Back in action. Catch-up (17); Leighton Hay; Glen Assoun; Frank Ostrowski; (Canada); Lawyer Jonathan Rosenthal says these wrongful convictions (revealed in one recent week) expose troubling holes in Canada's justice system - and asks where were the advances in forensic science that were supposed to have eliminated the problem. The Toronto Star. (Must Read. HL);

COMMENTARY: "Wrongful convictions expose troubling holes in justice system," by Jonathan Rosenthal. published by the Toronto Star on December 18, 2014.  (Jonathan Rosenthal is a Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer and a professor adjunct at Osgoode Hall law school. He is also a vice president of the Ontario Criminal Lawyers Association.)

SUB-HEADING: "Last month, three cases of wrongful murder convictions were uncovered in one week, raising disturbing questions abotu our justice system."

PHOTO CAPTION: "Leighton Hay walks out of a court house in Toronto, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2014. Hay was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder more than a decade ago and last months took his first steps as a free man after the Crown withdrew the charge against him."

GIST: "A series of milestone developments in three wrongful murder conviction cases in one week last month is likely to have provoked as much astonishment as horror. Three in a single week? Weren't wrongful convictions supposed to be a historical aberration, akin to aboriginal residential schools, that have been methodically cleared up? Have not advances in forensic science, the stuff of countless television crime series, eliminated the problem? Did the justice system not learn lasting lessons about the perils of tunnel vision, faulty eyewitness testimony, junk science and police deception? If so, try telling that to Leighton Hay, Glen Assoun, Frank Ostrowski and the dozens of other prisoners whose cases are under investigation by a growing phalanx of underfunded defence counsel." In the wake of Hay's murder exoneration and the likelihood that Ostrowski and Assoun are well on the way to seeing their innocence restored, it is time to challenge a disturbing complacency that has crept into the social conversation about miscarriages of justice. If anything, the need for skepticism and oversight has become all the more urgent.".........In an age where science is increasingly looked to as the gold standard of evidence, troubling realities have come to light that should give us all pause. Chief amongst them is a sense that science is an impregnable forensic force that leaves little room for doubt. In fact, faulty lab analysis, contaminated samples and technician error figure prominently in one recent wrongful conviction after another. Eyewitness testimony has also been increasingly exposed as a singularly unreliable form of evidence which should always be corroborated by other evidence. Likewise, research on the effects of police tactics and compulsion has given new-found credence to the notion that people do genuinely confess to crimes they did not commit......... Typically, it takes at least five years for a defendant to exhaust his appeals and for new lawyers to re-investigate and then engage horrendously time-consuming legal mechanisms that can lead to an exoneration. Cash strapped legal aid budgets tend to be of little help. AIDWYC, an organization supported wholly by grants and individual donations, has a core group of about 50 defence lawyers who supply the equivalent of $3.5-million annually in legal work. Payments for private investigators and forensic testing challenge its slender budget. Law schools and the Criminal Lawyers Association supply aid and the support of their membership. Still, it is not enough. The battle to expose wrongful convictions keeps expanding. The rate of pleas for help — some admittedly lacking in merit, others very troubling — continues to increase. Every day of every year, in cases both big and small, the stage is set for a wrongful conviction. To believe otherwise is to perpetuate a cycle of devastating legal error."

The entire commentary can be found at:

 http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/12/18/wrongful_convictions_expose_troubling_holes_in_justice_system.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;

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar; India; Another moving story by Shree Paradkar marking the year that Aarushi's parents have been in jail. "Where is the justice in innocent people sitting behind bars?, Nupur's father asks. (Must read. HL);

STORY: "Aarushi's parents have been in jail for a year," by Shree Paradkar, published by NDTV on November 26, 2014.  (Shree Paradkar is Nupur Talwar's cousin and Deputy Editor, Multimedia Desk at the Toronto Star.  In a stinging indictment of India’s law-enforcement and legal systems,  (several of her articles on the case have been published on this Blog) she has been chronicling the farcical investigation and trial that led to what she, and many others,  believe is the wrongful conviction of a murdered girl’s parents. The case has made headlines around the world.)

