STORY: "DA's expert agrees science evidence faulty in Graf fire," by reporter Cindy V. Culp, published in the Waco Tribune on February 24, 2013.
GIST: "A fire science expert retained by the McLennan County District Attorney’s office to take a new look at a 1986 fire that killed two Hewitt boys concluded the initial investigation was based on faulty science and that there is no proof the blaze was intentionally set. The report by Thomas B. Sing, CEO of Quest Fire Analysis in Boerne, was prepared in response to new developments in the arson murder case of Ed Graf. Graf was convicted in 1988 of burning his young stepsons alive in a backyard storage shed and is serving a life sentence. But efforts are now under way to get him released from prison based on the assertion that he was wrongly convicted because of flawed scientific evidence used against him at trial. “The investigations of (the original fire experts) are lacking in scientific merit and were not consistent with the fire investigation methodologies that were the standard of care in 1986,” Sing wrote in his report. “The assumptions of ‘evidence’ upon which both men depended have no scientific basis. Additionally, eye-witness information was ignored, the fire scenes were not professionally processed and existing documentation of the fire, in 1986 continuing to present day, is not sufficient for an analysis regarding the fire origin or fire cause.......
The defense experts concluded there is no proof the fire was arson. They also dispute that the shed door was locked. The fire could not have consumed the entire structure like it did if the door was closed, because of a lack of oxygen, they said. Sing noted in his report that the new defense experts used methods “consistent with established scientific analysis and testing” in conducting their reviews."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/192839451.htmlhttp://www.wacotrib.com/news/192839451.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
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.
