STORY:"Uncapturing the Friedmans: Jesse Friedman spent 13 years in prison as a notorious child rapist - he may soon get an apology," by Nick Pinto, published by the Village Voice on May 29, 2013.
GIST: "In 2004, Kuby filed a motion arguing that newly available evidence warranted reopening the case. The D.A. fought the petition, and successive courts rejected it on the grounds that it was filed too late. But after years of appeals, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling. It agreed that Friedman's claim was filed too late, but it took the unusual step of delivering a scathing critique of the Friedman case. The court ripped the hectoring and suggestive interview techniques of police, contending they "may have felt comfortable cutting corners in their investigation." The justices also slammed the D.A.'s office: "In this case, instead of acting to neutralize the moral panic, the prosecution allowed itself to get swept up in it." The ruling noted that "the quality of the evidence was extraordinarily suspect." Taken together, the court said, "the record here suggests 'a reasonable likelihood' that Jesse Friedman was wrongfully convicted." "It was an extraordinary decision," says Kuby. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said she would reinvestigate the case, beginning a delicate balancing act. Though Rice wasn't on the scene when her office first prosecuted Jesse, complicated political implications remained. She was an elected official charged with investigating her predecessor's work in a case that still inflamed her constituents. In the past, Rice had fought Friedman's motions to consider new evidence. Now, she took the unusual step of appointing an advisory committee to oversee the review. Among the committee members was Barry Scheck, whose Innocence Project has successfully freed hundreds of inmates. Jarecki leapt at the opportunity, flooding the D.A.'s office with the evidence he'd collected, including hours of interviews and 1,700 pages of raw, unedited transcripts. He cut the new evidence reel showed in the Great Neck convention hall last November. The opening lays out the core argument: "Given the absence of any physical or medical evidence, or prior complaints, the case against Jesse Friedman hinged entirely on the statements of: 14 computer students; Ross Goldstein; Jesse Friedman. Our investigation indicates that all three were coerced.""
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-05-29/news/jesse-friedman/
See Wikipedia entry "Capturing the Friedmans" at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capturing_the_Friedmans
See recent Huffington Post story: "Jesse Friedman attorney seeks key documents in 1988 child sex abuse case," by reporter Ann Givens, published on April 23, 2013 at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/jesse-friedman-attorney-1988-child-sex-abuse-case_n_3136660.html
Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case.
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.
