the charles smith blog: August 2013

Saturday, August 31, 2013

New post following seasonal break: David Bain; New Zealand; Pathologist's certainty that there were no cuts on Robin Bain's hands when he died bolster defence claims that Robin Bain pulled the trigger. 3 News.

STORY: "No cuts on Robin Bain's thumb - pathologist," by reporter Thomas Mead, published by 3 News on August 30, 2013.
http://www.3news.co.nz/No-cuts-on-Robin-Bains-thumb---pathologist/tabid/423/articleID/311264/Default.aspx

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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/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.

Catch-up following seasonal break: Susan Neill-Fraser; Tasmania; Her lawyer is seeking a public inquiry; Cites new and fresh evidence about Robert Chappell's murder relating to the expert testimony and forensic evidence in the case; ABC News.

STORY: "QC calls for inquiry into Susan Neill-Fraser's conviction for murdering Bob Chappell," published by ABC News on August 17, 2013.

GIST: "Tasmania's Attorney General is being asked to hold a Commission of Inquiry into the murder conviction of Hobart woman, Susan Neill-Fraser. Neill-Fraser is serving a 23-year prison sentence for the murder of her partner Bob Chappell who was last seen on his yacht on the River Derwent on Australia Day four years ago. Barrister Robert Richter QC has written to Attorney-General Brian Wightman saying new and fresh information about Mr Chappell's murder raises doubt about Neill-Fraser's guilt. He is calling for an inquiry to report to the Government into the safety or otherwise of the conviction. Neil-Fraser's solicitor Barbara Etter says the murder investigation resulted in an entirely circumstantial case. Ms Etter says there was no body, no weapon, no plausible motive, no direct eyewitnesses, no admissions or confession and no forensic evidence linking Sue Neill-Fraser to the crime scene. Ms Etter says a seven-page attachment to barrister Robert Richter’s letter to the Attorney-General outlines new and fresh evidence. She says his letter provides details of key witnesses and numerous documents, many subsequently obtained under Right to Information legislation, that were never drawn to the attention of the court. Ms Etter says the attachment also outlines various significant issues relating to the forensic science and expert evidence in the case. Issues outlined include photos of a dinghy shown to the jury and what they were told or not told, explanations and the state of some blood samples found in the yacht, and the possibility of false blood reaction results. Ms Etter believes there are issues with the forensic science including how it was used, leading the jury to believe there was blood in the yacht's dinghy."

The entire post can be found at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-16/a-prominent-queens-counsel-calls-for-an-inquiry-into-a-tasmania/4891952

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on The Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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/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.
Sent from my iPad Posted by Harold Levy at Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Friday, August 30, 2013

New following seasonal break: Ken Anderson. (Michael Morton's former prosecutor); Lawyers for Anderson and for the Bar Association make their case; Judge to deliver decision in a week to 10 days. Texas Tribune;

STORY: "State bar, Anderson attornies make case to judge," by reporter Alexa Ura, published by the Texas Tribune on August 30, 2013.

GIST: "Anderson fell under scrutiny after Morton’s lawyers discovered evidence they allege he deliberately withheld in the case. The evidence includes a phone call transcript in which Morton’s mother-in-law recounted to police a conversation with her grandson who said he saw a monster — not his father — beat his mother to death. Morton was not home at the time of the beating and neighbors reported seeing a man in a green van parked in front of the Morton home several times before the crime. After a 10-month investigation, the State Bar filed a grievance against Anderson. Anderson, now a state district judge, has denied allegations of professional misconduct. The State Bar’s attorney, Laura Bayouth Popps, argued that Anderson’s files on the Morton investigation were not public record and could not have been obtained by a public information request within the timeframe of the statute of limitations. “By virtue of being the lead prosecutor, Mr. Anderson had a constitutional and ethical duty to disclose this,” Popps said. “This does not take hiding the evidence in the attic or putting it in the trunk. All we have to show is that he had a duty to disclose and he didn’t.” Popps also argued that the statute of limitations does not apply, alleging that Anderson's efforts to conceal the evidence were ongoing, not a one-time offense. “We would have liked to try this. We also would have liked for Mr. Morton not to have spent 25 years in prison,” Popps said. “Because of the fraud and concealment that took place here, no one was able to try this case any sooner.” Morton served almost 25 years after he was sentenced to life in prison for the August 1986 murder of his wife Christine Morton. He was released in 2011 after DNA testing on a bloody bandana found near the crime scene linked the death to another man, Mark Alan Norwood who was found guilty earlier this year. District Judge Kelly G. Moore, the judge presiding over the Anderson case, said he will announce his decision in a week or 10 days. If Moore denies the requests for summary judgment, the case could proceed to a jury trial by as early as Sept. 30."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/30/state-bar-and-ken-anderson-attorneys-present-case-/

