COMMENTARY: " So, prosecutors can be made to answer after all," by John Torres, published by Florida Today on May 19, 2017.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Judge Dean Moxley has refused to comment on his record as a prosecutor. Junk science and jailhouse snitches fueled several of his convictions, some of whom were innocent men."
GIST: A Texas prosecutor-turned-judge was brought before a jury to answer accusations of misconduct related to the case he presented in 1992 that resulted in the execution of a father convicted of killing his three daughters. Judge John H. Jackson was accused of concealing evidence by conspiring with a jailhouse snitch for favorable testimony in exchange for leniency when he was a prosecutor. He was cleared last week. What's so remarkable isn't that he was cleared, but that Jackson was even facing the charge to begin with. The civil action, brought by the Texas Bar Association, could have resulted in Jackson losing his law license. The case offers hope to anyone wondering why Brevard County prosecutors -- in particular Dean Moxley -- have never been held accountable for several wrongful and dubious convictions from the early 1980s. As chronicled in Florida Today throughout the last two weeks as well as in the podcast "Murder on the Space Coast," Brevard prosecutors used a formula or playbook to win cases with little evidence that resulted in innocent men going to prison. That playbook involved fake evidence from a fraudulent dog handler as well as the use of jailhouse snitches, whose deals with the state were only revealed after the trials -- the very same reason Jackson was brought to trial in Texas. Moxley has denied my interview requests over the years pertaining to these cases. In Texas, the state bar had accused Jackson of not revealing that a jailhouse snitch in the case against Cameron Todd Willingham was promised a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony. "Before, during, and after the 1992 trial, Respondent knew of the existence of evidence that tended to negate the guilt of Willingham and failed to disclose that evidence to defense counsel," the complaint against Jackson read. That snitch recanted his story later and said Jackson had told him what to say. Jackson had previously come under scrutiny for using junk science -- discredited arson theories -- in the case against Willingham. Jackson argued that Willingham had spread lighter fluid around his home But shortly before Willingham was executed in 2004, an independent fire investigator determined there was no arson. That same conclusion has been reached numerous times over the last several years by other fire experts. If this sounds similar to Brevard County cases it's because it is. Brevard County prosecutors used junk science, which was already being scrutinized, discredited and debunked, in addition to jailhouse snitches whose deals were only revealed after trial, to convict Wilton Dedge, William Dillon and Juan Ramos. Dedge and Dillon were exonerated through DNA testing after spending decades behind bars. Ramos was acquitted during re-trial after only a few hours when the state was unable to use the dog handler, John Preston. Brevard prosecutors also used that same formula to convict and execute Gerald Stano of a murder that many believe he did not commit and Gary Bennett, who remains in prison after 33 years. Moxley personally prosecuted Bennett, Stano, Ramos and Dedge while supervising Dillon's prosecution. In two of the five cases, Moxley relied on the testimony of jailhouse snitch Clarence Zacke, a murderer, drug trafficker and child rapist who was convicted of killing the brother of a prosecutor and conspiring to kill a judge and the state attorney. Zacke testified that he had no deal in place with the state for his testimony against Dedge and was only doing it because he hated anyone who hurt women. Prosecutors were aware that Zacke's 11-year-old adopted daughter had testified that Zacke raped her for years and yet allowed him to testify. Years later he was secretly recorded telling a New York journalist that Moxley and fellow prosecutor Chris White told him what to say during the Stano trial. In exchange for his testimony, Zacke's prison sentence went from 180 years to 18. At a round-table event held last week featuring Wilton Dedge and longtime Public Defender J.R. Russo as well as Zacke's rape victim -- Michelle Martin -- local attorney Sammy Cacciatore mentioned the possibility of someone lodging a complaint with the Florida Bar Association. And that's exactly what needs to happen. Florida needs to follow suit and do what the bar in Texas just did. The result is not as important. Maybe John H. Jackson in Texas sent an innocent man to his death. Maybe he just got away with it. But at least he had to answer for his actions in court and that's more, way more, than Moxley has ever had to do here in Florida."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/19/torres-so-prosecutors-can-made-answer-after-all/101714586/
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/
