Bulletin: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar: The 'Quint' reveals the existence of yet another officer involved in the investigation who says there was no evidence against the Talwars.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  The Indian  publication "The Quint" has devoted considerable resources to reporting the investigation and prosecution of  Rajesh and Nupur Talwar. A recent article, published by "The Quint" on August 10, 2015, is headed: "First On Record, CBI’s Arun Kumar: We had no Proof Against Talwars." by reporter Rishika Baruah, published by Quint on August 29, 2015." This article indicates that yet another CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) senior officer involved in the investigation has gone on record to say he believes that the Talwars are innocent. As a photo caption in the article indicates: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were convicted for the murder of their daughter Aarushi. CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar who took over the investigation believes they were innocent."  As reporter Rishika Baruah notes:  "Arun Kumar and his team were handed over a shoddy investigation. They conducted an experiment to check if sound could travel from Aarushi’s bedroom to the Talwars’ bedroom when both air conditioners were switched on and there was no traffic sound. They concluded that no sound could be heard from one room to the other." The article then quotes Kumar on this important point: "We concluded that since it was impossible for awake and alert officers to hear sounds from Aarushi’s room, it would have been impossible for the Talwars to hear anything that night. Then the narco tests also proved they showed no deception. So there was no evidence to incriminate them." As reporter Baruah notes: "This evidence was ignored in court." In the article, Kumar neatly eviscerates the 'honour-killing' theory  used by the police to pin the murders on the Talwars. The publicly expressed doubts doubts of senior officers involved at one time or another in the investigation - added to the ever growing record of police errors and disclosures of manipulation  of evidence -   provide all the more reasons to free and exonerate Rajesh and Nupur Talwar. Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.
http://www.thequint.com/india/2015/08/29/aarushi-murder-exclusive-we-had-no-evidence-against-the-talwars
See previous Charles Smith Blog post: Jagesh and Nupur Talwar; India; Vijay Shanker, former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) tells 'The Quint': "Personally, I feel that justice has not been delivered in this (Aarushi) case."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2015/08/jagesh-and-nupur-talwar-india-vijay.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Bulletin: British Columbia: Ivan Henry: Trial begins: Huffington post runs Canadian Press story: "Ivan Henry's Lawyer Presents Alarming Evidence In Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit."...Of particular interest to the readers of this Blog: "Additional information that wasn't disclosed to defence included sperm found on several of the complainants, which Laxton said had a blood type that failed to match his client's. "That evidence would have exonerated Henry,'' said Laxton. "(Henry was) deprived of the ability to prove scientifically he was not guilty.'"

VANCOUVER — The wrongful conviction of a British Columbia man who spent nearly three decades behind bars hinged on a flawed police investigation and Crown prosecutors who were willing to go to extremes to prove they'd found their man, a court has heard. Ivan Henry's lawyer John Laxton was in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday to argue that his client deserves compensation after he was mistakenly convicted in 1983 of 10 counts of sexual assault and spent 27 years in prison. "The consequences to Mr. Henry and his family have been devastating and the honour and integrity of the judicial system have been seriously harmed,'' Laxton told the court. "His release from custody did not release him from the demons that haunted him while in custody.''........ The B.C. Court of Appeal quashed Henry's convictions in 2010 following more than 40 applications for relief filed by Henry and his daughters. Reading a piece of correspondence between two Crown lawyers from 1982, Laxton said one of the prosecutors wrote that "the accused is so obvious,'' before insisting that if "one girl'' could successfully identify Henry they would be able to link the remaining cases together against him. Laxton also presented in court sections of a handwritten letter from one of the complainants sent to the private address of a police officer involved in the investigation, revealing what he described as an inappropriate relationship. "I didn't want to let you down. I didn't want to disappoint you,'' read Laxton, describing the comments as reasons offered by the woman for identifying Henry as her attacker. "You have a very special place in my heart and I think of you often,'' Laxton read to the court. "Take care of those blue eyes.'' The positive identification came from a photo of a police lineup that showed Henry being held in a chokehold by officers, which Laxton described as "seriously flawed and unfair.'' "This is the bedrock point of the failed police investigation,'' he said. Additional information that wasn't disclosed to defence included sperm found on several of the complainants, which Laxton said had a blood type that failed to match his client's. "That evidence would have exonerated Henry,'' said Laxton. "(Henry was) deprived of the ability to prove scientifically he was not guilty.'' Henry's wrongful-conviction lawsuit names the federal government, the province, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/08/31/ivan-henry-wrongful-conviction_n_8067210.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-politics&ir=Canada+Politics

Major development: Boston Globe: Aisling Brady McCarthy; "The state has dropped charges against Aisling Brady McCarthy, the nanny accused of murdering an infant in her care, after the medical examiner’s office reversed itself and said the cause of death was undetermined, rather than a homicide," the Boston Globe reports. "The announcement by prosecutors came just hours after news broke that the medical examiner’s office had changed its conclusion in the death of Rehma Sabir of Cambridge, saying her death was not a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head. The medical examiner’s ruling said that the child’s medical history could have made Rehma “prone to easy bleeding with relatively minor trauma.”... McCarthy’s defense attorney, Melinda Thompson, said, “Miss McCarthy was put in jail for 2½ years over a crime that never occurred. Not just a crime that she did not commit, but a crime that did not occur. The life of an innocent woman was ruined.’’

STORY: "Aisling Brady McCarthy; Homicide ruling reversed in case of infant’s 2013 death," by reporters Peter Schworm, Patricia Wen and John R. Ellement, published by the Boston Globe on August 31, 2105.

GIST: The state has dropped charges against Aisling Brady McCarthy, the nanny accused of murdering an infant in her care, after the medical examiner’s office reversed itself and said the cause of death was undetermined, rather than a homicide. “Based on an assessment of the present state of the evidence, including the amended ruling from the Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy, the Commonwealth cannot meet its burden of proof,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement. The announcement by prosecutors came just hours after news broke that the medical examiner’s office had changed its conclusion in the death of Rehma Sabir of Cambridge, saying her death was not a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head. The medical examiner’s ruling said that the child’s medical history could have made Rehma “prone to easy bleeding with relatively minor trauma.” “I believe that enough evidence has been presented to raise the possibility that the bleeding could have been related to an accidental injury in a child with a bleeding risk or possibly could have even been a result of an undefined natural disease,” the ruling said.........McCarthy’s defense attorney, Melinda Thompson, said, “Miss McCarthy was put in jail for 2½ years over a crime that never occurred. Not just a crime that she did not commit, but a crime that did not occur. The life of an innocent woman was ruined.’’.........McCarthy was arrested in January 2013, five days after 1-year-old Rehma was pronounced dead at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she was rushed after Brady found the infant unresponsive in the child’s Cambridge home. McCarthy, an Irish immigrant living illegally in the United States since 2002, was ordered held without bail. She remained in custody until this May when she was freed on $15,000 cash bail by Superior Court Judge Maureen Hogan, who was assured McCarthy would be deported if the criminal case against her ended. Ryan’s office had alleged that the child was in McCarthy’s care when the girl suffered massive brain injuries consistent with violent shaking, including extensive bleeding in her brain and the backs of her eyes. Specialists said she was subjected to violent force and that the injuries could not have been inflicted before that day. But defense medical experts noted that the child sustained bone and compression fractures several weeks before her death, when she was traveling abroad with her family without McCarthy. They also said the child was sick much of her life and suffered from a bleeding disorder and gastrointestinal problems. Prodded by the defense, the medical examiner’s office reopened its inquiry, and after spending the past several months reviewing forensic information, concluded this month that the infant’s death could no longer be considered a homicide, Thompson said. Ryan, the district attorney, said in a telephone interview that prosecutors were notified late Thursday that the medical examiner’s office had changed its opinion. The office “could no longer opine to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the injuries were inflicted,” she said. “We weighed all our options,” she said."

The entire story can be found at:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/31/state-medical-examiner-office-changes-finding-finds-homicide-infant-death/yQSNRpNQwWw5Ha29Bhqs4H/story.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/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;

Bulletin: United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton: Philippines; Lawyers representing the family of of slain transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude say settlement is impossible now that both parties have rested their cases - and deny that family sought P38M and US Visas. "City Chief Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos said Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde has scheduled the summation and simultaneous submission of memorandums on Sept. 14. De los Santos said the promulgation of the decision is expected by December 14, which is within the prescribed one-year period to finish the court proceedings under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)."..."Family lawyer) Suarez said members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community will also hold a nationwide pride march to demand justice as the Laude family awaits the court’s decision on the murder case against Pemberton. 'The Inquirer;'

"The lawyers of the family of slain transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude said a settlement with the camp of US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton is impossible now that both parties have rested their cases. Pemberton is facing a murder charge at the Regional Trial Court Branch 74 here over the death of Laude, whose body was found inside a motel room on October 11 last year. Witnesses identified Pemberton as the foreigner who was last seen with her as they checked into the motel. “Any settlement now is impossible, especially since both parties are done presenting their respective evidence,” lawyer Virgie Lacsa Suarez, one of the Laude family’s lawyers, told the Inquirer  in a text message on Monday. Suarez said since the start of the prosecution’s presentation of evidence on March 23, there have been no talks about a settlement. “There was only a discussion on a plea bargaining as part of the pretrial period early February,” Suarez said. She also denied reports that the family demanded P38 million and six US visas to drop the case. “There is simply no truth to that… Maybe that’s what they (defense lawyers) want to offer [the family],” Suarez said. She suspected that Pemberton’s lawyers were “testing the water” when they revealed this information. “There is no truth to reports that we will drop the case at anytime,” Suarez said....... Lawyer Harry Roque Jr., the Laude family’s lead counsel, described reports that the family is open to settlement as a “PR play” or a publicity stunt from Pemberton’s camp. He also cautioned Pemberton’s lawyers against approaching the Laude family without the consent of the private counsels..........In April, Laude’s relatives sought at least P200 million in moral and exemplary damages as the civil aspect of the case was tackled in Pemberton’s trial. Roque had said Laude’s sister, Marilou, had told the court that P100 million would compensate for the “agony that the family has to go through because Jennifer was treated like an animal.” “The family also wants another P100 million for exemplary damages so other people, especially American soldiers, will know the cost of treating someone like Jennifer,” Roque had said...
The Laude family has started preparing for “a national day of outrage” in time for her first death anniversary in October. Suarez said members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community will also hold a nationwide pride march to demand justice as the Laude family awaits the court’s decision on the murder case against Pemberton. “Now that we’re through with the hearing, we will not let up on seeking justice for Jennifer’s death,” Suarez said..........In his testimony last week, Pemberton said he pushed Laude when he discovered that she was not a woman. Pemberton said he felt deceived and tried to defend himself when Laude slapped him. Pemberton said he held Laude in an arm lock and later dragged her to the bathroom, hoping to revive her."

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/127935/laude-lawyer-settlement-impossible-as-parties-rest-case

Bulletin: David Harold Eastman; Australia; Stay application (Bid to avoid retrial after two decades): Defence argues that continued collection of evidence by prosecution – including forensic tests overseas – will unfairly delay the proceedings;

"A bid to avoid retrial by David Harold Eastman is expected to be heard in February. Meanwhile, a decision on whether to further relax the murder accused's bail conditions will be delivered on Friday. Acting Justice David Ashley, QC, on Thursday set a new timeframe for proceedings after the matter hit a number of delays caused by illness, legal process, and the hunt for a judge. Eastman is accused of the 1989 assassination of Assistant Federal Police Commissioner Colin Winchester. He served 19 years in jail for the murder, until an inquiry found his 1995 trial had been a miscarriage of justice. Eastman's conviction was subsequently quashed and the prosecution announced it would pursue a retrial. Eastman has launched a stay application to halt the retrial on the grounds he will not be able to get a fair hearing.........A sticking point between the parties has been the availability of evidence before the stay application. Eastman's legal team argues the application should be delayed until the defence is shown the entire prosecution case. Defence counsel Mark Griffin, QC, asked that the judge set a cutoff date after which time the prosecution could not add further evidence to the case. The silk said it would be unfair to mount a stay application when the full prosecution case was unknown. But the prosecution says the continued collection of evidence – including forensic tests overseas – should not delay the stay application."

 http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/eastman-stay-application-scheduled-for-february-20150827-gj90ta.html

Bulletin: United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton; Philippines; 'Philippine Star' reports that, "Laude camp wants P38 M, 6 US visas – defense lawyer."..."The camp of United States Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, who is charged with the murder of Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in October last year, claimed that the complainants have issued new demands that include six US visas and P38 million in exchange for dropping the case."

"The camp of United States Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, who is charged with the murder of Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in October last year, claimed that the complainants have issued new demands that include six US visas and P38 million in exchange for dropping the case. Defense counsel Rowena Flores said that the information was relayed to her by a reliable source. Flores said the new amount being asked was separate from the P21.6 million initially asked by Laude’s lawyer Virgie Suarez, who sent the computation in her own handwriting. The latter said that they changed their mind and are now asking for P200 million in damages. Suarez, one of the private counsels of the Laude family, said the payment is for the actual, moral, and exemplary damages that Laude’s sister Marilou had declared. “The P21 million was an initial computation of damages made,” Suarez told The STAR. She, however, added that Laude’s mother Julita refused to demand payment for damages as no amount could compensate for her suffering. Suarez also said “there is no truth to the alleged demand for US visas.“ She said Marilou had clarified that they are not asking for US visas. “Marilou clarified that before the court and during a press conference after her testimony,” Suarez said..........Dr. Rachel Fortun, a pathologist and professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, on the other hand, downplayed claims by prosecution witnesses that Laude died of asphyxia by drowning. Fortun based her testimony on reports and pictures from the case. Prosecution lawyers are also opposing moves by defense lawyers to downgrade the charges from murder to homicide."
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/08/31/1494185/laude-camp-wants-p38-m-6-us-visas-defense-lawyer

Bulletin: Gugsa Abraham "Abe" Dabela: Connecticut: Family raises questions about Connecticut lawyer's death in new website. "The website challenges the official finding that his death was a suicide, and poses many questions that the investigation is seeking answers to, including: " Why did the Redding Police Department issue a press release within hours of Abe’s death classifying the gunshot as “self-inflicted”? · Why wasn’t the death scene investigated by either the Major Crime Squad or an investigator from the Office of the Medical Examiner upon discovery of a gunshot victim? · Why were Abe’s hands not tested for gunshot residue by the Medical Examiner despite the Redding Police Department’s reports stating that this test was requested on multiple occasions prior to the autopsy? · Why did the Redding Police Department not conduct in-depth interviews with potential witnesses or others who might have relevant information? · Is there physical evidence inconsistent with a suicide finding? "

