PUBLISHER'S VIEW: (EDITORIAL): After over six years on death row and eight years in prison -and his release because the authorities had failed to disclose to him that the complainant had caused the injuries which took her one-year-old child's life, Manuel Velez remains in prison because he is unable to put up the required $15,000 cash bail. How absurd it is to expect a man who has been locked up for so many years - including the lengthy stint on death row - to be able to come up with the $15,000 the Court has required to secure his freedom. It is hard to imagine that he would blow his opportunity to be exonerated for the terrible crime by fleeting the jurisdiction. Surely the ends of justice would be served if he was released on the signature of sureties without deposit until he is finally cleared in court. Having been wrongly deprived of his freedom for so many years, Mr. Velez should not have to spend another hour, let alone days, behind bars. Any unjustified continued incarceration caused by unwarranted cash bail is, in the circumstances, obscene.
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
See previous post of this Blog: "A Brownsville man who spent six years on death row and eight years in prison was given bail this morning. State District Judge Elia Cornejo Lopez granted Manuel Velez $500,000 bail under a pre-trial release program, which means his family will have to pay $15,000 for his release. He still faces one count of capital murder......... Manuel Velez was arrested on Halloween in 2005 for the death of his then girlfriend’s 1-year-child. In 2008, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. In 2012, the 13th Court of Criminal Appeals threw out his death sentence based off of false testimony during the sentencing phase of his trial. Last month, that same court overturned his conviction for capital murder and remanded the case back to Cameron County of re-trial."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/11/manuel-velez-texas-released-on-bail.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.
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:
