Ashley Smith: Toronto Star opposes attempts by three Ontario doctors who cared for her in prison to limit the Coroner's Inquest.

EDITORIAL: "Ashley Smith tragedy demands a full inquest," published by the Toronto Star on September 29, 2012.

GIST: "How could a teenager strangle herself and die while Kitchener prison guards watched and did nothing to stop her? Ontarians have been waiting for an answer to that question since 2007. Now, unbelievably, three of the Ontario doctors who were responsible for Ashley Smith’s care are set to further delay the coroner’s inquest into her death with a motion to limit what the jury can hear.
No one should be trying to delay these proceedings or limit the scope of this inquiry, least of all medical caregivers. Yet two psychiatrists and a general practitioner are challenging the jurisdiction of the coroner to probe events that occurred outside Ontario..........The presiding coroner, Dr. John Carlisle, has every good reason to want to look at events that took place outside Ontario — those, as much as what happened here, contributed to her suicidal despair and death. Indeed, Carlisle — an experienced lawyer and doctor himself — was brought in as coroner on this case to set right the debacle of a previous, aborted inquest that would have been so limited in scope it couldn’t possibly have gotten to the bottom of what happened. Doctors and correctional officials in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan seemingly had few problems moving Smith across provincial boundaries when she was alive. Lines on a map shouldn’t now be invoked to limit the probe into her tragic death."

The entire editorial can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1264241--ashley-smith-tragedy-demands-a-full-inquest

 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.

Dr. Aubrey Levin: Alberta: Defence questions his fitness to stand trial on ten counts of sexually assaulting former patients: Calgary Herald;

STORY:  "Jury selected to determine ex=psychiatrist's fitness for sex-assault trial," by reporter Daryl Slade, published in the Calgary Herald on September 28, 2012.

GIST:  "A defence application to determine the mental fitness of one-time prominent forensic psychiatrist Dr. Aubrey Levin has pushed back by a week the start of his trial for allegedly sexually assaulting 10 patients. The first of two juries selected on Friday will hear evidence beginning Wednesday, dealing with Levin’s current mental capability to stand trial. Defence lawyers Alain Hepner and Maureen McConaghy indicated they will call three doctors to show Levin, 73, is suffering from a mental disorder. It is expected Crown prosecutors Bill Wister and Dallas Sopko will call at least one doctor in rebuttal. Once the evidence has been called and arguments made by counsel, the jury of six men and six women will deliberate on Levin’s mental fitness. If they deem he is fit, the scheduled six-week trial would proceed Oct. 9 before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley with a different jury of eight men and four women.
Should the first jury deem Levin is unfit to stand trial, the trial would have to be adjourned and could not proceed until such a time as the accused is deemed fit.
Shelley rejected on Thursday a separate defence application to adjourn the trial for thee months because of Levin’s frail physical health."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Jury+selected+determine+psychiatrist+fitness+assault+trial/7318130/story.html

 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.

Damon Thibodeaux: Innocence Project announces release of 300th exoneree; On Death Row 15 years; DNA saved him; DA Connick praised.

STORY: Innocence Project announces "Louisiana man on death row for 15 years becomes 300th person exonerated by DNA evidence.

GIST:  "New Orleans, LA; Damon A. Thibodeaux, who has been on death row in Louisiana since October 1997, was exonerated today of the murder and rape of his 14-year old step-cousin, Crystal Champagne, making him the 300^th person to be exonerated by DNA evidence in the U.S.  District Attorney Paul Connick, Jr. joined the Innocence Project and Thibodeaux’s other counsel in agreeing to overturn Thibodeaux’s conviction and death sentence after DNA and other evidence proved that he had not committed the crime for which he had been coerced into falsely confessing.........“Like the other 299 DNA exonerees, there is no question that Mr. Thibodeaux suffered terribly because of the faults in the criminal justice system,” said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with the Cardozo School of Law.  “But the incredible cooperation that we have received from District Attorney Connick is a powerful illustration of how transformative DNA evidence has been to the criminal justice system.  District Attorneys now recognize that the system doesn’t always get it right, and many, like District Attorney Connick and his team, are committed to getting to the truth. This case can serve as a model to other district attorneys around the country who are interested in developing conviction integrity units to review old cases......... Assisted by several DNA and world-class forensic scientists, homicide and police interrogation methods expert Thomas Streed, PhD, and private investigators, they obtained evidence demonstrating that Thibodeaux was not the murderer, that the victim had not been raped, and that she had also not been murdered in the manner that Thibodeaux had described after some nine hours of interrogation."

The entire release can be found at:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/13a0e0c68ffd118f

 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.

Ashley Smith: (Ontario): New inquest comes under attack: Last time by correctional officials; This time by medical practitioners: Candian Press;

  STORY:  "Doctors fight scope of inquest into Ashley Smith's death," by reporter Colin Perkel,  Canadian Press, published in the Toronto Star on September 27, 2012.

GIST: "Doctors who treated a deeply troubled teenager are fighting the scope of a coroner’s inquest into her death in an Ontario prison cell five years ago, The Canadian Press has learned. Documents show the three doctors — two psychiatrists and a general practitioner — argue the presiding coroner’s plans are unconstitutional because they include events that occurred outside Ontario. The challenge threatens to further delay the already much-delayed proceedings and has infuriated the family of Ashley Smith, which argues medical professionals are trying to escape scrutiny of their role in the tragedy.........This is the second inquest called into Smith’s death. The first one collapsed last year amid legal wrangling and the abrupt resignation of the coroner. Among previously contested issues was the release of videotapes from a Quebec prison showing Smith being given injections without her consent and medical staff apparently threatening her with further injections. The new hearing was slated to begin formal hearings Jan. 13, 2013 and the doctors want Carlisle to delay issuing summonses to out-of-province witnesses until the jurisdictional issue is dealt with. Inquests into deaths in federal institutions are common, and observers said the jurisdictional challenge appears to be unprecedented."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1263308--doctors-fight-scope-of-inquest-into-ashley-smith-s-death
 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.

