EDITORIAL: "Our view: Unsatisfactory conclusion of Souliotes saga," published by the Modest o Bee on July 4, 2013.
GIST: "After a winding legal battle,
including appeals that upheld his original arson and murder
convictions, a federal judge changed the narrative entirely this
spring. The judge ruled that tactical errors in Souliotes' defense
prevented his client from being adequately represented in the second of
two trials in 2000 (the first ended in mistrial the year before). To
garner his freedom, Souliotes pleaded no contest to three counts of
involuntary manslaughter for not having smoke detectors in his rental
home. This plea agreement reflects a dramatic reduction from the
original charges of murder and arson. Cited by his defense
attorney as a key in this victory, and as the factor that the district
attorney's office said "gutted" its case, a Stanislaus County judge
excluded the testimony of an eyewitness in the planned trial, as well as
excluding the fire science introduced at the original trial 13 years
ago. This is not an outcome to celebrate. Souliotes, while now
free, served 16 years for crimes that he no longer stands convicted of.
The people of Stanislaus County never got the definitive answer they
might have gotten from a new trial, whether it resulted in conviction or
acquittal. And Michelle Jones and her children, Daniel and
Amanda, are still gone, their lives taken in an inferno on that cold
January morning. "
The entire editorial: http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/04/2793603/unsatisfactory-conclusion-ofsouliotes.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
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.
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