"The following can be attributed to Innocence Project Senior Staff Attorney Nina Morrison who along with the ACLU represented Ledell Lee in seeking DNA testing prior to his execution this evening: Ledell Lee proclaimed his innocence from the day of his arrest until the night of his execution twenty-four years later. During that time, hundreds of innocent people have been freed from our nation’s prisons and death rows by DNA evidence. It is hard to understand how the same government that uses DNA to prosecute crimes every day could execute Mr. Lee without allowing him a simple DNA test. Arkansas’s decision to rush through the execution of Mr. Lee just because its supply of lethal drugs are expiring at the end of the month denied him the opportunity to conduct DNA testing that could have proven his innocence. While reasonable people can disagree on whether death is an appropriate form of punishment, no one should be executed when there is a possibility that person is innocent. In a dissenting opinion denying Lee a stay issued today, Arkansas Supreme Court Judge Josephine Linker Hart made a powerful argument for why DNA testing was in the interest of justice. Justice Hart characterized Lee’s claim for DNA testing of hairs the state claimed linked Lee to the crime as a “modest request,” noting that the hair evidence had been used against him at trial and “tilted in the State’s favor a very weak case based entirely on circumstantial evidence.” Judge Hart also emphasized the unfairness and arbitrariness of the Arkansas court’s grant of a stay to Stacey Johnson for DNA testing while denying one to Lee, adding, “I am at a loss to explain this Court’s dissimilar treatment of similarly situated litigants.” Judge Hart concluded by stating, “The court’s error in denying the motion for stay will not be capable of correction.” Additional information about Lee’s case is available here."
https://www.innocenceproject.org/innocence-project-responds-execution-ledell-lee/
Innocence Project sets out how to send condolences to Ledell Lee's family at the link below: "As scary as it sounds, Arkansas has been racing to execute eight people on death row before the state's supply of lethal injection drug expires at the end of the month. Ten days ago, we were brought on to do everything possible to stop the execution of two of the eight men, Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson. Both men had been proclaiming their innocence for more than twenty years, but a lawyer never asked for a court to order DNA testing to prove it. Last night, Mr. Johnson was granted a stay of execution and chance for DNA testing. But the courts denied that same chance to Mr. Lee, and he was executed just before midnight. Mr. Lee, who suffered from fetal alcohol disorder and intellectual disability, never received the legal representation he deserved in fighting his murder conviction. The judge who tried him concealed having an affair with the assistant prosecutor on the case, whom he later married. And Mr. Lee’s first state post-conviction counsel was so intoxicated during Mr. Lee's court hearing that the prosecution asked for the lawyer to be drug tested after he slurred, stumbled, and made incoherent arguments. We worked around the clock with colleagues from the ACLU to stop the state from executing Mr. Lee and grant him DNA testing to prove a murder he maintained, until the end, he did not commit. After filing multiple motions to the Arkansas Supreme Court, they decided to rush Mr. Lee's execution last night and deny him the opportunity to conduct DNA testing that could have proven his innocence. Mr. Lee asked for communion as his last meal. We are devastated for the loss of our client Ledell Lee, 51, and infuriated by this act of injustice.Please join us in sending Mr. Lee's family your condolences in this time of great loss. A fund to help the family with funeral expenses has been set up by supporters in Arkansas here (Please specify that your donation is for Mr. Lee). Thank you for your support, Nina Morrison; Senior Staff Attorney."
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#all/15b92f94185f05f2
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/
Innocence Project sets out how to send condolences to Ledell Lee's family at the link below: "As scary as it sounds, Arkansas has been racing to execute eight people on death row before the state's supply of lethal injection drug expires at the end of the month. Ten days ago, we were brought on to do everything possible to stop the execution of two of the eight men, Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson. Both men had been proclaiming their innocence for more than twenty years, but a lawyer never asked for a court to order DNA testing to prove it. Last night, Mr. Johnson was granted a stay of execution and chance for DNA testing. But the courts denied that same chance to Mr. Lee, and he was executed just before midnight. Mr. Lee, who suffered from fetal alcohol disorder and intellectual disability, never received the legal representation he deserved in fighting his murder conviction. The judge who tried him concealed having an affair with the assistant prosecutor on the case, whom he later married. And Mr. Lee’s first state post-conviction counsel was so intoxicated during Mr. Lee's court hearing that the prosecution asked for the lawyer to be drug tested after he slurred, stumbled, and made incoherent arguments. We worked around the clock with colleagues from the ACLU to stop the state from executing Mr. Lee and grant him DNA testing to prove a murder he maintained, until the end, he did not commit. After filing multiple motions to the Arkansas Supreme Court, they decided to rush Mr. Lee's execution last night and deny him the opportunity to conduct DNA testing that could have proven his innocence. Mr. Lee asked for communion as his last meal. We are devastated for the loss of our client Ledell Lee, 51, and infuriated by this act of injustice.Please join us in sending Mr. Lee's family your condolences in this time of great loss. A fund to help the family with funeral expenses has been set up by supporters in Arkansas here (Please specify that your donation is for Mr. Lee). Thank you for your support, Nina Morrison; Senior Staff Attorney."
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#all/15b92f94185f05f2
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/