A new website has launched as part of the investigation into the death of Redding lawyer Gugsa Abraham "Abe" Dabela . Dabela was found dead in his car in April 2014 of a gunshot wound to the head. Police ruled the 35-year-old's death a suicide, but earlier this August the state NAACP and the Norwalk branch of the NAACP announced that they were opening an investigation into the death. Family members launched Justice4Abe.com on Tuesday, with information about the life of Dabela and the circumstances of his death. The website challenges the official finding that his death was a suicide, and poses many questions that the investigation is seeking answers to. Among the questions asked are: Why did the Redding Police Department issue a press release within hours of Abe’s death classifying the gunshot as “self-inflicted”?;   Why wasn’t the death scene investigated by either the Major Crime Squad or an investigator from the Office of the Medical Examiner upon discovery of a gunshot victim?;  Why were Abe’s hands not tested for gunshot residue by the Medical Examiner despite the Redding Police Department’s reports stating that this test was requested on multiple occasions prior to the autopsy?;  Why did the Redding Police Department not conduct in-depth interviews with potential witnesses or others who might have relevant information?  Is there physical evidence inconsistent with a suicide finding?"
http://weston.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/website-launched-in-investigation-into-redding-death/585668/

Bulletin: Sandra Higgins; Ireland; (Publisher's note: Oooops! News of the jury's failure to reach a verdict as reported in the Irish press on June 25th in this shaken baby syndrome case - in which the defence called Dr. Waney Squier as an expert witness - fell through the cracks and did not get reported in our continuing coverage of the case. "Before being discharged the jury had asked a number of questions. They asked to hear evidence of the vital signs as given by the consultant paediatrician who treated the child and from a UK neuropathologist called by the defence." Apologies! Harold Levy. Publisher);

"A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a childminder accused of causing serious harm to a ten-month-old baby. Registered child-minder Sandra Higgins, 34, of The Beeches, Drumgola Wood, Cavan town, Co Cavan had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to the baby girl on March 28, 2012.........The prosecution alleged that the baby's symptoms were consistent with a violent shaking. Doctors who treated the baby girl said it was highly likely that the injuries to the child happened while she was in the care of Ms Higgins and that the injuries were non-accidental. Expert witnesses for the defence said the evidence was more suggestive of a head trauma and could have been the re-activation of an old injury. Ms Higgins told gardaí that she cared for the baby like her own children and that she never assaulted her. This afternoon the jury of eight men and four women told the judge they were unable to reach either a unanimous or majority verdict.........Before being discharged the jury had asked a number of questions. They asked to hear evidence of the vital signs as given by the consultant paediatrician who treated the child and from a UK neuropathologist called by the defence.'
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/jury-fail-to-reach-verdict-in-baby-shaking-trial-683728.html

See Irish Times coverage of UK neuropathologist  Dr. Waney Squier's testimony in the case: (Neuropathologist rejects theory of shaken baby syndrome); "A UK neuropathologist has told the trial of a child-minder charged with assaulting a baby that shaken baby syndrome has no scientific validation. Registered child-minder Sandra Higgins (34) is alleged to have caused the injuries to the 10-month-old baby she was minding at her home. The trial has reached its final stages and closing speeches will be made before the jury on Tuesday. Ms Higgins of The Beeches, Drumgola Wood, Cavan town, Co Cavan has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to the baby on March 28th, 2012. Defence witness Dr Waney Squier told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, she supported the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome up to 15 years ago. “Only 15 years ago I too was making the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. I too was a believer in the belief that so many people in the area of child abuse believe in. I then began to question this,” she said. She said she questioned it when a number of elements that supported the diagnosis were overturned by research. She said she began studying the scientific literature on the subject in great detail. “I looked at many many cases of shaken baby syndrome,” she said. “I could no longer agree that this was a syndrome that had any scientific validation. I came to the view that I could not be sure this is a real syndrome.” She rejected a suggestion from Mr Gillane that this represented a fixed view on her part. She said she has changed her mind in relation to the issue. “We all have to be careful. We have to keep our minds open. I’ve changed my mind already,” she said. She told Remy Farrell SC, defending, there was evidence of a pre-existing sub-dural haemorrhage in the child. She said this pre-existing condition would manifest in the baby’s head size, or the baby being irritable, not wanting to feed, losing weight or vomiting. She said there were documented cases of babies who had inflicted injuries experiencing a “lucid interval” or a period of time after a head injury when a baby may be perfectly normal. She said in this case there was evidence of older damage. “I think it is very dangerous to say because the child collapses at a certain time we know when the injury occurred,” she said."

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/uk-neuropathologist-rejects-theory-of-shaken-baby-syndrome-1.2258715

Bulletin: Daniel Green; Massachusetts: Judge convicts him of severely injuring his infant son - but acquits on charge of permitting an assault and battery on the child. Associated Press;

"A judge has convicted a man of severely injuring his son, then 3 months old. Lawrence Superior Court Judge Mary Ames delivered the verdict Monday in the bench trial of Daniel Green, 30, the Salem News reported. Ames found Green guilty of assault and battery on a child causing substantial bodily injury, but she acquitted him of permitting an assault and battery on the child. Green’s son was hospitalized in November 2012 with injuries including bleeding on his brain and retinas that caused significant vision loss and developmental delays."
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/25/judge-convicts-man-severely-injuring-infant-son/vvnl1M5EYjCJaU4CmWNcmJ/story.html

Bulletin: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar: India; Their Defence lawyer Tanveer Ahmed Mir speaks out; Says the police probe had become too personal - and that witnesses were also allegedly prepared by CBI to give testimony in the court according to what the investigators taught them. Indian Express;

"The Talwars were “absolutely framed” in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi, claims the dentist couple’s lead defence lawyer who also questions the investigation saying it had “become too personal.” Tanveer Ahmed Mir, counsel for Aarushi’s parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar also claimed that the testimony by witnesses in court was what the investigators taught them. “As I went along the case and saw the evidence I came to a conclusion that my clients were absolutely framed. As a matter of fact anybody, who reads that CBI charge sheet and sees the chronology of evidences as to how the statements of the witnesses changed, can come to a conclusion that these two people were absolutely framed for no reason whatsoever,” said Mir. He was part of a panel discussion organised by Penguin Random House and Mumbai Mirror -“Speak for Aarushi” in connection with journalist Avirook Sen’s book “Aarushi”. The lawyer along with Sen, journalist-author Manu Joseph and Ellen Barry, South Asia bureau chief New York Times, were discussing the double murder case."
 http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/aarushi-talwar-case-probe-had-become-too-personal-defence-lawyer/

Bulletin: Ivan Henry: British Columbia: Ian Mulgrew: Long-secret letter lands like a bomb in wrongful conviction lawsuit Opinion: In the letter, a key Ivan Henry accuser shows emotional ties to the lead Vancouver detective. Ivan Henry, who spent 25 years in jail for rapes he did not commit, is suing for compensation. Henry was freed in 2010, after the B.C. Court of Appeal declared him acquitted for lack of evidence and because DNA evidence showed some of the sexual attacks had been committed by another man. However, the court did not exonerate Henry. Henry sued police, prosecutors and the federal justice minister. Wrongfully convicted individuals usually get payments offered by governments to compensate for their suffering. Henry is thought to be the first forced to sue and face a hardball trial. Both the province and the city insist Henry is not innocent. Vancouver Sun;

