PUBLISHER'S VIEW: (EDITORIAL). Earlier this week the Supreme Court of Mississippi denied Willie Manning's application for DNA testing in a case which - as well be seen from previous postings on this site - cries out for testing before he is executed on May 7. By contrast, as will be seen on this post, the Ohio Supreme Court has left the door open for DNA testing in Tyrone Noling's case by ordering a trial court to reconsider whether tests for DNA on a cigarette butt found at the murder scene should be tested. Meanwhile Willie Manning's life lies in the balance. In the best of all worlds, Manning's prosecutor's would agree to the testing to remove all doubt before he is executed. But it's a far from perfect world. And that's why Mississippi governor Phil Bryant should intervene to ensure that a gross miscarriage of justice - of the kind that Mississippi is notorious for - does not occur.
STORY: "Portage County court must reconsider DNA on cigarette butt found at Atwater murder scene," by reporter Marc Kovac, published by the Alliance-Review on May 3, 2013.
GIST: "The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to reconsider whether a cigarette butt found at the scene of a Portage County murder more than two decades ago should be tested to determine if it was smoked by the man sentenced to death for the crime. Tyrone Noling denies shooting Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig during a botched 1990 robbery and has been fighting for further DNA checks, believing they could pin the crime on a convicted murderer executed earlier. In a 5-2 decision Thursday, justices sided with Noling, saying an earlier court improperly rejected his application for testing and must consider the request in light of applicable law changes adopted several years ago that allowed retesting of biological evidence. The state's high court remanded the case to Portage County Common Pleas Court. "Mr. Noling has spent more than 15 years on Death Row for two murders he did not commit," Carrie Wood, an attorney at the Ohio Innocence Project, which has been involved in the case, said in a released statement. "We hope that the trial court will order DNA testing of the cigarette butt found at the crime scene and order the results of this new testing ... We also hope that the trial court orders a search for all evidence collected from the crime scene so that the lab might DNA test any additional items the perpetrator may have touched."
STORY: "Portage County court must reconsider DNA on cigarette butt found at Atwater murder scene," by reporter Marc Kovac, published by the Alliance-Review on May 3, 2013.
GIST: "The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to reconsider whether a cigarette butt found at the scene of a Portage County murder more than two decades ago should be tested to determine if it was smoked by the man sentenced to death for the crime. Tyrone Noling denies shooting Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig during a botched 1990 robbery and has been fighting for further DNA checks, believing they could pin the crime on a convicted murderer executed earlier. In a 5-2 decision Thursday, justices sided with Noling, saying an earlier court improperly rejected his application for testing and must consider the request in light of applicable law changes adopted several years ago that allowed retesting of biological evidence. The state's high court remanded the case to Portage County Common Pleas Court. "Mr. Noling has spent more than 15 years on Death Row for two murders he did not commit," Carrie Wood, an attorney at the Ohio Innocence Project, which has been involved in the case, said in a released statement. "We hope that the trial court will order DNA testing of the cigarette butt found at the crime scene and order the results of this new testing ... We also hope that the trial court orders a search for all evidence collected from the crime scene so that the lab might DNA test any additional items the perpetrator may have touched."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.the-review.com/dix%20statehouse/2013/05/03/portage-county-court-must-reconsider-dna-on-cigarette-butt-found-at-atwater-murder-scene
See Gamso for the defence post at link below: "They could just do the right thing: It's worth noting that, the Portage County prosecutor could just agree to the testing. He won't. Instead, he fights it tooth and nail, hammer and tongs, foot and hoof, pencil and paper, spider and fly, duke and duchess. Because . . . . Damned if I know. Regardless, Tyrone Noling remains on death row for a crime he may or may not have committed. One of these days it seems likely the Ohio Supreme Court will suck it up and order the DNA testing. Or maybe not. And if they do order it, either it will go a long way toward showing Noling innocent, or it won't be meaningful at all. Which could all have been discovered several years ago, but will instead wait several more years. Cause why not."
http://gamso-forthedefense.blogspot.ca/2013/05/they-could-just-choose-to-do-right.html
See Justice for Willie Manning at link below;
http://justice4willie.com/http://justice4willie.com/
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.