"Baby is taken from parents after social workers ‘mistook rickets for child abuse’': Appeal court waiting for medical report. Yorkshire Post;

STORY: "Baby is taken away from parents after social workers 'mistook rickets for child abuse," published in the Yorkshire Post on 21 September, 2012.

GIST: "Vitamin  supplements in baby milk led to an innocent couple being condemned for battering their month-old baby, a top family judge has heard. An extraordinary sequence of medical events led to a case of congenital rickets being viewed as horrific child abuse by social workers, experts and a judge, and the baby boy being taken from his distraught family and put up for adoption. Now, however, the parents have been given a final chance to get back their little boy - now aged almost three - from the care system. This comes after lawyers had a “light bulb moment” and understood the full significance of the youngster’s medical records.........The local authority involved in the case had informed the Appeal Court that suitable adoptive parents have already been found for the two-year-old boy, but no further steps in the process would be taken prior to the court ruling on the case. The case is set to return to the Appeal Court once the expert medical report has been obtained. In December last year, figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post revealed a sharp increase in the number of cases of rickets across the region." The entire story can be found at:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/baby-is-taken-from-parents-after-social-workers-mistook-rickets-for-child-abuse-1-4945568

  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.

Jeffrey MacDonald: Judge weighing next steps.. Excellent summary of proceedings to date from Raleigh News and Observer; Reporter Anne Blythe;

STORY: "Judge in Jeffrey MacDonald hearing weighs next steps," by reporter Anne Blythe, published by the News and Observer (Raleigh) on September 25, 2012.

GIST: " In a federal courtroom overlooking one of North Carolina's longest rivers, the judge presiding over Jeffrey MacDonald's latest request for freedom acknowledged being in uncharted waters Tuesday. James C. Fox, a senior judge for the U.S. Eastern District of North Carolina, voiced his discomfort to prosecutors and defense attorneys at the close of a hearing where MacDonald's lawyers are seeking to vacate his 1979 conviction for killing his wife and two young daughters. The late Franklin Dupree was the judge during the 1979 trial and for many of MacDonald's post-trial proceedings. But Dupree died in 1995, and Fox now must decide what path the case takes next on its tortuous legal journey. The 4th U.S. Circuit of Appeals sent the MacDonald case back to Fox's courtroom, telling him he needed to consider claims about new DNA evidence in the context of all the evidence. The appeals court did not elaborate on the meaning of "all the evidence." "I want to get it settled in my mind what we're doing and where we're going," Fox told lawyers late Tuesday after they offered closing arguments for why he should or shouldn't grant MacDonald's request to vacate the verdict. "That issue is not exactly in focus for me.".........Judge Fox said he would give the defense team up to 60 days after receiving a transcript of the proceedings to write briefs about anything else they needed to say. The prosecution, Fox said, could have up to 60 days after that to respond."

 http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/09/25/169700/judge-in-macdonald-hearing-weighs.html

 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.

Shirley Ree Smith: (California): Shaken Baby Syndrome; Belated but good news. Her commutation by Governor Jerry Brown;

 
 PUBLISHER"S NOTE: As they say, it's better late than never. In spite of my paranoid efforts to keep on top of developments in  dozens  of cases around the world - so that I can report on them to our readers - occasionally one slips through. That's what happened with the good news about the clemency granted by Governor Jerry Brown to Shirley Rees Smith.  Mea culpa;

Harold Levy; Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

-----------------------------------------------

POST: "Clemency granted for Shirley Smith," by Sue Luttner, published on "On SBS" on April 6, 2012.

GIST: "Governor Jerry Brown commuted the sentence this morning of Shirley Ree Smith, whose case will remain a landmark in the arena. Shirley and her family are jubilant, of course, even though her conviction stands. “I’ve been waiting so long for this day,” she said on the telephone this afternoon, “I can’t believe it’s finally here.” Shirley said she was especially grateful to the people who helped her, directly and indirectly. ”I would like to thank everyone who stood in my corner and fought for justice with me all these years,” she said, “I did not have to stand alone.” Justice is not complete, Smith conceded, as she still has a criminal record, “but I can get on with my life now, and the story will help people find out what’s going on with shaken baby syndrome.” In an interview in January, while waiting for the results of the clemency petition, Shirley’s daughter Tomeka Smith reflected, “In a way we don’t want the clemency, because that means she’s done something wrong and she needs to be pardoned. That’s sad. That’s not what she wants.” This morning, though, when the phone call came from the attorney, “We were all clapping and jumping and shouting and hugging, the whole family,” Tomeka said, adding, “Still, we’d like to see something official, a piece of paper, to let us know it’s really over.”.........Smith served a decade in prison before the Ninth Circuit Court vacated her conviction on appeal in 2006, declaring the evidence against her constitutionally inadequate. Since then she has been out of prison but constrained in her movements while the state appealed the circuit court’s decision. That appeal reached the Supreme Court this past fall. The high court reinstated her conviction, but in a ruling that didn’t address her guilt or innocence: their argument was that the appeals court should not override a jury’s decision. The written opinion even recognized that doubts about her guilt are “understandable,” and it contained a potent dissenting opinion from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that outlined the substantial medical evidence against the traditional model of shaken baby syndrome. (The full opinion is available at this link.) Through it all, Shirley Smith has kept her faith and her spirit, proving the value of a supportive family. DePaul University law professor Deborah Tuerkheimer, a critic of convictions based solely on the triad (see her op ed from fall 2010), recently called Shirley one of the “incredible figures in this saga.”"