"On the eve of his landmark trial seeking compensation for wrongful conviction, Ivan Henry has inadvertently learned that the woman who fingered him had “strong emotional ties” with the lead Vancouver police detective. Lawyers for Henry, who spent 27 years in prison for allegedly committing multiple sexual assaults in 1982, complained in B.C. Supreme Court late Friday that the province and the city of Vancouver had only accidentally revealed the veritable smoking gun. The 1983 letter, from the first woman to identify Henry well enough to support criminal charges, should have been disclosed years ago, lawyer Marilyn Sandford fumed to Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson. “This was the first identification against our client that the authorities deemed had any weight and led to his arrest and things went from there,” Sandford explained. “(The woman) was a key witness for the VPD, a key complainant.” Henry was freed in 2010, after the B.C. Court of Appeal declared him acquitted for lack of evidence and because DNA evidence showed some of the sexual attacks had been committed by another man. However, the court did not exonerate Henry. Henry sued police, prosecutors and the federal justice minister. Wrongfully convicted individuals usually get payments offered by governments to compensate for their suffering. Henry is thought to be the first forced to sue and face a hardball trial. Both the province and the city insist Henry is not innocent......... On June 21, 1983, after Henry was convicted, but before he was sentenced, the woman wrote to Harkema. “(The letter) begins with expressions of strong emotional feelings for the officer and that continues on,” Sandford said. “It’s seven pages in length.“She says among other things, ‘of all the factors I weighed in deciding not to go out there for the trial, the one that put me in the most conflict was you. I didn’t want to let you down, I didn’t want to disappoint you, and I guess I didn’t want to risk never seeing you again. There is no way I could tell you this at the time but I believed in my soul that you understood me at the deepest level and you have since proven this to me.’”

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mulgrew+Long+secret+letter+lands+like+bomb+wrongful+conviction+lawsuit/11311992/story.html

Bullletin: Frits Van Beelen; South Australia; Convicted murderer wants conviction overturned, 25 years after being freed from a 17-year jail term saying he has compelling new evidence. Van Beelen’s appeal will target evidence provided by South Australia’s then chief forensic pathologist, Dr Colin Manock, to the trial. His legal team will assert Dr Manock was not qualified to give evidence. “It has now been established that between 1972 and 1994, Dr Manock was at all relevant times: unprofessional, incompetent, untrustworthy,’’ the documents assert. “The opinion Dr Manock provided as to time of death, clearly accepted by the jury, was wrong."... “Criticism of Dr Manock’s testimony in the controversial Henry Keogh murder trial led to a historic appeal in that case, and a retrial slated for May next year." The Advertiser;

"Convicted murderer Frits Van Beelen has moved to have his conviction overturned, 25 years after being freed from a 17-year jail term for killing teen Deborah Leach. Van Beelen’s appeal will target evidence provided by South Australia’s then chief forensic pathologist, Dr Colin Manock, to the trial for the July 15, 1971, murder on Taperoo Beach. His legal team will assert Dr Manock was not qualified to give evidence at the trial, using that as the “fresh and compelling” new evidence needed to secure the appeal. Criticism of Dr Manock’s testimony in the controversial Henry Keogh murder trial led to a historic appeal in that case, and a retrial slated for May next year. Court of Criminal Appeal documents, lodged on Wednesday by Michael Hegarty & Associates Solicitors, assert Dr Manock should not have been permitted to give evidence which was crucial to the prosecution case against Van Beelen, now in his late 60s. “It has now been established that between 1972 and 1994, Dr Manock was at all relevant times: unprofessional, incompetent, untrustworthy,’’ the documents assert. “The opinion Dr Manock provided as to time of death, clearly accepted by the jury, was wrong. “At trial it was the prosecution case, based on Dr Manock’s autopsy observations and his opinions, that the Applicant committed necrophilia on the body of the deceased immediately after killing her.
“That proposition was without factual or valid scientific basis ... Dr Manock was totally unqualified to become involved in the way in which he did.’’.........Van Beelen’s application for permission to appeal will be heard by a single Supreme Court Justice sitting as the Court of Criminal Appeal."
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/convicted-murderer-frits-van-beelen-wants-conviction-overturned-saying-he-has-compelling-new-evidence/story-fni6uo1m-1227500386092

Bulletin: Robert Lee Stinson; Milwaukee; Alleged bogus chew mark case: "A federal appeals courtroom has thrown out a civil rights lawsuit by a person wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years who claimed a detective and two dentists conspired to border him with bogus chew mark proof."..."Mike Kanovitz, one among Stinson’s attorneys, stated they assume there are critical errors within the ruling and they’re contemplating asking the complete seventh Circuit to evaluate the three-judge panel’s determination." Suffield Times;

"A federal appeals courtroom has thrown out a civil rights lawsuit by a person wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years who claimed a detective and two dentists conspired to border him with bogus chew mark proof. Robert Lee Stinson was after the Innocence Venture discovered specialists who rejected the dentists’ conclusions that a chew mark on the murder sufferer was left by Stinson. He sued the identical yr. In 2010, DNA from the sufferer’s physique led to a special suspect, who was and finally confessed to the homicide of 63-year-old Ione Cychosz of Milwaukee. In 2013, a federal decide , and stated a jury ought to determine key information within the matter. However the dentists appealed and this week the seventh U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals dominated of their favor. Writing for a three-judge panel, Decide Diane Sykes stated the dentists have been protected by certified immunity.........Mike Kanovitz, one among Stinson’s attorneys, stated they assume there are critical errors within the ruling and they’re contemplating asking the complete seventh Circuit to evaluate the three-judge panel’s determination."
http://www.suffieldtimes.com/breaking/lawsuit-brought-by-wrongly-imprisoned-man-is-dismissed/55487/

