COMMENTARY: "Rodney Hide: Heads should roll for this travesty," by Rodney Hide, published by the New Zealand Herald on October 20, 2013. (Rodney hide is a prominent New Zealand politician and demanding critic of his nation's criminal justice system).
GIST: "Justice demands that a couple of heads be rolled down Molesworth St. That that hasn't happened highlights that our justice system lacks its most crucial ingredient: justice. The prosecution, on our behalf, used suspect evidence to convict Mark Lundy. The police knew it was suspect but used it anyway. And worse, they kept it hidden that their own expert had questioned their evidence's validity. Keeping that advice hidden was unlawful and cut across Lundy's right to a fair trial, and just process. It was despicable and cowardly. The Court of Appeal described the suspect evidence as the "most cogent piece of evidence" in the Crown's case against Lundy. It's very hard for a defendant to explain his murdered wife's brain tissue on his shirt. The brain tissue was damning. But the so-called brain tissue was left on Lundy's shirt for 58 days. It was then discovered and fixed to a slide. The prosecution expert testified that it was Mrs Lundy's brain tissue. The defence accepted the prosecution's expert as authoritative.........What the defence didn't know was that the police had consulted a neuropathologist who advised that the tissue material was too degenerated to be identified and that the evidence was not sufficient to prove that Lundy was the killer. They didn't know that because the prosecution kept that advice hidden. By law, and for justice, that advice should have been disclosed. It would have proved a crucial disclosure. There can be little doubt that the defence would then have argued that the tissue was not brain tissue and they may well have succeeded. But that crucial advice was not disclosed until this year, Lundy's 13th in jail. And now the Privy Council has quashed Lundy's conviction and ordered a retrial. A couple of high-ups should swing for this travesty of justice. But they won't. Our justice system lacks the necessary transparency and accountability."
The entire commentary can be found at:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11142914&ref=rss
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com;
