Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Bulletin: Rodricus Crawford: Louisiana: Compelling Wrongful Conviction Blog post by Jessica S. Henry, "On death row for a murder that wasn't?"..."Dale Cox was the Lousiana prosecutor against Crawford, a case which rested almost exclusively on the testimony of a state forensic pathologist who claimed that bruises on the child’s lip were consistent with death by smothering. It was undisputed that Bobo had fallen the day before, a fact confirmed by the child’s mother and a fact that explained the bruised lip. More importantly, BoBo also was found to have pneumonia is his lungs, a fact that the same state forensic pathologist dismissed as mere “coincidence.” Another forensic pathologist, Daniel Spitz, disagreed. After reviewing the case, Spitz concluded that BoBo died of pneumonia. Spitz added that, in his opinion, there: wasn’t enough evidence to even put this before a jury. You didn’t have anybody who thought this guy committed murder except for one pathologist who decided that it was homicide on what seemed like a whim. And it is not just Spitz. Other pathologists agree that BoBo likely died of pneumonia. The Innocence Network filed an amicus brief on behalf of Crawford, in which they too argue that BoBo died of an illness, not murder.So why is Crawford still sitting on death row? The answer may be as twisted, as it is true: he had the misfortune of being prosecuted by Cox."..."Ten people have already been exonerated from Louisiana’s death row. Perhaps Stewart will help Crawford be its number eleven."


"Rodricus Crawford sits on Louisiana’s death row, awaiting execution for the murder of his one-year-old son, Roderius But although Roderius (affectionately called “BoBo”) is dead, he likely was not murdered – not by his father. Or by anyone else. Dale Cox was the Lousiana prosecutor against Crawford, a case which rested almost exclusively on the testimony of a state forensic pathologist who claimed that bruises on the child’s lip were consistent with death by smothering.  It was undisputed that Bobo had fallen the day before, a fact confirmed by the child’s mother and a fact that explained the bruised lip. More importantly, BoBo also was found to have pneumonia is his lungs, a fact that the same state forensic pathologist dismissed as mere “coincidence.” Another forensic pathologist, Daniel Spitz, disagreed.  After reviewing the case, Spitz concluded that BoBo died of pneumonia. Spitz added that, in his opinion, there: wasn’t enough evidence to even put this before a jury. You didn’t have anybody who thought this guy committed murder except for one pathologist who decided that it was homicide on what seemed like a whim. And it is not just Spitz. Other pathologists agree that BoBo likely died of pneumonia.  The Innocence Network filed an amicus brief on behalf of Crawford, in which they too argue that BoBo died of an illness, not murder.So why is Crawford still sitting on death row? The answer may be as twisted, as it is true: he had the misfortune of being prosecuted by Cox. Lousiana’s use of the death penalty has been on the decline in recent years.  But not in Caddo Parish, a county in Louisiana, which is responsible for most of the state’s death sentences.  Between 2010-2015, 8 out of 12 death sentences came from Caddo Parish. Of those eight death sentences, Dale Cox was responsible for four. Cox is an ardent believer in capital punishment who proudly believes “we need to kill more people.” And he doesn’t just believe in the death penalty.  He believes that people who are sentenced to die should physically suffer, a philosophy long-ago rejected by the Supreme Court.  After Crawford was sentenced to die, Cox wrote to the state’s probation department: “I am sorry that Louisiana has adopted lethal injection as the form of implementing the death penalty,” because “Mr. Crawford deserves as much physical suffering as it is humanly possible to endure before he dies.”Many folks who have reviewed Crawford’s case would strongly disagree; it is no “mere coincidence” that Crawford has been featured as an example of the death penalty gone terribly wrong, and that he is currently the subject of two different petitions to gain his release. The potentially good news is that there’s a new prosecutor in Caddo now.........Ten people have already been exonerated from Louisiana’s death row.  Perhaps Stewart will help Crawford be its number eleven." (Jessica S. Henry is Associate Professor of Justice Studies,  at Montclair University."
https://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2016/06/06/on-death-row-for-a-murder-that-wasnt/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  Many people are asking how they can help  free and exonerate Rodricus Crawford.  Crawford himself,  his family, and Marlene Belliveau, who is advocating for Crawford,   believe that personal pleas directly  to District Attorney James Stewart or  Governor of the State of Louisiana John Bel Edwards to review the case before it is too late could help make a difference -  and would be most appreciated. The pleas can be sent as follows:

DA James Stewart
501Texas St, 5th Floor
Shreveport, LA  71101

(or) 

Governor John Bel Edwards
Office of the Governor
PO Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804

For more information with respect to this case, you may also contact Marlene Belliveau at : MarleneABelliveau@gmail.com ( for the Crawford family);

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: THE EIGHT POST  CHARLES SMITH BLOG SERIES:

Part One: 'TakePart'  tells the compelling  story of a sister's (Vicki Crawford-Sharp) efforts to save her brother from Louisiana's death row  - with the  fervent  support of a Canadian woman (Marlene Belliveau)  drawn to the case  by a horrific personal experience of her own.
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/05/rodricus-crawford-louisiana-death-row.html 

Part Two: Marlene Belliveau's compelling   plea to Caddo Parrish's new  District Attorney James Stewart to spare an innocent father's  life and proclaim his innocence.
 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/05/rodricus-crawford-louisiana-death-row_28.html

Part Three: The Innocence Network files an Amicus Brief urging the US Supreme Court to reverse his conviction - asserting that the victim’s death resulted not from suffocation, but from a fatal illness.
 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/05/rodricus-crawford-louisiana-death-row_29.html

Part Four:  In his own words Rodricus Crawford - through an open letter - tells anyone who will listen that all he asks is for the new DA (James Stewart) "to do the right thing and re-examine the case...There's only one reasonable conclusion."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/05/rodricus-crawford-louisiana-death-row_30.html

Part Five: Catholics lead calls for court to spare life of death-row inmate; Catholic News Service.
 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016_05_01_archive.html

Part Six: More on the perverse criminal justice culture in which Rodicrus Crawford - and many others - have been trapped: A recent study conducted by the 'Southern University Law Center’s Journal of Race, Gender and Poverty' which shows that "few Louisiana death row inmates are actually executed, since the majority have their verdicts reversed upon appeal, or are exonerated due to innocence findings".
 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/06/rodricus-crawford-death-row-louisiana.html

Part Seven: Good news for Rodricus Crawford and the rest of the more than 80 people on death row in Louisiana; It just got more difficult for the state to push forward on executions.
 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/06/rodricus-crawford-death-row-louisiana_1.html

Part Eight: Publisher's view; (Editorial);  "Apart from the factual component of the case which cries out Rodricus Crawford's innocence - after he had been trapped  in Louisiana's  perverse criminal justice culture - we still have to view Rodricus in the context of a father wrongfully convicted of the  murder of his son,  charged with the most horrific offence in the criminal law, and  awaiting a meeting with the state's executioner."
 https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=120008354894645705#editor/target=post;postID=3030613652084038518;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=8;src=link
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