Wikipedia entry: (Michael Morton); Morton was formally acquitted by Bexar County District Judge Sid Harle on December 19, 2011. On the same day, Morton's attorneys (including Raley, Morrison, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, and Gerald Goldstein and Cynthia Orr of San Antonio) asked Harle to order a "court of inquiry" into the actions of Anderson, who is now a district judge in Williamson County. A court of inquiry is a special court that investigates allegations of misconduct by elected officials in Texas. Morton has accused Anderson of failing to provide defense lawyers with exculpatory evidence indicating that another man might have killed Morton's wife, including information that his 3-year-old son witnessed the murder and said his dad was not home at the time.Morton's attorneys discovered this evidence while preparing a final appeal, and were able to get Anderson and others involved in the investigation deposed under oath. On February 20, 2012; Harle asked the Texas Supreme Court to convene a court of inquiry, finding that there was evidence to support Morton's contention that Anderson had tampered with evidence and should have been held in contempt of court for not complying with the trial judge's order to let him review all possible exculpatory evidence. The court of inquiry began on February 4, 2013. If it finds that there is reason to believe Anderson broke the law, Anderson could potentially face charges that carry up to 10 years in prison. On April 19, 2013, the court of inquiry ordered Anderson to be arrested, saying “This court cannot think of a more intentionally harmful act than a prosecutor’s conscious choice to hide mitigating evidence so as to create an uneven playing field for a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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/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.

Sent from my iPad

New following seasonal break: Hank Skinner. Death Row. Texas. His lawyer's claim independent DNA testing points to his innocence. Prosecutors says results do not vindicate him. KAMR.

STORY: "DNA testing allegedly supports Skinner's claims," published by KAMR on August 29, 2013.

GIST: "Attorneys for death row inmate Hank Skinner say DNA testing points to his innocence.
Independent testing done by Skinner's defense team allegedly identifies a relative of one of the murder victims as a possible suspect. Skinner says a man named Robert Donnell, an uncle of victim Twila Busby, could be guilty of the triple murders that sent him to death row. In an advisory filed with the court Thursday, Skinner's attorneys say their testing shows three hairs found in the hand of Twila Busby belong to a maternal relative, implying Donnell may have been at the scene. They concede a fourth hair belongs to skinner. But, in previous testing done by the state last year, prosecutors say besides the one hair belonging to Skinner, the other three belonged to the victims Twila Busby or her two adult sons." The attorney general's office released the following statement regarding the new round of testing. "Despite his continual delay tactics, the latest test results continue to show the link between Hank Skinner and his guilt in the murder of Twila Busby. In fact, 4 hairs found on the victim were tested and 3 were consistent with Twila Busby or her two sons, one was consistent with Hank Skinner. Hank Skinner's case is exactly the reason why this office supported a new law requiring DNA evidence be tested before trial instead of continuing to delay justice. The new round of testing does nothing to vindicate Hank Skinner in the murder of Twila Busby.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.myhighplains.com/story/dna-testing-allegedly-supports-skinners-claims/d/story/14CoW6zRkE2_cKriBTE3bA

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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/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.

New post following seasonal break: Analysis; crime labs come under scrutiny after" a string of shoddy, suspect and fraudulent results." Mark Hansen; American Bar Journal; (Must read. HL.)

STORY: "Crime labs under the microscope after a string of shoddy, suspect and fraudulent results, by reporter Mark Hansen, to be published by the American Bar Journal on September 1, 2013.

