STORY: "Man serving life sentence for 1997 arson deaths ordered free," by reporter Victoria Kim, published by the LA Times on April 12, 2013.
GIST: "A 72-year-old man who has served 16 years of a life sentence for setting a fire that killed his tenant and her two young children was ordered released Friday by a federal judge who found that he did not receive a fair trial because of inadequate representation. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii ordered George Souliotes released unless California prosecutors decide to retry the Greek immigrant for the 1997 fire. Ishii concurred with the recommendations of a magistrate judge who found in a 93-page opinion last month that Souliotes should be freed because his trial was "fundamentally unfair." The magistrate judge had ruled that no reasonable juror would find Souliotes guilty of triple homicide if they were presented with the evidence today. The fire at Souliotes’ Modesto property broke out as he was attempting to evict Michelle Jones, 31, and her children, 8 and 3. Relying on patterns and markings in the burnt home, experts had testified at trial that the blaze was deliberately set -- opinions that have since been scientifically debunked.........The day when Souliotes walks out a free man, his attorney said, depends on when state prosecutors declare whether they will bring a new trial. They have up to 30 days to make the decision. Prosecutors had argued to keep him behind bars after the magistrate’s ruling."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-arson-convict-ordered-freed-20130412,0,1505018.story?track=rss
See Arson Research Project study of the Souliotes case - with links to key documents - at:
http://www.thearsonproject.org/cases/cases-souliotes.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.
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