Saturday, January 31, 2015

Pre-trial disclosure of forensic evidence: Justin J. McShane, Publisher of "The Truth About Forensic Science" puts the spotlight on a crucial area of forensic evidence that rarely comes under public scrutiny - and shows how the U.S. Department of Justice attempted to block discussion of proposed reforms - before making an abrupt "about-face." (Must, must read. HL);


POST: "The Jed Rakoff and Matt Redle, co-chairs, Sub-Committee on reporting  and testimony memo," by Justin J. McShane published on his superb Blog "The Truth About Forensic Science,"  on January 29, 2015.

GIST: Justin McShane performs a huge public service by making available  on a crucial area of forensic evidence  that rarely comes under public scrutiny: Pre-trial disclosure: The need for forensic science experts testifying on behalf of the Government  to make considerably fuller disclosure of their data, methodology, experience, and results than is presently disclosed. The need to prevent trial by ambush on forensic matters. The joint-memorandum he refers to, by two extremely well qualified authors, contains a slate of suggestions which are a blueprint for reform - mot just in the U.S. criminal justice system, but in criminal justice systems around the world. (Publisher's note: Many of the wrongful convictions detailed in this blog over the past seven years would most likely have been avoided if these proposed reforms were in place. HL);1. Pretrial disclosure of forensic evidence should be comprehensive and reciprocal — subject to the U.S. Constitution and the law of privilege. The prosecution’s disclosure obligation should apply whether or not the information will be used at trial. The defense obligation should apply to evidence that is intended for use at trial, including the opinions of testifying experts who have not performed any testing. 2. The results of all forensic examinations and all expert opinions should be recorded; oral reports should be reduced to writing. The results of examinations and expert opinions should be recorded at the time the examination is conducted or an opinion is formed — or promptly thereafter. 3. The results of all forensic examinations, expert opinions, and related case documents (e.g., bench notes, graphs, electropherograms, calibration reports, etc.) should be subject to disclosure. 4. An expert witness’s qualifications should be subject to disclosure, including a list of publications authored and a list of recent cases in which the witness testified as an expert at trial. 5. Disclosure should be timely, although all items need not be disclosed at the same time: a. Disclosure of initial laboratory reports should occur as soon as practicable after completion of the examination so that counsel has sufficient time to consult with an expert — which may require applying for funds to retain an expert — and to permit retesting. b. Disclosure of all other items should occur as requested and no later than 90 days before the scheduled trial date. 6. There should be a continuing duty to disclose throughout the trial until sentencing. For exculpatory evidence, the duty to disclose should apply after sentencing.4 7. Information, such as laboratory testing protocols, quality assurance procedures, accreditation and audit reports, proficiency testing results, and internal validation studies, should be readily accessible — preferably by posting on the internet or electronically upon request. 8.Forensic evidence should be preserved both before and after trial — until appeals are exhausted and sentences served. Jurisdictions should promulgate procedures concerning the preservation and retention of evidence. Evidence should not be unnecessarily consumed during testing, and consumptive testing should not be done without notice to the defense if a defendant has been charged. 9. The defense has the right to inspect and retest forensic evidence that is under the custody or control of the prosecution. The prosecution has the right to inspect and retest forensic evidence that is under the custody or control of the defense and that the defense intends to use at trial." (Publisher's note: As Justin McShane notes, "Who in their right mind can object to any of this? HL);

The entire post can be found at:

http://www.thetruthaboutforensicscience.com/jed-rakoff-matt-redle-co-chairs-subcommittee-reporting-testimony-memo/