GIST: "Paul Giannelli, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland who has been studying crime lab failures for 20 years, says he used to think the problem was limited to the occasional misdeeds of a few bad apples. But given the many lab scandals that have gone undiscovered for so long, he’s come to the conclusion the problem is a systemic one that can only be remedied through regulation. “And we can’t delegate to a private organization what should rightfully be a function of the government,” Giannelli says. The shortcomings of the existing system have been well-documented, most notably in the National Academy of Sciences’ 2009 study of forensic science, which exposed serious flaws in the way crime labs operate.........Nobody really knows how many crime lab failures there are because we usually only hear about them when somebody who has been wrongfully convicted of a crime is exonerated through DNA testing. But we do know that there have been 310 post-conviction DNA exonerations in this country through the end of July, according to the Innocence Project, which works to free the innocent through DNA testing. And studies show that unverified or improper forensic science (defined as fraud, misconduct or the use of scientifically untested evidence) played a role in about 55 percent of those cases.........Raeder says pretrial discovery procedures and jury instructions must be changed to prevent forensic analysts from “fudging” the results of lab tests and “overreaching” when they testify. To that end, the ABA House of Delegates adopted two resolutions at its 2012 midyear meeting. One urges governments at all levels to adopt pretrial discovery procedures requiring crime labs to produce “comprehensive and comprehensible” reports that spell out the procedures used in an analysis; the results of the analysis; the identity, qualifications and opinions of the analyst and anybody else who participated in the testing; and any additional information that could bear on the validity of the test results. The other urges judges and lawyers to consider several factors in determining how expert testimony should be presented to a jury and in instructing juries how to evaluate that testimony. But before we do anything else, Neufeld says, we need to make sure that many of these forensic disciplines, developed by law enforcement agencies for use in law enforcement, are grounded in science. “Let’s start by putting forensic science on the scientific track,” he says."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/mag_article/crime_labs_under_the_microscope_after_a_string_of_shoddy_suspect_and_fraudu/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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:

Catch-up post following seasonal break: Sonja Farak; Trial for former state drug lab chemist on charges of tampering with evidence and drug theft to take place in February, 2014.

STORY: "Trial date set in case of UMass drug lab chemist Sonja Farak," by reporter Bob Dunn published in the Gazette on August 26, 2013;

GIST: "The trial of Sonja Farak, the former state drug laboratory chemist accused of evidence tampering and drug theft, is tentatively set to begin in February. Farak, 35, of Northampton, has pleaded not guilty to four counts each of evidence tampering and larceny of a drug and two counts of possessing a class B drug (cocaine). Alleged tampering in the Amherst lab led a judge to allow retrials in at least nine Hampden County cases for which Farak allegedly handled drug evidence........... Farak was arrested in January after state police were contacted by the drug lab on the University of Massachusetts campus about discrepancies in its drug evidence inventory.

The Amherst Drug Laboratory was tasked with storing and analyzing substances seized by local and state police. The investigation into the discrepancies led to allegations that Farak had tampered with four drug samples at the lab. In two of those cases, Farak allegedly mixed drug evidence samples with counterfeit drugs to hide the thefts, and in two other cases samples were missing altogether, according to the attorney general’s office."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/8224882-95/trial-date-set-in-case-of-umass-drug-lab-chemist-sonja-farak

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on The Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

(New post following seasonal break): Fran Keller; Texas. Austin Chronicle asks if her conviction of ritual sexual abuse can stand without physical evidence, in a story on the appeal;

STORY:"Can Keller conviction stand without physical evidence? Hearing in Austin ritual abuse case questions evidence of sexual abuse," by Jordan Smith, published in the Austin Chronicle on August 27, 2013.

GIST: "When a child is sexually abused, there isn't necessarily physical evidence to prove any abuse happened. But whether the lack of any physical evidence of abuse is significant in the case of Fran Keller, convicted of sexually assaulting a child left in her care back in 1991, is a central issue in an appeal of that case currently pending in a Travis County court. Fran Keller was sentenced to 48 years in prison for allegedly sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl, Christy Chaviers, who in 1991 was an infrequent drop-in at the home-based daycare Fran and her husband Dan Keller ran out of their Oak Hill home. (Dan was also convicted and sentenced to 48 years. The current appeal has been filed on Fran's behalf, but will impact Dan's conviction as well.) .........The Kellers were among hundreds of daycare workers across the country accused in the Eighties and early Nineties as being part of satanic cults that abused children taken by their parents to daycare facilities. In 2008, the Chronicle began a reinvestigation of the case against the Kellers and found that there was, in fact, scant evidence that any children had been abused by the Kellers, let alone any evidence of satanic ritual abuse. Indeed, the only physical evidence that suggested Christy had been abused came in the form of testimony from a then-novice Brackenridge emergency room doctor, Michael Mouw, who examined Christy in August 1991. In the fall of 1992, Mouw testified in court that in examining Christy he found deformities to her hymen and to her posterior fourchette – a tender fold of skin on the rear of the vagina near the anus. Those deformities – described as possible lacerations to the hymen and a tear of the fourchette – could be signs of sexual abuse, he said. That determination was confirmed by pediatrician Beth Nauert, a local expert in child sexual abuse who expounded on Mouw's findings in her trial testimony. Notably, Nauert examined Christy some two weeks after Mouw and found no signs of any deformities......... When he was contact by us for what eventually became our 2009 cover story on the case ("Believing the Children," March 27, 2009), Mouw said that not long after he testified at the Kellers' 1992 hearing he realized that what he thought were injuries were in fact "normal variants" of female genitalia. "At the time, in good faith, I saw something [I thought] was abnormal" about Christy's hymen, he told us for that story. But with more experience and education, that is not what he now concludes. Mouw's about-face, meaning he provided during the 1992 trial what he now knows to be erroneous medical testimony, is among the claims for relief included in an exhaustive writ filed in January on Fran Keller's behalf by Austin defense attorney Keith Hampton. Put simply, Mouw's more erudite consideration of the case has not only eliminated the only piece of physical evidence to suggest that Kellers abused Christy, but also the only concrete evidence that any crime ever happened. Mouw's changed opinion took center stage at a hearing Tuesday afternoon before retired District Judge Wilford Flowers, who as an elected judge presided over the Kellers' original trial."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2013-08-27/can-keller-conviction-stand-without-physical-evidence/

