The entire release can be found at:
Monday, October 31, 2016
Bill Kuenzel: Alabama; Bulletin; US Supreme Court rejects appeal for Alabama Death Row inmate Bill Kuenzel who contended that evidence withheld by prosecutors entitled him to a new court hearing... "Kuenzel's attorneys issued a statement after the SCOTUS ruling today. "We're obviously disappointed that the Court didn't review the case of an innocent man facing death, given that the key evidence has never once been substantively reviewed by any court and only because some paperwork supposedly missed a filing deadline in the 1990's," according to the statement. "This case represents the most extreme example of government overreach, literally seeking to wrongfully take a citizen's life without fair process." And for the people of Alabama, executing Bill means that Linda Offord's real murderer will continue walking the streets – endangering every man, woman and child."...(From a previous post of this Blog)..."His conviction was based largely on plea deal testimony from his roommate, Harvey Venn, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served about 10 years in prison. A witness who placed Kuenzel at the scene initially told the grand jury she didn't know who was at the store that night and couldn't see a face. Lawyers said they later discovered that Venn, who testified that he waited in the car while Kuenzel killed the clerk, owned the same gauge shotgun as the murder weapon. Venn, who had blood on his pants, also initially told police he was with a different friend at the convenience store, Kuenzel's lawyers said. The conservative group Eagle Forum and a group of religious leaders filed a motion in support of Kuenzel's appeal." Associated Press: October 31, 2016.
"The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a death row inmate in Alabama who said evidence withheld by prosecutors entitled him to a new court hearing. The justices did not comment Monday in turning away the appeal from Bill Kuenzel, convicted of killing a convenience store clerk in 1987.
Kuenzel's case had gotten a boost from former Attorney General Edwin Meese, who said Kuenzel is "very likely actually innocent." He also has gotten support from actors and former prosecutors around the nation. Kuenzel's lawyers said that the evidence would have raised doubts about the truthfulness of plea deal testimony from a roommate who said Kuenzel committed the killing. State courts had earlier refused Kuenzel's pleas for a new hearing. Kuenzel's attorneys issued a statement after the SCOTUS ruling today. "We're obviously disappointed that the Court didn't review the case of an innocent man facing death, given that the key evidence has never once been substantively reviewed by any court and only because some paperwork supposedly missed a filing deadline in the 1990's," according to the statement. "This case represents the most extreme example of government overreach, literally seeking to wrongfully take a citizen's life without fair process." And for the people of Alabama, executing Bill means that Linda Offord's real murderer will continue walking the streets – endangering every man, woman and child. The good news is that, while the window has narrowed, there are still those who are empowered to effect justice," according to the statement."
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/10/us_supreme_court_rejects_appea.html
See previous - November 12, 2015 - post of this Blog at the link below: "A death row inmate asked the Alabama Supreme Court on Monday to review his nearly 30-year-old conviction, arguing jurors never heard evidence that could have proven his innocence. Lawyers for Bill Kuenzel said "This court represents his final opportunity to secure relief from conviction. Bill Kuenzel did not commit the crime for which he was convicted," lawyers for Kuenzel wrote in the court filing. Kuenzel was convicted of killing Linda Jean Offord during a 1987 robbery at Joe Bob's Crystal Palace in Sylacauga. His conviction was based largely on plea deal testimony from his roommate, Harvey Venn, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served about 10 years in prison. A witness who placed Kuenzel at the scene initially told the grand jury she didn't know who was at the store that night and couldn't see a face. Lawyers said they later discovered that Venn, who testified that he waited in the car while Kuenzel killed the clerk, owned the same gauge shotgun as the murder weapon. Venn, who had blood on his pants, also initially told police he was with a different friend at the convenience store, Kuenzel's lawyers said. The conservative group Eagle Forum and a group of religious leaders filed a motion in support of Kuenzel's appeal. "They believe that extra precautions are needed for any system of justice that faces sanctioning the killing of another human being," lawyers for the group and religious leaders wrote. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in July ruled Kuenzel missed the deadline to raise the new evidence claim."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2015/11/bulletin-bill-kuenzel-alabama-death-row.html
G. Michelle Yezzo: Ohio; Bureau of Criminal Investigation; (Part 2); Columbus Dispatch exposes work records show litany of problems "but praise from cops."..."The consensus is that Michele’s perceived problem affects her overall performance. Her findings and conclusions regarding evidence may be suspect,” then-Assistant BCI Superintendent Daniel Chilton wrote in a three-page memo. “She will stretch the truth to satisfy a (law enforcement) department.”..." In December, BCI officials questioned Yezzo about a second “quality issue” related to a paint analysis in a criminal case. Discovery of the errors forced the BCI to re-examine all paint analysis she had completed in the previous 18 months. “These interpretational and observational errors indicate a lack of attention to detail, which cannot be tolerated in such a sensitive position,” BCI Superintendent Paul C. Tobin wrote in a 2009 reprimand. “Your failures could lead to a substantial miscarriage of justice.” Tobin also told her that a forensic scientist would re-evaluate her work in the future to make sure it was correct. A month later, Yezzo resigned."
STORY: "Scientist’s work records show litany of problems, but praise from cops," by reporters , , and, published by
"G. Michele Yezzo worked at the Ohio attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation for more than three decades."
GIST: "Forensic scientist G. Michele Yezzo’s first meltdown happened only four months after she was hired at Ohio’s crime lab.She “stormed off” as laboratory chief Michael Yarchak reviewed her performance at a mock trial in 1977. “I instructed her that this attitude was very immature — that she must be able to accept criticism,” Yarchak wrote in a memo to document the incident. Over 32 years on the job at the Ohio attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Yezzo’s behavior escalated from immature to toxic. Her personnel file paints a portrait of an often dysfunctional employee who alienated colleagues and created what they described as a hostile environment. But at the same time, prosecutors and law-enforcement officers praised her work and her willingness to drop other analyses to work on their cases........That spring, members of her union, the Fraternal Order of Police, asked her supervisors to impose a bargaining-unit rule to force Yezzo to undergo a mental-health examination. The union charged that: Yezzo’s erratic, abusive behavior was chasing off employees; She had threatened to use a gun to shoot her co-workers and herself; She frequently broke into sobbing spells for no reason; She swore at her boss, called colleagues by expletives and made offensive hand gestures at them. “The consensus is that Michele’s perceived problem affects her overall performance. Her findings and conclusions regarding evidence may be suspect,” then-Assistant BCI Superintendent Daniel Chilton wrote in a three-page memo. “She will stretch the truth to satisfy a (law enforcement) department.” Yet nothing came of the memo — no reprimand, no counseling, no investigation. Cappy said during a court hearing this year that he never saw that memo......... Then, in 2008, Yezzo made multiple mistakes. In September, the BCI disciplined her for misinterpreting the results of a glass test, an exam that uses trace evidence to determine how proficient a forensics expert’s analysis is. Because it was the second time that she had made such an error, the bureau had to transfer all cases involving glass to its Bowling Green office for analysis. In December, BCI officials questioned Yezzo about a second “quality issue” related to a paint analysis in a criminal case. Discovery of the errors forced the BCI to re-examine all paint analysis she had completed in the previous 18 months. “These interpretational and observational errors indicate a lack of attention to detail, which cannot be tolerated in such a sensitive position,” BCI Superintendent Paul C. Tobin wrote in a 2009 reprimand. “Your failures could lead to a substantial miscarriage of justice.” Tobin also told her that a forensic scientist would re-evaluate her work in the future to make sure it was correct. A month later, Yezzo resigned."
