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"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://www.t-mlaw.com/blog/post/the-elephant-in-the-crime-lab/
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STORY: "Harris County Prosecutor Lied About Deals With Jailhouse Snitches," by reporter Meagan Flynn, published by The Houston Press on November 11, 2016.
GIST: "A Fort Bend County judge has upheld
complaints of prosecutorial misconduct against a Harris County
prosecutor who lied to a jury in a capital murder trial about whether
she had struck deals with three jailhouse snitches in exchange for their
testimony. After finding that a prison inmate's false
testimony that prosecutor Elizabeth Shipley Exley knowingly allowed on
the stand led to the conviction of Edward George McGregor, Judge James
Shoemake has recommended McGregor receive habeas corpus relief and a new
trial. "For
a prosecutor to make secret arrangements with witnesses, not disclose
them to the defense and the jury, and elicit false testimony where the witnesses deny it, I find that to be just totally deplorable," said
Randy Schaffer, McGregor's attorney. "It's basically saying we have the
right to present false testimony and there's not a damn thing you can do
about it." McGregor was charged in the mid- and late-2000s with
capital murders dating back to 1990 and 1994 in Fort Bend and Harris
counties, respectively. Shipley Exley worked on the case in Fort Bend,
given it was the first case to go to trial. According to the judge's
findings, because DNA evidence wasn't strong enough to convict McGregor,
Shipley Exley was in charge of getting three jailhouse witnesses on the
stand. They testified that they overheard McGregor confess to the
killings. Turns out, all three witnesses received some nice perks thanks to
prosecutor Shipley Exley's good word. Perhaps the most damning witness
was a prison inmate named Delores Gable — because her entire story
turned out to be a lie. Gable, serving 90 years for
soliciting to commit murder, testified that she was not given any
benefits for testifying, but that she only wanted to clear her
conscience because she was battling cancer. On the night of the murder
16 years earlier, she said she overheard McGregor confess about the
murder to her husband, Brian Gable, while standing outside the victim's
home; and she added that McGregor's father was also present. The
problem: McGregor's father was actually in prison on the night of the
murder, Delores Gable was never married to Brian Gable, her name is
actually Delores Lee, she never had cancer, and she never lived at the
residence she claimed she did, according to the judge's findings. Shipley
Exley testified in the habeas corpus hearing that she knew McGregor's
father was in prison that night, but apparently let her witness lie on
the stand anyway. She said she also knew McGregor's ex-fiancé was locked
away with “Gable,” but never disclosed this in the trial. Shipley
Exley told Judge Shoemake that she did in fact tell Gable before the
trial that “the most that I could possibly do is write a letter to the
parole board explaining to them that she had cooperated.” Her reason for
believing she didn't need to disclose that to the jury, the defense or
even her Fort Bend co-counsel when she was asked if deals were made? “I
didn't say specifically that I would do it; it wasn't a promise.” But
Shipley Exley did do it, and admitted that midway through the trial,
Gable even sent her a note telling her what to write in the letter to
the parole board. Five days after McGregor was convicted, largely thanks
to Gable's testimony, Shipley Exley followed through on her non-promise
and mailed the letter. Asked why she never mentioned the conversation
she had with Gable during the trial, Shipley Exley said, “I think I
forgot.” Schaffer, McGregor's attorney, described Shipley
Exley's actions as shameful. “They've got a witness who will crawl out
of the penitentiary, say the story they want to hear — that she heard a
confession 16 years ago that she's never told anybody about until now —
and you're willing to accept that story and put it on as true without
doing anything to check it out?” Schaffer said. “The whole thing was a
sham, and [Shipley Exley] didn't even care.” Then there
are the two other jailhouse snitches who received massive reductions in
punishment because of their contributions to this capital murder trial,
courtesy of Shipley Exley. Both men, Marvin Roy Paxton
and Adam Osani, were awaiting trial in the Harris County Jail for an
aggravated robbery and felony assault of a family member, respectively.
Paxton testified that he and McGregor got in a fight in jail, and
McGregor told him to shut his mouth or else he would kill him like he
killed “those two bitches.” Osani backed up Paxton's tale on the stand,
according to the findings. And both men were given hefty
rewards for saying it: Apparently at the direction of Shipley Exley, the
prosecutor in Osani's case reduced his charge from a felony to a
misdemeanor and released him on time served just days after McGregor's
trial ended. Paxton's case was reduced from an aggravated robbery to
just a robbery, and his plea deal from up to 45 years to just seven
years, according to the habeas findings. None of these benefits to the witnesses were disclosed to the jury or to the defense during McGregor's trial. In
fact, a DA's office investigator testified to Judge Shoemake that it
was a common practice in Harris County to tell witnesses they couldn't
"promise" anything — but "could" write a letter on their behalf, if they
wanted. Schaffer said he has seen this dishonest "game" played dozens
of times in Harris County courts. “This
is a speck of sand on the beach of criminal cases,” Schaffer said.
“It's an important case, but it's just one case. There's a larger story
here, and the larger story is the systemic misuse of so-called jailhouse
witnesses by prosecutors across the state to fill in holes in cases
that they otherwise might not be able to win. It's a true disgrace. It's
a culture of dishonesty that has fostered in prosecutors' offices
across the state.”.........Schaffer
called for criminal charges to be filed against Shipley Exley for
perjury, but said he would not be surprised if Anderson didn't even
discipline the prosecutor at all."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.houstonpress.com/news/harris-county-prosecutor-lied-about-deals-with-jailhouse-snitches-8939535
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/