The entire post can be found at:

http://onsbs.com/2012/04/06/clemency-granted-for-shirley-smith/

See also Sue Luttner's commentary on the commutation published in the Reporting on Health Member Blog  on April 26, 2012 at:

http://www.reportingonhealth.org/blogs/2012/04/26/commutation-order-brings-shaken-baby-syndrome-news

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.

Shaken baby syndrome: Dr Norman Guthkelch's "Swan Song." Possibility of natural causes must be thoroughly explored. (Must Read; HL.)

PAPER: "Problems of Infant Retino-subdural Hemorrhage and Cerebral Edema with Minimal External Injury," by A.N. Guthkelch, published by the Medill Innocence Project.

GIST: "This contribution is offered as a final reflection- after 40 years' consideration - on a problem of apparent child abuse which has caused a lot of controversy since it was first described. Time has been wasted by confusing arguments about whether the triad of subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage and cerebral edema constitutes a syndrome with questions as to whether, if a syndrome exists, it is always the result of abusive behavior. For me, the triad may legitimately be classified as a syndrome, but it is not necessarily the result of shaking, or of abusive behavior. What I have to say is therefore intended as a Serious Call - I borrow the phrase from the title of a religious treatise by the 18th century Protestant clergyman, William Law - to members of the medical and legal professions to reconsider these problems with restraint.........Society is rightly shocked by any assault on its weakest members, and demands retribution. But there seem to have been instances where both medical science and the law have gone too far in criminalizing alleged acts of violence of which the only evidence has been the changed clinical state of the infant. Rather, there seems to have been inadequate enquiry into the possibility that the picture resulted from natural causes. In reviewing a number of cases where the alleged assailant has continued to proclaim his/her innocence, I have been struck by the high proportion of these in which there was a significant history of previous illness, and of abnormalities of structure and function of the nervous system. Yet these matters were hardly, if at all, considered in the medical reports. Tuerkheimer has pointed out the fallacy of assuming criminal intent, simply because signs of the classic SBS triad have been found or because no one can think of any other explanation of the infant's injuries, an expert medical witness who answers such a question as "Have you any doubt that given the appalling injuries which this unfortunate infant sustained, they were inflicted, in complete disregard of the danger to his/her life?" in the negative, is exceeding his/her authority."

The link to this paper can be found at:

http://mip.medill.northwestern.edu/

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.

Pamela and William Weightman: Police called it suicide; Man now convicted for the double murder. Family demands independent probe;

STORY: "Killer jailed for couple's murder first thought to be accident," by Louise Hall, published in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 14, 2012.

GIST: "I am asking the Premier for a full and independent investigation into this to determine why NSW Police refused to investigate an obvious double murder, which they left to the family to get evidence to get two murders bought to justice in NSW." Mr Urwin said the family has had "no explanation whatsoever" for the failure of police to investigate the case at the time. "For four years we had to do the job for NSW Police. For four years they were telling us that this was a motor vehicle accident, that we’re being paranoid, and get on with our life," he said. "There was no evidence to suggest this was a motor vehicle accident - all the evidence pointed to a murder.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/killer-jailed-for-couples-murder-first--thought-to-be-accident-20120914-25wba.html

For on-going of the case see the Networked Knowledge page devoted to the case at:

http://netk.net.au/WeightmanHome.asp

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;

Bulletin: Forensic Science: Efforts to improve the consistent accuracy "of many forensic methods" continue at September 26 conference in Washington;

CONFERENCE: "Forensics: Science policies to increase confidence."  American Chemical Society and Congress Project with the American Statistical Association;  September 26, 2012; Washington;

GIST: "The con­sis­tent accu­racy of many foren­sic meth­ods is lack­ing despite pop-culture-informed per­cep­tions to the con­trary. A 2009 National Acad­e­mies report iden­ti­fied many method­olo­gies that are insuf­fi­ciently sci­en­tific includ­ing med­ical exam­iner or foren­sic anthro­pol­ogy approaches, fire inves­ti­ga­tion, and pat­tern recog­ni­tions such as fin­ger­print or tool­mark analy­sis. Also, juris­dic­tions out­side of major cities with sig­nif­i­cant research facil­i­ties are often under-equipped with the trained staff and/or infra­struc­ture to ren­der use­ful foren­sic evi­dence. This expert panel will dis­cuss the fol­low­ing options: set research pri­or­i­ties for foren­sic stan­dards, effec­tively train and cer­tify corps of ana­lysts, and best inform and edu­cate jus­tice sys­tem pro­fes­sion­als on the proper use and pre­sen­ta­tion of foren­sic evi­dence to ensure con­sis­tency and fairness.".........Foren­sics: Sci­ence Poli­cies to Increase Con­fi­dence Sep­tem­ber 26, 2012, Noon –1:30 p.m. Capi­tol Vis­i­tor Cen­ter, Sen­ate Side, SVC-200/201

The entire conference conference notice is posted on "The truth about forensic science," and can be found at:

http://www.thetruthaboutforensicscience.com/american-chemical-society-science-the-congress-project/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring these issues.  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.

