Thursday, March 21, 2013

Willie Grimes: North Carolina; Another man is indicted for the 1987 rape which sent him to prison for life. (Misleading "hair" evidence was a factor in the wrongful conviction). The Hickory Daily News.


GIST: “This case originated out of an inquiry by the Innocence Commission inquiry into a 1980’s rape for which Willie Grimes was sentenced to life,” said Noelle Talley, spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Justice. “The District Attorney requested the SBI to look into a rape that occurred in the 1970s, which resulted in (the) arrest.” District Attorney Jay Gaither said the state investigation uncovered evidence that led to Turner’s arrest. He said the charge came from the statute that was in effect at the time of the offense. There is no statute of limitations on a felony, Gaither said. Grimes was arrested for the rape of a 69-year-old woman in Hickory in October 1987. Grimes, then 41, went to the Hickory Police Department on learning he was wanted for questioning......... Grimes maintained his innocence throughout his trial and the ensuing years of imprisonment. He was able to convince the commission to investigate his case. The commission, after digging through existing evidence and searching for missing evidence, decided unanimously to refer the case to a three-judge panel for review. Grimes was unanimously found innocent of the charges against him by the panel when lead judge David Lee paraphrased the Rev. Martin Luther King’s famous 1963 speech and said, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty. Thank Jehovah, Willie Grimes is free at last.”"

The entire story can be found at:

 http://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/article_35422874-883e-11e2-9d12-0019bb30f31a.html

 See previous post: "In court the prosecution said there was a strand of hair belonging to a black man on the items of the white rape victim. In court the hair was never positively identified at Grimes’ hair, just the hair of an African American man.

 http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2012/10/willie-grimes-innocence-proven.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/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.