The story can be found at the link below;
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/10/30/records-show-litany-of-problems-but-praise-from-cops.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Montana Innocence Project: Richard Raugust; Robert Wilkes; Cody Marble; Katie Irene Garding: Busy year for the Montana Innocence Project. Three cases of interest to our readers which this Blog has been following - Richard Raugust; Robert Wilkes; Cody Marble; Now a fourth: Katie Irene Garding - sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted of the New Year’s Day 2008 vehicular homicide of Bronson Parsons in East Missoula...."The Montana Innocence Project has put forth newly developed crash reconstructions and expert testimony as evidence it believes the court needs to consider in deciding whether to overturn Garding’s conviction. It contends the evidence shows in part that her SUV should have sustained more damage from such an impact, and that Parsons’ injuries would more likely have been caused by another vehicle. The petition also argues prosecutors violated a court order to provide all evidence to the defense, and that Garding received ineffective counsel from her public defense attorney, Jennifer Streano, who did not conduct a crash reconstruction to refute the prosecution's narrative."..."In June, Deputy County Attorney Jennifer Clark wrote the response brief for the state, disputing the Montana Innocence Project's three primary claims. Clark said the prosecution did not attempt to hide evidence in the case – specifically the X-rays done on Parsons' body – adding that those X-rays were in the possession of the Montana State Crime Lab, which her office doesn’t control. The X-rays, she said, were also referenced in the reports by expert witnesses, and Garding’s defense would have known about them and could have asked for them if necessary. Larry Mansch of the Montana Innocence Project, in a reply brief issued in September, disagreed, saying the crime lab falls under the control of the Montana Department of Justice and should have fully complied with a court order to produce evidence in the case. Mansch and his agency believe their expert witness would have reached different conclusions and offered different testimony had he seen the X-rays."..."Both sides have asked for a hearing so a Missoula County District Court judge can make a ruling on whether Garding deserves a new trial. No date for such a hearing has been set." Reporter Dillon Kato: The Missoulian; October 29, 2016.
STORY: "Montana Innocence Project pursuing new trial for Stevensville woman," by reporter Dillon Kato, published by The Missoulian on October 29, 2016.
GIST: "It’s been a busy year for the Montana Innocence Project. Richard Raugust, who faced life in prison for the 1997 murder of a Trout Creek man, was released late last year through work by the nonprofit, which focuses on exonerating prisoners they believe are innocent. Rather than retry him, the Sanders County Attorney’s Office dismissed the case last month, making Raugust a free man.
Last
fall, the cases of Robert Wilkes, convicted of shaking his 3-month-old
child to death, and Cody Marble, convicted in the 2002 rape of a boy in
juvenile detention, were sent back to district court by the Montana
Supreme Court for further review. And
the Innocence Project played a supporting role in the homicide case of
Barry Beach, who was granted clemency by Governor Steve Bullock last
November. Now, the Innocence
Project is readying for its next court fight: getting a new trial for
Katie Irene Garding, the Stevensville woman sentenced to 40 years in
prison after being convicted of the New Year’s Day 2008 vehicular
homicide of Bronson Parsons in East Missoula..........Parsons,
25, had been walking along Montana Highway 200 with his roommate when a
vehicle swerved to the side of the road, killing him. Both Garding and
her ex-boyfriend James Bordeaux had been drinking that day, and were on the road that night, but since the incident she has denied hitting anything. Almost
a year after the incident, a Missoula County jail inmate said Garding
had gone to his house the day Parsons was killed to have him repair a
broken fog lamp on her car, saying she hit a deer. No
charges were filed in the case until Bordeaux, who was also in custody
at the Missoula County jail, said Garding had hit something that night.
In exchange for testimony at her trial, Bordeaux was given a plea
agreement for a five-year suspended sentence on his burglary charge,
according to the Innocence Project’s court filings. The
Montana Innocence Project has put forth newly developed crash
reconstructions and expert testimony as evidence it believes the court
needs to consider in deciding whether to overturn Garding’s conviction.
It contends the evidence shows in part that her SUV should have
sustained more damage from such an impact, and that Parsons’ injuries
would more likely have been caused by another vehicle. The
petition also argues prosecutors violated a court order to provide all
evidence to the defense, and that Garding received ineffective counsel
from her public defense attorney, Jennifer Streano, who did not conduct a
crash reconstruction to refute the prosecution's narrative. In
June, Deputy County Attorney Jennifer Clark wrote the response brief
for the state, disputing the Montana Innocence Project's three primary
claims. Clark said the
prosecution did not attempt to hide evidence in the case – specifically
the X-rays done on Parsons' body – adding that those X-rays were in the
possession of the Montana State Crime Lab, which her office doesn’t
control. The X-rays, she said, were also referenced in the reports by
expert witnesses, and Garding’s defense would have known about them and
could have asked for them if necessary. Larry
Mansch of the Montana Innocence Project, in a reply brief issued in
September, disagreed, saying the crime lab falls under the control of
the Montana Department of Justice and should have fully complied with a
court order to produce evidence in the case. Mansch and his agency
believe their expert witness would have reached different conclusions
and offered different testimony had he seen the X-rays.
Clark also denied a claim that Streano's defense was deficient."........Both
sides have asked for a hearing so a Missoula County District Court
judge can make a ruling on whether Garding deserves a new trial. No date
for such a hearing has been set."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Sunday, October 30, 2016
G. Michelle Yezzo: Ohio; Part (1); Major development: (Here we go again department? HL); Columbus Dispatch story: Questions about the former Bureau of Invesigation scientist may cast doubt on convictions..."A review of her personnel records by The Dispatch shows that colleagues and supervisors raised questions about Yezzo time and again while she tested evidence and testified in an uncounted number of murder, rape and other criminal cases in the state. Their concerns included that she presented evidence in the best light for prosecutors instead of objectively, used suspect methods while examining trace evidence from some crime scenes, and made mistakes that, as one former attorney general put it, “could lead to a substantial miscarriage of justice.”..."Yezzo, 63, of West Jefferson, told The Dispatch that the accusations about her work being biased are wrong and that she approached her work objectively. “I have never done anything to overstate analysis of evidence, nor have I done anything, for lack of better a word, to taint the evidence,” Yezzo said. “No, I didn’t appease prosecutors and law enforcement. I bent over backwards to try and find out whatever evidence was there, and that’s the best I can tell you.” But two former attorneys general, defense attorneys, a judge, a former BCI superintendent and a nationally renowned forensic expert from the FBI all say that Yezzo has credibility issues that may have poisoned cases she touched. Lee Fisher, who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1995, and Jim Petro, who served as attorney general from 2003 to 2007, both said they didn’t know of Yezzo when they were in office, but they now have concerns about her work. “I would call for an investigation into every case where her findings and conclusions were instrumental in the final result of a case,” Fisher said. “We have an obligation to the integrity of the criminal-justice system to investigate every case. We have to determine whether her findings or conclusions were suspect.”..." More than 800 pages of Yezzo’s personnel records paint a disturbing pattern of behavior that started shortly after she walked in the BCI doors in 1976. The concerns escalated over time until she resigned in 2009. Over the 32 years that Yezzo worked in the crime lab, her bad behavior intensified to the point that colleagues questioned her mental health. In the records, colleagues and supervisors described these concerns about Yezzo: She threatened to use a gun to shoot her co-workers and herself. She threw a 6-inch metal plate at one co-worker. She exposed her breasts to BCI agents at a bar, flipped off her boss and acted in a hostile manner to almost every lab employee, according to records. She was accused of calling an African-American scientist a racial slur, something Yezzo denies. She frequently broke into crying spells for no apparent reason. Forensic scientists quit because of her erratic behavior. At one point her union, the Fraternal Order of Police, refused to back her. Yezzo admits to the majority of the behavior described in her personnel file......... Yezzo received numerous verbal reprimands and was suspended in 1993. But her analysis of evidence continued to be used in many high-profile felony cases despite the concerns about her work and behavior inside the state’s crime lab in London, where forensic scientists examine and analyze evidence from crime scenes across Ohio. Yezzo conducted her analysis of evidence without much oversight."
STORY: Ex- BCI scientist's problems may cast doubt on convictions," by reporters Mike Wagner, Jill Riepenhoff, Lucas Sullivan and Earl Reinhart, published by The Columbus Dispatch n October 30, 2016.
