STORY: "Would a better gun expert have kept man off Alabama's death row? Judge to decide, by reporter Kent Faulk, published by AL.com on June 13, 2014.
GIST: "An Alabama Death Row inmate's quest for a new trial in the 1985 deaths of two Birmingham area fast-food restaurant managers could be another step closer after a ruling Friday by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeals court ordered that a Jefferson County Circuit Court take another look at whether the lawyer for Anthony Ray Hinton should have hired a better firearms expert for his trial. The appeals court said the circuit court should make a written ruling on whether there is a reasonable probability that had Hinton's trial lawyer known that the statutory-funding limit for paying experts had been lifted the lawyer would have hired a firearms expert other than the one who testified for the defense. Also, the appeals court ruled, if Hinton's lawyer had hired another expert would it have "instilled in the jury a reasonable doubt as to Hinton's guilt. The appeals court stated that the circuit court In Jefferson County could conduct further hearings and accept additional evidence to make the determination. The appeals court ordered that a decision be made within 180 days..........The issue over whether the defense gun expert was qualified to testify in Hinton's case has been going for more than six years and made it to the U.S. Supreme On Feb. 24 the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari review and vacated this the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeal's judgment affirming the circuit court's denial of Hinton's claim that his trial counsel had been ineffective for not hiring a qualified firearms-identification expert for his defense. The U.S. Supreme Court had held that the defense lawyer's "failure to request additional funding in order to replace an expert he knew to be inadequate because he mistakenly believed that he had received all [the funds] he could get under Alabama law constituted deficient performance.""
The entire story can be found at:
GIST: "An Alabama Death Row inmate's quest for a new trial in the 1985 deaths of two Birmingham area fast-food restaurant managers could be another step closer after a ruling Friday by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeals court ordered that a Jefferson County Circuit Court take another look at whether the lawyer for Anthony Ray Hinton should have hired a better firearms expert for his trial. The appeals court said the circuit court should make a written ruling on whether there is a reasonable probability that had Hinton's trial lawyer known that the statutory-funding limit for paying experts had been lifted the lawyer would have hired a firearms expert other than the one who testified for the defense. Also, the appeals court ruled, if Hinton's lawyer had hired another expert would it have "instilled in the jury a reasonable doubt as to Hinton's guilt. The appeals court stated that the circuit court In Jefferson County could conduct further hearings and accept additional evidence to make the determination. The appeals court ordered that a decision be made within 180 days..........The issue over whether the defense gun expert was qualified to testify in Hinton's case has been going for more than six years and made it to the U.S. Supreme On Feb. 24 the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari review and vacated this the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeal's judgment affirming the circuit court's denial of Hinton's claim that his trial counsel had been ineffective for not hiring a qualified firearms-identification expert for his defense. The U.S. Supreme Court had held that the defense lawyer's "failure to request additional funding in order to replace an expert he knew to be inadequate because he mistakenly believed that he had received all [the funds] he could get under Alabama law constituted deficient performance.""
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/06/would_a_better_gun_expert_kept.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.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;
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