Drayton Witt: Arizona; One of several 'shaken baby' death convictions overturned as "new doubts" about the syndrome emerge; (Must Read. HL.)

STORY: "New doubts in 'shaken baby' fatalities: Some in Arizona see convictions overturned," by Richard Ruelas, published in Arizona Republic on September 15, 2012.

GIST: "Drayton Witt kept insisting he had nothing to do with the death of his 4-month-old baby. He said it the night he brought the near-comatose infant into the emergency room on June 1, 2000. He said it during his sentencing, following his conviction on murdering the boy by shaking him. And he was still proclaiming his innocence as he started serving his 20-year sentence in 2002. His lamentations didn't gain legal and medical weight until 2012. The Arizona Justice Project, a volunteer group of attorneys, filed a motion to toss out his murder conviction based on the evolving science around what was known as shaken-baby syndrome. The state did not file an argument in response. Witt was released on May 31, becoming the second Arizonan in the last two years to see his guilty verdict in a shaken-baby case erased.........The attorneys also spotted a letter in the New York Times Magazine from Norman Guthkelch, the British pediatric neurosurgeon who first wrote about the symptoms that indicated a shaken baby. In the letter, a response to an article about the changing medical opinions about shaken-baby syndrome, Guthkelch defended his 1971 paper that concluded babies can get severe brain damage from shaking. The city under Guthkelch's name: Tucson. The Project attorneys asked Guthkelch to look at the records in the case. He filed an affidavit in support of Witt, which marked his first legal involvement on behalf of a person trying to reverse a shaken-baby conviction. "The death of Steven Witt is the type of case where a diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome should not have been made," Guthkelch wrote. He said there were too many other possibilities that could explain the baby's death, and that while his process offers a possible explanation for some head injuries, any presumption that an injured child was shaken was a "distortion" of his theory. Also key to the case was the affidavit of A.L. Mosley, the county medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Steven. Mosley was shown new analysis of his autopsy by doctors who spotted errors in his work. Most notably, doctors said, autopsy photos showed a blocked and swollen vein that was not noted in the report. Mosley, in his affidavit, concluded that "if I were to testify today, I would state that I believe Steven's death was likely the result of a natural disease process, not (shaken-baby syndrome).""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20120904shaken-baby-fatalities-doubts.html

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.

Jeffrey MacDonald; "'Fatal Vision' author testifies that Jeffrey MacDonald conned him; News and Observer, (HL suggested lead: "Author becomes part of the story");

STORY:  'Fatal Vision' author testifies that Jeffrey MacDonald conned him," by reporter Anne Blythe, published in the  Raleigh News and Observer on September 21, 2012.

GIST:  "McGinniss, like MacDonald, has gotten grayer since the 1979 trial in Raleigh. The former Army doctor was found guilty of murdering his family in a Fort Bragg apartment in 1970. And while MacDonald maintains that he did not kill his pregnant wife, Colette, and their daughters, Kimberly, 5, and Kristen, 2, McGinniss said he thinks the jury verdict was correct. "He tried to con me from the first day, and it took me a long time to be aware of that," McGinniss testified Friday in a hearing related to MacDonald's latest attempt at winning freedom......... McGinniss said he began his work on "Fatal Vision" under the theory that MacDonald had perhaps been a victim of a miscarriage of justice. But after the trial, McGinniss said his opinion began to shift. He never told MacDonald of his change of heart. "Psychopaths are very charming people," McGinniss said. "I felt great affection for him." That affection, though, dissipated, and McGinniss began to worry about the safety of his own family, expressing such thoughts in letters to his colleagues on the book. McGinniss acknowledged Friday that he most likely was the person who had benefitted the most financially from the case of Jeffrey MacDonald. His book has been reprinted many times in paperback and with added epilogues. An e-book edition was released late last month, and a revised print edition - 951 pages now with all the epilogues-is just out in bookstores.........The hearing is expected to end early next week, but Judge James Fox is unlikely to rule immediately. He told lawyers at the beginning of the hearing that he will give them 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing to submit written arguments that he will consider as he mulls a decision."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/09/21/2700597/fatal-vision-author-testifies.html

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.

Adoption halted: U.K. Judge learns vitamin supplements in baby milk may have led to false battering allegations against parents; Telegraph;

STORY: "Adoption halted as court told baby milk led to 'innocent' couple being accused of abuse: Vitamin supplements in baby milk may have led an innocent couple being condemned for battering their newborn son, a top family judge has heard," by Social Affairs Editor John Bingham,  published in the Telegraph  on September 20, 2012.

GIST:  "The boy, who cannot be named, was taken away from his parents and was poised to be adopted after multiple broken bones were put down to child abuse. But Lord Justice McFarlane halted the process yesterday after hearing how an extraordinary combination of medical events could have led to a case of congenital rickets being overlooked. The parents, who have fought a three-year custody battle, have been given a final chance to get their son back. It came after lawyers had what they described as a "light bulb moment" and understood the full significance of the child's medical records. Michael Shrimpton, for the family, who are from the north of England, told the Court of Appeal in London that there is evidence that the boy was born with a Vitamin D deficiency, inherited from his mother, leading to "soft bones" and rickets. It suggests that the broken bones could have occurred during his difficult forceps birth, or even in the womb. Blood tests to check for signs of vitamin deficiency, when the boy was four weeks old were normal. But the court heard hat it is possible that it was "masked" by the formula milk given to him by his mother – which contained Vitamin D supplements. He added that there was "striking" evidence of severe abnormalities in the functioning of the baby boy's liver, an organ instrumental in processing Vitamin D. The judge temporarily halted the adoption process and ordered urgent medical reports."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9555102/Adoption-halted-as-court-told-baby-milk-led-to-innocent-couple-being-accuse-of-abuse.html

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.

