Scott McMahon; American languishing in a Phillipines jail on a rape charge he claims is a wrongful prosecution motivated by extortion. Eye-opener (to this publisher, anyway). He is being assisted by a Los Angeles-based crisis-management firm called "The David House International Crisis Agency." Check out their web-site. It looks quite interesting! HL);

STORY: "King County man languishes in Philippines jail fighting rape charge," by reporter Lewis Kamb, published by the Seattle Times, on May 3, 2105.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Scott McMahon is shown with his children, Nicole and Scott Jr. He has been in jail in the Philippines for four years.........Scott McMahon, who moved to the Philippines in 2003, has been held in filthy conditions in a case one lawyer says is so flimsy it wouldn’t have warranted an arrest in America."

GIST: "A Seattle-area man living in the Philippines has been held in an overcrowded jail in suburban Manila for more than four years, waiting most of that time to stand trial on rape allegations that he and his supporters claim are false. Scott McMahon, 44, a former heavy-metal guitarist-turned-construction worker from Renton, contends he’s innocent and has been wrongfully imprisoned on the word of a woman bent on retaliation after he filed a criminal complaint against her.........Campanella and McMahon’s sister, Jennifer Smith, who both live in the Seattle area, have launched a campaign to free McMahon, enlisting the David House Agency, a Los Angeles-based crisis-management firm. The agency, which specializes in helping Americans imprisoned abroad on dubious accusations, helped Tacoma’s Jason Puracal win an acquittal of a wrongful drug- trafficking and money-laundering conviction in Nicaragua. The agency’s director, Eric Volz, also advised Seattle’s Amanda Knox, who last month was cleared of the wrongful conviction of a 2007 murder in Italy. “It’s factually impossible for Scott to have committed this crime the way the prosecution says it happened,” said Volz, who was once vindicated from a wrongful murder conviction in Nicaragua.".........Volz, the David House Agency director, has recruited legal experts to McMahon’s cause, including the California Innocence Project (CIP), a California Western School of Law program dedicated to vindicating wrongfully convicted inmates. Michael Semanchik, a CIP attorney who last fall attended some of McMahon’s bail hearings, said the case against McMahon is so flimsy it wouldn’t have warranted an arrest in America. “If the authorities in the Philippines would have done even a shred of an investigation, they would’ve quickly realized that Scott couldn’t have done this,” he said.

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/king-county-man-languishes-in-philippines-jail-fighting-rape-charge-2/

Check out the David House International Crisis Agency: "Crisis situations require swift, strategic responses. The initial decisions made have far-reaching consequences. The David House Agency comes along side our clients, connecting them to, and guiding them through, the network and resource solutions necessary to obtain justice and relief. Our services include: Crisis and Case Management; Legal Counsel; Risk Assessment; In-country Assistance; Private Investigations and  Personnel Security and Training;"

http://davidhouseagency.com/ 

See Eric Volz Wikipedia entry: "Eric Volz (born May 19, 1979^[1]) is the managing director of the David House Agency,^[2] an international crisis resource agency based in Los Angeles. Eric formed the agency after his own experience detained abroad, sentenced to a 30-year prison term in Nicaragua following his wrongful conviction^[3] for the November 2006 rape and murder of ex-girlfriend Doris Ivania Jiménez in San Juan del Sur. An appeals court overturned the conviction on December 17, 2007, and Volz was released from prison on December 21, 2007. He left Nicaragua immediately and went into hiding in an unknown location outside Nicaragua because of death threats and over concerns for his physical safety. Friends and supporters in both countries had insisted on Volz's innocence, claiming that the trial court ignored evidence, and that Volz was the victim of anti-gringo sentiment.^[4] Opponents in Nicaragua protested against his release due to what they perceived as special consideration as an American, pressure from the United States government, and accusations that Volz's family bribed the appellate court judges.^[5][6] Upon his return to the United States, Eric wrote a memoir about his experience, Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua.^[7] The book was published by St. Martin's Press.""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Volz

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;