See also  the recent "The Truth About Forensic Science" post which reports how the U.S. Department of Justice attempted to block reform of  the proposed pre-trial disclosure reforms  by the National Commission on Forensic Science -  and then retreated after an outcry in which committee co-chair Judge Jed Rakoff  tendered his resignation in protest.  "In a dramatic turn of events as covered here in Federal Judge resigns from National Commission on Forensic Science and The Jed Rakoff and Matt Redle, co-chairs, Subcommittee on Reporting and Testimony Memo, US Senior District Judge Jed Rakoff resigned in protest from the National Commission on Forensic Science over the DOJ veto wielded by James Cole (DAG) to promptly end all discussion on the broken discovery system in America when it comes to criminal law and in forensic science. ........Today, after the DOJ re-evaluated its position and announced that it would no longer veto talks on discovery in the National Commission on Forensic Science, Judge Rakoff has rejoined the commission. It is sad to see the tremendous amount of power that the DOJ has over this discussion. Even though DOJ ultimately withdrew its objection, it makes many wonder about how truly transparent, open and balanced any discussions are. If it takes the resignation of a federal judge to have DOJ listen what hope does another commissioner have?

http://www.thetruthaboutforensicscience.com/doj-180-puts-discovery-back-discussion-nistdoj-national-commission-forensic-science/

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;

Friday, January 30, 2015

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry: His lawyers have failed to to block the felony abuse-of-power charges against him on constitutional grounds; The Associated Press. (The charges are not related to his actions as governor related to the wrongful execution of Cameron Todd Willingham on discredited arson-murder charges. ((They should be!)); HL);


 STORY: "Criminal case against former Texas gov moves forward," by Associated Press reporter Will Weissert, published on January 27, 2015.

 GIST:  "A Texas judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a felony abuse-of-power case against former Gov. Rick Perry on constitutional grounds, ruling that criminal charges against the possible 2016 presidential candidate should stand.........Perry was indicted in August on charges of abuse of official power and coercion of a public servant. He is accused of publicly threatening — then making good on — the veto of $7.5 million in state funding for a public corruption division within the office of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. That came after Lehmberg, a Democrat whose county includes Austin, rebuffed Perry's calls to resign following her drunken driving conviction. Texans for Public Justice, a, Austin, left-leaning watchdog group, raised concerns that helped spark the criminal case. The group's executive director, Craig McDonald, released a statement Tuesday saying, "The prosecutor and a grand jury have said there's compelling evidence against Perry. That evidence should be presented in court for all to see. The chances of that happening improved today.".........The special prosecutor assigned to the case, San Antonio attorney Michael McCrum, has said from the start that the case is stronger than it may outwardly appear, and that it should be heard by a jury.""

The entire story can be found at:

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Robert Ladd: Texas executes intellectually disabled prisoner despite a high court ban on putting mentally impaired prisoners to death. The Guardian.


PUBLISHER'S VIEW (EDITORIAL);  Once again Texas has shown the true colours of its criminal justice system and the people who run it. So brutal, callous, vindictive and unnecessary.  A horrible fate for an intellectually disabled man. A sad moment for America.

Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

STORY:  "Texas executes  intellectually disabled killer Robert Ladd," by reporter Ed Pilkington, published by the Guardian on January 29, 2015.

SUB-HEADING:  "57-year-old man is second mentally impaired prisoner to die by lethal injection in US this week despite high court ban."

GIST:  "Texas has executed an intellectually disabled prisoner despite a high court ban on putting mentally impaired prisoners to death, the second such violation of constitutional protections to occur in the US this week. Robert Ladd, 57, died by lethal injection on Thursday evening. Under Texas’s unique – and widely ridiculed – definition of intellectual disability, he was deemed capable of being executed because he did not match the degree of mental impairment depicted in a character in a John Steinbeck novel.........Under what are known as “Briseno factors”, the state sets out the profile of an individual whom ordinary Texans would agree was intellectually disabled. It points to Lennie Small, the lumbering and childlike character in John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel Of Mice and Men, identifying him as the legal yardstick. Ladd’s lawyer, Brian Stull of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that his client’s fate should not have depended “on a novella. Instead of sticking to the standards set by science, they refer to a character in Of Mice and Men.”"
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/30/texas-executes-robert-ladd-intellectually-disabled-prisoner

 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;


Joseph Sledge (North Carolina) and James Hugney Sr. (Pennsylvania); Radley Balko looks at their cases (between them they wrongly served about 75 years in prison) in a Washington Post column called "This week in innocence" - and wonders whether some cases require a "bifurcated" trial, in which the jury is asked to decide not only who committed the crime, but also whether a crime was committed at all."




(Sludge): "After serving nearly four decades behind bars, Joseph Sledge was found innocent by a three-judge panel who heard testimony from a DNA expert. The expert said none of the evidence collected in the case – hair, DNA and fingerprints – belonged to Sledge. A key jailhouse informant had also recanted his story, saying authorities promised him leniency in his own case for his trial testimony against Sledge."

GIST: Hugney Sr.): " “The pivotal scientific evidence of negative corpus had been debunked,” McShane said in a news release. “All of the scientific evidence used in the case was based on popularly held beliefs and myths of the time that modern science has totally refuted.” Through the retention of three internationally known fire scientists, their analysis of the methods used in the Hugney conviction were shown to not stand with modern science. In their reports filed with the court, the three investigators could [not] conclude that the fire was an arson using modern practices for fire science."

The entire post can be found at:



http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/01/26/this-week-in-innocence-joseph-sledge-and-james-hugney-sr/

 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;

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Robert Ladd; Texas; This man who suffers from "intellectual disability" - and cannot be executed under the U.S. Constitution - is set to be killed tomorrow (Thursday 29 January, 2015) because "the Court of Criminal Appeals -- the highest court in Texas for criminal cases -- has dodged this simple rule by applying its own stereotypes, rather than science, to craft a definition of intellectual disability." Defence attorney Mark E. Olive; The Huffington Post.



STORY: "Texas sending man to death chamber Thursday based on 'Of Mice and Men," by Mark E. Olive, capital defence attorney,  published by the Huffington Post on January 28, 2015.

GIST: "Under the federal Constitution, if a defendant has intellectual disability he or she cannot be executed. But the Court of Criminal Appeals -- the highest court in Texas for criminal cases -- has dodged this simple rule by applying its own stereotypes, rather than science, to craft a definition of intellectual disability. In doing so, the court announced that it would not provide protections for persons who are less disabled than Lennie Small without more direction from the Texas legislature..........For a mental health professional utilizing accepted clinical standards, the diagnosis is clear and straightforward: Robert Ladd has intellectual disability. He is not Lennie, but as Thomas Steinbeck puts it: "the character of Lennie was never intended to be used to diagnose a medical condition like intellectual disability." By requiring that a person match a character in a novella in order to be afforded the protections of the Constitution, Texas has strangely, and tragically, turned fiction into fact."

The entire story can be  found at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-e-olive-/robert-ladd-execution_b_6566194.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

 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;

Joseph Sledge: North Carolina: Freed by DNA after spending more than half of his 70 years in prison: CNN report captures the irony: "At trial, the state presented forensic evidence linking Sledge to the crime."


STORY: "Joseph Sledge, wrongly imprisoned for decades, now free, by reporter Stephanie Gellman, published by CNN on January 24, 2105.


SUB-HEADING:  "70-year-old man is free after he was wrongly convicted."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS: Joseph Sledge spent more than three decades behind bars; DNA evidence, recanted testimony leads to his exoneration;