GIST: "It has been one year. One year since my cousin Nupur Talwar and her husband Rajesh were convicted and sent to jail for crimes they did not commit. One year since a judge decided that Rajesh had, in a fit of temper, killed his 13-year-old daughter Aarushi and the 45-year-old cook Hemraj in May 2008 for being in a sexual relationship. And that Nupur somehow helped him (The judgment is not clear about her role). Nupur's mother and mine are sisters.........But how does a court of law convict based on speculation?"Where is justice?" asks my Uncle Chitnis, Nupur's father. "Where is the justice in innocent people sitting behind bars?" .........In May 2014, the Talwars' application for bail was rejected on the grounds that the family would be given an "expeditious hearing" instead. The language of law is a wonderfully elastic system of communication. It can be laughably arcane as the Talwars' judgment showed us. Read the trial Judgement by CBI Court It can also be safely vague. "Expeditious" is one such term. In this case, it means the appeal has not been heard yet. To be clear: there have been no hearings. One judge said he was not taking detailed arguments, that he was only listening to bail hearings. Another is due to retire in December and is unlikely to touch such a high-profile case. "It seems like nobody wants to deal with it," says Rajesh's older brother Dinesh. The Talwars' defence counsel Tanveer Ahmed Mir, who filed a 3,000-page appeal at the High Court, tells me that cases usually take 20 to 25 years to be heard in UP. That the Talwars can at least hope to be heard before that time frame is cause for optimism. Pardon me if I don't feel the joy.........The judgment provided a "chain of (26) circumstances" that, the judge said, proved the Talwars guilty. Click here to read 26 reasons the Talwars are NOT guilty Every link in the so-called chain should point unerringly to the guilt of the accused. In this case, the chain does not pass that test. It breaks down - not in one or two - but in each of those circumstances. Some sections of the media uncritically published 26 reasons the Talwars are guilty. If only Rajesh and Nupur had not been so idealistic, so naive. Even after Aarushi's murder, and despite the shameful reputation of  the UP Police, they both genuinely believed if they fought for justice they would get it. For a year and a half after the murders, they both still had their passports. Only the innocent would choose to stay and fight when flight was an option." 

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.ndtv.com/article/blog/aarushi-s-parents-have-been-in-jail-for-a-year-626169

 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;

PowerPoint Justice.The Marshall Project exposes "prosecution by PowerPoint" in an insightful article by Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Ken Armstrong. (Must, Must read. HL);

STORY: "PowerPoint justice: When prosecutors slide around the law," by Ken Armstrong, published by The Marshall Project: (Ken Armstrong is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who previously worked at The Seattle Times and Chicago Tribune, where his work helped prompt the Illinois governor to suspend executions and later empty death row. He has been the McGraw Professor of Writing at Princeton and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard)

GIST: " In Washington state earlier this month, an appeals court threw out a murder conviction based on shoddy work by the defense. But the court also took the prosecutor to task for something even stranger: a bad PowerPoint presentation.........At least 10 times in the last two years, US courts have reversed a criminal conviction because prosecutors violated the rules of fair argument with PowerPoint. In even more cases, an appellate court has taken note of such misconduct while upholding the conviction anyway or while reversing on other grounds (as in the case of Sergey Fedoruk). Legal watchdogs have long asserted that prosecutors have plenty of ways to quietly put their thumb on the scales of justice —such as concealing exculpatory evidence, eliminating jury-pool members based on race, and so on. Now they can add another category: prosecution by PowerPoint. “It’s the classic ‘A picture is worth a thousand words,’” said Eric Broman, a Seattle attorney who focuses on criminal appeals. “Until the courts say where the boundaries are, prosecutors will continue to test the boundaries.”.........Perhaps coincidentally, the state where prosecutors have gotten into the most trouble over the misuse of slides has been Washington—home of Microsoft, the maker of PowerPoint. Since August of 2012, appellate courts have reversed at least seven cases in the state. Some centered on inflammatory images; in others, prosecutors used slides that mischaracterized the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard or infringed upon a defendant’s right to remain silent, according to appellate rulings."

The entire story can be found at:

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/23/powerpoint-justice?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=opening-statement&utm_term=newsletter-20141223-77

 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;

Back in action: Catch-up: (16); Shelley Richter: Missouri Babysitter found guilty in shaken baby case. Prosecutor told jury to discount defence witness retired Minnesota medical examiner Dr. John Plunkett's testimony "because he used to testify that shaking a baby could cause the kind of damage Lane suffered but, in recent years, has testified only for defense attorneys and against the impact shaking a baby can cause."

