"STORY: "Man wrongfully convicted in 1985 New York City kidnapping, killing freed after nearly 30 years in prison," by reporter Al Jones, published by CBS News on October 15, 2014.
GIST: A man who served nearly 30 years inprison for a New York City murder was ordered freed after prosecutors concluded he falsely confessed when he was 16. The convictions of David McCallum and the late Willie Stuckey were thrown out Wednesday at the request of Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, who said their convictions hinged on made-up confessions peppered with details seemingly supplied by police. Their cause had been championed by ex-boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who became an international symbol of injustice when he got his a triple murder conviction vacated.........McCallum, the subject of a recent documentary film, “David & Me,” has said he felt pressed to confess and implicate Stuckey after hearing Stuckey had done the same to him.
“It’s the system that is clearly broken, in my opinion, but it’s the system that can be fixed,” McCallum said. Recent DNA tests and fingerprint analyses from the stolen car matched other people, fueling questions about the case, Michelen said. No one else has been charged. “We are going to pursue the leads in terms of who abducted, robbed and murdered Nathan Blenner,” Thompson said. The ailing Carter had been working on McCallum’s bid for exoneration for a decade after getting a letter from him. He wrote a Daily News piece in February expressing his “final wish” — a fresh look at McCallum’s conviction. “My aim in helping this fine man is to pay it forward, to give the help that I received as a wrongly convicted man to another who needs such help now,” wrote Carter, who died of prostate cancer two months later."
The entire story can be found at:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/15/brooklyn-da-to-ask-judge-to-throw-out-1985-murder-convictions-of-david-mccallum-willie-stuckey/
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;