Innocence Project report on the Stinson case: "Robert Lee Stinson served over 23 years in a Wisconsin prison for a brutal rape and murder DNA proves he did not commit. He was convicted based on the improper and unvalidated expert testimony of a bite-mark analyst whose conclusions were uncontested at trial. The Crime: Early in the morning of November 3, 1984, a neighbor passing through an alley on his way to work discovered the body of 63-year-old Ione Cychosz in a vacant lot behind her home. She had been raped, stabbed and beaten to death. Her clothing was scattered around the lot. Spermatozoa cells were found in a vaginal wash, but the number of cells retrieved was too few for identification purposes. Eight bite marks, inflicted prior to death, were also identified on the victim’s body. The victim was last seen shortly after midnight, only a few hours before the murder, when a friend had dropped her off and watched her enter her building. The coroner later estimated that the time of death was between midnight and 2 a.m. The Investigation; After examining the body, dental scientist Dr. Lowell Thomas Johnson worked with a police sketch artist and determined that the bite-marks on the body must have come from someone missing an upper front tooth.  The police questioned multiple suspects, including two men arrested for violent sexual assaults shortly after Cychosz was murdered. Both of these men had missing teeth consistent with Dr. Johnson’s sketch. Police investigators also visited 21-year-old Robert Lee Stinson, whose backyard was connected to the vacant lot where Cychosz’s body was discovered. While interviewing Stinson, the investigators told him a joke, and noticed both a missing front tooth and a crooked tooth when he laughed. Based on these observations, and his proximity to the crime scene, Stinson was arrested and charged with murder. Trial: The only physical evidence against Stinson at his 1985 trial was the bite-mark testimony of two forensic odontologists. Dr. Johnson concluded that the bite marks “had to have been made by teeth identical” to Stinson’s, and claimed that there was “no margin for error” in his conclusion. The State also called Dr. Raymond Rawson, the chairman of the Bite Mark Standards Committee of the American Board of Forensic Odontologists, who testified that the evidence in the case was “high quality” and “overwhelming.” However, the prosecution’s experts failed to note that Stinson was missing a tooth in the place where the bite marks indicated a dentition. While Stinson’s attorney moved to exclude the bite-mark testimony, he did not object to the qualifications of the State’s expert witnesses, nor did he call his own expert to testify, although one had been retained. According to Stinson’s attorney, he was unable to find qualified experts because Dr. Johnson had presented the results of his analysis at an odontological conference before the trial, and therefore many experts felt their analysis had already been tainted by Dr. Johnson’s conclusions.  Stinson also gave inconsistent accounts of his whereabouts at the time of the murder, but as the prosecution admitted at trial, the crux of their case was based on the bite mark analysis. After a three-day trial, Stinson was convicted of first-degree murder on the strength of the forensic testimony, and sentenced to life in prison. There was no other direct evidence linking him to the murder. On appeal, Stinson argued that the bite-mark testimony was not credible and claimed that he had been denied effective assistance of counsel. At trial, Stinson had attempted to replace his appointed counsel, since his attorney had only been on the case for two weeks and had not had time to prepare an adequate defense. Stinson also claimed to have a personality conflict with his attorney. His appeal was denied, and his conviction was upheld. Post-Conviction:  The improper bite-mark testimony would eventually provide the spark that cleared Stinson, but it took 20 years. The Wisconsin Innocence Project accepted Stinson’s case in 2005, and sought DNA testing of saliva and blood-stains on the victim’s sweater, which ultimately excluded Stinson. Yet this would not be enough. Working with Christopher Plourd, a California forensic science expert and attorney, the Wisconsin Innocence Project re-examined the bite-mark evidence and determined that Stinson did not match the indentations. Moreover, a panel of four nationally recognized experts independently reviewed the findings and unanimously reached the same conclusion.. Dr. Johnson now works at Marquette University with the prosecutor who tried Stinson’s case. He stood by his conclusions, as did the prosecutor, who noted that, “nobody in the state of Wisconsin had done a bite-mark rape-murder case like this one before…. So we were really reinventing the wheel.” The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office did not oppose Stinson’s motion to overturn his conviction. On January 30, 2009, Circuit Judge Patricia McMahon granted the motion, and Robert Lee Stinson, then 44, was freed and his conviction was vacated. He had served more than two decades in prison for a crime DNA evidence proves he didn’t commit. After his release, the District Attorney’s office had six months to decide whether or not to retry him. Finally, at a hearing on July 27, 2009, prosecutors, after undertaking their own investigation, dropped all charges against Stinson. Since his release, Stinson has moved into his sister’s Milwaukee home with her children. He also plans on writing a book about his wrongful conviction."
 http://www.innocenceproject.org/cases-false-imprisonment/robert-lee-stinson

Bulletin: Henry Keogh: South Australia; 'Adelaide Now' story based on court documents filed by Keogh's lawyers on their application to block prosecutors from proceeding with his third murder trial; Keogh's lawyers say the third trial for the murder of Anna-Jane Cheney, is "doomed to fail because of prosecutors’ actions, witnesses’ failing memories and a “misleading and partial” forensic scientist." (Must Read. HL);

"Henry Keogh’s third murder trial is doomed to fail  lawyers claim. Supreme Court documents reveal prosecutors still intend to call evidence from Dr Colin Manock at Keogh’s trial over the death of fiance Anna-Jane Cheney two decades ago, despite savage criticism of his actions and expertise. Dr Manock’s continued involvement in the case is one of many grievances Keogh raises with the court in his application to have the matter dismissed or permanently stayed.  Keogh’s counsel claims prosecutors have irreparably contaminated proceedings by allowing Dr Manock and other witnesses to re-read their testimony from 20 years ago. They say a jury could not be satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, of guilt in those circumstances — and insist Anna-Jane Cheney was not murdered but “innocently drowned”. In addition, they ask the court to reject evidence that was central to Keogh’s first two trials, including claims of:  Bruising  to Ms Cheney’s head and neck. False  statements allegedly made, by Keogh, to obtain insurance policies.  “Dr Manock is entirely unreliable and has been shown to have misled the prosecution and the court in a number of ways in this case,” the documents assert. “He has indicated ... a lack of independence and that he is partial to the interests of the deceased’s family. “The methods by which prosecution has insisted, despite requests to the contrary, of proofing all its witnesses has resulted in them being contaminated, making (them) unreliable and unfair. “The prosecution is foredoomed to failure, and prosecutors cannot disprove the reasonable possibility (that) the deceased died of natural causes.”.........Counsel for Keogh had attacked the evidence of Dr Manock, then a forensic examiner, who concluded Ms Cheney was deliberately drowned in her bathtub. Keogh’s counsel, however, called expert witnesses who claimed Ms Cheney may have suffered a fatal anaphylactic shock caused by the drug hismanal. The Full Court agreed Dr Manock’s assertions were “unreliable”, his conclusions “not properly explored” and his autopsy “inadequate”. It said his opinion on the manner of Ms Cheney’s death was “no more than prejudicial speculation” and that it was “reasonably arguable” Keogh had suffered a miscarriage of justice. At the time, Dr Manock was asked if he believed Keogh was guilty and replied: “I know he is.” Justice Malcolm Blue will consider the application during closed-court pre-trial hearings."  http://m.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-court-told-henry-keoghs-third-trial-for-the-murder-of-anna-jane-cheney-is-doomed-to-fail/story-fni6uo1m-1227500115464

 

Bulletin: Henry Keogh; Australia; Lawyers for alleged murderer say his third trial is an abuse of process. (Newspaper seeks order permitting publication of the abuse motion);

"The Advertiser can reveal counsel for Mr. Keogh have filed an abuse of process application with the Supreme Court, seeking to derail their client’s third Supreme Court trial scheduled in May 2016. It is understood their argument centres on the fact two decades have passed since the alleged murder of Anna-Jane Cheney. Keogh’s counsel contends witness recollections will be unreliable as a result of the passage of time, leaving a jury incapable of reaching a verdict beyond reasonable doubt. It is understood they further claim the issue is an “incurable” one for prosecutors, meaning the trial should not go ahead.
 https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/henry-keogh-lawyers-for-alleged-murderer-say-his-third-trial-is-an-abuse-of-process/story-fnii5yv6-1227498837047&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTU2OTQxMzMzMzM2NzkzMDI5NDgyGjI5NDlmNzU2YTExZWQxMzI6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNG1igI72og4ROScyDoE-OwGD1DFoQ

Bulletin: Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton; Philippines: 'Phillippine Star; reports ‘Laude possibly still alive when Pemberton left,’ ..."A forensic expert testified in court yesterday that transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude was possibly still alive when Pemberton left him in a motel room here in October last year. Rachel Fortun, a forensic pathologist and professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, also discounted the possibility that Laude died of asphyxia by drowning as claimed by prosecution witnesses. Fortun is the last of the witnesses presented by the defense."