See KUT story: "Texas couple appeals sentence for satanic ritual abuse." "The Kellers steadfastly maintain their innocence. An alleged child victim denied her claim of abuse. And Doug Perry, an associate of the Kellers, recanted his story to investigators that he and two friends had participated in sexual activities at the Keller’s day care center – claiming he’d been coerced by the police. Nearly two dozen years after their conviction, the Kellers have filed a Writ of Habeus Corpus that could lead to the end of their prison sentences. A path to exoneration may require another hearing, but the Kellers’ attorney Keith Hampton hopes to have the couple released – and moved back to Travis County within the next few months. If he is successful, Fran and Dan Keller may see one another for the first time in 23 years."

http://kutnews.org/post/texas-couple-appeals-sentence-satanic-ritual-abuse

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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/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.

Sent from my iPad

Catch-up from seasonal break: Ed Graf. Texas. Arson "science" case. No new trial until next year. He remains in jail in spite of compelling evidence accepted by court that modern forensic techniques could prove he did not cause the fatal fire. KWTX.

STORY: "Waco: Man who won new trial wont get it until next year," by reporter John Carroll, published by KWTX on August 26, 2013.

GIST: "A new trial ordered for a suburban Waco man once convicted of capital murder in the fiery deaths of his two sons won’t be held until next February. Ed Graf served 25 years of a life prison sentence for the deaths of his adopted sons Jason, 8 and Joby, 9, before the Texas Court of Appeals threw out his capital murder conviction in March, citing faulty arson science. The court agreed that modern forensic techniques could prove he didn't start the Aug. 26, 1986 fire in a shed in the backyard of the family’s home in Hewitt that killed his two adopted sons. His attorney, Walter Reaves confirmed Monday that Graf is set for trial in February 2013, but it’s possible it may not begin until later next year. The date was set during a closed-door meeting Friday between Reaves, prosecutors and the judge, Reaves said. Graf remains in the McLennan County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bond awaiting retrial. Reaves said Monday he’s surprised Graf is still behind bars and said his client is, too.
“I think he's just having a hard time understanding why he's still in jail and why even he has to go through a trial in the first place,” he said."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.kwtx.com/ourtown/communities/waco/headlines/Waco--Man-Who-Won-New-Trial-Wont-Get-It-Until-Next-Year-220273441.html

See informative story: "Forensics in flames," by Michael May. "Carpenter testified at a hearing of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. They overturned Ed Graf’s conviction; he will be getting a new trial. Graf represents only one of a small handful of cases across the country that are getting a new look, although flawed arson science was used in other case, possibly hundreds of cases. “The question becomes, sort of how far does the consensus have to have shifted in order to indicate that you have new evidence of innocence?” University of Texas Law Professor Jennifer Laurin says. “What if the individual expert who testified at trial maintains their view about the state of the science, even while all the other experts in the world have changed their minds? Well, would all of those other experts make a difference in the jury’s assessment of the evidence? These are the kind of reverse engineering of the jury’s decision that defendants have to do. It’s very, very difficult to prevail.” Defendants have to prove that a jury never would have convicted them without the faulty scientific testimony. That is a high hurdle to clear, and that could explain why prosecutors have decided to retry Ed Graf rather than just letting him go. On the one hand, the original scientific evidence has been completely discredited, and the defense will bring in a national expert who can talk in detail about carbon monoxide hemoglobin levels and localized flashover, and who will show how the fire likely was an accident. On the other hand, prosecutors have a still‐grieving mother convinced her ex‐husband is a cold‐blooded killer. As with the first trial of Ed Graf, the jury will not be scientific experts themselves. They will ultimately have to decide who to believe.

