PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The outrageous conduct of prosecutor Dale Cox on the death penalty hearing pointed out by the religious leaders is all the worse since Cox was using the Bible in a bid to secure the execution of an innocent man. But the death penalty hearing and the trial itself - with a conviction that ignored the medical evidence pointing to the fact that no crime had been committed - can only make us wonder why Rodricus Crawford was charged in the first place. (Other than his being black in Caddo Parrish, Louisiana and living a lifestyle Cox didn't agree with). Or in Rodricus Crawford's own words: "It is my firm belief that Dale Cox prosecuted me for the alleged murder of my one year old son because his personal view of my life was not to his liking. I know that may be hard to believe, but it is the only thing that makes sense and is supported by the evidence and his actions. Look at the personal comments he made about me and the specific questions he asked that weren't related to any actual crime or even the alleged crime I am accused of, the phantom time I've been convicted of. Dale Cox took it personally that I smoked weed and I didn't have a job. He was angered because I had multiple beautiful, young women in my life and several children. He didn't like the fact that I lived with my mama. None of these things had anything to do with the alleged crime I've been convicted of. Dale Cox abused his position and his authority to wage his own personal war against a young African American man. I have been accused of smothering my baby boy."
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
STORY: "Catholics lead calls for court to spare life of death-row inmate, published by the Catholic News Service on October 20, 2015;
GIST: "Archbishop Gregory Aymond is one of the signatories to the letter (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert). A group of religious leaders have urged the Supreme Court to halt the execution of Rodricus Crawford in Louisiana More than 100 religious leaders-more than half of whom are Catholic- across the state of Louisiana have appealed to the state’s Supreme Court in the hope of sparing the life of a convicted murderer. The religious leaders who signed the brief “have a substantial interest in ensuring that Louisiana courts are fair and juries are not wrongfully persuaded to impose the death penalty by a prosecutor’s personal interpretation of the Bible,” the brief said. They are seeking a stay in the death sentence of Rodricus Crawford, born in 1988, who was convicted in 2013 in the killing of his year-old son. “Signers grieve every wrongful death,” said the brief, also known as a friend-of-the-court brief. “But signers do not believe that further death at the hands of the government is a just or moral response.”.........The brief called the conduct of the prosecutor in the capital case, Dale Cox, “inappropriate and unconstitutional.” “The prosecutor, as an agent of the state of Louisiana, should not have misused and misinterpreted passages in the Bible to support his call to the jury for the execution of Mr Crawford. The prosecutor’s own private interpretations of the Bible are his own and he is entitled to his own opinions,” it added. “The problem is that at critical times the prosecutor, Mr Cox, acting as an official agent of the State of Louisiana, publicly injected his own private religious interpretations of the Bible into the trial as the State’s justification to argue for the execution of Mr Crawford. Mr Cox’s statements are particularly egregious in a parish that leads the country in executions per capita and primarily due to the efforts of Mr Cox.” During the trial, in questioning Crawford’s pastor, Cox asked, “Referring to children, Christ said to his followers: Woe unto you, any of that would harm one of these. It would be better … as though you will never born. You will have a millstone put around your neck and dropped into the sea. Do you believe in that concept?” After some back-and-forth with the pastor, who said he believed not only in that passage from the Gospel but also in mercy, Cox asked him, “So, Pastor, then we should just ignore that Scripture from Christ?” Cox used the passage once more in his closing argument. Cox is the acting district attorney for Caddo Parish, or county, which accounts for nearly half of the Louisiana’s death sentences in the past five years. Further, from 2010 to 2014. more people were sentenced to death per capita in Caddo Parish than in any other county in the United States, among counties with four or more death sentences in that time period. Crawford, who is African-American, is the second youngest man on death row awaiting execution at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. Critics of his death sentence say Crawford was charged with smothering his baby based on a flawed pathology report, because the autopsy also showed the baby had pneumonia but the finding was dismissed by the forensic pathologist as a coincidence."
GIST: "Archbishop Gregory Aymond is one of the signatories to the letter (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert). A group of religious leaders have urged the Supreme Court to halt the execution of Rodricus Crawford in Louisiana More than 100 religious leaders-more than half of whom are Catholic- across the state of Louisiana have appealed to the state’s Supreme Court in the hope of sparing the life of a convicted murderer. The religious leaders who signed the brief “have a substantial interest in ensuring that Louisiana courts are fair and juries are not wrongfully persuaded to impose the death penalty by a prosecutor’s personal interpretation of the Bible,” the brief said. They are seeking a stay in the death sentence of Rodricus Crawford, born in 1988, who was convicted in 2013 in the killing of his year-old son. “Signers grieve every wrongful death,” said the brief, also known as a friend-of-the-court brief. “But signers do not believe that further death at the hands of the government is a just or moral response.”.........The brief called the conduct of the prosecutor in the capital case, Dale Cox, “inappropriate and unconstitutional.” “The prosecutor, as an agent of the state of Louisiana, should not have misused and misinterpreted passages in the Bible to support his call to the jury for the execution of Mr Crawford. The prosecutor’s own private interpretations of the Bible are his own and he is entitled to his own opinions,” it added. “The problem is that at critical times the prosecutor, Mr Cox, acting as an official agent of the State of Louisiana, publicly injected his own private religious interpretations of the Bible into the trial as the State’s justification to argue for the execution of Mr Crawford. Mr Cox’s statements are particularly egregious in a parish that leads the country in executions per capita and primarily due to the efforts of Mr Cox.” During the trial, in questioning Crawford’s pastor, Cox asked, “Referring to children, Christ said to his followers: Woe unto you, any of that would harm one of these. It would be better … as though you will never born. You will have a millstone put around your neck and dropped into the sea. Do you believe in that concept?” After some back-and-forth with the pastor, who said he believed not only in that passage from the Gospel but also in mercy, Cox asked him, “So, Pastor, then we should just ignore that Scripture from Christ?” Cox used the passage once more in his closing argument. Cox is the acting district attorney for Caddo Parish, or county, which accounts for nearly half of the Louisiana’s death sentences in the past five years. Further, from 2010 to 2014. more people were sentenced to death per capita in Caddo Parish than in any other county in the United States, among counties with four or more death sentences in that time period. Crawford, who is African-American, is the second youngest man on death row awaiting execution at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. Critics of his death sentence say Crawford was charged with smothering his baby based on a flawed pathology report, because the autopsy also showed the baby had pneumonia but the finding was dismissed by the forensic pathologist as a coincidence."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/10/20/catholics-lead-calls-for-court-to-spare-life-of-death-row-inmate/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;
Harold Levy;
Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