GIST: " A man who spent more than half his life in a North Carolina prison for two murders he didn't commit walked out a free man Friday, holding his belongings in two white plastic bags. Joseph Sledge, who was wrongfully convicted in 1978, said he feels wonderful about his freedom. He is now 70-years old. Sledge was exonerated by a three-judge panel who reviewed post-conviction DNA evidence from the victims. The panel said that evidence excluded Sledge as a suspect. A witness who testified that Sledge had admitted to the murders recanted his testimony in 2013.........At trial, the state presented forensic evidence linking Sledge to the crime. Two inmates also testified against Sledge, saying he had admitted to the crimes behind bars. He was convicted and sentence to life in prison. During the more than three decades Sledge was in prison, he maintained his innocence, filing numerous post-conviction motions on various grounds. All were denied without hearing. In 2003, however, his request for new DNA testing was granted; testing began five years later. The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission took on investigating Sledge's case. It in December found "sufficient evidence of factual innocence to merit judicial review......... The commission, which began operating in 2007, is the first of its kind in the country, and is separate from the appeals process, according to the organization's website. A person exonerated by the commission process is declared innocent and cannot be retried for the same crime."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/23/us/man-free-after-jailed-for-half-his-life/

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;

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Jeremy Gomes: Eye-witness testimony: Massachusetts defence lawyer predicts new court-imposed eye-witness testtimony jury instructions "will help make jurors aware of scientific principles regarding eyewitness identifications." (They include a warning that "a witness’s expressed certainty may not indicate accuracy, especially when the witness did not express the same level of certainty when first making the identification.") The template also includes commentary on the complexity of recalling past events, the effect of stress on eyewitness identification, the length of time that elapsed between a crime and a person being identified, and issues associated with having a witness view a suspect multiple times during identification procedures. Boston Globe;


STORY: "Jury instructions on eyewitness testimony updated: Guidance said to help jurors assess reliability," by Travis Anderson and Martin Finucane, published by the Boston Globe on January 12, 2015;

GIST: "The state Supreme Judicial Court on Monday issued updated instructions that judges should give to jurors to help them assess the reliability of eyewitness testimony. “The accuracy of an eyewitness identification is often the critical issue in a criminal case, the difference between a conviction and an acquittal,” wrote Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants in an opinion explaining the new instructions......... In Monday’s ruling, the SJC upheld Gomes’s conviction on charges of mayhem and breaking and entering into a vehicle at night with the intent to commit a felony, finding the trial judge did not err in declining Gomes’s request, in part because his lawyer presented no expert witnesses to support the principles outlined in the proposed instructions. However, Gants wrote, after reviewing the case along with an SJC study group report on eyewitness evidence that was completed in 2013, the high court has decided to issue a new template for judges to use when instructing jurors on eyewitness identification.........The SJC  Boston Globe;instructions include a warning that a witness’s expressed certainty may not indicate accuracy, especially when the witness did not express the same level of certainty when first making the identification. The template also includes commentary on the complexity of recalling past events, the effect of stress on eyewitness identification, the length of time that elapsed between a crime and a person being identified, and issues associated with having a witness view a suspect multiple times during identification procedures. In addition, the instructions allow jurors to consider whether witnesses were exposed to descriptions given by others, including police officers, which “may inflate the witness’s confidence in the identification.......Elizabeth A. Lunt, president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the ruling will help make jurors aware of scientific principles regarding eyewitness identifications. “This has been an issue for years and years,” Lunt said. “Jurors tend to believe eyewitness identification — ‘I’ll never forget that face’ ” — but researchers have highlighted the “difficulties people have making identifications, particularly under pressure.”"
The entire story can be found at: 

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/12/high-court-changes-jury-instructions-eyewitness-testimony-reflect-latest-science/Qo8FfCTeMeGrkYpKRYPRbL/story.html?rss_id=Top-GNP

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;

Monday, January 26, 2015

Back at work: Catch-up: (22); "Chemistry World" asks "hard questions" after "litany of forensic failures at US labs." For a start: "Is something rotten at the heart of US forensic science?" (Must Read. HL);


STORY: "Hard questions after litany of forensic failures at US labs," by reporter Rebecca Trager, published by Chemistry World on December 1, 2014.

