Rodricus Crawford: Louisiana: Bulletin: ; Once on death row, he is due in court today (Monday January 30) to find out if prosecutors are seeking a new trial..."Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. Pathologist Dr. James Traylor's autopsy results concluded that the child died from smothering, but Crawford's team of post-conviction lawyers insist the child had been very sick and died from sepsis. Crawford's appeal claimed that then-Assistant District Attorney Dale Cox eliminated jurors based on their race and pointed to interviews with 9 other doctors suggesting the child died from natural causes." Domonique Benn reports; KSLA; (We are following developments. HL);

"A Shreveport man freed from death row after his conviction for killing his one-year-old son was overturned is due back in court on Monday for the first time since his release." It's been a long road to freedom for Rodricus Crawford, who was released on bond Tuesday evening after spending 3 years on death row for the murder of his toddler son. Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of 1-year-old Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. He was returned to Caddo Parish from Angola on Friday, where his bond was set at $50,000. Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. Pathologist Dr. James Traylor's autopsy results concluded that the child died from smothering, but Crawford's team of post-conviction lawyers insist the child had been very sick and died from sepsis. Crawford's appeal claimed that then-Assistant District Attorney Dale Cox eliminated jurors based on their race and pointed to interviews with 9 other doctors suggesting the child died from natural causes. Back in court in Caddo Parish Monday morning for the first time since his conviction and sentence were overturned, Crawford told KSLA News 12's Domonique Benn he is hoping the case is dropped..........Domonique Benn is at the Caddo Parish Courthouse and will be there for the 1:30 p.m. hearing."
http://www.newswest9.com/story/34379164/shreveport-man-once-on-death-row-headed-back-to-court

See Dominique Benn's November 22 story which takes us behind the successful  appeal that lead to the hearing scheduled for today at the link below:

 http://www.watchfox29.com/story/33776078/ksla-news-12-investigates-behind-the-appeal-that-led-to-new-trial-for-shreveport-father

"Rodricus Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of 1-year-old Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. He was returned to Caddo Parish from Angola on Friday, where his bond was set at $50,000.  The 25-year-old Shreveport native, who also has a young daughter, posted that bond and was released from custody just a few hours later.  His freedom might only be temporary, as he faces a new trial on first-degree murder in his son's death.  It was an appeal from Crawford's defense team pointing out weaknesses in evidence during that first trial that led the Supreme Court to overturn Crawford's conviction and sentence. Among them, a lack of confession or evidence of abuse and the failure of the prosecution to establish a motive. The defense framed the case as weak and circumstantial at best.  Prosecutors said Crawford smothered his child, but defense attorneys argued it's a case that boils down to the baby's failing health.........Video entered into evidence during the trial shows Crawford distraught in the back of a police cruiser moments after his lifeless son was taken away in an ambulance. It would be another hour before he would learn his son was dead. That would not be the only shock for this grieving father and family. According to the autopsy conducted by the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office, Roderius Lott died of smothering. However, defense attorneys for the child's father say the Coroner's office ignored critical evidence that the child died of natural causes. "This was not a homicide, this child died of pneumonia and sepsis and Dr. Traylor was dead wrong," Kappel says. Dr. Traylor was the pathologist who ruled the baby's death a homicide. When asked to comment on the autopsy, Traylor would only point to his findings submitted to the court as evidence during the trial. In the autopsy report, Dr. Traylor cited a small cut under the baby's top lip as evidence of smothering. Defense attorneys say the injury came from a fall and was not evidence of a homicide.  They say Roderius fell down in the bathroom and cut his lip the day before he died and that the real cause of the child's death was his failing health. It's evidence they say is backed up by tissue and blood samples. "He missed the fact that this child had brain swelling, which indicated he did not die of smothering," says Kappel. "He didn't perform testing on the bruising on the child which could have pinpointed the moment those bruises occurred instead of assuming that Mr. Crawford inflicted those injuries."  Kappel adds that Dr. Traylor testified that the little boy had pneumonia, but that it was not serious enough to kill him. When questioned on the stand about the bacteria found during the autopsy, Kappel says Traylor testified that the results would have indicated sepsis if they were accurate but also said that his needle could have been contaminated.  "So based on his testimony either this child died of sepsis and this was not a murder or his autopsy was contaminated.  Either way, we can't have any confidence in this verdict," concludes Kappel. Nine other doctors around the country agreed that Roderius Lott died from sepsis. It was a game-changer for the defense, giving them the cause for appeal before the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had to consider the questions surrounding the evidence presented at trial to support the conviction that allowed Crawford to be sentenced to death.  In their appeal, defense attorneys argued the cards were stacked against their client from the beginning because of his race, the fact that he was unemployed, and still lived at home with this mother. "He is given a presumption that he is a criminal element based on his race and socioeconomic status," says Kappel. "I think the result would have been very different if he were white. I think the result would have been very different if he was middle-class African American. In this case, he was presumed to be a criminal." Crawford's defense team also argued that prosecuting attorney Dale Cox struck people from the jury based on race. The justices ultimately agreed, vacating Crawford's capital conviction and ordering a new trial."