Michelle Murphy: Oklahoma; Compelling Tulsa World investigation reveals "mistakes and questionable evidence" in the case of a woman ruled "innocent" after 20 years in prison. (Must, Must Read. HL);

 STORY: "Records show mistakes, questionable evidence in woman's overturned murder case," by Cary Aspinwall and Ziva Branstetter, published by the Tulsa World on October 12, 2014.

GIST: "Prosecutor Tim Harris stood before jurors deciding Michelle Murphy’s fate and told them police found someone’s blood near her slain baby’s body — blood he implied could be hers. “Ladies and gentleman, beyond a reasonable doubt this woman killed her child,” he told them. What Harris didn’t tell jurors is that as the trial started Nov. 14, 1995, he possessed a report from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that said Murphy’s blood type was different than the type found at the scene. That test determined DNA found at the scene was not hers, contradicting Harris’ implication to jurors about what the Tulsa police lab tests showed..........Harris maintains that the OSBI report didn’t exclude Murphy as the source of the unknown blood found at the scene, based on forensic science “at the time.” It wasn’t entered into evidence, and Harris said he showed the report to Murphy’s defense attorneys. Her attorneys dispute this, and there is no record that Harris gave them a copy before Murphy was convicted of first-degree murder in the near-decapitation of her 3-month-old son, Travis Wood. More advanced DNA testing this year proved the 1995 Tulsa police lab tests jurors were told about were inaccurate. This wasn’t the first time DNA tests raised serious questions about the validity of Murphy’s conviction.........Her attorneys maintain her conviction should never have happened, that Harris and Tulsa police prosecuted Murphy at the expense of finding the real killer. They want to know how key pieces of evidence appeared to go missing from Murphy’s case file over the past two decades. Why was an order to test another possible suspect’s blood type never followed?"

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/records-show-mistakes-questionable-evidence-in-woman-s-overturned-murder/article_8be38089-bd87-53e0-8392-40c6d287bf09.html

See companion article on Michelle Murphy's efforts to get her life together after 20 years behind bars; A Tulsa World investigation shows the state of Oklahoma relied upon faulty blood evidence, the dubious testimony of a troubled 14-year-old neighbor and an unrecorded incriminating statement to convict Murphy. All three elements were so problematic they likely should not have been allowed in court — and jurors were prevented from hearing other evidence that might have given them reasonable doubt about convicting Murphy. Attorneys for her trial and initial appeal may also have missed chances to challenge the evidence against her. Her appellate attorneys maintain none of this should have ever happened, that Harris and Tulsa Police prosecuted Murphy at the expense of finding the real killer. In court filings, they claim Harris and other investigators knew they had falsely claimed that unknown blood found at the scene could be Murphy’s, something disproved by several outside lab tests. When police arrived at the crime scene that morning in 1994, they took Murphy’s daughter into protective custody. The crime scene video shows an officer walking away with the toddler in his arms as the sun is beginning to rise. Murphy testified in court that she only made incriminating statements to a Tulsa police detective during questioning because he badgered her and promised she could see her daughter if she confessed. She never saw her little girl again."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/released-after-years-in-prison-michelle-murphy-trying-to-rebuild/article_0dbc825d-734b-5322-8710-02254038268f.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;