STORY: "California law school Dean asks for new investigation into Kevin Cooper's case," by reporter Richard K. De Atley, published by The Press-Enterprise on February 20, 2018.
GIST: "Four California law school deans have asked Gov. Jerry Brown to open an independent investigation into the case of Kevin Cooper, convicted and sentenced to Death Row for the 1983 Chino Hills knife-and-hatchet murder of four people, two of them children. The letter is one of several sent to Brown asking him to grant a pending clemency petition from Cooper, which would put his death sentence temporarily on hold during the investigation. The American Bar Association sent Brown a similar letter in March 2016. Others who have written letters to Brown include former California Supreme Court justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin and late California Attorney General John Van de Kamp. The bloody June 4, 1983, attack for which Cooper was convicted and sentenced took the lives of Doug and Peggy Ryen; their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica; and neighbor Christopher Hughes, 11, who was staying overnight at the Ryens’ home. The boy was a friend of the Ryens’ 8-year-old son, Joshua, who survived the attack with a slashed throat. Cooper, 60, has exhausted all appeals from his 1985 conviction and sentencing, and he is likely to be one of the first prisoners executed if California resumes the death penalty. He has always claimed he was innocent.
The state last executed a prisoner in 2006, and injunctions against further executions remain standing in state and federal courts over issues of execution method and protocol. The Feb. 14 letter is signed by Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University California School of Law in Berkeley; Michael Waterstone, dean of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles; Lisa A. Kloppenberg, dean of the Santa Clara School of Law; and John Trasviña, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law. “Mr. Cooper’s clemency petition does not ask you to pardon him or commute his sentence,” the letter states. “It asks only that you order an independent innocence investigation that includes state-of-the-art DNA and other forensic testing.” Cooper’s supporters have long pointed to what they believe are exonerating issues in the case regarding DNA evidence, inadequate defense at trial, claims about other possible suspects they say were not investigated at the time, and a related cover-up by the investigating San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. They also contend that racism played a role in charging and trying Cooper, who is black. Prosecutors have said Cooper’s advocates ignore a big volume of direct and circumstantial evidence that tie Cooper to the attack. Two days before the slayings, he had escaped from nearby California Institution for Men in Chino. Cooper has admitted hiding in a vacant house near the Ryen home, but he denies killing anyone. “Because the clemency petition is pending, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time,” Christopher Lee, spokesman for District Attorney Mike Ramos, said Tuesday in an email. Gov. Brown’s office declined comment on Tuesday. The clemency petition was filed in February 2016. During Cooper’s appeals in the early aughts, two DNA tests concluded Cooper was the killer. Cooper since then unsuccessfully sought additional tests on a T-shirt, a speck of blood on a paint chip, and a vial of blood drawn from Cooper after his arrest. “An investigation with up-to-date DNA testing could show whether someone else committed the crimes — someone who may still be at large,” the letter says. The letter from the deans points to the case of Craig Coley, whose sentence Brown commuted in November 2017, after DNA evidence exonerated him of a 1978 double slaying in Simi Valley. He had served nearly 39 years in prison after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Brown can order a temporary reprieve to Cooper’s death sentence to complete the investigation."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.dailybulletin.com/2018/02/20/california-law-school-deans-ask-for-new-investigation-in-kevin-cooper-case/
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