http://www.lifeofthelaw.org/forensics-in-flames/

See also: "How sloppy fire science sends innocents to prison," by Paul Bieber: "Late last month, the independent Texas fire review panel convened by the State Fire Marshal’s Office concluded that the original determination of arson by Texas fire investigators in the case of Ed Graf was mistaken. Speaking of the Graf case, Texas State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said the original investigators “failed to meet the present day standard of care.” The (George) Souliotes and Graf cases represent far more than simply not meeting a basic standard of care. They represent a nationwide travesty: accidental fires continue to be misidentified as arson leading to wrongful convictions and at least one execution."

http://www.thecrimereport.org/viewpoints/2013-07-how-sloppy-fire-science-sends-innocents-to-prison

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

New post following seasonal break: Kyle Unger; Manitoba; Flawed RCMP hair analysis expert's testimony. Federal government responds to lawsuit - defends the hair analysis as the accepted scientific practice at the time. Canadian Press.

STORY: "Federal government responds to Kyle Unger lawsuit," by reporter Steve Lambert, the Canadian Press, on August 27, 2013.

GIST: The federal attorney general’s office says it and the RCMP acted in good faith and should not be held liable for the wrongful murder conviction of a Manitoba man who spent 14 years in prison for a teenage girl’s death. The office has filed a statement of defence in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench in response to a $14.5-million lawsuit that Kyle Unger filed almost two years ago over his conviction. It wasn’t until 2009 that he was formally acquitted. Unger, who is now 42, was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Brigitte Grenier after a rock concert south of Winnipeg. Her body was found in a creek near Roseisle, Man., on June 24, 1990. The attorney general’s office says Unger, whose name was cleared in 2009, bears at least partial responsibility for what happened. “The (police) investigation was devoid of bad faith or any purpose inconsistent with a full, fair and proper criminal investigation,” the defence statement reads. Any losses or damages suffered by Unger “were caused or significantly contributed to by the plaintiff’s own conduct, which includes, but is not limited to, his repeated admissions of having committed the offence for which he was convicted.” Unger was sentenced to life in prison along with his co-accused, Timothy Houlahan, but as the years went by the evidence used to convict him began to unravel. An RCMP hair analysis expert had testified at Unger’s trial that a hair found on Grenier’s sweater belonged to Unger. It was the only physical evidence against him and DNA tests in 2005 showed the hair belonged to someone else.........In 2009, the federal justice minister determined that the conviction had probably been a miscarriage of justice. Months later, Unger was formally acquitted. Unger’s lawsuit alleges that police and Crown attorneys relied on faulty science, ignored evidence that pointed to Houlahan as the killer, and used a flawed undercover sting to get a false confession......... The attorney general’s office also defends the hair analysis as the accepted scientific practice at the time. “At all material times, (hair analyst Jim) Cadieux used contemporary established and accepted scientific procedures to conduct the microscopic hair comparison testing.”

The entire story can be found at:

http://metronews.ca/news/canada/778624/federal-government-responds-to-unger-lawsuit/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

Catch-up following seasonal break: Jesse Friedman; New York. Victory followed by setback. Judge orders release of "Every piece of paper you have generated for People against Friedman" with the exception of victim's names. Appeal judge stays this order as District Attorney launches an appeal. (State's "experts" were instrumental to the conviction. HL.)

STORY: "Judge orders release of Jesse Friedman files," by reporter William Murphy, published on August 22, 2013. (Followed by a subsequent news report that an appeal judge has blocked release of the files!)

GIST: "A judge ordered Nassau County prosecutors Thursday to turn over virtually every scrap of paper on the Jesse Friedman case to the former defendant, who claims he was wrongly coerced into pleading guilty in 1988 to sexually molesting children. Justice F. Dana Winslow said in State Supreme Court in Mineola that he was granting Friedman's request for the records under the Freedom of Information Law in part because of the public's need to have confidence in how prosecutors and other public officials carry out their duties. Asked by prosecutors to specify what information was covered by his ruling, he replied that, with the exception of the victims' names: "Every piece of paper you have generated for People against Friedman." The judge refused to grant a permanent stay of his ruling and gave prosecutors until Tuesday to seek a stay from the Appellate Division. District Attorney Kathleen Rice's office said there will be an appeal......... N. Scott Banks of West Hempstead, who was law secretary to the judge who presided over the original criminal case, Abbey Boklan, said in a letter to Winslow this week that while the grand jury testimony was strong enough to support an indictment, "I recall my concerns [that] the testimony of the child witnesses lacked specificity regarding the dates and time of alleged offenses, and failed to note the presence of other witnesses at the Friedman home."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/judge-orders-release-of-all-friedman-files-1.5937061?firstfree=yes

See subsequent story: "Appeal judge: D.A. doesn't have to give Jesse Friedman files yet."