PHOTO CAPTION: "At the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in London, analysts test crime-scene evidence for law enforcement."
PHOTO CAPTION: "G. Michele Yezzo worked at the Ohio attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation for more than three decades."
GIST: "Dozens, if not hundreds, of criminal convictions in Ohio could be in jeopardy because a longtime forensic scientist at the state crime lab now stands accused of slanting evidence to help cops and prosecutors build their cases. The credibility of G. Michele Yezzo, who worked at the Ohio attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation for more than three decades, has been challenged in two cases in which men were convicted of aggravated murder. One has been freed from prison because of her now-suspect work. A review of her personnel records by The Dispatch shows that colleagues and supervisors raised questions about Yezzo time and again while she tested evidence and testified in an uncounted number of murder, rape and other criminal cases in the state. Their concerns included that she presented evidence in the best light for prosecutors instead of objectively, used suspect methods while examining trace evidence from some crime scenes, and made mistakes that, as one former attorney general put it, “could lead to a substantial miscarriage of justice.” Yezzo, 63, of West Jefferson, told The Dispatch that the accusations about her work being biased are wrong and that she approached her work objectively. “I have never done anything to overstate analysis of evidence, nor have I done anything, for lack of better a word, to taint the evidence,” Yezzo said. “No, I didn’t appease prosecutors and law enforcement. I bent over backwards to try and find out whatever evidence was there, and that’s the best I can tell you.” But two former attorneys general, defense attorneys, a judge, a former BCI superintendent and a nationally renowned forensic expert from the FBI all say that Yezzo has credibility issues that may have poisoned cases she touched. Lee Fisher, who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1995, and Jim Petro, who served as attorney general from 2003 to 2007, both said they didn’t know of Yezzo when they were in office, but they now have concerns about her work. “I would call for an investigation into every case where her findings and conclusions were instrumental in the final result of a case,” Fisher said. “We have an obligation to the integrity of the criminal-justice system to investigate every case. We have to determine whether her findings or conclusions were suspect.” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Friday that his office was alerted to the concerns about Yezzo in 2015 and has since conducted two separate reviews of her work. One involved examining 100 criminal cases where Yezzo’s evidence analysis played a role in a conviction. DeWine said they found no issues with her work. Moving forward, DeWine, who did not serve as attorney general during Yezzo’s tenure, said he has no plans for an internal investigation into Yezzo’s history, but he will have open discussions with defense attorneys on a case-by-case basis if they raise questions. He said the BCI, which handles about 37,000 cases a year, has a “long history of doing good work” and has received the highest level of accreditation. More than 800 pages of Yezzo’s personnel records paint a disturbing pattern of behavior that started shortly after she walked in the BCI doors in 1976. The concerns escalated over time until she resigned in 2009. Over the 32 years that Yezzo worked in the crime lab, her bad behavior intensified to the point that colleagues questioned her mental health. In the records, colleagues and supervisors described these concerns about Yezzo: She threatened to use a gun to shoot her co-workers and herself. She threw a 6-inch metal plate at one co-worker. She exposed her breasts to BCI agents at a bar, flipped off her boss and acted in a hostile manner to almost every lab employee, according to records. She was accused of calling an African-American scientist a racial slur, something Yezzo denies. She frequently broke into crying spells for no apparent reason. Forensic scientists quit because of her erratic behavior. At one point her union, the Fraternal Order of Police, refused to back her. Yezzo admits to the majority of the behavior described in her personnel file......... Yezzo received numerous verbal reprimands and was suspended in 1993. But her analysis of evidence continued to be used in many high-profile felony cases despite the concerns about her work and behavior inside the state’s crime lab in London, where forensic scientists examine and analyze evidence from crime scenes across Ohio. Yezzo conducted her analysis of evidence without much oversight. Her reports summarizing findings would be reviewed by her supervisors, but her actual work, methods and conclusions rarely were checked by anyone. Now, defense attorneys in at least two cases have done their own investigations and believe they have proof that Yezzo’s work is suspect. In one of those cases, a judge already has freed a man from prison because of credibility issues described in Yezzo’s personnel file. The judge in that case and others familiar with Yezzo’s BCI history say that if defense attorneys had known about her work issues during past trials, they potentially could have discredited her as an expert witness. “I didn’t know of what occurred with Michele Yezzo when I was in that office, but if I had been made aware, I wouldn’t have allowed her to be involved in criminal-justice proceedings,” Petro said. “I am co-counsel in two cases where her work largely convicted men, and her work was shoddy at best. Any case where she provided forensic evidence that resulted in a conviction now comes into question.”
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/10/30/ex-bci-scientists-problems-may-cast-doubt-on-dozens-of-cases.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Democracy, Integrity and the law: Andrew L. Urban blogs from Australia - and asks a very good question: So who you're gonna trust? The law?" (Our readers can reflect on that question in the context of their own 'democracies.' HL)..."After three years of research into wrongful convictions/miscarriages of justice, I sadly report that the rule of law does not always rule in our criminal justice system. “If the Australian public was aware that dozens of innocent people are serving lengthy sentences for murders and rapes they didn’t commit – and the real criminals are living free among us – we could expect considerable outrage and demands that ‘something be done’,” suggests Adelaide based Dr Robert Moles, co-author of Forensic Investigations and Miscarriages of Justice (Irwin Law, 2010), the definitive book on Miscarriages of Justice. Pursuing convictions at the expense of catching the actual culprits of serious crimes, grave errors at trial by prosecutors and judges alike, shocking failures of forensic evidence and a failure to learn from historic cases (such as the wrongful Lindy Chamberlain conviction 30 years ago) are some of the reasons. In other words, lack of integrity – which can also be fairly described as a stinking cocktail of arrogance, incompetence and self aggrandisement.";
POST: 'Democracy demands integrity, by Andrew L. Urban, published on his Blog 'Pursue Democracy on October 30, 2016.
GIST: "We used to trust them. Scientists, doctors, journalists, commentators, the media generally (and the Australian public’s own ABC in particular), academics, public servants, police, the courts, sportsmen and women … no, perhaps not politicians so much. A few, though … We used to expect integrity from them all. We no longer expect it. We longer get it. We distrust them all. This is damaging, weakening democracy in ways we can already see. The most obvious sign of the weakening of our democracy in the absence of publicly visible integrity is the nature of the debates we are and have been having – about everything. Our public discourse is marked by dishonest smears, personal attacks, by lack of responsibility and accountability for what is said – and done. Lack of integrity – and the seeming lack of a desire for it – is corroding the foundations of a healthy democracy in which differences of opinion can be debated – well informed, respectful and rational argument can be had. When it is seen as more desirable to pursue an agenda than to honestly seek a solution, we are in deep trouble.Whenever a genuine opinion is blasted with vitriol instead of argument, democracy loses a fragment of its strength. When opinions and points of view are withheld (silenced) for fear of denigrating blowback – instead of genuine argument – democracy loses another fragment. Bit by bit, all those fragments that bind to each other and make the big picture of democracy whole and meaningful, the jigsaw of democracy develops holes and gaps and the big picture is damaged, loses value. The glue that ultimately holds a democracy together is integrity – in all walks of public life, whether professional or political.........So who you’re gonna trust? The law? Well, not entirely. After three years of research into wrongful convictions / miscarriages of justice, I sadly report that the rule of law does not always rule in our criminal justice system. “If the Australian public was aware that dozens of innocent people are serving lengthy sentences for murders and rapes they didn’t commit – and the real criminals are living free among us – we could expect considerable outrage and demands that ‘something be done’,” suggests Adelaide based Dr Robert Moles, co-author of Forensic Investigations and Miscarriages of Justice (Irwin Law, 2010), the definitive book on Miscarriages of Justice. Pursuing convictions at the expense of catching the actual culprits of serious crimes, grave errors at trial by prosecutors and judges alike, shocking failures of forensic evidence and a failure to learn from historic cases (such as the wrongful Lindy Chamberlain conviction 30 years ago) are some of the reasons. In other words, lack of integrity – which can also be fairly described as a stinking cocktail of arrogance, incompetence and self aggrandisement. The notion of integrity is bound up with respect; respect for a democratic society. But perhaps most crucially with respect for oneself."
The entire post can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Christopher Youngkin: Texas: FOX4news reports Youngson - one of thestate's leading DWI experts - has been "yanked off cases after questions about previous blood tests."..."Collin, Dallas, Denton and Rockwall counties will no longer use expert Christopher Youngkin, which likely means retesting of hundreds and perhaps thousands of blood samples he's previously worked on. Local attorneys are now searching to see if any of their cases are affected. "We will be spending weeks pulling out all these old cases and going through each one to see which ones have his name on them,” said defense attorney Deandra Grant."..." Youngkin was in charge of investigating his own 2013 error, calling it an isolated incident. But since 2013, as one of the state's leading expert witnesses for DWI cases in seven counties, he never told any of the district attorney’s offices about it. "We gotta pull out every case where he was the analyst,” Grant said." KDFW
STORY: "DWI expert yanked off cases after questions about previous blood tests," published by FOX4news on October 28, 2016.
SUB-HEADING: "One of the state's leading DWI analysts has been removed from case work after conflicting testimony surrounding a lab error."
GIST: "One of the state's leading DWI analysts has been removed from case work after conflicting testimony surrounding a lab error. Collin, Dallas, Denton and Rockwall counties will no longer use expert Christopher Youngkin, which likely means retesting of hundreds and perhaps thousands of blood samples he's previously worked on. Local attorneys are now searching to see if any of their cases are affected. "We will be spending weeks pulling out all these old cases and going through each one to see which ones have his name on them,” said defense attorney Deandra Grant. Youngkin is a DPS forensic analyst under scrutiny for not divulging a lab error in 2013. In that incident, Youngkin admits he switched blood tubes resulting in wrong blood alcohol reports. The concern about his testimony in cases since then led to a deposition on Monday. A DPS Quality Action Plan document shows Youngkin was in charge of investigating his own 2013 error, calling it an isolated incident. But since 2013, as one of the state's leading expert witnesses for DWI cases in seven counties, he never told any of the district attorney’s offices about it. "We gotta pull out every case where he was the analyst,” Grant said.
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.fox4news.com/news/214333611-story
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin: Birmingham Florida: New trial declared by The Florida Supreme Court (unanimously) for death row inmate thanks to pro bono work by the law firm 'Bradley Arant' - after having been wrongfully convicted of murdering two women in 2004..."The Florida Supreme Court’s unanimous decision is a decisive vindication for Mr. Aguirre, who has always maintained his innocence,” (defence lawyer Lindsey) Boney said. “The court recognized that there is now, undeniably, overwhelming evidence that someone else murdered these women and a whole host of newly discovered evidence showing that Mr. Aguirre couldn't have committed these crimes. We are relieved for Mr. Aguirre, who has suffered for 10 long years on death row for a crime that he did not commit, but there is still work to do to ensure that he is fully and finally vindicated, and ultimately granted his freedom.” In the years since Aguirre's 2006 trial, investigators conducted DNA testing on certain crime scene evidence for the first time, and none of the approximately 150 items tested contained Aguirre’s DNA. Instead, eight crime-scene bloodstains - found within inches of the victims’ blood - revealed the DNA of one of the victims’ daughter/granddaughter, who has since confessed to the murders on several occasions. Additionally, new forensic evidence has revealed that Aguirre’s clothes could not have been worn by the murderer."
RELEASE: "Bradley attorneys overturn death penalty conviction in Florida," by Tim Steere, published by the Birmingham Business Journal on October 28, 2016. (Tim Steere is the digital producer at the Birmingham Business Journal.
http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2016/10/28/bradley-attorneys-overturn-death-penalty.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
Shaken Baby Syndrome: 'ON SBS' (blogger Sue Luttner) brings to light a Swedish review which declares declares the shaken baby 'theory' unproven..."The SBU report follows a Swedish Supreme Court decision last year that overturned the conviction of a father with the observation (from the English translation of the decision): It can be concluded that, in general terms, the scientific evidence for the diagnosis of violent shaking has turned out to be uncertain. This week’s report, which confirms the court’s conclusion, has made a splash in the Swedish press, with headlines like “Shaky support [skakig bevisning] för shaken-baby-syndrome.” Google translates the introductory paragraph of that piece as: The diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome” has previously been questioned both medically and legally. Now comes the SBU and Smers investigative report argues that the evidence of [shaking violence] not measure up."
POST: "Swedish Review Declares Shaken Baby Theory Unproven," by Sue Luttner, published on her Blog 'On SBS' on October 28, 2016.
GIST: "A Swedish agency charged with assessing health technology and social services has published a review of the shaken baby literature declaring the scientific evidence for shaking theory “weak” and noting that a number of other medical conditions can cause the findings typically used to diagnose shaking injury. The posted report from the SBU (Statens Feredning för Medicinsk Och Social Utvärdering) is in Swedish, so I am relying on a Google translation and private email exchanges with native Swedish speakers for this summary. The SBU team looked only at cases of pure shaking, without evidence of impact, in children younger than 12 months, and they set standards regarding sample size, study design, and more. Their literature search strategies yielded 3,773 abstracts, and they screened 1,065 of the articles in full text. Only 30 of the papers met their reliability guidelines. The authors ranked two of those papers as medium quality, designating 28 of them low quality and none of them high quality. The report identifies the recurring problems with the published research, especially the circular reasoning introduced when shaken infants are identified by the criteria being studied. The two papers that passed the quality review are both from France, Vinchon 2010 and Adamsbaum 2010.........The SBU report follows a Swedish Supreme Court decision last year that overturned the conviction of a father with the observation (from the English translation of the decision): It can be concluded that, in general terms, the scientific evidence for the diagnosis of violent shaking has turned out to be uncertain. This week’s report, which confirms the court’s conclusion, has made a splash in the Swedish press, with headlines like “Shaky support [skakig bevisning] för shaken-baby-syndrome.” Google translates the introductory paragraph of that piece as: The diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome” has previously been questioned both medically and legally. Now comes the SBU and Smers investigative report argues that the evidence of [shaking violence] not measure up."
The entire post can be found at:
https://onsbs.com/2016/10/28/swedish-review-declares-shaken-baby-theory-unproven/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
Amy Albritton: Texas; Houston Drug Lab: Jailed in Houston; She blames a false positive drug test for ruining her life and is now suing the City of Houston, Harris County, a former district attorney and two police officers for $2.5 million."..."But field drug tests, like the one that sent Albritton to jail, aren't always accurate. In fact, the test manufacturers and the Department of Justice say suspect samples should always be tested again by scientists in a crime lab. Six months after her arrest, the Houston crime lab tested the sample found in Albritton's car. They determined it was not a controlled substance. There were no drugs in Albritton's car, but it would take years for her to find out authorities had proof she was innocent. It took three years for the Harris County District Attorney's office to send her a letter, saying she was convicted in error. The letter was sent to Albritton's old address, so she never received it. It took another year for her to find out she was cleared. "I was like, 'Thank you God,' because I knew I had not done that," Albritton said. Inger Chandler heads up the conviction integrity unit for the Harris County DA's office. While she can't comment specifically on Amy's case, she says the office is aware there was a problem. "The idea that we get it wrong and the system sometimes gets it wrong can rock you to the core," Chandler said. Chandler says she uncovered more than 300 cases where lab results proving someone's innocence simply sat in unread emails. In some instances, the crime lab was sending the results, but nobody at the district attorney's office was seeing them." 12 News Now.
Friday, October 28, 2016
George Allen Jr.; Missouri; White Elephant case (false confession and concealment of forensic evidence that would have created doubt about his guilt): An innocent man; Imprisoned for almost 30 years of a 95 year sentence (for rape and murder) because St. Louis police mislead him into a false confesson and hid or destroyed evidence casting doubt on his guilt. He could have received the death penalty, but a juror needed to leave during the trial’s penalty phase. And now just four years after his release following almost 30 years behind bars he is dead. (A tragic story of an innocent man savaged by police and prosecutors in Missouri's criminal justice system. HL)..."The judge ruled that St. Louis police misled the mentally ill man into a false confession and hid or destroyed evidence casting doubt on his guilt. Allen served 29 years of a 95-year sentence."...From the Exonerations Registry: "The arresting officers also contacted Herbert Riley, a detective in the homicide division, who was investigating the Bell murder. Riley began questioning Allen and ultimately obtained a tape-recorded statement during (which) Allen confessed to the crime. Allen also told Riley during the interrogation that he was mentally ill, that he was intoxicated at the time of the interrogation and that he was innocent. At the time of the crime, Allen lived in University City, Missouri, about 10 miles from Bell’s apartment. At that time, St. Louis was attempting to dig itself out of a 20-inch snowstorm that virtually paralyzed the city and police were never able to explain how Allen could have made his way to Bell’s apartment."..."A forensic analyst testified that Allen could not be eliminated as a suspect based on blood tests performed on the evidence. The analyst testified that the only antigens recovered from seminal fluid at the scene were A and H antigens, which could not exclude Allen as the source of the semen. There was no other physical evidence linking Allen to the crime. A fingerprint examiner testified that 27 fingerprints had been recovered from the home. Nineteen of the prints belonged to Bell’s live-in boyfriend, who discovered her body. The other belonged to a police officer at the crime scene. The other seven were “of no value” because they did not have enough features to compare to other prints. Allen testified at a pre-trial hearing and denied involvement in the crime. He said he was home on the day of the crime and family members testified that he was there and helped a sister dig out her car after it became stuck in the snow. Allen said that he falsely confessed because he was convinced by Riley that they had evidence against him, that his claim of innocence was futile and that he had no choice but to admit to the crime. The defense attacked the confession as false because Riley used highly leading questions that incorporated details about the crime. In the few instances when Riley asked Allen an open ended question, Allen made statements that were not consistent with the crime."...On April 22, a mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked, voting 10 to 2 to acquit. Allen went on trial a second time on July 18, 1983 and he was convicted on July 25 of capital murder, rape, sodomy and first degree burglary. Because one of the jurors was excused prior to the sentencing hearing, the prosecution waived the death penalty and Allen was sentenced to 95 years in prison. His convictions were upheld on appeal. In 1996, the Innocence Project began re-investigating Allen’s case."..."In September 2012, lawyers for the Innocence Project and Bryan Cave filed a motion for a new trial for Allen citing the DNA evidence as well as newly discovered evidence that the police had failed to disclose to the prosecution or Allen’s defense prior to his trials. The petition said that in 2010, lawyers found documents they had never seen before—police and laboratory reports that eliminated Allen as a suspect. The laboratory documents showed that police actually found semen samples from two different men on Bell’s robe. Neither Allen nor the victim’s boyfriend or husband (from whom she was estranged) could be excluded as the source of one of those semen samples, and DNA tests now show it was from Bell’s boyfriend. Yet there was also a second semen donor found on the victim’s robe, and the B blood antigens in that semen stain excluded Allen and the victim’s consensual sex partners as the source. That stain had likely been consumed prior to trial and was thus unavailable for DNA testing. The documents showed that prior to arresting Allen, police were collecting samples from suspects to determine their blood type because they believed the perpetrator was someone whose semen contained B antigens—a fact never revealed to the prosecution or the defense. DNA testing also uncovered an unidentified male DNA profile on a towel in which the murder weapon was wrapped. Allen, the victim’s boyfriend and her estranged husband were eliminated as possible sources. The petition said that the lawyers also discovered police reports showing that, contrary to police testimony, the seven fingerprints actually were good enough to compare (none were Allen’s)";"
 |
"Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury.
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009;
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2010/04/david-kofoed-and-elephant-in-crime-lab.html
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The man was picked up six weeks after the crime, walking while black – that was his only crime,” said Tom Block, a death penalty opponent who counseled prisoners. “There’s no question about his innocence.”
STORY: "George Allen Jr.; Missouri man dies after murder, rape convictions overturned," an Associated Press story published by KTTN News on October 28, 2016.
GIST: A funeral has been held for a St. Louis man who had four
years of freedom after the reversal of the rape and murder convictions
that sent him to prison for nearly three decades.........Allen
was released from prison on Nov. 14, 2012, after a judge threw out the
convictions in the 1982 death of 31-year-old Mary Bell. Bell, a court
reporter, was attacked and killed in her St. Louis apartment. Allen
was walking in Bell’s neighborhood over a month after her death when
police arrested him because he resembled a convicted sex offender who
was a suspect in the case. The
judge ruled that St. Louis police misled the mentally ill man into a
false confession and hid or destroyed evidence casting doubt on his
guilt. Allen
served 29 years of a 95-year sentence. He could have received the death
penalty, but a juror needed to leave during the trial’s penalty phase. “The
man was picked up six weeks after the crime, walking while black – that
was his only crime,” said Tom Block, a death penalty opponent who
counseled prisoners. “There’s no question about his innocence.”...“The
man was picked up six weeks after the crime, walking while black – that
was his only crime,” said Tom Block, a death penalty opponent who
counseled prisoners. “There’s no question about his innocence.”" (Lonzetta) Taylor (Allen's mother)
said Allen graduated from University City High School, worked as a
laborer for a construction business and was briefly in the Army. While
Allen’s family believes his paranoid schizophrenia set in during his
early 20s, he was not diagnosed until prison. Allen’s
death came as a surprise to some, because it didn’t seem like he had
any health issues. Although there was no autopsy, doctors said he
apparently died of liver disease and high blood pressure. Taylor
has set up a fundraising website to seek donations to help cover
funeral costs and is also seeking compensation for unfair treatment from
the St. Louis Police Department in a federal lawsuit. “We’re
not promised anything in this life,” Allen’s sister, Elfrieda Allen,
said. “We have to be thankful that we did get four years with him. I’m
thankful that he survived through it all and walked out of there alive.
The entire story can be found at the link below:
http://www.kttn.com/missouri-man-dies-after-murder-rape-convictions-overturned
See also National Registry of Exonerations entry by Maurice Possley, at the link below: "On the evening of February 4, 1982, the naked body of 31-year-old Mary Bell, a St. Louis Circuit Court reporter, was found stabbed to death next to her bed in her St. Louis, Missouri apartment. She had been sexually assaulted. A bloody knife was found wrapped in a towel and stuffed in a cooler inside of a closet near the front door. Police determined that a friend, Pamela Ann Richardson, had called her that morning and said she would come by the apartment. Richardson told police that Bell said she had just gotten out of the shower and was putting on her robe. When Richardson arrived, no one answered the door and she left. Police found blood and other biological evidence on Bell’s robe, the floor and on her body. She had been stabbed 19 times. Kirk Eaton was an initial suspect because he recently had been released from prison after serving time for a rape conviction, he had been seen near the apartment complex where Bell lived and his brother lived in the same complex as Bell. Shortly after the murder, however, Eaton disappeared. On March 14, police officers saw 26-year-old George Allen Jr., a diagnosed schizophrenic, walking several blocks from Bell’s residence and stopped him because they thought he resembled Eaton. He was taken to a police station where an officer in the police sex offenses division interviewed him. During questioning, he said had previously forced women to have sex with him and then denied it. He said he had committed rapes in the projects near where Bell lived—and then denied. The officer felt Allen was unreliable and she ended the interview. The arresting officers also contacted Herbert Riley, a detective in the homicide division, who was investigating the Bell murder. Riley began questioning Allen and ultimately obtained a tape-recorded statement during Allen confessed to the crime. Allen also told Riley during the interrogation that he was mentally ill, that he was intoxicated at the time of the interrogation and that he was innocent. At the time of the crime, Allen lived in University City, Missouri, about 10 miles from Bell’s apartment. At that time, St. Louis was attempting to dig itself out of a 20-inch snowstorm that virtually paralyzed the city and police were never able to explain how Allen could have made his way to Bell’s apartment. Allen was charged with capital murder, sodomy, rape and first degree burglary. He went on trial on April 20, 1983 in Cole County Circuit Court. Riley testified that Allen provided police with two details that they did not know about prior to the interrogation. Allen said that while he was in Bell’s apartment, someone banged on the front door and called the name “Sherry” or something similar and that he thought it was a neighbor because he heard a door open and close. Pamela Richardson testified that when she came to the apartment as she had promised in the phone call to Bell, she knocked on the door and heard “muffled bumping sounds” inside. She said she called out, using Bell’s first name, Mary, two or three times and then left when there was no answer. Sandra Salih, a neighbor who lived next to Bell, testified that sometime after 10 a.m., she heard screams from Bell’s apartment. After the screams stopped, she heard knocks on the door. When she opened, she saw a woman, presumably Richardson, leaving. A forensic analyst testified that Allen could not be eliminated as a suspect based on blood tests performed on the evidence. The analyst testified that the only antigens recovered from seminal fluid at the scene were A and H antigens, which could not exclude Allen as the source of the semen. There was no other physical evidence linking Allen to the crime. A fingerprint examiner testified that 27 fingerprints had been recovered from the home. Nineteen of the prints belonged to Bell’s live-in boyfriend, who discovered her body. The other belonged to a police officer at the crime scene. The other seven were “of no value” because they did not have enough features to compare to other prints. Allen testified at a pre-trial hearing and denied involvement in the crime. He said he was home on the day of the crime and family members testified that he was there and helped a sister dig out her car after it became stuck in the snow. Allen said that he falsely confessed because he was convinced by Riley that they had evidence against him, that his claim of innocence was futile and that he had no choice but to admit to the crime. The defense attacked the confession as false because Riley used highly leading questions that incorporated details about the crime. In the few instances when Riley asked Allen an open ended question, Allen made statements that were not consistent with the crime. Allen said it occurred at night, when it occurred in the morning. He said he hit Bell with his hand, but there was no evidence of blunt force injury on the victim. He said the victim was 20 or 25 years old when she was actually 31. He said if he stabbed the victim, it “had to be on her chest” although Bell was stabbed in the back and neck. On April 22, a mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked, voting 10 to 2 to acquit. Allen went on trial a second time on July 18, 1983 and he was convicted on July 25 of capital murder, rape, sodomy and first degree burglary. Because one of the jurors was excused prior to the sentencing hearing, the prosecution waived the death penalty and Allen was sentenced to 95 years in prison. His convictions were upheld on appeal. In 1996, the Innocence Project began re-investigating Allen’s case. The Innocence Project initially closed Allen’s case in 1997 because the State claimed the biological evidence had been destroyed. In 2002, after the exoneration of Larry Johnson based on biological evidence that the State had also previously claimed was destroyed, a family advocate contacted the Innocence Project in the hope that the biological evidence in Allen’s case could also be located. The Innocence Project reopened the case and located the evidence. In 2003, DNA tests performed on Bell’s robe and a pair of jeans found near her body concluded that Allen was not the source of the semen and proved the victim’s boyfriend was the source. In 2007, the St. Louis law firm of Bryan Cave teamed up with the Innocence Project in order to assist in a full non-DNA re-investigation of the case. Further testing on other items of evidence in 2010 also failed to turn up Allen’s DNA. In September 2012, lawyers for the Innocence Project and Bryan Cave filed a motion for a new trial for Allen citing the DNA evidence as well as newly discovered evidence that the police had failed to disclose to the prosecution or Allen’s defense prior to his trials. The petition said that in 2010, lawyers found documents they had never seen before—police and laboratory reports that eliminated Allen as a suspect. The laboratory documents showed that police actually found semen samples from two different men on Bell’s robe. Neither Allen nor the victim’s boyfriend or husband (from whom she was estranged) could be excluded as the source of one of those semen samples, and DNA tests now show it was from Bell’s boyfriend. Yet there was also a second semen donor found on the victim’s robe, and the B blood antigens in that semen stain excluded Allen and the victim’s consensual sex partners as the source. That stain had likely been consumed prior to trial and was thus unavailable for DNA testing. The documents showed that prior to arresting Allen, police were collecting samples from suspects to determine their blood type because they believed the perpetrator was someone whose semen contained B antigens—a fact never revealed to the prosecution or the defense. DNA testing also uncovered an unidentified male DNA profile on a towel in which the murder weapon was wrapped. Allen, the victim’s boyfriend and her estranged husband were eliminated as possible sources. The petition said that the lawyers also discovered police reports showing that, contrary to police testimony, the seven fingerprints actually were good enough to compare (none were Allen’s). The petition for new trial also said that Richardson came forward to say she did not remember whether or not she actually called out the victim’s name—a statement consistent with what she initially told police. Richardson said she was asked by police to undergo hypnosis to help her remember that she called out the name—which was not disclosed to the defence. On November 2, 2012, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green granted the petition and vacated Allen’s conviction. Green ruled that the police—particularly Riley—had withheld critical evidence from the defense. “Most critically, the undisclosed evidence, considered together, points unavoidably to the conclusion that the police—and Detective Riley in particular—ignored and hid evidence pointing to someone else as the perpetrator in their zealous pursuit of Allen’s conviction,” the judge wrote . "The judge found that the evidence withheld from the defense included the lab reports, police reports showing that the lab reported the exculpatory B antigens to the investigators on the case and reports showing the seven fingerprints were usable and excluded Allen. Also withheld was a drawing of the crime scene made by Allen ostensibly to test the accuracy of his confession that was not consistent with the actual layout of the crime scene and the evidence that Richardson had been hypnotized. The judge ruled that Riley had conducted a coercive interrogation during which he fed facts of the crime to Allen. The judge said the investigation was “deeply flawed” and the confession “dubious.” “When faced with exculpatory serology findings and fingerprints pointing to someone else as the killer, Riley stood firm in his faith in the confession he had obtained and chose to disregard—and then conceal—that evidence,” Judge Green ruled. On November 7, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said she would not retry Allen. But hours after the announcement, the Missouri Attorney General’s office said it would appeal Green’s ruling. Allen was released on bond on November 14, 2012—his first moment of freedom in more than 30 years. On December 26, 2012, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld Green’s decision. On January 18, 2013, the prosecution dismissed the case. In October 2016, Allen died at his home outside St. Louis."
The entire Exonerations Registry entry can be found at the link below:
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4091
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
Motherisk; Ontario; Hospital for Sick Children...Commissioner Beaman updates lawyers at workshop: Says the discredited drug hair-testing is "a dark chapter in the world of child protection" - and that the first phase of her review has found 10 cases where children were taken from parents and placed into foster or group homes as a result of the discredited drug and alcohol tests. (Members of her staff are reported as saying that the ten cases uncovered so far might be the tip of the iceberg); Beaman says the evidence so far also indicates that “indigenous and racialized communities” were most affected by the discredited hair tests, conducted by a now disbanded Hospital for Sick Children’s Motherisk laboratory. “It’s our belief that these communities were disproportionately impacted by the tests(.)”..."Beaman’s comments are the first glimpse into a likely fraught process with no easy fixes or clear path to justice for families who lost their children because of faulty tests. “We understand that very few people are going to walk away from this in a better position from where they are today,” she said. “We know that the remedies are extremely few.” Before it was shut down last year, Motherisk was a primary provider of hair drug and alcohol tests in Canada, serving mainly child welfare agencies. The results were accepted by courts across the country — in thousands of cases where children were considered at risk of abuse — virtually without question."..." Beaman blamed systemic failure throughout the child protection system. She noted that the Motherisk lab never met the standard applied to forensic evidence used in court. The tests were a lucrative business — each cost $700 to conduct — and the lab was heavily marketed, Beaman noted. “You could imagine how much money was made,” she said, adding that more than 16,000 people were tested between 2005 and 2015."..."Beaman blamed systemic failure throughout the child protection system. She noted that the Motherisk lab never met the standard applied to forensic evidence used in court. The tests were a lucrative business — each cost $700 to conduct — and the lab was heavily marketed, Beaman noted. “You could imagine how much money was made,” she said, adding that more than 16,000 people were tested between 2005 and 2015."..."Beaman described child protection workers with societies as sometimes lacking adequate training. The turnover rate among them is high and many burnout, she added. She suggested child protection workers used the tests as “levers” with parents. The parent would not get back a child unless a hair test was done, and a refusal to do a hair test “becomes in and of itself” a strike against the parent, she said. She described a child protection system where society workers and judges relied on the faulty hair tests as proof the parents were doing drugs, while paying less attention on the ability of a parent to be a good caregiver."
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The problem that has occurred here, I would say, represents a dark chapter in the world of child protection,” Beaman told the lawyers at the workshop."
ONE REALLY DISTURBING EXCERPT: (HL); "Beaman described child protection workers with societies as sometimes lacking adequate training. The turnover rate among them is high and many burnout, she added. She suggested child protection workers used the tests as “levers” with parents. The parent would not get back a child unless a hair test was done, and a refusal to do a hair test “becomes in and of itself” a strike against the parent, she said. She described a child protection system where society workers and judges relied on the faulty hair tests as proof the parents were doing drugs, while paying less attention on the ability of a parent to be a good caregiver."
STORY: "Motherisk tests played role in 10 families where children taken, first phase of review finds," by Sandro Contenta, Jim Rankin and Rachel Mendleson, published by The Toronto Star on October 27, 2016.
SUB-HEADING: "Indigenous and racialized communities affected disproportionately, head of inquiry into lab says."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Hospital
for Sick Children’s Motherisk laboratory's tests were deemed by an
independent review last year to be “inadequate and unreliable.” That
review was sparked by a Star investigation that found that prior to
2010, Motherisk was using a test that was not considered to be the “gold
standard.""
PHOTO CAPTION: "Judith
Beaman, head of the Motherisk Commission of Inquiry, released figures
for the first time Thursday during a speech at a legal workshop on child
protection. Beaman’s team made clear the 10 cases uncovered so far
might be the tip of the iceberg."
GIST: "A review of the first 350 “high priority” child protection cases has found that discredited Motherisk
alcohol and drug tests played a substantial role in 10 families where
children were taken from parents and placed into foster or group homes. Judith Beaman,
head of the Motherisk Commission of Inquiry, released the figures for
the first time Thursday during a speech at a legal workshop on child
protection. Members of Beaman’s team made
clear the 10 cases uncovered so far might be the tip of the iceberg.
Motherisk commission lawyer Lorne Glass said he expects another 2,000
cases will be reviewed where the faulty hair tests might have
significantly influenced decisions to remove children from their families. Beaman
said the evidence so far also indicates that “indigenous and racialized
communities” were most affected by the discredited hair tests,
conducted by a now disbanded Hospital for Sick Children’s Motherisk
laboratory. “It’s our belief that these
communities were disproportionately impacted by the tests,” Beaman told
the Law Society of Upper Canada workshop. She noted that the Children’s Aid societies
in Algoma and Hamilton often used the Motherisk tests on aboriginal
parents, while societies in Peel region and Toronto used them on black
people and other visible minority groups. Scientific
studies have suggested there could be a racial bias to drug hair tests
because drugs seem to be more readily incorporated into darker coloured
hair. “The problem that has occurred here, I
would say, represents a dark chapter in the world of child protection,”
Beaman told the lawyers at the workshop. “And
as is so often the case, the wrong has affected people who are already
vulnerable and marginalized, who struggle with issues of mental health
and poverty and addictions.” Beaman’s comments are the first glimpse into a likely fraught process with no easy fixes or clear path to justice for families who lost their children because of faulty tests. “We
understand that very few people are going to walk away from this in a
better position from where they are today,” she said. “We know that the
remedies are extremely few.” Before it was
shut down last year, Motherisk was a primary provider of hair drug and
alcohol tests in Canada, serving mainly child welfare agencies. The
results were accepted by courts across the country — in thousands of
cases where children were considered at risk of abuse — virtually
without question. Motherisk’s tests were
deemed by an independent review last year to be “inadequate and
unreliable.” That review was sparked by a Star investigation that found
that prior to 2010, Motherisk was using a test that was not considered
to be the “gold standard.”......... Beaman
blamed systemic failure throughout the child protection system. She
noted that the Motherisk lab never met the standard applied to forensic evidence used in court. The tests were a
lucrative business — each cost $700 to conduct — and the lab was heavily
marketed, Beaman noted. “You could imagine how much money was made,”
she said, adding that more than 16,000 people were tested between 2005
and 2015. Beaman described child protection
workers with societies as sometimes lacking adequate training. The
turnover rate among them is high and many burnout, she added. She
suggested child protection workers used the tests as “levers” with
parents. The parent would not get back a child unless a hair test was
done, and a refusal to do a hair test “becomes in and of itself” a
strike against the parent, she said. She
described a child protection system where society workers and judges
relied on the faulty hair tests as proof the parents were doing drugs,
while paying less attention on the ability of a parent to be a good
caregiver."
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/10/27/motherisk-tests-played-role-in-10-families-where-children-taken-first-phase-of-review-finds.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/10/27/motherisk-tests-played-role-in-10-families-where-children-taken-first-phase-of-review-finds.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
'Norfolk Four': (Danial Williams; Joseph Dick; Derek Tice; Eric Wilson): Virginia; Attorney General Mark Herring says he won't oppose overturning the Williams and Dick convictions in the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Basko..."The Virginia attorney general's office said Wednesday that it will no longer oppose overturning the rape and murder convictions of two former sailors after a federal judge declared last month that "no sane human being" could find the men guilty."..."Williams and Dick are two of the so-called "Norfolk Four," ex-sailors who have long claimed that police coerced them into falsely confessing. The four men, who were all stationed at the Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, drew national attention when their innocence claims were backed by dozens of former FBI agents, ex-prosecutors and novelist John Grisham. In 2009, then-Gov. Tim Kaine freed Williams, Dick and Derek Tice because of doubts about their guilt but allowed their convictions to remain. The fourth man, Eric Wilson, had already been released. Tice's conviction has already been overturned. DNA evidence matched a fifth man, Omar Ballard, who confessed to committing the crime alone. He is serving a life sentence." Reporter Alanna Durkin Richer; Associated Press;
"The Virginia attorney general's office said Wednesday that it will no longer oppose overturning the rape and murder convictions of two former sailors after a federal judge declared last month that "no sane human being" could find the men guilty. U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. said last month that evidence shows Danial Williams and Joseph Dick did not commit the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko. He urged the state to free the men of the "continuing shackles of their convictions." Attorney General Mark Herring's office said in motions filed Wednesday that in light of the judge's decision, it will no longer contest their efforts to be declared innocent by the court. Herring's office is now asking the court to grant the men's writs of habeas corpus, which would have the effect of vacating their convictions, said Herring spokesman Michael Kelly. Prior to Gibney's decision last month, the attorney general's office had defended the men's convictions and urged the court at an evidentiary hearing last year to reject their innocence bids.........Williams and Dick are two of the so-called "Norfolk Four," ex-sailors who have long claimed that police coerced them into falsely confessing. The four men, who were all stationed at the Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, drew national attention when their innocence claims were backed by dozens of former FBI agents, ex-prosecutors and novelist John Grisham. In 2009, then-Gov. Tim Kaine freed Williams, Dick and Derek Tice because of doubts about their guilt but allowed their convictions to remain. The fourth man, Eric Wilson, had already been released. Tice's conviction has already been overturned. DNA evidence matched a fifth man, Omar Ballard, who confessed to committing the crime alone. He is serving a life sentence. Williams and Dick are no longer in prison, but face certain restrictions because they're still on parole and must also register as sex offenders."
http://pilotonline.com/news/nation-world/virginia/virginia-attorney-general-won-t-oppose-overturning-convictions-in-norfolk/article_635dbeee-87e1-59e2-8715-a616af7716a0.html
See Wikipedia entry at the link below; "The Norfolk Four are four men, Derek Tice, Danial Williams, Joseph J. Dick Jr., and Eric C. Wilson, who were convicted in 1999 for the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko in Norfolk, Virginia. Their convictions were the source of controversy, as their convictions were largely based on confessions which the men maintain were coerced with threats of receiving the death penalty if they did not plead guilty. Organizations such as the Innocence Project protested the convictions as a "miscarriage of justice", while Moore-Bosko's parents continue to believe that all those convicted were participants in the crime.[1][2] Three of the four men, Tice, Williams, and Dick, were sentenced to one or more life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole due to their having either pleaded guilty to or having been convicted of the murder, while Wilson was convicted of rape and sentenced to 8½ years in prison. Three other men, Geoffrey A. Farris, John E. Danser, and Richard D. Pauley, Jr., were also initially charged with the crime, but their charges were later dropped. A fifth man, Omar Ballard, was also convicted of the crime and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, 59 of which were suspended. He is the only man whose DNA matches that found at the scene, and his confession states that he committed the crime by himself, with none of the other men involved. Forensic evidence is consistent with his story that there were no other participants. Investigation: At the time it was noted that there were no signs of a break-in or a struggle inside the apartment. As the investigation progressed, detective Robert Glenn Ford questioned residents of Moore-Bosko's development and was informed by Tamika Taylor, a friend of Moore-Bosko's, that another neighbor, Danial Williams, was "obsessed" with the murdered woman.[4] Williams lived in an apartment near Bosko's with his wife and their roommate Joe Dick. Detective Ford interrogated both Williams and Dick and obtained confessions from them but their confessions were inconsistent both with each other and with the evidence.[5] In the confessions, Williams claimed that he acted alone while Dick stated that he and Williams had committed the crime together. Dick also claimed to have committed the crime between the hours of 9 and 11 p.m, which clashed with Taylor's claims that she and Michelle had remained out from noon until 11:30 p.m. as well as naval logs that reportedly showed that Dick was on duty on the USS Saipan (LHA-2) at the time of the murder.[4] The Chief Petty Officer that Dick reported to commented that he had taken special interest in Dick due to what he saw as the man's diminished mental capacity; he believed it to be "virtually impossible for Dick to sneak off, commit the crime and sneak back on board".[4] Both men also claimed to have committed violent attacks or sexual assaults on the victim which were inconsistent with the physical evidence, such as Williams claiming to have beaten Michelle with a shoe and assaulting her to the face three times.[4] Instead the coroner's report stated that Michelle had died due to being stabbed and strangled,[6] upon which point Williams changed his confession to state that he "may have grabbed Michelle’s neck and that he had used a knife he found in the bedroom to kill her". Neither Williams nor Dick could provide an accurate description of the knife.[4] DNA evidence taken from the scene did not match Williams or Dick, which led a jailhouse informant to prompt Dick to name a co-conspirator. Eric Wilson was then named.[7] The DNA did not match Wilson either and Dick indicated that a fourth man, whom he called "George" but whom he identified from photographs as Derek Tice, was also involved.[8] Tice confessed and implicated three more men in the crime, and insisted that the group had broken into the apartment, which contradicted earlier evidence that showed that the apartment did not appear to have been broken into. Since the DNA evidence did not match Tice, the police got Dick to name three other men as co-conspirators. These men were ultimately never charged because they had ironclad alibis including one who was internet chatting with his girlfriend at the time of the murder and another who records showed had withdrawn money from a cash machine hundreds of miles away within minutes of when the murder had occurred.[4] Critics of the police case also noted that the stab wounds to Moore-Bosko were all of a uniform depth and clustered closely together. This seemed to contradict the prosecution's assertion that multiple men had taken turns stabbing her, but seemed consistent with a scenario where one assailant stabbed her multiple times. Trial: Williams, Wilson, and Tice were each brought to trial in 1999, with Williams pleading guilty to rape and capital murder in the hopes of getting a life sentence in exchange for a stipulation of facts.[7] Lawyers for the three men mentioned that none of their DNA matched that found at Michelle's apartment, to which prosecutors stated that the lack of DNA evidence couldn't disprove that the defendants weren't at the scene.[9] Williams was found guilty of rape and sentenced to eight and a half years, while Dick received life without parole and Tice received two consecutive life sentences.[10]On Jan. 15, 1998, Omar Ballard pleaded guilty to the rape of a fourteen-year-old girl. In February of the same year, he sent a letter to a female acquaintance threatening her and indicating that he had murdered Michelle Moore Bosko.[11] It was later discovered that Ballard was an associate of Michelle Moore Bosko. Tamika Taylor, who had introduced Ballard to the Boskos and knew about his history of violence towards women, had told the police that they should investigate him as a possible suspect.[11] Ballard was later investigated for the crime and arrested after it was discovered that his DNA matched that found at the crime scene.[11] Ballard confessed to the crime, giving a description that aligned with the physical evidence. Despite police pressure to implicate Williams, Tice, Dick, and Wilson, Ballard insisted that he had committed the crime alone, saying that "those four who opened their mouths were stupid".[11] The police incorporated Ballard into their theory of the crime, but insisted that Ballard refused to name his accomplices for fear of being labeled a "snitch" and that the other men, who had been willing to implicate others in the crime, were afraid of Ballard and thus refused to implicate him. Retrials and aftermath: Williams appealed his verdict but was denied in 2000.[7] Tice's conviction was reversed in 2002 by the Virginia Court of Appeals because Judge Poston had not allowed Tice's attorney to question Ballard about his written confession.[7] During the retrial, Poston refused to allow the confession or statements in as evidence because they were not "properly authenticated", but the judge did allow Tice's attorney to read the confession letter aloud.[7] Despite the retrial, Tice was again sentenced to life in prison.[7]
In 2005 attorneys for Dick, Williams and Tice petitioned for clemency from Virginia governor Mark Warner. Warner did not rule on the petition, and it was considered by subsequent Virginia governor Tim Kaine. The claims of innocence were backed by several FBI agents as well as eleven of the jurors who initially convicted them.[12][13] Tice's conviction was overturned on November 27, 2006 by a circuit court on constitutional grounds, but the conviction was reinstated by the Virginia Supreme Court.[14] Tice filed a petition for habeas corpus with a United States District Court, and on September 14, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Williams vacated Tice's murder and rape convictions, on the ground that Tice had been denied his constitutional right to effective counsel. On November 19, 2009, Judge Williams ruled that prosecutors can retry Tice. On April 20, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Judge Williams' rulings vacating Tice's convictions.[15] Tice was later freed in 2011 after the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Tice's confession should have been thrown out of court.[16] On August 6, 2009, Kaine granted a conditional pardon to Dick, Tice, and Williams, releasing them from prison while not erasing their convictions.[17] Part of the conditional release states that the three men are required to register as sex offenders and felons.[18] Wilson was released in 2005, but must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. In March 2010, he asked the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his conviction. The court refused to hear Wilson's case, saying that since he was not in prison, on probation, on parole or on supervised release, he was not in custody and therefore could not petition for habeas. A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit also refused to hear the case.[19] Former detective Glenn Ford was later indicted on May 2010 on an unrelated extortion charges of accepting payments from criminal suspects in return for favorable treatment,[20] with him being found guilty of two of the four counts against him.[21][22] This prompted attorneys for the Norfolk Four to call for full exoneration of their clients and in 2013 the Yale Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic filed a petition for the Supreme Court to clear Wilson's record of his crimes.[23][24] Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli did not file a response, but the Supreme Court ordered him to file a brief by April 25, 2013.[25] On June 24, 2013, Wilson's petition was denied. The case is Wilson v. Flaherty, No. 12-986."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Four
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.