STORY: "Freed after six years, woman sues cops over dog scent evidence," by M. Alex Johnson, published by NBC News on February 26, 2014.
GIST: "A Texas woman has sued investigators who used dogs to pick her out of a "scent lineup" — a widely questioned investigative technique that nonetheless put her in prison for six years before her murder conviction was overturned. The woman, Megan Winfrey, 25, was freed in April after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld its own ruling acquitting her in the 2004 slaying of a high school custodian. Her father, Richard Winfrey Sr., and her brother, Richard Winfrey Jr., have also been cleared in the case after trials that all used the same evidence. In a suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Houston (PDF), Winfrey accuses San Jacinto County, current and former sheriffs and deputies and the dog trainer of malicious prosecution and civil rights violations.........All three cases used the same evidence: the dogs — named Quincy, James Bond and Clue — smelled Burr's clothing and then smelled samples of the Winfrey's clothes. They "alerted," indicating that their scents were on Burr's clothes, according to their trainer and handler, former Fort Bend, Texas, County Sheriff's Deputy Keith Pikett, who is named in the suit. Winfrey's suit calls such dog scent lineups "contrived" and "the worst of junk science." And she has a lot of company. In 2004, the FBI itself reported that "human scent is easily transferred from one person or object to another" and concluded: "Identifying someone's scent at a crime scene is not an indication of complicity." And in 2005, a second FBI report found "limited scientific data" to back up dogs' use to human scents. And in 2011, the National Institutes of Health found an "overwhelming number of incorrect alerts" in its own research trials."
GIST: "A Texas woman has sued investigators who used dogs to pick her out of a "scent lineup" — a widely questioned investigative technique that nonetheless put her in prison for six years before her murder conviction was overturned. The woman, Megan Winfrey, 25, was freed in April after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld its own ruling acquitting her in the 2004 slaying of a high school custodian. Her father, Richard Winfrey Sr., and her brother, Richard Winfrey Jr., have also been cleared in the case after trials that all used the same evidence. In a suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Houston (PDF), Winfrey accuses San Jacinto County, current and former sheriffs and deputies and the dog trainer of malicious prosecution and civil rights violations.........All three cases used the same evidence: the dogs — named Quincy, James Bond and Clue — smelled Burr's clothing and then smelled samples of the Winfrey's clothes. They "alerted," indicating that their scents were on Burr's clothes, according to their trainer and handler, former Fort Bend, Texas, County Sheriff's Deputy Keith Pikett, who is named in the suit. Winfrey's suit calls such dog scent lineups "contrived" and "the worst of junk science." And she has a lot of company. In 2004, the FBI itself reported that "human scent is easily transferred from one person or object to another" and concluded: "Identifying someone's scent at a crime scene is not an indication of complicity." And in 2005, a second FBI report found "limited scientific data" to back up dogs' use to human scents. And in 2011, the National Institutes of Health found an "overwhelming number of incorrect alerts" in its own research trials."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/freed-after-six-years-woman-sues-cops-over-dog-scent-n39681
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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