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/appeals-judge-da-doesn-t-have-to-give-jesse-friedman-files-yet-1.5967830

Wikipedia account:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capturing_the_Friedmans

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

New following seasonal break: Cleveland Wright; Co-defendant with exonerated Santae Tribble petitions for innocence in 1978 murders. Flawed FBI forensc hair evidence a key factor in both convictions.

STORY: "D.C. man petitions for innocence after DNA exonerates co-defendant in 1978 murders," by reporter Spencer S. Hsu, published by the Washington Post on August 26, 2013.

PHOTO CAPTION: "Cleveland Wright has asked a D.C. Court judge to clear his name after new DNA test results last year exonerated his co-defendant in two similar 1978 murders."

GIST: "A D.C. man who spent 28 years in prison for murder asked a judge Monday to declare him innocent after DNA test results last year exonerated his co-defendant. Cleveland Wright, 55, who was paroled in 2007, was convicted in the 1978 killing of a floral shop worker......... Wright, then 20, and Santae Tribble, then 17, were childhood friends whom prosecutors accused of teaming up to rob and kill two men using the same gun, two weeks apart in the same Southeast Washington neighborhood in July 1978. Although both men were charged in both slayings, juries convicted one defendant in each killing. Key evidence in both cases came from the FBI Laboratory, where a forensic expert microscopically matched Tribble’s hair to one in a stocking found near one of the crime scenes. The killer wore a stocking mask. However, court-ordered DNA testing last year confirmed that none of the 13 hairs retrieved from the stocking shared Tribble’s or Wright’s genetic profile. In December, Superior Court Judge Laura A. Cordero found that “by clear and convincing evidence” Tribble, now 52, was not guilty and that he had nothing to do with the crime for which he was convicted. Wright was acquitted in that case. But in a new filing Monday, Wright asked Cordero to consider his conviction in the other slaying. Prosecutors in Wright’s trial never argued that his hair was found in the stocking mask. But Wright’s attorney said that the flawed FBI hair match implicated him as well as his co-defendant at both men’s trials and that new DNA results and Tribble’s exoneration were clear and convincing evidence of Wright’s innocence. “The visual match of the hair that seemed to place Mr. Tribble and therefore Mr. Wright, his close friend, on the scene misled. The hairs were not theirs,” said Sandra K. Levick, chief of special litigation for the D.C. Public Defender Service.
“If neither of them was the masked murderer of [the first victim], then neither of them was the murderer of [the second], as the same gun was used to kill both men under similar circumstances,” wrote Levick, who handled each man’s post-conviction assertion. Bill Miller, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., said the office “is reviewing the motion and has no further comment at this time.” Prosecutors supported Tribble’s effort to vacate his conviction after he served 28 years in prison, although the government neither joined nor contested his petition for innocence.

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-man-petitions-for-innocence-after-dna-exonerates-co-defendant-in-1978-murders/2013/08/26/02300852-0057-11e3-9a3e-916de805f65d_story.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on The Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

Catch-up following seasonal break: Kelli Jacobsen; New trial date tentatively set for Nanny. September 30; (Conflcting medical evidence on cause of one-year old's fatal injuries).

STORY: "New Jacobsen trial date tentatively set for September 30, 2013, by reporter Josh Peterson, published by KVEW TV on July 24, 2013.