Jeffery MacDonald: Prosecution moves closer to wrapping its side of the hearing; News and Observer;

STORY: "In Jeffrey MacDonald case, attorneys debate importance of past data," by reporter Anne Blythe, published in the News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) on September 20, 2012.

GIST:  "As the prosecution moves closer to wrapping its side of the hearing, Jeff McGinniss, author of "Fatal Vision," the best-selling book about the case, remains on the list of witnesses still to be called. McGinniss was embedded with the defense during the trial. His book, which ultimately concluded guilt for MacDonald, was the subject of a lawsuit by the federal inmate. MacDonald claimed that McGinniss lied to him, saying he believed he was innocent when he did not, to persuade the former Army doctor to continue to provide unfettered access for his book. MacDonald was awarded a settlement from the book publisher's insurance company, which ultimately was divided between MacDonald's mother and former mother-in-law. Judge James Fox also informed lawyers late Thursday that he would reconsider his ruling on whether a lawyer who represented Stoeckley could waive his attorney-client privilege and be called to testify about what the late drug-abuser told him in legal confidence."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/09/20/169222/attorneys-debate-importance-of.html

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.

David Bain: New Zealand Herald reports that Canadian Judge reviewing the case has found him innocent and compensable; Evidence planted?

STORY: "Bain innocent and deserves payout, judge tells cabinet," by reporter Audrey Young, published by the New Zealand Herald on September 10, 2012.

GIST: "Last week, Justice Minister Judith Collins said she had received the report of retired Canadian Supreme Court judge Ian Binnie and would meet him about it soon. She said she would not release his report until the Cabinet decided whether to pay compensation But the Herald has learned Justice Binnie believes that on the balance of probabilities, Mr Bain is innocent. The judge came to New Zealand in July to interview Mr Bain and other people, including the police, whom the defence accused of planting a spectacle lens, a key piece of evidence in the prosecution case. Mr Bain was convicted of murdering his parents, Margaret 50, and Robin 58, and his siblings, Arawa, 19, Laniet, 18, and Stephen, 14, in June 1994 by shooting them with a .22 rifle."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10832947

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.

Jeffrey MacDonald: "A wilderness of error"; Famed author Errol Morris (Thin Blue Line) tackles his case - and concludes he may be innocent. (CNN);

STORY: "Author seeks to prove murderer is innocent," by Gabriel Falcon published by CNN on September 8, 2012.

GIST: "Before O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony, before Scott Peterson, Amanda Knox and the cottage industry of cable news legal pundits, there was the shocking case of Jeffrey MacDonald. Ten years after his pregnant wife and two young daughters were butchered in their home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, MacDonald was convicted of the killings and sentenced to life in prison. While a jury was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of MacDonald's guilt, many people were still left with one lingering question: Did he really do it? The drama surrounding the heinous crimes and the subsequent trial fascinated the public for decades. It sparked controversial best-selling books, an immensely popular television miniseries and an explosive "60 Minutes" interview that was watched by tens of millions of viewers. Today, more than 40 years after the murders, questions are still being raised about MacDonald's guilt. "We've been sold a bill of goods about this case," said filmmaker Errol Morris. "It's as phony as a three dollar bill." Morris, an Academy Award-winning documentary director whose acclaimed movies include "The Fog of War" and "The Thin Blue Line," has made that opinion the centerpiece of a new investigative book, "A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald." At more than 500 pages, it aims to prove that an innocent man is in prison.".........James Blackburn, the prosecutor who MacDonald said threatened Stoeckley, would not comment on the charge because of pending litigation. "I was the prosecutor in the case, and I did that job to the best of my ability," Blackburn told CNN. "I did it in great reliance of the evidence the government had and we presented an honorable case and it was straightforward and it was based on good and competent evidence. And I agree with the jury's verdict." Today, MacDonald, who will be 69 in October, still has his believers. In addition to Morris, they include Hammond A. Beale, who served as a legal adviser during the Fort Bragg military inquiry into the murders. "I think those of us that are on the side that believes he is totally innocent can't believe this happened," Beale said. "This guy has not only lost his wife and kids but loses his career and ends up in prison for the rest of his life. That's horrendous." "The army got it right, the federal courts royally screwed it up," Beale added. "I don't think this will ever go away until justice is done."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/08/justice/errol-morris-book/index.html

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.

Bulletin: Jeffrey MacDonald: Hearing; Wednesday 19 September; Prosecutor denies threatening key witness; LA Times.

STORY: "Jeffrey MacDonald case: Prosecutor denies threatening key witness," by reporter David Zucchino, published in the Los Angeles Times, on September 19, 2012.

