Manuel Velez: Death Row case; Major development. Judge recommends new trial; Finds defence counsel did not call compelling medical evidence which refuted prosecution theory that he struck the 1-year-old child; StandDown Texas Project.

POST: "New trial recommended for Manuel Velez," published by the StandDown Texas Project on April 3, 2013. (Based on "Retrial closer for convicted killer," by reporter Mark Reagan, published in the Brownsville Herald).

GIST:  "State District Judge Elia Cornejo Lopez has recommended Brownsville resident Manuel Velez, who was convicted of murdering a toddler, get a new trial. Lopez issued the order Tuesday.
Velez had been convicted of killing 1-year-old Angel Gabriel Moreno in October 2008. He received the death sentence.........“Mr. Velez has now shown that, at the time of his 2008 trial, compelling medical evidence was available to refute the theory on which he was convicted,” Lopez wrote in her finding. “His trial counsel, Hector Villarreal and O. Rene Flores, inexplicably failed to develop and present to the jury this exculpating evidence. These failures were not the result of sound trial strategy.” In December, Velez appeared before Lopez for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Lopez would or wouldn’t recommend a new trial for him. During that hearing, pro bono attorneys said there is no evidence that Velez struck the child and said new medical evidence shows the child sustained the injuries that killed him while Velez was out of town, working in Memphis, Tenn.".......The Court of Criminal Appeals will rule on Judge Cornejo's recommendation."`

The entire post can be found at:

http://standdown.typepad.com/weblog/2013/04/new-trial-recommended-for-manuel-velez.html

Background: (American Civil Liberties Union ....alleges serious prosecutorial misconduct).

 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2011/10/manuel-velez-american-civil-liberties.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.