STORY:"DA will retry Souliotes in 1997 fire deaths in Modesto," by reporter J.N. Sbranti published by the Modesto Bee on May 6, 2013.
GIST: "Modesto landlord George Souliotes, who has been behind bars for 16 years, will face a new trial for the deaths of his tenant and her two children, Stanislaus County’s district attorney announced this morning. Souliotes had been convicted of arson and triple murder in 2000, but a federal judge threw out that conviction last month, ruling that he didn’t get a fair trial. Much of the fire investigation evidence used to link Souliotes to that deadly blaze has since been discounted by more modern scientific testing methods.........“What’s so troubling about this case is that the science (Modesto fire investigators used) was so bad it wasn’t even science,” said Linda Starr, the Innocence Project’s legal director, on Monday. “There’s not a credible expert in the country who will testify this was an arson ... and science proves (the chemical on his shoes) doesn’t match.” Without evidence of arson or a chemical match, Starr said she doesn’t understand why Fladager thinks she can prove Souliotes is guilty. “There’s no motive. He had nothing to gain from this,” Starr said. She said the eyewitness who placed Souliotes at the scene was unbelievable because she could not have seen what she said she saw from where she was. Starr said prosecutors’ continued insistence that Souliotes did it “is simply tunnel vision not based on fact or science.”......... The state repeatedly has appealed various judges’ decisions favoring Souliotes. “I’ve heard people say the state is trying to delay things long enough so he would just die in prison,” said Paul Bieber, a defense investigator who got involved in Souliotes’ defense as part of an organization called The Arson Project. “I never thought that was a possibility before, but that theory has a lot more credibility now.”"
GIST: "Modesto landlord George Souliotes, who has been behind bars for 16 years, will face a new trial for the deaths of his tenant and her two children, Stanislaus County’s district attorney announced this morning. Souliotes had been convicted of arson and triple murder in 2000, but a federal judge threw out that conviction last month, ruling that he didn’t get a fair trial. Much of the fire investigation evidence used to link Souliotes to that deadly blaze has since been discounted by more modern scientific testing methods.........“What’s so troubling about this case is that the science (Modesto fire investigators used) was so bad it wasn’t even science,” said Linda Starr, the Innocence Project’s legal director, on Monday. “There’s not a credible expert in the country who will testify this was an arson ... and science proves (the chemical on his shoes) doesn’t match.” Without evidence of arson or a chemical match, Starr said she doesn’t understand why Fladager thinks she can prove Souliotes is guilty. “There’s no motive. He had nothing to gain from this,” Starr said. She said the eyewitness who placed Souliotes at the scene was unbelievable because she could not have seen what she said she saw from where she was. Starr said prosecutors’ continued insistence that Souliotes did it “is simply tunnel vision not based on fact or science.”......... The state repeatedly has appealed various judges’ decisions favoring Souliotes. “I’ve heard people say the state is trying to delay things long enough so he would just die in prison,” said Paul Bieber, a defense investigator who got involved in Souliotes’ defense as part of an organization called The Arson Project. “I never thought that was a possibility before, but that theory has a lot more credibility now.”"
http://www.modbee.com/2013/05/06/2702890/da-will-retry-souliotes-in-1997.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.