GIST: "At least five high profile cases of serious malpractice at US forensic crime labs have come to light in the last two years, most resulting in the arrest of chemists working there. These scandals have called into question key evidence used in criminal cases, and have resulted in hundreds convictions being overturned. And this malpractice had led critics to ask a bigger question. Is something rotten at the heart of US forensic science?.........In the thousands of cases in which evidence was or may have been compromised are defendants – people – who have been pushed through our criminal justice system at a volume that creates a burden on the forensic system,’ says Sarah Chu, senior forensic policy advocate at the Innocence Project. ‘Some defendants may have even pled guilty despite their innocence in order to mitigate harsh prison sentences that probably looked very possible after they were confronted with what appeared to be indisputable scientific evidence.’ ‘What does not come to light is all of the information that these labs provide’ Chu says that in these malpractice cases the Innocence Project recommends independent investigations of the lab involved. More importantly, she adds, the root cause of the problem has to found and action taken to make sure that this never happens again.There is now widespread acknowledgment of the significant increase in the number of forensic malpractice cases in recent years. And there is also a growing consensus about a lack of oversight at these crime labs or, at the very least, insufficient checks. ‘What happened to institutional controls that should have caught these [cases]?’ Lee asks. ‘It is definitely time for stricter controls over forensic laboratories,’ he says. Lee calls the field a ‘wild, wild west’, and says there is no true oversight such as in the pharmaceutical industry or the US Environmental Protection Agency’s laboratories."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/12/hard-questions-after-litany-forensic-failures-malpractice-labs-us

 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;

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Mr. Big Stings: CTV Fifth Estate looks at the Atif Rafay case in a riveting documentary - accessible through this post - called "Mr. Big stings, cops, criminals and confessions. The CTV Web site contains a wealth of supporting materials. (Must, Must See. HL);


DOCUMENTARY:  "Mr. Big stings: Cops, criminals and confessions,"  by reporter Allya Davidson, broadcast by CTV, on 16 January, 2015.

GIST: "Back in Monroe Atif Rafay hopes to use the Canadian Supreme Court ruling to somehow reopen his case. Unlike Dix, he confessed to Mr. Big and despite the fact that the sting is illegal in the U.S., his confession to Canadian cops was deemed admissible in Washington state court. By the time Rafay and Burns were convicted in 2004, after lengthy extradition processes, they had already been behind bars for almost 10 years. Now, more than a decade after that, barring any legal changes, both will die in prison. Now 39 years old, Atif Rafay has devoted his time to prison university courses and writing. One of his academic essays was published in The Walrus in 2011. In his first post conviction interview. Today, he tells Bob McKeown over the phone from inside Monroe Correctional Center that he was suspicious of Sebastian Burns’ “new friends” from the start, “I mean I didn’t approve of the thing at all from the beginning. It just seemed very, seemed like nothing I wanted to have much to do with.” He also claims he never intended to do anything violent for the undercover criminal gang and that he acted out of fear: “I wanted to indicate to them that this is not something that I’m ever going to do and yet at the same time I’m not ever going to rat you out, I’m not going to do anything to compromise your organization. Really, it was all a dream world created out of movies. It would seem very possible after watching “Goodfellas” that Mr. Big would simply kill me because I was potentially a threat to him. That seemed all completely convincing and I think in a way that it would only be convincing to an 18 year old kid.” Defence counsel and Mr. Big detractor Marie Henein argues that threats, veiled or otherwise are at the problematic heart of Mr. Big operations: “So that's precisely the message that was being sent. So when you say it's imagination, they're not making it up. It's because they're told, "You know who you're sitting with? You’re sitting with somebody that kills people. So you might wanna play ball." Still, that begs the question of why Rafay would admit to a murder he says he didn’t commit. Rafay says this is the key to why Mr. Big is both so successful and so dangerous “I think they’re very clever about that. The Mr. Big operation essentially makes you try to be as plausible as you can in your false confession and that plausibility is what convinces a juror or someone else that: ‘oh it must be true, it must be true’ despite all the countervailing evidence.” Rafay now rests his hopes on the unlikely prospect that the Supreme Court of Canada ruling may have some legal implication south of the border. Failing that, he will remain in prison along with high school friend Sebastian Burns, without any chance of parole. With Andy Rose, the Mr. Big came close to a wrongful conviction, save for DNA evidence and a skeptical prosecutor, is now a free man. He is still struggling to put his life back together. Jason Dix has started a new family and lives in Western Canada. Supporters of Mr. Big claim no one has ever been imprisoned as a result of a false confession to Mr. Big. Critics maintain that if that is in fact true, it’s more a case of a good luck than good work. Both sides are clear that the new guidelines set out by the Supreme Court will have a profound impact on how and if police proceed with any Mr. Big sting in the future."

