Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Bulletin: Shirley Rees Smith; Shaken baby syndrome; N. Y. Times asks California governor to grant pardon as a result of "misguided" SCOTUS decision.

STORY: "A very likely miscarriage of Justice." Editorial published by the New York Times on January 3, 2012.

GIST: "Ms. Smith was convicted of shaking her grandson to death. When the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned her conviction in 2006, it found “no demonstrable support” for it. There was “no physical evidence” and “no other evidence” of the severe bleeding or swelling that are the most common signs of shaken baby syndrome. The court concluded “there has very likely been a miscarriage of justice in this case.” This fall, however, five years after Ms. Smith was released, the Supreme Court overruled the Ninth Circuit, which means that she must complete her sentence unless it is commuted. The Supreme Court acknowledged that “doubts about whether Smith is in fact guilty are understandable...But the court’s majority ruled — after a bitter six-year, three-review tug of war with the Ninth Circuit — that the federal appeals court did not have enough authority to overturn the state court’s conviction."

THE ENTIRE EDITORIAL CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/opinion/a-very-likely-miscarriage-of-justice.html?_r=3

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;