STORY: "Richter found guilty in shaken baby case" by reporter Bob Watson, published by The News Tribune on December 10, 2014.

GIST: "Shelley Richter is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, at her home day care in Taos on Aug. 19, 2010. An eight-man, four-woman Cole County jury deliberated for nearly 8½ hours Wednesday before returning that verdict about 9:45 p.m., in Richter’s second trial on the charge that she shook Lane Schaefer, then 7 months old, causing permanent brain injuries. After deliberating almost four hours, the jury told Cole County Presiding Circuit Judge Pat Joyce they were deadlocked, but she urged them to keep working.........Richter, now 44, testified Wednesday she’d finished feeding the other children that day, had prepared Lane’s lunch and had gotten him out of his chair to feed him when she started to fall over another child behind her. “I picked him up, then stepped backwards,” she told  (defence lawyer) Farrow. “He was almost up to my hip.” She started crying as she continued: “I know I caught myself before I fell (on top of the other child) — and then I realized (Lane) wasn’t in my arms anymore.” Richter testified that she didn’t see how the baby hit the floor, but that “he was on the floor (and) he was screaming.” She said picked the boy off the floor, and he went limp in her arms. She couldn’t see any physical injuries.“I thought he’d died,” she said........ During his closing argument, (prosecutor) Richardson called Richter’s story “a flat-out lie” because of her “consciousness of guilt.” “Her story is a lie to cover up an angry situation,” Richardson explained, “where she shook Lane so violently that it caused a massive injury.” He argued the details of her story don’t add up. “An inconsistent history is a red flag for child abuse,” Richardson said. “The story doesn’t wash in medical science.” He encouraged the jurors to remember the testimony of the doctors who treated Lane Schaefer on Aug. 19, 2010 — the day he was hurt — and in the days and weeks since the incident. All but one testified that Lane’s blindness and permanent brain injuries could have been caused only by “abusive head trauma,” likely because he was shaken. Dr. John Plunkett, a retired Minnesota medical examiner who also testified in the 2013 trial, told the jury Wednesday morning that shaking babies really doesn’t cause the damage doctors used to think it causes. “Shaking is an extremely unlikely cause of those injuries,” Plunkett said. “Lane weighed 20-25 pounds. “It’s pretty difficult to hold that a child that size and shake it” with enough force to cause the trauma Lane Schaefer experienced. Plunkett also said a baby shaken that hard also should have had substantial neck injuries, but there were none. In his closing argument, Farrow noted there were disagreements among the University Hospital doctors who treated Lane about the cause of his injuries — and about whether the baby had had experienced bleeding in his brain before or after the incident. “Dr. Plunkett, a forensic pathologist, said these injuries can and do happen — because of falls,” Farrow said. But Richardson told the jury to discount Plunkett’s testimony because he used to testify that shaking a baby could cause the kind of damage Lane suffered but, in recent years, has testified only for defense attorneys and against the impact shaking a baby can cause. Farrow told the jury if Richter had made up a story to cover an intentional shaking, she would have made up a better one. “The reason it’s not the best story is she’s not making it up,” he argued."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.newstribune.com/news/2014/dec/10/richter-found-guilty-shaking-baby/

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;

Melissa Calusinski: Chicago; Day Care Centre setting; FOX News 32 reports in an exclusive story that "Convicted murderer hopes victim's injuries will set her free." News Legal Analyst Larry Yellen.

STORY: "Exclusive: Convicted murderer hopes victim's injuries will set her free," by  Fox 32 News Legal Analyst  Larry Yellen,  published on December 23, 2014.