GIST: "A disgraced former federal prosecutor testified Wednesday that he never threatened a key witness at the 1979 murder trial of convicted killer Jeffrey MacDonald – a crucial defense allegation in a federal court hearing on new evidencethat MacDonald says could prove he did not kill his wife and two daughters in 1970. James Blackburn, who led the successful prosecution of MacDonald, denied under oath that he had told a witness he would charge her with murder if she testified that she and others were at MacDonald’s home at Ft. Bragg, N.C., the night of the killings. MacDonald, a former Army doctor, has said intruders committed the murders. Asked by a federal prosecutor Wednesday whether he threatened Helena Stoeckley, a heroin addict who told numerous people she was at MacDonald’s home the night of the killings, Blackburn replied, "No, I never did that.’’.........Also Wednesday, a former FBI agent who drove Stoeckley on a different occasion in 1979 testified that she told him she had no memory of the night of the killings because she was "knocked out’’ by mescaline, heroin and other drugs. The former agent, Frank J. Mills Jr., said Stoeckley told him that she lied to police and military investigators when she said she might have been at MacDonald’s house. "A lie would be more believable than the truth, which was simply that she was so high on drugs she couldn’t remember anything,’’ Mills said, paraphrasing Stoeckley. On cross-examination, Mills conceded to defense lawyer Gordon Widenhouse that Stoeckley did not "categorically state that she was not involved in the murders.’’ Mills also said Stoeckley described "a recurring dream’’ in which she was in MacDonald’s home, holding a candle and chanting "Acid is groovy, kill the pigs.’’"

The entire story can be found at:
 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-jeffrey-macdonald-testimony-20120919,0,7132944.story

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.

Bulletin: Anthony Melendez: Texas; Judge grants lawyer's request to order scientist who retested possibly exculpatory DNA to appear; KWTX.

STORY: "Calif scientist ordered to appear at DNA hearing hear in 1982 murder case," published by KWTX on September 18, 2012.

GIST: "Alan Keel, a California scientist who retested DNA that a Waco lawyer thinks might clear the only surviving defendant in the 1982 murders of three teenagers at Lake Waco, was ordered Tuesday to come to Waco to testify. Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Diana Becton ordered Keel to appear in Waco's 54th State District Court for a hearing in the case of Anthony Melendez, 53, whose release from state prison Waco attorney Walter S. "Skip" Reaves is seeking based on what Reaves calls new evidence that he says was discovered by the California laboratory that Keel owned."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Calif-Scientist-Ordered-To-Appear-At-DNA-Hearing-Here-In-1982-Murder-Case-170269576.html

Background: (Wikipedia account);

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Lake_Waco_murders

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.

Forecasting wrongful convictions; Insightful commentary decries "the belated entrance of scientific rigor into forensics."

COMMENTARY: Red flags: Early warnings of wrongful convictions," by Sue Russell, published by Pacific Standard (formerly Miller-McCune magazine) on September 6, 2012. "Sue Russell is an award-winning California-based journalist and author. She has had over 1,500 articles published, is a former magazine editor, and a longtime contributor to many top British and U.S. publications."

GIST: "Dror finds that expert witnesses are vulnerable to over-confidence—and jurors are impressed by experts who draw firm conclusions. “So,” says Dror, “if I am willing to say, ‘Yes, that is 100 percent match on the fingerprint’…my conviction in that statement means more to the jury than my resume, which actually would tell them I’m not even a fingerprint examiner.” Jurors need to make a definite decision to render a verdict, “And an authoritative-sounding expert helps them. That is very convincing psychologically. It gives them what they need.”

The entire commentary can be found at:

http://www.psmag.com/legal-affairs/red-flags-early-warnings-of-wrongful-convictions-45854/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring these issues.  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.

Jeffrey MacDonald: Hearing underway in North Carolina. New DNA evidence to play a central role. News and Observer.

STORY: "Hearing for Jeffrey MacDonald opens in North Carolina," by reporter Anne Blythe, published by the News and Observer on September 17, 2012.

GIST: "Though the hearing in Wilmington is not a retrial, it ultimately could conclude with U.S. District Judge James Fox ordering a new trial, vacating the conviction or ruling that all the evidence would not have led a reasonable jury to a different conclusion from the one that has been unsuccessfully challenged many times in the ensuing 32 years. The hearing was scheduled after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kicked the matter back to the trial court, ordering that new DNA evidence be considered in the broader context of statements made since the trial from a retired U.S. marshal and the mother of a heroin addict. "The evidence supporting these claims, in light of the evidence as a whole, will compellingly demonstrate reasonable doubt as to MacDonald's guilt," said Gordon Widenhouse, a new member of MacDonald's defense team. "No reasonable juror," he said, would find MacDonald guilty. Prosecutor John Bruce, though, contended otherwise."

The entire story can be found at:

 http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/09/17/168807/hearing-for-jeffrey-macdonald.html

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.

Russell Williams: Why releasing serial killer Russell Williams DNA testing dates is not an unjustified invasion of privacy; Toronto Star.

STORY: "Releasing serial killer Russell Williams DNA testing dates unjustified invasion of privacy," by Jim Rankin and Sandro Contenta, published in the Toronto Star on September 15, 2012.

