COMMENTARY: "Jeffrey Havard faces execution in Mississippi despite proof of faulty evidence," by Bruce Fischer, published by Ground Report on February 8, 2013."
GIST: "There
is not one single shred of evidence that Chloe was ever sexually
assaulted, by Jeffrey or by anyone else. There has never been a single
person to come forward to say that Jeffrey acted inappropriately around
Chloe or any other child. Not before the trial and not afterward. Sexual
assault only became an issue when a nurse noticed the condition of the
infant's anus in the ER and drew a conclusion right then and there. Dr.
Hayne’s testimony played a major role in Jeffrey’s wrongful conviction.
Dr. Hayne did not find evidence of sexual assault while conducting the
autopsy, even though he was told to look for it. Hayne gave the
prosecution what they needed when he testified that a one centimeter
contusion in Chloe’s anus could have resulted from penetration with an
object. Hayne also suggested that symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS)
were present but the actual cause of death was never definitively
argued by the prosecution. Jeffrey
asked the court during his trial to provide the means to hire an
independent expert to review Hayne’s findings, but the court denied his
request stating that Hayne was well qualified. The court neglected to
take into account that Hayne was not a certified pathologist when
assessing his qualifications. In a recent interview with WAPT News,
former Mississippi State Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz discussed
the fact that Jeffrey was denied an independent expert. Diaz said
Hayne's testimony that Jeffrey shook the baby to death went unchallenged
because the public defender couldn't afford a second opinion. "He was denied the use of his own expert in that case, but they allowed the state to proffer Dr. Hayne
as an expert for the state,” said Diaz, one of two justices who voted
to throw out Jeffrey’s conviction in a 2006 appeal, with the majority
voting to uphold the death sentence."
http://www.groundreport.com/US/Jeffrey-Havard-Faces-Execution-In-Mississippi-Desp/2951218
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.