GIST: "Attorneys tentatively set a new trial date for a former nanny accused of being responsible for the death of the one-year-old child she was watching over in Richland more than two years ago. Kelli Jacobsen is charged with manslaughter in the June 2011 death of Ryder Morrison. A jury heard the case in May, but jurors could not come to a verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial. The Benton County prosecutor is re-trying the case."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.kvewtv.com/article/2013/jul/24/new-jacobsen-trial-tentatively-set-sept-30th/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on The Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Amanda Knox: Publisher's view: Why she should not hand herself over to an italian justice system which has proven itself so incompetent - especially in its handling of the forensic evidence - and so unfair. (And why the Italian courts should back off.) Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

PUBLISHER'S VIEW: (EDITORIAL);

Who can blame Amanda Knox for not wanting to hand herself over to an Italian criminal justice system that has proven itself so incompetent - especially in its handling of forensic evidence - and so unfair in its refusal to give her and Raffaele Sollecito the complete and utter exoneration they deserve? Instead, Italy's highest court has attempted to hide the rank injustice meted out to Knox and her co-accused under a web of supposed deficiencies, contradictions and illogical conclusions which it claims justify a new hearing - but in fact are hollow and worthy of scorn. The shoddy DNA "science" used to convict them has been exposed. There is nothing else. They were properly acquitted by a lower court as should have been the case. Enough already. Hopefully Amanda Knox can rise above the horror she has wrongfully been put through and will be treated with the sympathy and respect she deserves - and the Italian courts will find the courage to recognize its flawed treatment of her case, learn from its errors, and back off.

Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

Wikipedia entry: "On March 26, 2013, Italy's highest criminal court overturned the acquittal of Knox in the murder of her British roommate and ordered a new trial.^"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Knox

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.

New post: (following seasonal break): Amanda Knox; Reuters reports that she will not return to Italy for retrial. (Knox say she does not understand why a retrial was necessary, that she does not have to attend, and that she can be represented by her lawyers.)

STORY: "Amanda Knox will not return to Italy for retrial," published by Reuters on August 25, 2013."

GIST: "Amanda Knox, the American student accused of the 2007 murder of her British roommate, will not return to Italy for a retrial due to begin next month, her lawyer told an Italian daily yesterday.
Knox, 26, spent four years in prison for the murder of Meredith Kercher, whose half-naked body was discovered with more than 40 wounds and a deep gash in the throat in the apartment they shared while studying in Perugia in central Italy. Following an appeal, Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted in 2011 and she returned to her Seattle-area home. However, Italy’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial in March due to inconsistencies in the appeal court’s decision to release them. Knox’s lawyer Luciano Ghirga told Florence daily La Nazione yesterday that he had recently met Knox in Seattle for a briefing ahead of the retrial, and that she had decided not to return to Italy. Knox does not have to attend the retrial and can be represented by her lawyers. Ghirga said that Knox was not trying to run away from anything but that she did not understand why a retrial was necessary."

PUBLISHER'S VIEW: (EDITORIAL);

Who can blame Amanda Knox for not wanting to hand herself over to an Italian criminal justice system that has proven itself so incompetent - especially in its handling of forensic evidence - and so unfair in its refusal to give her and Raffaele Sollecito the complete and utter exoneration they deserve? Instead, Italy's highest court has attempted to hide the rank injustice meted out to Knox and her co-accused under a web of supposed deficiencies, contradictions and illogical conclusions which it claims justify a new hearing - but in fact are hollow and worthy of scorn. The shoddy DNA "science" used to convict them has been exposed. There is nothing else. They were properly acquitted by a lower court as should have been the case. Enough already. Hopefully Amanda Knox can rise above the horror she has wrongfully been put through and will be treated with the sympathy and respect she deserves - and the Italian courts will find the courage to recognize its flawed treatment of her case, learn from its errors, and back off.

Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.gulf-times.com/mobile//uk-europe/183/details/363702/amanda-knox-will-not-return-to-italy-for-retrial

Wikipedia entry: "On March 26, 2013, Italy's highest criminal court overturned the acquittal of Knox in the murder of her British roommate and ordered a new trial.^"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Knox

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.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Back in action! Catch-up from seasonal break. Ken Anderson: Texas. Professional misconduct hearing for Michael Morton's former prosecutor to commence on August 30 in Georgetown. KXAN.

STORY: "Hearing date set for Ken Anderson: Proceeding could bar him from practicing in Texas," published by KXAN on August 8, 2013.