GIST: "Could serial killer Russell Williams have been caught sooner, preventing the loss of a second woman’s life? That was the question the Star had in mind when it asked the ministry that oversees police in Ontario to make public the dates when Williams’ DNA was submitted for testing. But the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services refused, citing an “unjustified invasion of personal privacy.” Apparently, Williams’ own. The ministry is also refusing to release dates when the samples were uploaded to a national DNA data bank. All the Star is asking for is dates......... Ann Rees, a former journalist who studied Canada’s FOI and access to information systems as a 2002 Atkinson Fellowship recipient, reviewed the correspondence provided to her by the Star and says the ministry should release the information because there is obvious public interest at stake. “It is clearly in the public’s interest for (the ministry) to show that proper procedures are both in place, and were followed in the Williams case, to ensure that killers can be tracked through DNA analysis,” Rees, now a journalism teacher and completing a PhD in communication at Simon Fraser University, wrote in an email. “As to Williams’ privacy rights, in my view he forfeited them when he became a risk to the public by attacking and killing women,” wrote Rees. “What more evidence than murder is needed to show he posed a risk to public health and safety? It is ridiculous to suggest that his privacy rights, particularly concerning the investigation of those crimes, should be protected over and above the public’s right to access the records”"

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1254059--releasing-serial-killer-russell-williams-dna-testing-dates-unjustified-invasion-of-privacy

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.

Bulletin: Jeffrey MacDonald: Evidence hearing begins today. (September 17, 2012); New DNA evidence to be presented to the court; Wrongful Convictions Blog;

STORY: "Evidence hearing today in the 1970 Jeffrey MacDonald Green Beret Murder Case,"  published today by the Wrongful Convictions Blog.

GIST: "An evidentiary hearing will begin today in the conviction of Green Beret Jeffrey MacDonald, who was convicted of murdering his wife and children in their home in 1970. MacDonald always claimed that a group of “hippies” broke in and bludgeoned and stabbed his wife and children, while he sustained stab wounds resulting in a collapsed lung. New DNA evidence, along with an allegation of prosecutorial misconduct will be assessed by the court."

The entire post can be found at:

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2012/09/17/evidentiary-hearing-today-in-the-1970-jeffrey-mcdonald-green-beret-murder-case/

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.

Simon Harwood: (Freddy Patel case); Police panel finds him guilty of professional misconduct. Tomlinson family says it's a "whitewash." No ruling as to whether his actions contrinuted to Ian Tomlinson's death: Guardian;

STORY: Ian Tomlinson case: PC Simon Harwood sacked for gross misconduct," by reporter Peter Harwood, published in the Guardian on September 17, 2012.

GIST: "The Metropolitan policeman who struck and pushed Ian Tomlinson as he walked away from riot officers on the fringe of the G20 protests in London has been sacked with immediate effect after a disciplinary hearing found he had committed gross misconduct. It was "inconceivable" that PC Simon Harwood, who was cleared of Tomlinson's manslaughter in July following one of the most high-profile cases of police misconduct in recent years, could ever work as a police officer again, the three-strong panel ruled.........The disciplinary panel, sitting in public for the first time in the Met's history, was initially going to try to reconcile these contradictory verdicts by ruling on whether Harwood's actions contributed to Tomlinson's death, even inadvertently, But this element was removed after representations from the officer's lawyers, dismaying Tomlinson's widow and children. Tomlinson's stepson, Paul King, described the process as "a whitewash" after walking out of the Met police administrative centre in Earl's Court, west London, before the final ruling had been given. He said: "It's like they have just let PC Harwood resign. The conflicting verdicts of the inquest and criminal court still need to be resolved. We haven't given up, we will now be looking to the civil courts for the final judgment on who killed our dad." King added: "Who killed Ian? We know. It's just a question of getting them to own up."

 The entire story can be found at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/sep/17/simon-harwood-sacked-gross-misconduct?newsfeed=true

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.

The Englewood Four: Illinois; Declared innocent at last. Nancy Petro. Wrongful Convictions Blog;

STORY: "Englewood four are officially innocent," posted by Nancy Petro on the Wrongful Convictions Blog, on September 14, 2012.

GIST: "On Friday afternoon, Sept. 14, 2012, Judge Paul Biebel, chief judge of the Criminal Division of the Cook County (IL) Circuit Court, granted certificates of innocence to four men—Vincent Thames, Terrill Swift, Harold Richardson, and Michael Saunders—who became known as the Englewood Four after their conviction of the 1994 rape and murder of a South Chicago alleged prostitute. Ranging in ages from 15 to 18 at the time, the four teens confessed during interrogation by Chicago police. No physical evidence connected them to the crime. As reported by the Center on Wrongful Convictions here, the four were found guilty without a jury by Judge Thomas Sumner, who said that without the 22-page confession “there is no case.” Their sentences ranged from 30-40 years. Defense lawyers—including Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth staff attorney Josh Tepfer and the Center’s legal director Steve Drizen, representing Terrill Swift—sought more advanced DNA testing on the male biological evidence from the victim in 2010. Prosecutors initially resisted and argued that the testing would not prove innocence in this case. But in May 2011 State Police announced that the DNA matched a deceased violent offender who had been convicted of killing another prostitute. The four, who had served about a decade and a half, were exonerated as a result."

The entire post can be found at:

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2012/09/14/englewood-four-are-officially-innocent/

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.

Bulletin: Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez: Sexual assault; Many years behind bars. Witness recants;

STORY: "Woman recants accusation of sexual assault: In 1994, four women were accused of sexual assault. Now, a witness has recanted," by reporter Michelle Mondo, published in the San Antonio Express-News , on September 16, 2102.

GIST: "Sitting in the prison where she's spent nearly half of her life, Elizabeth Ramirez is stunned by the words that could help exonerate her and three friends of the sexual assault of her two nieces, a crime she said she couldn't fathom let alone commit. It never happened, one niece now says of the debauched, orgy-like nightmare that she and her older sister described to San Antonio police in 1994 when they were 7 and 9. “I want my aunt and her friends out of prison,” Stephanie, 25, said by phone last week. “Whatever it takes to get them out I'm going to do. I can't live my life knowing that four women are sleeping in a cage because of me.”