GIST: "Mike Nerheim is the Lake County State's Attorney. “A lot of the length of this confession and the questioning is attributed to breaks that they would take, in other words, she would give them a particular theory and they would take a break, and they would go check out what she was saying, which shows that they actually kept an open mind,” Nerheim said. Nerheim took office about a year after Calusinki's conviction. At the request of a defense attorney, he reviewed the case. So far, he's seen no reason to question the outcome. We don't dig our heels in, we don't close our eyes to the facts, if there's new evidence we'll look at it. What we have to do, though, is respect the jury,” Nerheim added. FOX 32:  What do you think happened that caused his death? Calusinski:  I think, uh, he, it's a possibility he rolled off the changing table and hit the floor. Or did something to hit his head. Lake County's Coroner, Doctor Thomas Rudd, who also took office after the trial, supports Calusinski's theory and believes the boy had suffered a previous head injury. Nerheim said it's a question that was resolved at trial. “All we've seen at this point is the same trial theory that the defense posed to the jury and the jury rejected,” Nerheim added. Having lost her appeals, Calusinski's next step could be a motion before the trial judge, pointing to what she said is newly discovered evidence. “I know, I believe in my heart that this is going to get me out. And I'm just going to continue fighting for my innocence and my freedom,” Calusinski said."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/27699755/exclusive-convicted-murderer-hopes-victims-injuries-will-set-her-free?clienttype=generic&mobilecgbypass

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;

False Confessions: Prof. Steve Drizin's disturbing compilations of "false confessions of 2014." (Publisher's note: I am devoting more and more posts to cases involving false confessions - and not just in cases where the accused has been exonerated by DNA evidence. HL);

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  A trend! This blog is devoting more and more to the subject of false confessions as the cases come to my attention. Most of the posts have arisen in cases where the accused has been exonerated by DNA evidence, often years after the conviction.  Other posts have related to cases where the false confession has been been obtained through lies, promises, inducements, artifice, subtifuge and threats - if not actual force. Then there have been those marked by the lack of physical evidence where the police have fabricated the statement out of thin air (when a confession cannot be bought for some secret remuneration from a cellmate.) Our thanks to Prof. Drizin for compiling the list for this landmark year. A sad list indeed.

Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

STORY: "False confessions of 2014," by Prof. Steve Drizin, published by the Huffington Post on December 18, 2014. (Steve Drizin is Clinical law professor, Northwestern University School of Law.)

GIST: "2014 was a landmark year in false confessions. Here's my year-end list of highlights...("January" will give our readers a pretty good idea of what this depressing list is all about. HL); "Charges are dropped against Denzel Garbutt, a Chicago teen who confessed to shooting a 12 year old boy, after it is learned that he was at a prom on the Near North Side when the boy was shot on the Far South Side. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office vacates the murder conviction of Deon Patrick, one of seven young men who falsely confessed to participating in a 1992 double murder in Chicago. Patrick, who served 22 years in prison, is the second defendant to be exonerated, following Daniel Taylor who was freed in 2013. Patrick, Taylor, and Nicole Harris, another Chicago false confessor, receive Certificates of Innocence later in the month, qualifying them for compensation from the state. Daniel Villegas, of El Paso, is freed after serving 19 years in prison for a murder he confessed to when only 17 years old. He is placed on bond pending a retrial after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agrees to vacate his conviction. Sterling Samm, of San Francisco, is acquitted of first degree murder when a jury finds that his confession was not credible." (And that was just the beginning of the year! HL);

The entire list can be found at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-drizin/post_8762_b_6323990.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;

Peter Ranke: Iowa; Shaken baby syndrome comes under scrutiny once again as judge rules, "Frankly, I have some serious doubt whether a crime was even committed here" - and sharply criticizes a doctor for mishandling the investigation into the child's injuries. The Associated Press. (Published by the Bradenton Herald);

STORY: "Judge criticizes doctor for shaken baby diagnosis," by Associated Press Reporter Ryan J. Foley,  published by The Bradenton Herald  on December 24, 2014. (Thanks to the Wrongful Conviction Blog for drawing our attention to this story. HL);

PHOTO CAPTION: This 2012 photo provided by the Scott County Jail in Davenport, Iowa, shows Peter Ranke. A judge has found Ranke not guilty of shaking and injuring his newborn baby, sharply criticizing a doctor at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for mishandling the investigation into the child's injuries."

