Adrian Thomas: New York State; Creators of "Scenes of a Crime" applaud the not-guilty verdict and label the prosecution "a case study in police and prosecutorial misconduct, combining derangement over 'Shaken Baby Syndrome' suspicions with abusive police interrogation practices, and in the 2014 trial, the problematic use of jailhouse informants." Filmmaker Magazine;

POST: "Scenes of a Crime" subject Adrian Thomas found not guilty, released from jail," by reporter Vadim Rizov, published by "Filmmaking Magazine " on June 13, 2014.

GIST: "In the activist vein of The Thin Blue Line and the Paradise Lost trilogy, documentarians Grover Babcock and Blue Hadaegh’s Scenes of a Crime investigated the coerced confession of Adrian Thomas, a father convicted of killing his infant son after ten hours of rough interrogation. The evidence pointed to the baby dying of sepsis (a full-body bacterial blood infection), but Thomas was convicted and incarcerated regardless. ........ In a Facebook post the filmakers write: "The Adrian Thomas case illustrates the incredible fragility of our justice system. Young parents Adrian Thomas and Wilhemina Hicks experienced a terrible tragedy in September 2008 when their infant son Matthew Thomas succumbed to a fatal illness. But it was medical, police and prosecutorial recklessness and abuse that truly destroyed their life as a family. Based on ill-informed suspicions, Adrian Thomas has been pursued by police and prosecutors since the day his son fell ill. Police insisted to him during a coercive interrogation that his wife would be arrested for harming their son, unless he took responsibility. He boldly offered himself in her place. What followed was nearly six years of suffering. This year, New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, declared Adrian’s confession coerced, and highlighted the lack of meaningful evidence in the case. Instead of dismissing the charges, the Rensselaer County District Attorney continued its quest. The result was acquittal. The Adrian Thomas story now stands as a case study in police and prosecutorial misconduct, combining derangement over “Shaken Baby Syndrome” suspicions with abusive police interrogation practices, and in the 2014 trial, the problematic use of jailhouse informants. Untold numbers of wrongful convictions have resulted from each of these factors. Regarding the current trial, the Innocence Project has found that lying informants are a factor in more than 15% of wrongful convictions exposed via DNA exonerations, and that incentivizing informants with deals for leniency is a particular risk. False confession is a factor in about 30%.".........We are pleased that "Scenes of a Crime" has made a clear, indisputable impact on the criminal justice system, and helped motivate the legal community, and the courts, to change the way justice is pursued.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://filmmakermagazine.com/tag/adrian-thomas/

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;