"A forensic expert testified in court yesterday that transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude was possibly still alive when Pemberton left him in a motel room here in October last year. Rachel Fortun, a forensic pathologist and professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, also discounted the possibility that Laude died of asphyxia by drowning as claimed by prosecution witnesses. Fortun is the last of the witnesses presented by the defense.......... Police pathologist Reynaldo Dave earlier testified for the prosecution, saying he did the autopsy and that Laude’s body bore signs of punching and choking before Laude died by drowning. Dave also said that traumatic injuries on Laude’s body mean the application of too much pressure to produce bleeding – hence the conclusion of strangulation. He told the court in his testimony that the suppression shown by the hematoma in Laude’s larynx could be a result of an arm lock and that the oozing of fluids in the lungs with bubbles, a result of drowning.........Pemberton, who testified on Monday, admitted to choking Laude but stressed that he only did it in self-defense......... Defense counsel Rowena Flores explained that Pemberton’s testimony was meant to prove that the qualifying circumstances of treachery, abuse of superior strength and cruelty were not present in the murder case. She said Pemberton “acted in self-defense and to protect his honor and life… and acted in immediate vindication of the wrong done to him.”"

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/08/26/1492312/laude-possibly-still-alive-when-pemberton-left

Bulletin: Joseph Scott Pemberton: Phillipines; U.S. Marine Testifies in Killing of Transgender Woman in Philippines; New York Times report; "A United States Marine accused of killing a transgender woman in the Philippines acknowledged on Monday that he had choked her until she was no longer moving, but he stopped short of saying that he had killed her, according to the prosecutor assigned to the case."

"A United States Marine accused of killing a transgender woman in the Philippines acknowledged on Monday that he had choked her until she was no longer moving, but he stopped short of saying that he had killed her, according to the prosecutor assigned to the case. The serviceman, Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton, 20, was arrested in October in connection with the death of a 26-year-old Filipino, Jennifer Laude, whose name at birth was Jeffrey. Corporal Pemberton had met Ms. Laude in an Olongapo City nightclub while he was on liberty during military exercises, then accompanied her to a nearby hotel room, where she was later found dead. Corporal Pemberton, who has been charged with murder, testified during his trial on Monday. It was the first time that he had publicly provided his account of what took place in the room with Ms. Laude. He said that he brought Ms. Laude and another woman to the hotel, not knowing that they were transgender. He received oral sex from the women, he said, and one then left to buy condoms. Ms. Laude remained in the room, and he reached down to touch her vagina, he testified. “He said they began fighting when he discovered that she had a penis,” Emilie Fe Delos Santos, the prosecutor in the case, said by phone from Olongapo City, about 80 miles north of Manila. In his testimony, Corporal Pemberton said that he pushed Ms. Laude, she slapped him, he punched her, then he choked her with an arm lock until she was no longer moving. He also testified that Ms. Laude was still breathing but appeared to be unconscious after being put into the arm lock. He said he then brought her to the bathroom to try to revive her and left her slumped over the toilet. He said he then took a taxi back to his ship, where he told a fellow Marine, “I left her unconscious.” “Pemberton did not kill Laude,” Corporal Pemberton’s lawyer, Rowena L. Garcia-Flores, wrote in an email on Monday. “He left Laude in the toilet alive.” Ms. Garcia-Flores said that Corporal Pemberton had no criminal record and had never been in a fight before his altercation with Ms. Laude. She said that he acted to defend his honor when he discovered that Ms. Laude had a penis but that other factors led to the altercation, including his fear of being “scammed.” “He was a victim of the fraud committed by a sex worker” who was older than him, she said in the email. “Pemberton testified, ‘I felt like I was raped by Laude,’ ” she wrote in a subsequent email. “He was repulsed, felt violated and angry; that he would not have agreed to have sex with him if he knew he was a man.”...If Corporal Pemberton is convicted of murder, he faces 40 years in prison, Mr. Roque said. If his lawyers can persuade the judge that there were complicating circumstances, like self-defense or deception regarding the victim’s gender, the court could lower the charge to homicide, which is punishable by 12 to 20 years. In the Philippines, there are no jury trials, and cases are decided by a judge."

 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/world/asia/us-marine-joseph-scott-pemberton-testifies-in-transgender-killing-in-philippines.html

Bulletin: Up-coming New York conference to include a few voices which do not adhere to the abusive head trauma/shaken baby syndrome party line: Although the conference is dominated by "some of the most outspoken proponents of shaken baby theory" blogger Sue Luttner says, on her informative site "On SBS," that inclusion of the few skeptics "opens the door a little wider."

"This fall’s NYC Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby Syndrome Conference, sponsored jointly by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, will feature some of the most outspoken proponents of shaken baby theory but also a few of the skeptics..........Past Queens conferences have featured roundtable discussions that included critics as well as proponents of shaken baby theory, but this year’s schedule lists two full presentations from skeptics, one by attorneys Keith Findley of the Wisconsin Innocence Project and Adele Bernhard of the Post-Conviction Innocence Clinic, and one by pathologist Patrick Lantz, who has criticized the child abuse literature for adopting guidelines about retinal findings without objective scientific evidence. Attorneys Findley and Bernhard will be giving the Innocence Network perspective on appeals in infant head trauma cases—Findley spearheaded the appeal that freed child care provider Audrey Edmunds in 2008, and Bernhard argued last year at the successful hearing on behalf of care provider René Bailey. ........Dr. Lantz, a pathology professor at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, is one of two speakers at the Queens conference scheduled to talk about retinal hemorrhages. The other is ophthalmology professor Brian J. Forbes at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 2004, Dr. Lantz published a case study and critical literature review in the BMJ that cautioned against relying on retinal findings when diagnosing abuse. He has since encouraged pathologists to gather more data by capturing retinal images in all child deaths, whether or not abuse is suspected."
http://onsbs.com/2015/08/14/queens-head-injury-conference-opens-the-door-a-little-wider/

Bulletin: (Grits for Breakfast); Texas; Ed Graf; Cameron Todd Willingham; "Fire! Jailhouse informants and Texas arson cases."

"Two recent high-profile news stories shined a spotlight on the use of incentivized jailhouse snitches to supplement flawed arson science in high-profile murder cases. Jeremy Stahl, Slate, "The Trials of Ed Graf;"Maurice Possley and Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project, "Jailhouse snitch claims secret deal in death case" Grits has no time at the moment to comment at any length. But long-time readers know the intersection of informants and flawed arson science cuts across two of my long-time interests, so I may come back to these items as the vicissitudes of time and convenience permit. For now, I'll encourage everyone to read both stories and offer up in the comments any observations, arguments or suggestions which may consequently arise."

Bulletin: Daniel Green: Massachussets; Judge mulls verdict in alleged shaken baby case; (Verdict expected tobe delivered Monday); Salem Daily News says the court has to decide whether the case is about "An angry father," or "a medical issue?"

"There are no witnesses to what happened to a 3-month-old baby that caused bleeding on his brain and both retinas; bruising on his armpits, one leg and the top of his spine; and an injury to his spleen. These injuries have left the boy with significant vision loss and developmental delays.  Was it a hereditary medical condition — excess fluid on the brain — that triggered a brain bleed and then a seizure, as the defense suggests? Or, as prosecutors argue, was it a case of an angry father, who had already complained about the baby’s crying, lashing out and either throwing or shaking the infant?  That’s the decision Lawrence Superior Court Judge Mary Ames will have to make by Monday, when she is expected to deliver her verdict in the trial of the baby’s father, Daniel Green.