GIST: "A judge has found an Iowa man not guilty of shaking and injuring his newborn baby, sharply criticizing a doctor at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for mishandling the investigation into the child's injuries. Prosecutors failed to prove former Davenport resident Peter Ranke abused the 3-week-old  - child, whose injuries to the brain and bones may have been caused by other medical conditions, District Judge John Telleen ruled "Frankly, I have some serious doubt whether a crime was even committed here," Telleen said from the bench in October after overseeing the trial, finding Ranke not guilty of child endangerment charges. A transcript was included in a written decision this month dismissing the case against Ranke, now 31 and living in Chicago. Telleen's said UIHC pediatrician Resmiye Oral, director of its child protection program and an expert in shaken baby syndrome, rushed to judgment and failed to investigate other plausible causes of the injuries.  The science behind shaken baby syndrome has come under scrutiny by defense lawyers, judges and some doctors. Some caregivers who were convicted of shaking babies have had convictions overturned........Patrick Barnes, a pediatric radiologist at Stanford University, testified that the baby's injuries may have been caused by rickets, blood clotting and thrombosis but that none of those causes were investigated. Barnes has been at the forefront among experts who have concluded that many injuries once attributed to shaking have other explanations......... Ranke was arrested in November 2012 after he and his then-wife took the child to a hospital emergency room. Doctors said the child was suffering from a subdural hematoma — which can be caused by trauma that ruptures blood vessels near the brain — and a broken clavicle and possible rib fractures. Doctors believed the injuries were consistent with abuse. Ranke, who had been watching the child earlier that day, was arrested. The baby was later given treatment at UIHC by Oral, who later mistakenly told police the head injuries were "acute subdural hematoma," Telleen said. In fact, a UIHC radiologist had diagnosed it as "subacute," a crucial difference because that means the injuries were less serious and likely caused 3 to 10 days earlier when Ranke wasn't alone with the child, Telleen wrote.
Telleen rejected as "hogwash" Oral's claim that the radiologist had previously told her it was acute and criticized her for failing to consult with other UIHC experts. "Frankly as much as I hate to say with regard to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, I think there was a lack of evidence-based medicine in this case," he said. Telleen said the baby, who survived the injuries, had been crying since birth and may have been born with some of the injuries. He said prosecutors offered "virtually no evidence" to establish facts proving any abuse."

The entire story can be  found at:

http://www.bradenton.com/2014/12/24/5548591_rejecting-shaken-baby-claim-judge.html?rh=1

See the related Wrongful Conviction Blog post: "Another shaken baby syndrome acquittal: (By Phil Locke);  An Iowa District Judge has dismissed the case against Peter Ranke, who was accused of injuring his 3-week old baby by shaking.  And further, the judge sharply criticized the diagnosing doctor for mishandling the investigation into the child’s injuries. This case highlights the proclivity of child abuse pediatricians to jump immediately to an SBS diagnosis; without giving due consideration to possible differential diagnoses.

 http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2014/12/25/another-shaken-baby-syndrome-acquittal/

 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;

Eddie Greenspan: Death of a great criminal lawyer, an intelligent, humane individual and a very fine man. A huge loss. Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

PUBLISHER'S VIEW: Like so many others,  I am still reeling from the news that Eddie Greenspan has passed away. Just 70 years old. A great criminal lawyer. (Not just a great Canadian lawyer);  A  humane individual. Eddie had a powerful sense of justice - and was equally troubled by injustice.  He was a remarkable story teller. A supreme wit. (I remember the day that a courtroom Eddy was appearing in outside of Toronto was struck by an earth tremor while he was making a legal presentation. "It must be the weight of my arguments" or words to that affect, he quipped.)  Eddie inculcated in me and so many others the horror  of the conviction of  an innocent person - and the right of all  accused persons to a full and vigorous defence. (Even when public opinion was against them). He traveled from coast to coast to fight the death penalty. He fought fiercely for what he believed. And besides all that, he was a very fine  man. A huge loss. My condolences to his family and friends.

Harold Levy: Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

STORY : CBC TV  news report on the death of the great Canadian Criminal lawyer Edward Greenspan's legacy;

GIST: "Years from now we're going to hang an innocent man. And I want to do everything in my power I can to avoid that day."

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/edward-greenspans-legacy-022645249.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;

Back in action. Catch-up; (14); Rodney Reed. Texas; The bad news: His motion for more DNA testing has been denied; Good news (of sorts): A separate motion delaying his execution from Jan. 15 to March 5, has been granted. The Statesman.

STORY: "Death row inmate Rodney Reed loses motion for more  DNA testing in case," by reporter Wesley Gardner, published by The Statesman on November 25, 2014.

