Texas: Momentous decision; Hannah Overton; Texas Caller-Times reports that the state Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned her capital murder conviction and granted her a new trial in connection with the 2006 death of her foster child. Prosecutors contended Overton had fed large amounts of Cajun seasoning to the boy, causing sodium poisoning, and delayed treatment. Appeal allowed on basis of inadequate representation at trial. Her trial lawyers had failed to call a leading authority on salt poisoning who believed the deceased infant had an eating disorder which caused a craving for salty foods.

STORY: "Overton wins appeal in capital murder case," by reporter Krista M. Torralva, published by the  Caller-Times on September 17, 2014.

GIST: "The state Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned Hannah Overton’s capital murder conviction and granted her a new trial in connection with the 2006 death of her foster child. The court in a 17-page opinion issued Wednesday cited Overton’s ineffective representation from her lawyers during trial for the ruling.

Overton captured national attention when she was convicted of capital murder in 2007 after her 4-year-old foster son Andrew Burd died at a Corpus Christi hospital. Prosecutors in the 2007 trial argued Overton fed large amounts of Cajun seasoning to the boy, causing sodium poisoning, and delayed treatment........ John Gilmore, one of Overton’s trial attorneys, told the Caller-Times he was thrilled about the court’s decision. “I’m really excited for Hannah. The right thing happened and hopefully she gets back with her kids,” Gilmore said. The state failed to provide the child’s test results, including Andrew’s vomit, that showed low sodium levels and would have coincided with the account Overton claimed, according to court documents filed by Overton’s defense attorneys with the state Court of Criminal Appeals. The vomit would have shown what Andrew last ate and that he had not been poisoned, according to the document. “The lawyers continually asked for the first vomit, knowing that it was significant. Just like the state knew it was and hid it, ” the document states. The document later says “all defense counsel, and even the lead prosecutor’s co-chair, were told that no vomit existed, it was not available.”.........Overton’s attorneys failed to bring to trial Dr. Michael Moritz, a leading authority on salt poisoning from Pittsburgh, the document states. “Dr. Moritz is one of the world’s experts on hypernatremia and held the opinions that Andy’s death was an accident caused by Andy’s voluntary self ingestion, and that his intake of sodium made it impossible for him to survive with earlier medical intervention, ” the document states. “This evidence would have caused the jury to reach a different result.” Moritz believed Andrew had an undiagnosed eating disorder called pica, which caused him to eat excessively and have cravings for salty foods. Moritz believed Andrew’s death was accidental. Moritz had been asked to testify as an expert witness for Overton’s defense, but the jury never heard from him because of scheduling miscommunications between Overton’s attorneys, according to the document."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.caller.com/news/local-news/overton-wins-appeal-in-capital-murder-case_20694243

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;