The entire documentary  - and supporting materials -can be found at:
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2014-2015/mrbig

Related CBC News story:  "In the fifth estate episode, Haslett is asked whether he believes Rafay and Burns could have felt threatened into making their confessions. Of Burns, Haslett says, "I would never have said I'm ever going to do him any physical harm. If he had that perception, that is something that his imagination could've worked [up]." Asked if he did, indeed, feel threatened, Rafay said, "Yeah actually, extremely so. Really, it was all a dream world created out of movies. "It would seem very possible after watching Goodfellas that Mr. Big would simply kill me because I was potentially a threat to him. That seemed completely convincing – in a way that would only be convincing to an 18-year-old kid." Defence counsel Marie Henein argues in the fifth estate piece that threats of one kind or another are the very essence of the Mr. Big sting. "When you say it's imagination, they're not making it up. It's because they're told, 'You know who you're sitting with? You're sitting with somebody that kills people. So you might want to play ball.'""


 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/atif-rafay-family-killer-targeted-in-mr-big-sting-wants-case-reopened-1.2912885?cmp=rss

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;

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Anthony Ray Hinton; Alabama; he has been removed from death row - after 30 years awaiting execution - pending a retrial ordered because his lawyer did not know that spending limits for qualified ballistic experts had been lifted - and that he could have hired a better one to counter the state's forensic experts;


STORY: "Man being removed from Alabama death row for retrial in 1985 slayings of Birmingham fast food managers," by reporter Kent Faulk, published  by Alabama.com on January 15, 2015.

GIST:  "After spending nearly 30 years awaiting execution for the deaths of two Birmingham area fast-food restaurant managers, Anthony Ray Hinton will be removed from Alabama Death Row in the next few weeks to await a new trial in the slayings.........Petro in October had ordered Hinton's conviction set aside and for him to be retried. She issued the order after rulings earlier in 2014 from the U.S. Supreme Court and Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals that she should look at whether the lawyer for Anthony Ray Hinton should have hired a better firearms expert for his trial.  Hinton was convicted of killing two fast-food restaurant managers and wounding a third during three robberies in 1985. Hinton was convicted largely on the strength of the eyewitness testimony of the surviving restaurant manager and expert testimony from prosecution witnesses that bullets recovered from all three crime scenes had been fired by a pistol police found in his home. A man hired by Hinton's trial attorney to counter state forensics experts testified the bullets could not be matched to the gun, but in stinging cross examination was discredited by the prosecution over his qualifications and findings. Hinton's court appointed defense attorney had contended that he tried to find a better firearms expert cut could not find one with the limited funds he had. But the appeals courts ruled that the defense attorney did not know that the spending limits for such experts had been lifted and he could have hired a better one.......... The issue over whether the defense gun expert was qualified to testify in Hinton's case has been going for more than six years. As of today Hinton has been on death row 29 years, four months and 28 days. He also spent another 485 days in the county jail."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/01/man_being_removed_from_alabama.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;

Friday, January 23, 2015

James Hugney Sr. New developments in arson science that have led to challenges to numerous arson and murder convictions across the USA free James Hugney Sr. after spending 37 years behind bars. (This is the case taken on by defence lawyer Justin McShane, author of the phenomenal Blog "The Truth About Forensic Science," which I have often referred to on this site.)