GIST: "Death row inmate Rodney Reed’s motion for expanded DNA testing of evidence in his capital murder case was denied Tuesday by visiting Judge Doug Shaver, though the court did accept a separate motion delaying his date of execution from Jan. 15 to March 5. Reed was convicted in the 1996 murder and rape of Stacy Stites, though defense attorneys contend Jimmy Fennell, Stites’ fiance, was likely responsible for the murder. Fennell is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a woman in his custody while employed as a Georgetown police officer. Prosecutors this summer agreed to order additional DNA tests on swabs taken from Stites’ body, cuttings taken from her underwear and strands of hair retrieved from her left sock and her body. Test results have not yet been presented to the court, but will be available before March 5, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys said Tuesday that the testing of additional items — including several pieces of clothing found on or near Stites, as well as two Busch beer cans — could also provide evidence supporting Reed’s innocence. The defense also wants to test a blue condom found near the crime scene by a resident, which was submitted to investigators several days after Stites’ murder. Shaver ultimately ruled that additional testing would unreasonably delay the execution. “Sixteen different state and federal judges have unanimously agreed that the Bastrop County jury got it right back in 1998 and that no new evidence produced has ever proven his innocence,” said Bastrop County District Attorney Bryan Goertz. “Justice delayed is no justice at all.” Reed initially became a suspect in Stites’ rape and murder after DNA results collected from a different alleged rape victim matched a sample collected from Stites’ body. Reed was indicted for several other rapes or attempted rapes during and after the Stites trial, but he was never brought to trial on those charges. Bryce Benjet, Reed’s defense attorney, said there still remains a healthy amount of suspicion regarding Stites’ murder that merit the expanded testing. “DNA testing can confirm or impeach a suspect’s account of events,” said Benjet, arguing that advances in the technology could provide new findings that could ultimately exonerate Reed. “We don’t want to execute the wrong guy here.” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Ottoway argued Reed’s motion for additional testing could have been submitted far sooner than January of this year, noting the 16 years that had passed between the time he was convicted and the timing of his initial request for DNA testing."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/death-row-inmate-rodney-reed-loses-motion-for-more/njGDj/

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;

David Harold Eastman: Australia: Leading NSW (New South Wales) anti-corruption figure appointed to hear Eastman stay application. Hearing expected to be heard in the first half of 2015. Canberra Times.

STORY: "Leading NSW (New South Wales) anti-corruption figure appointed to hear Eastman stay application," by Michael Inman,  published by the Canberra Times on December 23, 2014.

GIST: "A leading NSW anti-corruption figure has been appointed to hear David Harold Eastman's bid to avoid a retrial. ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Attorney-General Simon Corbell announced on Tuesday afternoon that Anthony Whealy, QC, has been appointed an acting judge of the ACT Supreme Court. Justice Whealy was a qualified, suitable acting judge to hear proceedings regarding Eastman, Mr Corbell said. Eastman has applied for a stay against the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions' decision to re-try him for the 1989 murder of ACT police chief Colin Winchester. Eastman's conviction for the murder was quashed and a retrial ordered after an inquiry found his 1995 trial had been a miscarriage of justice. Eastman's legal team has previously foreshadowed an application to permanently halt a retrial on the grounds that it cannot be conducted fairly. It is expected to be heard in the first half of 2015."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/leading-nsw-anticorruption-figure-appointed-to-hear-eastman-stay-application-20141223-12czng.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

Sent from my iPad

Back in action: Catch-up; (13) Aisling Brady McCarthy; "Irish nanny" case; Massachusetts. Medical evidence which defence claims could refute shaken-baby theory still not provided by prosecutors to defence lawyers. Trial postponed for third time in two years. She remains in custody. The Irish Times.

STORY: "Massachusetts murder trial of Irish nanny postponed to April," by reporter Beverly Ford, published by the Irish Times on December 20 2014;

SUB-HEADING: "Defence believes analysis of medical evidence could refute shaken-baby theory."

