Bulletin: Larry Swearingen. Hearing over science in death penalty case gets under way in state court - but U.S. Supreme Court turns him down. StandDown Texas Project

STORY: "The Larry Swearingen Case," published by the StandDown Texas Project - a superb site on criminal justice issues - on February 28, 2012.

GIST: "After receiving his third stay of execution last year, condemned killer Larry Swearingen is back in court trying to gain a new trial and prove his innocence. An expert entomologist testified for the defense Monday that insect evidence used in Swearingen's murder trial was improperly collected and stored, making it impossible to correctly estimate the time of death of the 19-year-old victim, Melissa Trotter. The testimony came during a hearing ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after it granted Swearingen a reprieve on July 28. He was set to die by lethal injection on Aug. 18. State District Judge Fred Edwards must review new evidence dealing with heart and liver tissue and a due process violation."

THE ENTIRE POST CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://standdown.typepad.com/weblog/2012/02/the-larry-swearingen-case.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.