PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This is an important case on use of expert forensic video analysis to explain disparity of heights in identification evidence. As the Temple Daily Telegram reports in a backgrounder published before the hearing began on Monday: "The executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas, Michael Ware, will be in the Bell County 27th District Court courtroom at Judge Jon Gauntt at 9 a.m. Monday to bring up information he strongly believes will clear his client. Ware is advocating for George R. Powell III, convicted in 2009 for aggravated robbery and sentenced to 28 years in prison. Powell’s been in prison for almost 10 years.........A man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap in June 2008 went into a 7-Eleven in Killeen, pointed a gun and demanded money. Police suspected that man of similar robberies at other area stores, and a surveillance video captured the robbery. The video went on the evening news, and a phone tip led them to Powell. The store clerk told people the robber was about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but she picked Powell out of a phone lineup. Powell is 6 feet, 3 inches tall. The arrest affidavit gave few additional details other than what the robber wore. He had on a white baseball cap and sunglasses and showed the clerk a silver handgun. In response to his demands, the clerk gave the man money from the register and cartons of cigarettes. The man left the store. The clerk immediately identified Powell as the man she said who robbed her at gunpoint, the affidavit said. She said that she was positive of her identification. The Bell County District Attorney’s office called on Michael Knox, a former Florida police officer, to explain the disparity in heights. Knox, using photogrammetry, estimated the robber was at least 6 feet, 1 inch tall. The Texas Forensic Science Commission in 2014 started investigating Knox’s determination of the suspect’s height and, in 2016, used Powell’s case to raised questions about the reliability of the video analysis performed by Knox. A woman who believed in Powell’s innocence persuaded Powell’s family to hire two men to examine the video. Their analysis said the robber was actually 5 feet, 7.5 inches — and that ruled out Powell. A new analyst, Grant Fredericks, taught video analysis at the FBI National Academy in Quantico. His examination said that the man in the video was between 5 feet, 5.8 inches and 5 feet, 9.4 inches. Knox re-examined the evidence, used new photos of the scene and changed his measurements to at least 5 feet, 10.4 inches. Ware said Thursday that Knox’s measurement was about six inches off. Another key element in Powell’s conviction was the testimony of Demetric Smith, who said that Powell, a fellow inmate at the Bell County Jail, admitted to robbing the 7-Eleven and other stores and gas stations. However, in April 2016, Smith recanted in a handwritten, sworn and notarized statement sent to Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza. He said that he lied on the stand to try and get a better plea deal on a burglary charge he faced." The entire backgrounder can be found at:
http://www.tdtnews.com/news/article_b437a7e4-9b35-11e7-acf6-5f09dd3414bf.html
See the TDT report on yesterday's hearing 'Hearing starts to determine if man wrongfully convicted', by reporter Deborah McKeon) at the link below: "George Powell III walked into a Bell County courtroom Monday morning, already a convicted man serving a 28-year sentence for allegedly committing several 2008 armed robberies. Powell still maintains his innocence, and the Innocence Project of Texas believes him. Monday’s hearing at 9 a.m. with state District Judge John Gauntt officiating was full of twists and turns, and Powell’s future wasn’t determined by the evening.
In 2009, Demetric Smith testified at
Powell’s trial that Powell admitted to him while they were both inmates
in the Bell County Jail that he was guilty of several robberies in Bell
and Coryell counties.