GIST: "For the third time in two years, lawyers representing an Irish nanny accused of murdering an infant in her care have agreed to postpone her trial to give them time to test and analyse medical evidence in the case. Aisling Brady McCarthy’s defence team told the court yesterday that a new trial date was needed because they are still awaiting at least 10 medical samples from the prosecution which could show exactly how the baby died. “The testing by the defence experts is necessary,” said Middlesex County superior court judge Maureen Hogan, in setting April 22nd, 2015 as the new date in the murder trial. “I find continuance of the trial is warranted and serves the interest of justice.”.........Defence lawyers also requested that the court allow them to question two expert witnesses for the prosecution without the jury being present in order to determine whether they were influenced by comments made by the prosecutors. Ms McCarthy has been in jail in Massachusetts since January 2013 following her arrest in the death of 12-month-old Rehma Sabir, who was found unconscious in her family’s Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment where Ms McCarthy was babysitting. Prosecutors contend that the child sustained massive brain injuries consistent with being shaken while in Ms McCarthy’s care."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/massachusetts-murder-trial-of-irish-nanny-postponed-to-april-1.2044572

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

René Bailey: New York Law Journal article by Joel Stashenko shows how new medical knowledge debunked her shaken baby conviction.

STORY: "New medical knowledge debunks shaken baby conviction," by Joel Stashenko, published by the New York Law Journal on December 22, 2014. Joel Stashenko is Albany, N.Y., reporter for the New York Law Journal. Covers state and federal courts, the Legislature, state government and the bar. (Thanks to the Wrongful Convictions Blog for drawing our attention to this article. HL);

GIST: "New research into the biomechanics of head injury reveals that the doctors who testified on behalf of the prosecution at trial misinterpreted the medical evidence to conclude that shaking, or shaking with impact, was the only mechanism capable of causing Brittney's injuries," Piampiano ruled in People v. Bailey, 2001-0490. In particular, the judge said, a "sea change" has occurred among medical experts over the potential of young children to suffer fatal head injuries in falls from relatively low heights. The prosecution experts at Bailey's 2001 trial were in agreement that a fall was highly unlikely as the source of Brittney's injuries, Piampiano said. Now, most experts are in "general agreement" that a toddler falling on his or her head from a low height under the right circumstances can sustain a fatal injury, the judge said. Piampiano said prosecution experts also used the retinal hemorrhages noted in Brittney's eyes at her death to confirm their finding of shaken baby syndrome. Experts said such hemorrhages indicated a "rotational head injury" such as those suffered by children as they are violently shaken. But since at least 2010, the judge said, it has been generally accepted that retinal hemorrhages can have multiple causes and that they are not specific to shaken baby syndrome cases. "The credible and persuasive evidence presented by the defense established, by a preponderance of the evidence, a significant change in medical science relating to head injuries in children, generally, and the Shaken Baby Syndrome hypothesis, in particular, since the time of the trial in this matter," Piampiano wrote from Rochester. If the same prosecution experts who appeared at Bailey's trial were to testify today, it is "unlikely" that they would "testify as adamantly, if at all," that Brittney died from being shaken, the judge said. Piampiano's ruling was based on testimony from 13 medical experts, nine from the defense and four from the prosecution, at a hearing in April on Bailey's CPL 440.10 motion. Monroe County District Sandra Doorley has not said whether her office will appeal Piampiano's Dec. 16 ruling or retry Bailey. She did not return a call for comment Friday........Among the medical experts testifying in support of Bailey's position at the 440.10 hearing were Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief New York City medical examiner and Dr. John Plunkett, a forensic pathologist who has challenged the medical community's acceptance of some conditions as conclusive indicators of shaken baby syndrome. Plunkett presented a videotape, viewed by Piampiano in camera, in which a 23-month-old child is seen falling on her head from the top of a 3 1/2-foot-high plastic playhouse-type toy to the carpeted floor of her garage. The girl died from the same kind of subdural hematoma blamed for killing Brittney. A family member caught the accidental fall on camera while videotaping the unidentified girl in 1993, Plunkett said. Piampiano said in his ruling that the videotape showed precisely the kind of "low-velocity impact" fall that the experts at Bailey's trial said was highly unlikely to cause fatal injuries, yet which Bailey maintained was responsible for Brittney's death."

The entire story  - and a link to the ruling -  can be found at:

 http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202712996463/New-Medical-Knowledge-Debunks-Shaken-Baby-Conviction#ixzz3MkgWNIiN

Wrongful Conviction Blog post: "We highlighted the Rene’ Bailey case in a previous WCB post, “Shaken Baby Syndrome ……. Progress for True Science?” last January here. She was convicted in 2002 of murdering a 2½ year old child in her care, and the conviction was based upon medical testimony of “shaken baby syndrome.”"

 http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2014/12/23/new-york-law-journal-new-medical-knowledge-debunks-shaken-baby-conviction/

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