POST: "The missing piece of the criminal justice reform movement," by Radley Balko, published by the Washington Post on April 16, 2105. (Radley
Balko blogs about criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties
for The Washington Post. He is the author of the book "Rise of the
Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces.")
GIST: "Last month, the Center for Public Integrity published a report
on the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, a shadowy, National Rifle
Association-financed law-and-order advocacy group that has been
targeting judges, state supreme court justices, and other elected
officials that it believes are “soft on crime.”.........One
of the group’s successful hits was on Oliver Diaz, a former justice on
the Mississippi Supreme Court. I wrote about the campaign against Diaz back in 2008......... The third case LEAA mentions in its ad is most aggravating. It’s the case of Jeffrey Havard, which I’ve written about here
on several occasions. Havard was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s
daughter based almost entirely on the testimony of discredited medical
examiner Dr. Steven Hayne.
Other, far more reputable forensic pathologists have since cast serious
doubt on Hayne’s testimony in that case. Diaz should be commended for
his votes in Havard’s appeal. Because Havard deserves a new trial.
Havard’s case has received even more attention lately. As I wrote earlier this month,
the Mississippi Supreme Court recently ordered an evidentiary hearing
on the scientific validity of Hayne’s Shaken Baby Syndrome diagnosis, a
critical piece of evidence against Havard. There are also now
allegations that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence during Havard’s trial. Diaz
was eventually defeated, though his loss may have had just as much to
do with fallout from the fact that while on the court he was twice
indicted for alleged campaign finance violations. (Diaz was acquitted
both times, and his defenders attribute the indictments to
then-President Bush’s hyperpoliticized Justice Department.) I wrote about the campaign against Diaz back in 2008.
The entire post can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/04/16/the-missing-piece-of-the-criminal-justice-reform-movement/
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;