“This is a circumstantial case,” acknowledged prosecutor Karen Hopwood in her closing argument to Ames on Thursday. She urged the judge, however, to “stitch together” all of that circumstantial evidence to see what happened. The defense reminded the judge there was no physical evidence showing what caused the injuries — or who. “Where is the evidence that the Commonwealth has shown that only Daniel Green could have shaken or thrown (the baby)?” Green’s attorney, Joseph Collins, argued.  “Whatever happened to (the baby) happened while he was in the care and custody of Beverly Hospital and not at the motel,” suggested Collins.........The prosecution’s expert, Dr. Alice Newton of Children’s Hospital, had testified that the injuries to the child occurred somewhere between a half hour and four hours before he showed symptoms. Collins suggested that could only mean the child was already in the hospital when the damage occurred, and not alone with Green.  Hopwood argued, however, that the child was brought in much later that night, pointing to Beverly Hospital emergency room records showing he was first seen after 11 p.m. She told the judge the earlier time written on the records actually referred to the time the doctor’s notes were transcribed, on the following day, Nov. 28."
http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/an-angry-father-or-a-medical-issue/article_6504489a-1c6f-510f-9dc4-4a64301b8696.html

Bulletin: Douglas Prade; Ohio; He wins right to another hearing over DNA findings; "In November 2012, Hunter held the first set of hearings on what was then the latest test results of the bite-mark DNA. All of the experts who testified in those hearings agreed that Prade was excluded, and Hunter issued her findings of actual innocence the following January." Beacon Journal;

"Former Akron Police Captain Douglas Prade has won another round of court hearings on DNA evidence in his bid for a new trial in the 1997 shooting death of his ex-wife. It marks the second time in three years that an evidentiary hearing will be held to examine bite-mark evidence on Dr. Margo Prade’s lab coat. The notorious case has received nationwide investigative television news coverage since the former captain’s conviction in his 1998 Summit County trial. In a court order released Thursday, Common Pleas Judge Christine Croce, scheduled the new hearing date Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.........Prade, 69, remains in a state penitentiary after an appellate court overturned a lower court’s 2013 order freeing him from prison after he had served nearly 15 years for the crime. That order, by now-retired Judge Judy Hunter, was based on advanced DNA testing that excluded Prade from crucial crime-scene evidence — a bite mark under a lab coat worn by Dr. Prade on the morning of the slaying. Both sides always have agreed there was a struggle inside Dr. Prade’s minivan and that the killer bit her, leaving an impression on the upper-left arm through her lab coat and blouse. In November 2012, Hunter held the first set of hearings on what was then the latest test results of the bite-mark DNA. All of the experts who testified in those hearings agreed that Prade was excluded, and Hunter issued her findings of actual innocence the following January."
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/prade-wins-right-to-another-hearing-over-dna-findings-1.618107

Cameron Todd Willingham. Texas;...Another excellent Slate post by Jeremy Stahl: "Texas Executed an Almost Certainly Innocent Man: The Texas Forensic Science Commission chairman tried to convince Texas that Cameron Todd Willingham was a monster. Did politics trump truth?" (Must Read. HL);

NOTE FROM LAURA  HELMUTH, PUBLISHER OF SLATE: "Our most ambitious and important story of the week was Jeremy Stahl’s Fresca on the trials of Ed Graf, a man who was convicted of killing his sons in a fire. You’ve gotten a few messages about this story already, and I hope you’ve had a chance to read it and the accompanying stories in Slate Plus about Cameron Todd Willingham, another man convicted of killing his children. Willingham was innocent, and Texas executed him anyway. Texas is atoning for his death (sort of) by leading the country in reforming how it investigates arson cases. The whole series is haunting, but one statistic really captures the scope of the problem. In the 1990s, thanks to new research and a lot of pushing from reformers, arson investigators finally started accepting that many supposedly distinctive signs of arson were actually common in any accidental fire. As a result, as Jeremy wrote: “Between 1999 and 2008, arsons dropped from 15 percent to 6 percent of fires nationwide.” Imagine how many fires that missing 9 percent represents, how many people were convicted of arson or even murder based on shoddy forensic science."
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/slate_plus/2015/08/slate_s_weekly_roundup_laura_helmuth_on_her_week_at_slate.html

STORY: "Texas Executed an Almost Certainly Innocent Man The Texas Forensic Science Commission chairman tried to convince Texas that Cameron Todd Willingham was a monster. Did politics trump truth?,"by Jeremy Stahl, published on August 15, 2015, by Slate. (This story is part of a special Slate Plus package on Jeremy Stahl’s “The Trials of Ed Graf.” Be sure to check out another Slate Plus exclusive related to this story, a profile of the family of Cameron Todd Willingham and their campaign to have him exonerated.)

GIST: "The cases against Cameron Todd Willingham and Ed Graf were similar in many ways. Both men were accused of setting a fire to kill their children. Both men were accused of using accelerants to start the fire, of trapping their children in a burning building, and of not trying hard enough to save the children once the fire had started. Both men were prosecuted using forensic evidence that has since been thoroughly discredited. Both were convicted. Willingham was executed. Arson scientist John Lentini conducted a landmark 1992 study that proved that certain supposed arson indicators could be produced in accidental fires. He was among the first forensic scientists to re-examine the Willingham case. He found there was no evidence that anyone had intentionally lit Willingham’s home on fire. At least seven other experts looked into the case and agreed. Willingham had been convicted largely on the word of two fire investigators who had claimed to find more than 20 indicators of arson. All of them were junk science. The faulty arson science was brought to the attention of then–Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles before Willingham’s execution in 2004. Walter Reaves, the appellate attorney for both Willingham and Graf, sent a report by the Austin, Texas-based fire scientist Gerald Hurst demonstrating the flaws in the science. The report was ignored......... At the end of 2013, Willingham’s family members and Michael Morton, who has become a prominent advocate for criminal justice reform, came together to call on Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to give Willingham a posthumous pardon. In April 2014, the board voted to reject their plea. The Willingham family is still hoping that the new governor, Greg Abbott, or a future one will eventually grant their request. Morton says that Willingham’s prosecutor John H. Jackson, now a retired judge, should be charged with a crime. It turns out that in addition to relying on junk science, the “second pillar” of Jackson’s case was a jailhouse informant who has since said that he was coerced by Jackson to lie on the stand and say that Willingham confessed and was ultimately offered a deal in exchange for his testimony. (Jackson, who has described the charges that he paid off the informant as a “complete fabrication,” did not respond to multiple messages requesting comment left with his law office.) The Washington Post reported corroborating evidence for the payoff claim in August. Jackson is currently facing disbarment after the state bar charged him with concealing evidence related to the informant’s testimony. (Read about the Willingham family’s continued attempt to seek justice at Slate Plus.) Nothing can bring Cameron Todd Willingham back. There was one major consequence of his case, though. The Texas Forensic Science Commission gave 17 recommendations to revamp the state fire marshal’s office, including a proposal for it to review old arson cases where questionable science was used. Surprisingly, the state’s new fire marshal took on every single one of those recommendations. Ed Graf’s case was among the first up for review."