GIST: "A hearing on a civil proceeding which could bar State District Judge Ken Anderson from practicing law in Texas is set for this month. The hearing is set for August 30 in Georgetown and is part of the ongoing civil and criminal charge against Anderson. The matter revolves around his time as the Williamson County prosecutor in the Michael Morton wrongful murder conviction from the late 1980s. Anderson was arrested earlier this year after a court of inquiry showed he withheld evidence in the original trial. A judge will hear a motion by the State Bar of Texas at the August hearing to move ahead quickly in applying for sanctions against Anderson."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/hearing-date-set-for-ken-anders

Wikipedia entry: Morton was formally acquitted by Bexar County District Judge Sid Harle on December 19, 2011. On the same day, Morton's attorneys (including Raley, Morrison, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, and Gerald Goldstein and Cynthia Orr of San Antonio) asked Harle to order a "court of inquiry" into the actions of Anderson, who is now a district judge in Williamson County. A court of inquiry is a special court that investigates allegations of misconduct by elected officials in Texas.^[10]^[11] Morton has accused Anderson of failing to provide defense lawyers with exculpatory evidence indicating that another man might have killed Morton's wife, including information that his 3-year-old son witnessed the murder and said his dad was not home at the time.^[5]^[12]^[13] Morton's attorneys discovered this evidence while preparing a final appeal, and were able to get Anderson and others involved in the investigation deposed under oath. On February 20, 2012; Harle asked the Texas Supreme Court to convene a court of inquiry, finding that there was evidence to support Morton's contention that Anderson had tampered with evidence and should have been held in contempt of court for not complying with the trial judge's order to let him review all possible exculpatory evidence. The court of inquiry began on February 4, 2013. If it finds that there is reason to believe Anderson broke the law, Anderson could potentially face charges that carry up to 10 years in prison.^[14] On April 19, 2013, the court of inquiry ordered Anderson to be arrested, saying “This court cannot think of a more intentionally harmful act than a prosecutor’s conscious choice to hide mitigating evidence so as to create an uneven playing field for a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence.” ^[15] The subsequent trial tentatively has been scheduled to begin in December of 2013. Anderson has responded by claiming immunity from any prosecution under the expiry of applicable statutes of limitation.^[16]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29}

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 charles smith blog

Saturday, August 31, 2013

New post following seasonal break: David Bain; New Zealand; Pathologist's certainty that there were no cuts on Robin Bain's hands when he died bolster defence claims that Robin Bain pulled the trigger. 3 News.

Catch-up following seasonal break: Susan Neill-Fraser; Tasmania; Her lawyer is seeking a public inquiry; Cites new and fresh evidence about Robert Chappell's murder relating to the expert testimony and forensic evidence in the case; ABC News.

Friday, August 30, 2013

New following seasonal break: Ken Anderson. (Michael Morton's former prosecutor); Lawyers for Anderson and for the Bar Association make their case; Judge to deliver decision in a week to 10 days. Texas Tribune;

New following seasonal break: Hank Skinner. Death Row. Texas. His lawyer's claim independent DNA testing points to his innocence. Prosecutors says results do not vindicate him. KAMR.

New post following seasonal break: Analysis; crime labs come under scrutiny after" a string of shoddy, suspect and fraudulent results." Mark Hansen; American Bar Journal; (Must read. HL.)

Catch-up post following seasonal break: Sonja Farak; Trial for former state drug lab chemist on charges of tampering with evidence and drug theft to take place in February, 2014.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

(New post following seasonal break): Fran Keller; Texas. Austin Chronicle asks if her conviction of ritual sexual abuse can stand without physical evidence, in a story on the appeal;

Catch-up from seasonal break: Ed Graf. Texas. Arson "science" case. No new trial until next year. He remains in jail in spite of compelling evidence accepted by court that modern forensic techniques could prove he did not cause the fatal fire. KWTX.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

New post following seasonal break: Kyle Unger; Manitoba; Flawed RCMP hair analysis expert's testimony. Federal government responds to lawsuit - defends the hair analysis as the accepted scientific practice at the time. Canadian Press.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

New following seasonal break: Cleveland Wright; Co-defendant with exonerated Santae Tribble petitions for innocence in 1978 murders. Flawed FBI forensc hair evidence a key factor in both convictions.

Catch-up following seasonal break: Kelli Jacobsen; New trial date tentatively set for Nanny. September 30; (Conflcting medical evidence on cause of one-year old's fatal injuries).

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on The Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Amanda Knox: Publisher's view: Why she should not hand herself over to an italian justice system which has proven itself so incompetent - especially in its handling of the forensic evidence - and so unfair. (And why the Italian courts should back off.) Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

New post: (following seasonal break): Amanda Knox; Reuters reports that she will not return to Italy for retrial. (Knox say she does not understand why a retrial was necessary, that she does not have to attend, and that she can be represented by her lawyers.)

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Back in action! Catch-up from seasonal break. Ken Anderson: Texas. Professional misconduct hearing for Michael Morton's former prosecutor to commence on August 30 in Georgetown. KXAN.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/hearing-date-set-for-ken-anders

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29}

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