Monday, September 5, 2016

Rodricus Crawford: Louisiana death row: Part 20: (Can you believe this?) Article published today by KTBS today - two days before Rodricus Crawford's appeal, (September 6) under the heading 'Caddo DA taking office in new direction following death penalty firestorm.' Series of posts in anticipation of his appeal. Oral argument set to begin Wednesday, September 7 at 9.30 AM...In this twentieth post of the series you will find an article published today (September 6) - two days before Rodicrus Crawford's appeal - which I find terribly hard to believe. (But I wish it were true). It says that the new Caddo Parish prosecutor James Stewart has changed the direction of his office (Previously characterized by the notorious Dale Crawford and others, distinguished by an insatiable appetite for the death penalty - and that he wil now l only call for the death penalty in the most egregious case...(How about a case where there has been no murder, like the Crawford case? HL); If that is indeed the case, how can he go before the Louisiana Supreme Court Wednesday and fight to keep Rodricus Crawford, an innocent young Black man, who's 1-year-old son Roderius died of pneumonia and a related sepsis, on death row so that the State of Louisiana can snuff out his life. Sure sounds pretty much like the old regime to me. Especially after his outrageous conviction at the hands of Dale Cox, who deserves to go into the history books as 'D.A. Death,' in a case where no murder occurred.)... But Stewart says he's taking the parish into a new direction. He's decided not to seek the death penalty in most of the cases he inherited. He reviewed every capital case pending before his office. "I brought in a group of people who I thought were very objective. We operate under justice, and mercy with humility." He's decided to move forward with just one: Grover Cannon, for murdering Shreveport police officer Thomas LaValley. "We believe there's a great chance that a jury would give the defendant the death penalty, so we're going to seek the death penalty in that case," said Stewart. The death penalty was dropped in six others." My question: If Stewart has decided to move on only one death penalty case, why would he be defending Rodricus Crawford's ludicrus conviction and death penalty sentence at the hands of 'DA Death' at the appeal on Wednesday - instead of moving as quickly to drop the indictment and free Rodricus as an actually innocent ASAP. PS: In case I missed it, the story does not even mention Rodricus Crawford. Something seems missing in this picture." HL;

 

URGENT PETITION


A petition, set up on 'Color of Change'  by supporter Marlene Belliveau on behalf of  Rodricus Crawford's family,  implores Caddo Parish District Attorney James Stewart, "to look at the concrete evidence and facts before you. Mr Crawford did not kill his son. You have sworn to justice...it is your duty to exonerate this young man." The petition can be found at the following link. (In view of the rapidly approaching appeal - set for Wednesday September 7 - supporters should get their message to Mr. Stewart as soon as possible. HL);



https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/on-death-row-for-a-murder-that-wasn-t


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (A): Rodricus Crawford's appeal is set for  Wednesday, September 7, 2016. It is imperative that public attention be brought to this appeal as there is a ominous danger that Louisiana will be executing an innocent father whose 1-year-old son died of  pneumonia - unless the Louisiana Supreme Court intervenes.  (Contrary to the the testimony of the pathologist testifying for the prosecution who dismissed  the medical factors as the cause of death  without a scientific basis for doing so, also gave his equally unscientific opinion that Rodricus Crawford had smothered Roderius  to death - as is demonstrated  by  forensic evidence (affidavits) filed by his lawyers which will be published later in this series.)  As will be seen over the course of the series, it didn't help that Crawford was prosecuted by the notorious Dale Cox in Caddo Parish,  which, as the Fair Punishment Project reports,  has a disproportionate number of  death sentences. I implore  whoever reads these posts to share them as widely as possible, to make sure that  Louisiana's  Supreme Court  understands the urgency of stopping  this execution in its tracks and put an end to the prosecution. In  this nineteenth post of  the series  in anticipation of Rodricus Crawford's appeal set for Wednesday (September 7) you will find an article published today (September 5) - two days before Rodicrus Crawford's appeal -  which I find terribly hard to believe.   (but I wish were true). It says that the new Caddo  Parish prosecutor James Stewart has changed the  direction of his office (Previously characterized by the notorious Dale Crawford and others, distinguished by an insatiable appetite for the death penalty, and now will only call for the death penalty in the most egregious case. If that is indeed the case, how can he go before the Louisiana Supreme Court Wednesday  and fight to keep Rodricus Crawford, an innocent young Black man, who's 1-year-old son Roderius died of pneumonia and a related sepsis, on death row so that the State can snuff out his life. Sure sounds like the old regime to me. Especially after After his outrageous conviction at the hands of Dale Cox, who deserves to go into the history books as 'D.A. Death," in a case where no murder occurred).
 
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; 

PUBLISHER'S NOTE 'B."  Read this: "Cox stirred up a firestorm when he said to the New York Times, "We should kill more people." He transformed from an opponent of capital punishment, to one of the country's bluntest advocates for it. "You have to understand he was not elected, he was selected," said Stewart. "And I think we have a different approach as to how we look at first-degree murder cases." But Stewart says he's taking the parish into a new direction. He's decided not to seek the death penalty in most of the cases he inherited. He reviewed every capital case pending before his office. "I brought in a group of people who I thought were very objective. We operate under justice, and mercy with humility." He's decided to move forward with just one: Grover Cannon, for murdering Shreveport police officer Thomas LaValley. "We believe there's a great chance that a jury would give the defendant the death penalty, so we're going to seek the death penalty in that case," said Stewart. The death penalty was dropped in six others." My question: If Stewart has decided to move on only one death penalty case, why would he be defending Rodricus Crawford's ludicrus conviction and death penalty sentence at the hands of 'DA Death' at the appeal on Wednesday - instead of moving as quickly to drop the indictment and free Rodricus as an actually innocent ASAP. PS: In case I missed it, the story does not even mention Rodricus Crawford. Something seems missing in this picture. HL;
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. 

STORY:"Caddo DA taking office in new direction following death penalty firestorm," by reporter Alanna Quillen, published by KTBS TV  on September 5, 2016.

GIST: "Caddo Parish, La:  "Ten months ago, the new district attorney, James Stewart stepped into an office with a national reputation as blood thirsty. From 2010 to 2014, Caddo Parish put more people on death row than any other parish or county in the nation. That was under his predecessors, Charles Scott, and then Dale Cox -- who took over when Scott died in 2015. And just last summer, the Caddo Parish district attorney's office was burning in the national spotlight over how often it seeks the death penalty. Cox stirred up a firestorm when he said to the New York Times, "We should kill more people." He transformed from an opponent of capital punishment, to one of the country's bluntest advocates for it. "You have to understand he was not elected, he was selected," said Stewart. "And I think we have a different approach as to how we look at first-degree murder cases." But Stewart says he's taking the parish into a new direction. He's decided not to seek the death penalty in most of the cases he inherited. He reviewed every capital case pending before his office. "I brought in a group of people who I thought were very objective. We operate under justice, and mercy with humility." He's decided to move forward with just one: Grover Cannon, for murdering Shreveport police officer Thomas LaValley. "We believe there's a great chance that a jury would give the defendant the death penalty, so we're going to seek the death penalty in that case," said Stewart. The death penalty was dropped in six others. Cox says his exposure to so many heinous crimes, changed his views on capital punishment.  Stewart says it has its place, but he takes a much more measured approach. He points to decades of appeals, the growing trend against capital punishment and the fact executions are on hold for at least two years because drugs aren't available for lethal injections. "The death penalty is a very expensive process in terms of money, time and resources so we only want to use that for the worst cases," he said.""

http://www.ktbs.com/story/33014597/caddo-da-taking-office-in-new-direction

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (C);

I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
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/charlessmithInformation on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:  http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html  Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com