The entire post can be found at:

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;

Bulletin: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar: India; Case called "a tragedy of errors" as a new account raises questions over the investigation; Review of Avirook Sen book by Radha Kapoor-Sharma, who writes, in The Indian Express, "I took a special interest in the case because soft-spoken, reserved Nupur Talwar, who worked a lot with children, was also my dentist. At the Khan Market dental clinic that I went to, she was recommended to me as having the gentlest hand of all, as she simply could not bear to cause a child any pain."... "Every Indian needs to read Sen’s book with an open mind to gauge for himself/herself the enormity of the injustice done to the Talwars. And every Indian, even one who is not particularly interested in the Aarushi case, needs to read Sen’s book as it is also an incisive commentary into the appalling ethics and methods of working of some of India’s “experts” and leading institutions." (Must Read; HL);

"Like many in India, I was transfixed by the news of the double murder of 14-year old Aarushi Talwar and the Talwar’s live-in household help, Hemraj, in Noida. I watched in disbelief, and later incredulous horror, at the curious twists and turns the case took until it ended in the conviction of the dentist couple by a lower court and their sentencing to life imprisonment. I took a special interest in the case because soft-spoken, reserved Nupur Talwar, who worked a lot with children, was also my dentist. At the Khan Market dental clinic that I went to, she was recommended to me as having the gentlest hand of all, as she simply could not bear to cause a child any pain.........However, if the Talwars continue to be incarcerated pending the hearing of their appeal in due course by the Allahabad High Court – and this is likely to take several years – it would be a case of justice delayed. Maybe the honourable Supreme Court will take suo motu cognizance of Sen’s book and the fact that the judgment was being written even before the Defence had the opportunity to present all its closing arguments, and take corrective action. With every additional day that the Talwars languish in jail for a crime they did not commit, the system and we who unquestioningly support the system are guilty of perpetuating a glaring injustice. Justice for Aarushi and Hemraj cannot be delivered if the innocent are jailed and the guilty go scot-free."
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/aarushi-talwar-murder-a-tragedy-of-errors/

Ed Graf; Texas; Slate's extraordinary account by senior editor Jeremy Stahl: "The Trials of Ed Graf: In 1988, he was convicted of killing his stepsons—based on arson science we now know is bunk. A quarter of a century later, Texas granted him a new trial, one that pitted modern forensics against old-fashioned Texas justice..."The reason Ed Graf’s case was reviewed a quarter of a century after he barely escaped the death chamber was because of one man: Cameron Todd Willingham." (Must, Must Read. HL);

POST:  "The trials of Ed Graf," by Jeremy Stahl, published by Slate on August 16, 2015.

GIST: "The real motive, prosecutors argued, was to get the boys—a source of regular bickering between Graf and his wife—out of their lives. His wife testified that shortly before the fire, she had threatened to leave him over his strict discipline of Joby and Jason, sons from a previous marriage, and to take their newborn third son, Edward III, with her. The case was still largely circumstantial, though. The thing that likely clinched Graf’s conviction was the scientific testimony of a pair of forensic examiners. Joseph Porter, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, testified that, based on his analysis of photos of the remains of the scene, the door of the shed must have been locked from the outside at the time of the fire, which would indicate foul play. He also said there were obvious charring patterns on the floor of the shed left by an accelerant. “The fire was definitely incendiary,” Porter declared. The prosecution’s other expert, a top fire investigator from New York known for his report on the Osage Avenue fire, a notorious fire set by Philadelphia officials that destroyed a primarily black neighborhood, was brought in to testify that there was “no doubt” that this was arson. If the fire was intentionally set, then Graf was the only suspect with means, motives, and opportunity. Even if there was no direct evidence connecting him to the crime, the circumstantial evidence and the word of two arson experts was enough. The jury deliberated for four hours before pronouncing him guilty of capital murder. The jurors then had to decide the punishment. The district attorney, Vic Feazell, said that the “facts of the case cry out” for the death penalty—two boys burned alive, murdered by a trusted parent.

Defense attorney Charles McDonald gave an impassioned plea that the jurors had convicted an innocent man and would make the injustice irreversible if they chose execution over life in prison. “I’m asking for this man’s life because if you did make a mistake there’s going to be some folks, somewhere down the line, it may be years … but maybe the mistake can be corrected,” McDonald argued. “If you take this man’s life, there ain’t no way to ever correct it.”  The jurors must have found this argument compelling, because they spared Ed Graf’s life. Twenty-five years later, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decided that a mistake had, in fact, been made. The investigators who testified the fire was arson used what in the years since has been discredited as junk science. A state review panel set up to examine bad forensic science in arson cases said that the evidence did not point to an incendiary fire. A top fire scientist in the field went one step further: The way the boys had died, from carbon monoxide inhalation rather than burns, proved the fire couldn’t have been set by Graf spreading an accelerant, and was thus likely accidental. The defense’s theory was that the boys, who multiple witnesses said had a history of playing with matches and cigarettes, had set the fire themselves, attempted to put it out, and been quickly overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning. The reason Ed Graf’s case was reviewed a quarter of a century after he barely escaped the death chamber was because of one man: Cameron Todd Willingham..........Whether Graf’s plea damages the good work of Chris Connealy’s review panels remains to be seen, but the prosecution’s successful attempts to present a case in direct contradiction to scientific evidence does appear like it could have the negative impact that Carpenter had told me he fears. Certainly Graf, when he looked at his options, didn’t have faith that the jury would favor science over circumstance—and he was right to be skeptical. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the judicial proceedings in these cases is how close Graf came to being sentenced to death, and how Cameron Todd Willingham’s unjust killing by the state has remained unacknowledged. (Not everybody feels that way. “I felt from the beginning, as many others did, he should’ve gotten the death penalty,” Bradburn told me. “He should not be breathing right now.” After the Willingham controversy erupted following the publication of Grann’s story, meanwhile, his ex-wife Stacy Kuykendall said he confessed to her, which contradicted previous statements to reporters.) Every last bit of evidence used against Willingham has fallen apart, but there have been no repercussions for the execution of a man who was almost certainly innocent. The most extreme punishment Willingham prosecutor John Jackson currently faces is disbarment for his alleged role in concocting a false confession. (Request for comment to Jackson’s office went unreturned, but he has previously denied the accusation that he helped fabricate a confession.)

Despite this, and despite polls that show Texas continues to support the death penalty, national Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck believes the state is evolving on the issue. “I think that Texas has changed now. They included the option of life without parole so jurors know about it, and death sentences in Texas have begun to go down,” Scheck told me last year. “I think it’s disturbing to people in Texas, as it is across the country, that the risk of executing innocent people is real. It’s demonstrable in Texas, it’s not just Todd Willingham.” Texas is already making great strides on correcting bad forensic science, led by the Forensic Science Commission, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the state’s Innocence Project. “The reality is, science is as factual and real as you can get,” Vilbas said when we first spoke during the fire marshal’s training sessions. “Science is gonna advance, whether a DA, or a defense attorney, or a politician wants to face it or not. … At some point, you’re gonna have to face the facts that you’ve got cases based on bad science. You’re either gonna do something about it or not, and we’re going about it in a way that we’re able to get the stakeholders involved to actually look at it and go ‘yeah, that’s not good, let’s do what we’re supposed to do.’”

The entire post can be found at:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/08
/ed_graf_arson_trial_texas_granted_him_a_new_trial_would_modern_forensic.html

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