EDITORIAL: "Technology should help see justice served, especially in arson cases," published by Penn Live on April 29, 2015.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Letitia Smallwood is escorted into the Cumberland County
Courthouse in Carlisle on March 27, 2015, for a hearing in an appeal
Smallwood is pressing over her 1973 arson-murder conviction. Letitia
Smallwood has spent the past four decades in prison, convicted of
setting an August 1972 fire that killed two people in Carlisle."
GIST: "The concept of justice should be a constant. Itsts application, however, varies. Someone convicted of a heinous crime 40 years ago could be found innocent if tried today. That's the reality for Letitia Smallwood. She was sentenced to life in prison for two deaths in Carlisle in 1972 when she is alleged to have burned down the Strand Theater, killing her ex-boyfriend and his
girlfriend.........Last week, a judge in Carlisle said that she deserves a new trial, thanks to assistance from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and the argument that arson conclusions from the early 1970s were flawed. She likely will make bail and be released soon from the State Correctional Institution in Muncy, free with some restrictions until that trial is held. The science of fire investigation has undergone a revolution in the four decades since Smallwood was convicted. What was taken as science at the time is now as outdated as rotary phones. Some of the changes in thinking are as simple as looking at burn patterns and Smallwood wouldn't be the first person in Pennsylvania to have a conviction in a fatal arson fire overturneddrawing different conclusions about how they were formed. ........Smallwood wouldn't be the first person in Pennsylvania to have a conviction in fatal arson fire overturned. Han Tak Lee, 79, spent 24 years in a Pennsylvania prison before being released last August. A judge found his conviction was based on arson science that now has been debunked. He had been accused of setting the fire that killed his mentally disabled daughter at a Pocono Mountains cabin. ........In the end, whether she is found innocent or not is immaterial. She should have the opportunity to defend herself using the technology at hand today. Revisiting convictions in cases such as these should not be uncommon. Technology has changed our lives mostly for the better. In determining guilt or innocence, we should take advantage of all the resources available, even decades after the fact. The granting of new trials is not a sign that the justice system failed. It is an indicator that the system is getting it right."
The entire editorial can be found at:
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2015/04/technology_should_help_see_jus.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/
GIST: "The concept of justice should be a constant. Itsts application, however, varies. Someone convicted of a heinous crime 40 years ago could be found innocent if tried today. That's the reality for Letitia Smallwood. She was sentenced to life in prison for two deaths in Carlisle in 1972 when she is alleged to have burned down the Strand Theater, killing her ex-boyfriend and his
girlfriend.........Last week, a judge in Carlisle said that she deserves a new trial, thanks to assistance from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and the argument that arson conclusions from the early 1970s were flawed. She likely will make bail and be released soon from the State Correctional Institution in Muncy, free with some restrictions until that trial is held. The science of fire investigation has undergone a revolution in the four decades since Smallwood was convicted. What was taken as science at the time is now as outdated as rotary phones. Some of the changes in thinking are as simple as looking at burn patterns and Smallwood wouldn't be the first person in Pennsylvania to have a conviction in a fatal arson fire overturneddrawing different conclusions about how they were formed. ........Smallwood wouldn't be the first person in Pennsylvania to have a conviction in fatal arson fire overturned. Han Tak Lee, 79, spent 24 years in a Pennsylvania prison before being released last August. A judge found his conviction was based on arson science that now has been debunked. He had been accused of setting the fire that killed his mentally disabled daughter at a Pocono Mountains cabin. ........In the end, whether she is found innocent or not is immaterial. She should have the opportunity to defend herself using the technology at hand today. Revisiting convictions in cases such as these should not be uncommon. Technology has changed our lives mostly for the better. In determining guilt or innocence, we should take advantage of all the resources available, even decades after the fact. The granting of new trials is not a sign that the justice system failed. It is an indicator that the system is getting it right."
The entire editorial can be found at:
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2015/04/technology_should_help_see_jus.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:
