STORY: "Dan Keller freed: After 21 years, reunited with Fran outside jail," by reporter Jordan Smith, published by the Austin Chronicle on December 5, 2103.
GIST: "Fran Keller was the first to spot her former husband, Dan, through a series of thick glass windows inside the Travis County jail, as sheriff's deputies readied him for release this afternoon. "That's him!" she said, waiting inside the jail lobby with her daughter, members of Dan's family, and the couple's lawyer, Keith Hampton. Minutes later, Dan, now 72, walked out of the jail and into the cold December wind where he embraced Fran for the first time in more than two decades – before the couple was charged, convicted, and each sentenced to 48 years in prison for a crime that few still believe ever happened. "We're all out," he said, smiling. "It's been a long time."........ The Kellers were among hundreds of daycare workers across the country accused in the satanic ritual abuse hysteria of the Eighties and Nineties. They are among the very last people charged during that time to be released from prison. Fran was released last week, just before Thanksgiving, and is only starting to adjust to life outside prison. And she was glad to be there Thursday afternoon to greet Dan as he walked out of the jail and into the arms of her and his siblings. The couple has been released because Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg agreed with the Kellers' attorney, Hampton, that the pair received an unfair trial tainted by false and material medical evidence. Indeed, the only physical evidence to suggest any crime ever happened came from a then-novice emergency room doctor, Michael Mouw, who examined Christy in August 1991 and found what he thought then were deformities to her hymen likely caused by sexual abuse. Contacted by the Chronicle for what became our 2009 cover story on the case ("Believing the Children," March 27, 2009), Mouw said that he learned not long after testifying against the Kellers that what he saw on Christy was not damage, but was in fact a normal variant of female genitalia. He said he was not trained to conduct a pediatric sexual assault nor was he qualified to draw any conclusions from what he saw. That information was included in a comprehensive appeal Hampton filed in January, and Mouw testified as such during a hearing in August, after which Lehmberg agreed with Hampton that Mouw's testimony in 1992 was false, material, and likely affected the outcome of the trial, thus violating the couple's right of due process.
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2013-12-05/dan-keller-freed/
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;
