Friday, April 17, 2015

Jeffrey Havard: Mississippi; Radley Balko writes how a former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice who supported Havard's appeal came under attack by 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.” Washington Post;


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;