STORY: "Deal frees  East Shore man   from life prison sentence for fatal 1978  fire," by reporter Matt Miller, published by Penn Live, on January 23, 2015.

 GIST: "An East Shore man who served 37 years behind bars for a fatal 1978 fire in Susquehanna Township was freed from state prison Friday after striking a plea deal with Dauphin County prosecutors. James Hugney Sr., now 72, was convicted of second-degree murder and arson and sentenced to life in prison for the fire death of his 16-year-old son. Hugney's release resulted from his latest appeal, which cited new developments in fire investigation science that have led to challenges to numerous arson and murder convictions across the country. The deal that freed Hugney, negotiated by First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo and defense attorney Justin McShane, involved several steps.........Although he entered his new guilty pleas willingly, Hugney did not admit to committing any crime, Lewis noted in his order on the case. Chardo said his office still could have prosecuted Hugney on some evidence from the fatal 1978 fire, but the investigation of the cause of the fire would have been called into question by the advancements in fire science. So, he said, reaching the plea deal with Hugney seemed to be the "right thing" to resolve the case. Hugney's is not the only midstate murder case affected by advancements in fire science. A Cumberland County judge also is weighing a plea to overturn the conviction and life prison sentence of Letitia Smallwood for a fatal 1972 blaze in Carlisle."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/01/deal_frees_east_shore_man_from.html

 See Justin McShane's post; "After his trial attorneys in 1979 did not challenge the opinions of the fire experts that it was an arson, James Hugney was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Life in prison in Pennsylvania means that there is no possibility of parole. Life means life. Beyond that, the trial court wrote at the time of his appeal: “We feel compelled to repeat the feelings we expressed in our opinion on Hugney Sr. ‘s post-trial motions that it is unfortunate that petitioner’s life, as well as his appeal, cannot be doused.” Every day for 36 years, Hugney has maintained his innocence. But for the fact that capital punishment (the death penalty) was suspended in the United States from 1972 through 1976 primarily as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), he may very well have been executed by this time."

 http://www.thetruthaboutforensicscience.com/man-freed-serving-35-years-11-months-8-days-prison-arson-murder-wasnt/

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;

Reginald Tanubagijo; Suisun City; California; Foster father to be sentenced on March 24 in 2010 infant death case; Prosecution medical experts labelled infant's injuires "abusive head trauma" - formerly known as shaken baby syndrome; Tanubagijo admitted to shaking the baby four-to-five times in an attempt to revive it after the baby fell from the kitchen table. The Reporter;


STORY: "Suisun City foster father to be sentenced in March in 2010 infant death case," by reporter Ryan Chalk, published by the Reporter on January 12, 2015.

GIST: Attorneys on Monday agreed to return to court in March for sentencing in the case of a Suisun City foster father convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the 2010 death of an infant in his care.........According to trial testimony, the infant, who Tanubagijo referred to as Buddy, suffered from massive subdural hematomas and severe retinal hemorrhages. Medical experts for the prosecution included their opinion that the injuries Buddy suffered could be labeled as abusive head trauma, formerly known as shaken baby syndrome. At trial, jurors also were played video recordings of interviews Tanubagijo had with investigators following the incident. In his second interview with investigators, Tanubagijo explained that Buddy fell from the kitchen table. Late in that second interview, Tanubagijo admitted to shaking the baby four-to-five times in an attempt to revive it after the fall. Taking to the witness stand in his own defense, Tanubagijo testified that he neglected to tell anyone that as Buddy began to choke, he reached over to where the child was placed in a chair on top of the table, causing it to topple over onto the tile floor. He testified that he was afraid and ashamed to tell anyone immediately. Tanubagijo was ordered back to court on March 24, for sentencing. He remains in Solano County Jail custody without bail."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.thereporter.com/general-news/20150112/suisun-city-foster-father-to-be-sentenced-in-march-in-2010-infant-death-case

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;