Commentary: Crime lab delays: Grits for Breakfast blames Texas drug-war overreach to crime lab delays which have led to guilty pleas in innocence cases where it is later found "that the substance Applicant possessed contained no controlled substances." (Must Read. HL);

POST: "Crime lab delays, plea mill culture contribute to drug-war innocence cases, published by "Grits for Breakfast, on April 21, 2014.

GIST: "The Court of Criminal Appeals last week granted habeas corpus relief in yet another actual innocence case in which a man from Harris County pled guilty to drug possession only to have a crime lab later find "that the substance Applicant possessed contained no controlled substances." In a report in Sunday's Austin Statesman ("Lab delays create Texas' unknown exonerees") Eric Dexheimer reported on finding 21 such cases in recent years, including Wilkins. ........If the state's not going to adequately fund crime labs - and they've massively expanded crime lab capacity in recent years without getting a handle on the problem - then they need to look to relieve pressure on the system in other ways. These 21 cases are symptoms of a much more pernicious disease - drug war overreach. If Texas wants to prosecute the drug war at the levels we do today, it must pay for sufficient resources to handle the volume. At the moment, not just in these innocence cases but generally, the state's drug-war reach exceeds its grasp."

The entire post can be found at:

http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.ca/2014/04/crime-lab-delays-plea-mill-culture.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/charlessmith

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.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;