STORY: "Court orders Michael Arena freed: Man spent a dozen years in prison for a sexual assault even the alleged victim now denies," by Jordan Smith, published in the Austin Chronicle on June 8, 2012.
GIST: "After spending nearly 13 years behind bars for a sexual assault that even the alleged victim says never happened, Michael Arena is now home with his family in Bell County, having been released to his father's custody on June 1 per court order.........After years of appeals, the Texas Supreme Court last month ordered a new sentencing hearing for Michael, ruling that Williamson County psychologist Charles Willoughby had given false testimony during Michael's trial, leading jurors to believe he'd ascertained that Michael, who at the time of the alleged offense was just 14, was actually a pedophile and would be a threat to society if given probation. As it turned out, the "test" Willoughby used was not validated for use on adolescents. The state has maintained that Willoughby's testimony did not influence the jurors, but the Supremes disagreed, throwing the case back to Bell County to decide whether to spend time and money on a new sentencing hearing – one without Willoughby's false and misleading testimony. Whether Bell County officials would go through with such a hearing is unclear, but it's unlikely."
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-06-08/court-orders-michael-arena-freed/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
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
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
