STORY: "Another inmate freed from Alabama's death row," pubished by CBS News, on April 17, 2015.
PHOTO CAPTION: "William Ziegler speaks to reporters after being released from Alabama's death row on April 16, 2015."
GIST: Ziegler was convicted of capital murder in 2001 and sentenced to die for Baker's killing. Circuit
Judge Sarah Stewart overturned Ziegler's conviction in 2012, indicating
there were numerous errors and serious doubts about his guilt.
Prosecutors had said they planned to try him again, but Ziegler instead was allowed to plead guilty to the reduced charge to resolve the case.........The decision came less than two weeks after another condemned Alabama prisoner was freed after claiming he was innocent. Anthony Ray Hinton was released April 3 after nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row for a pair of killings in Jefferson County. Prosecutors in that case dismissed charges in the 1985 gunshot deaths of two fast-food workers after new testing on the defendant's gun could not prove that it fired the fatal shots. Baker's body was found in a wooded area in Mobile County in 2000. Authorities said Ziegler had quarreled at a party, and Ziegler was convicted along with three accomplices. But a key witness who claimed Ziegler had threatened Baker later recanted, helping lead to Stewart's decision to overturn the case. With his plea, Ziegler acknowledged that his conduct helped lead to Baker's death."
The entire story can be found at:
Prosecutors had said they planned to try him again, but Ziegler instead was allowed to plead guilty to the reduced charge to resolve the case.........The decision came less than two weeks after another condemned Alabama prisoner was freed after claiming he was innocent. Anthony Ray Hinton was released April 3 after nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row for a pair of killings in Jefferson County. Prosecutors in that case dismissed charges in the 1985 gunshot deaths of two fast-food workers after new testing on the defendant's gun could not prove that it fired the fatal shots. Baker's body was found in a wooded area in Mobile County in 2000. Authorities said Ziegler had quarreled at a party, and Ziegler was convicted along with three accomplices. But a key witness who claimed Ziegler had threatened Baker later recanted, helping lead to Stewart's decision to overturn the case. With his plea, Ziegler acknowledged that his conduct helped lead to Baker's death."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/another-inmate-freed-from-alabamas-death-row/
See related Huffington Post story; "He had been awaiting execution since his conviction in 2001 for the slaying of Russell Allen Baker in Mobile County. But after winning the right to a new trial, Ziegler negotiated a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting murder. Ziegler acknowledged that his conduct helped lead to Baker's death. Mobile County Circuit Judge Sarah Stewart sentenced him to the 15 years he had already been incarcerated, which allowed him to be released. Stewart had granted Ziegler the right to a new trial after finding that his defense lawyer failed to adequately represent him, prosecutors failed to reveal a witness recanted his testimony and a juror lied when asked about his views on the death penalty."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/17/william-ziegler-free_n_7083890.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:
