the Norfolk Four despite evidence they were innocent.

"If he had been revealed to obtain a false confession, he could not have traded on his credibility to run his extortion scheme for personal gain," Allen said.

Attorneys for the men also said a former Norfolk police officer told them that he had heard Ford say he thought the four were innocent — evidence they can only get into court if the justices revive their appeal.

A decision on whether the full court will review the lower court's ruling is expected in about a month, attorneys said."

The story can be found at:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/three-members-norfolk-4-pursue-new-appeal

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;