Smith,
scheduled to testify Monday through a video conference walked out of the
room in which he was held and refused to cooperate. Smith didn’t
testify, possibly because he fired his attorney Friday when he learned
he could be charged with perjury for submitting two very different
accounts, Innocence Project attorney Walter Reaves pointed out. Bell
County District Attorney Henry Garza received a sworn and notarized
affidavit in April 2016 from Smith that said he’d lied about Powell to
get a better deal on his own burglary of a habitation charge, which
should have been enhanced because of his many criminal convictions. When he took the stand in 2009, Smith lied and said he wasn’t benefitting from his testimony about Powell, Reaves said. The
Innocence Project attorneys later revealed through questioning
Assistant District Attorney Mike Waldman that Smith was offered
consideration for his cooperation but no upfront deal. Because
Smith was called the “best snitch they ever had” by some investigators
and because of his cooperation with the district attorney’s office and
the Killeen Police Department in other cases, he was sentenced to only
two years in jail instead of the 5- to 99-year sentence he could have
received. Waldman abandoned the enhancement paragraphs, he said. He said
that is a typical kind of arrangement made through the district
attorney’s office. A lot of
Monday’s testimony centered on the height of the man who committed the
Bell and Coryell robberies in 2008. Different witness accounts and
height estimates were discussed, as well as the method used to determine
the robber’s height. The general opinion was that the robber was 5
feet, 5 inches to 5 feet, 7 inches, and Powell is 6 feet, 3 inches tall. An
affidavit by Smith’s mother, Diane Smith, was read by Innocence Project
Executive Director Michael Ware. She said that her son admitted to her
in a phone conversation that he was going to lie about Powell’s guilt to
get a better deal. The
admission of an audio question-and-answer session with Smith, during
which he allegedly admitted lying, wasn’t admitted into testimony yet
because it must be authenticated and Gauntt must decide on its
admissibility. The final person
called to the stand by Assistant District Attorney Sean Proctor was
Fred Burns, another Bell County assistant district attorney who once
prosecuted Smith. Burns described Smith as a sociopath and a career
criminal, as well as a prolific letter writer who frequently wrote
motions regarding his case. Burns said he believes Smith sent the
affidavit as a desperate effort to undermine the prosecution. He also
described Smith’s mother as someone who would lie for her son. The hearing recessed for the day at 4:50 p.m. and will continue on another day that wasn’t yet determined Both the state and defense attorneys gave their opinions of the day’s hearing to a Temple Daily Telegram reporter. “It’s
going as I expected,” Proctor said. “I haven’t been surprised so far by
anything from the witnesses who took the stand. It’s kind of been a
repeat of the 2009 trial with more bells, whistles and experts.” Proctor’s final analysis was that the decision should have been left with the jury’s decision and not the opinions of experts. “It’s become more about forgetting the eyewitnesses and the facts and, instead, giving weight to the experts.” Ware had his own slant on Monday’s proceedings. “I
think it’s ironic that the state is putting on evidence that their star
witness is a pathological liar after they used him to get a
conviction,” Ware said.
http://www.tdtnews.com/news/article_295b540a-9cce-11e7-8fd3-5b4f53796327.htmlSee previous post of this Blog: (November 20, 2016) at the link below: "George Powell III: Texas: Reporter Chuck Lindell focuses on his case in a compelling story headed: 'Bad science: Was the conviction of a Central Texas man built on bad science, lies?..."Powell’s conviction hinged on a dispute over the height of the robber. The clerk at the 7-Eleven told police that the man wearing sunglasses and a ball cap who pointed a gun at her was about 5-foot-6. Powell, however, stands 6-foot-3. To account for the discrepancy, prosecutors called to the stand an expert who examined video footage of the robber as he walked past the height-measurement strip next to the store exit. Michael Knox, introduced as an expert in forensic video analysis, testified that the 7-Eleven surveillance video showed a suspect at least 6-foot-1. Although Knox “had never before estimated height based on photos or videos,” the appeal said, jurors convicted Powell of aggravated robbery. In 2014, however, the Texas Forensic Science Commission voted to examine Knox’s determination as part of its role in helping judges, prosecutors and lawyers better use forensic evidence at trial. The commission hired a national leader in forensic video analysis who — using industry-standard methods that Knox did not, including three-dimensional laser scanning and measurement scale analysis — determined that the robber was no taller than 5-foot-9, and could have been as short as 5-foot-6."
https://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/search?q=powell
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/c