The story can be found at:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Woman-recants-accusation-of-sex-assault-3868974.php#page-1

See related Grits for Breakfast account:

http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.ca/

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.

Booker Diggins: About to be set free but new DNA tests support his conviction; Times-Picayune;

PUBLISHER'S VIEW: This is neither the first or the last case where an accused person protesting his or her innocence is brought down by DNA. The case does, however, show the importance of requiring police forces at all levels to carefully identify, collect and preserve possible DNA source materials so that new tests can be done - no matter how far in the future. Careful preservation of evidence will help insure that innocent persons go free and guilty persons are convicted. The ultimate result should not have to depend on the serendipitous finding of the materials years later.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

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STORY: "New DNA test points to New Orleans convict who was nearly set free," by reporter John Simerman, published in the Times-Picayune on September 14, 2012.

GIST: "Science just caught up to Booker Diggins. One of the latest poster children for possible misconduct in former District Attorney Harry Connick's office has suddenly become something entirely different: A symbol of the perils of the historic disarray in the Orleans Parish criminal courthouse. Eight years after Diggins first appealed his conviction for rape and robbery inside a Riverwalk storage room, test results of the victim's newly-located rape kit has revealed a match for his DNA, according to results filed Friday with the court. Diggins' attorneys with the New York-based Innocence Project, who have worked for years trying to free him, are expected now to withdraw from the case."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/09/new_dna_test_points_to_new_orl.html

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.

Dr. Freddy Patel: (UK); Link to the entire General Medical Council ruling removing him from the rolls. Parallels with Charles Smith;

RULING: "Fitness to practice panel; Determination on sanction; Dr. Mohmed Saeed Sulema Patel."

GIST: "The Panel has determined, that for the reasons detailed, suspending your registration for a further period would not be sufficient in the public interest. Therefore, the Panel has deemed the only appropriate sanction to be one of erasure. It has reached this decision on two separate bases. First, is the harm done to public confidence in the profession through the failures in the post mortem examinations of Miss B, Baby C, Mrs D, Miss E and Mr Tomlinson. These failures also illustrate the potential harm to what Dr Fegan-Earl described as the ‘end users’ of the coronial system, for example, a potential failure to detect clandestine homicides in either section 19 or section 20 post mortem examinations. The Panel is of the view that these matters alone take it beyond the question of suspension and therefore to erasure. Second, the Panel then considered whether your dishonesty at a previous Fitness to Practise Panel and in the present case concerning Mr Tomlinson, of themselves, constituted grounds for erasure and the Panel determined that it did so. Dishonesty destroys the public's trust in the individual doctor  and undermines both public confidence in the profession, and the need to declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour. Your dishonesty confirm's  the Panel’s finding at the impairment stage that your integrity cannot be relied upon."

The entire General Medical Council ruling can be found through:

http://www.mpts-uk.org/decisions/data/2247.asp

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Dr. Freddy Patel, a pathologist, received the ultimate sanction for professional misconduct - erasure from his profession - in the United Kingdom Dr. Charles Smith, a pathologist, received the ultimate sanction - removal from the register of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario - in Canada. In Smith's case, the panel ruled, in part: "Your misconduct has resulted in unmitigated pain and suffering for so many people and their families. You have subjected these individuals to emotional, financial and social devastation. From the very beginning of our medical education we learned the principle of "Primum non nocere", First of all, do no harm. No matter what we learned thereafter, that remained the basic foundation governing our practice. You clearly ignored this fundamental principle." The entire ruling relating to Smith can be found at the following link to a post on this Blog entitled, "Requiem for a flawed pathologist," which I published on March 26, 2011. A study of both readings reveals a number of striking comparisons between the two once esteemed men. However, one of the most disturbing comparisons in their cases, is that each was protected for years - at great harm to the public - by their governing bodies."

http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2011/03/requiem-for-flawed-pathologist-ontario.html

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

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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.

Bulletin: David Eastman; South Australian Judge to head Eastman Inquiry. (Fresh gunshot residue evidence sheds doubt on Eastman's guilt; HL);

BACKGROUND: (Brisbane Times): "David Harold Eastman has won an application to have a fresh inquiry into his conviction for the 1989 murder of an assistant federal police commissioner. Under ACT law, the Supreme Court can order an inquiry into a conviction if fresh evidence raises doubt or question about whether a person is guilty. In 1995, a jury found Eastman guilty of shooting Colin Winchester dead in the driveway next to his Canberra home. He was sentenced to life imprisonment........In November 2011, The Canberra Times reported a schoolteacher friend of Eastman had sworn an affidavit saying he had borrowed Eastman's car in the late 1980s to go rabbit shooting, accounting for gunshot residue found in the vehicle's boot."

STORY: "South Australian judge to head Eastman Inquiry," by reporter Eizabeth Byrne, published by ABC on September 8, 2012.

GIST: "The ACT Government has appointed a retired Judge of the South Australian Supreme Court, Kevin Duggan, to head the new Board of Inquiry into the conviction of David Harold Eastman. Eastman is serving a life sentence for the murder of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester in 1989."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-08/south-australian-judge-to-head-eastman-inquiry/4249780?section=act

See "Australia: Time for a review body for wrongful convictions" by Carole McCartney, published by the Wrongful Convictions Blog on September 8, 2012, at:

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2012/09/08/australia-time-for-a-review-body-for-wrongful-convictions/

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