PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, mandates all police agencies in the state adopt the Louisiana Sheriff's Executive Management Institute model policy on eyewitness identification procedures, or write its own policy that adapts best practices. The model policy calls for, among other procedures, blind administration of photo lineups and instructions that the suspect may or may not be in the lineup. Misidentifications were a factor in 73 percent of the 2,000 exoneration cases in the United States since 1989, the National Registry of Exonerations found. Of all the exonerations cases tracked by the group, eyewitness misidentifications made unintentionally - as opposed to intentional lies -- were a factor in 30 percent of the cases. "It could prevent atrocities from happening like what happened to me and other guys. ... And stop wasting taxpayer dollars prosecuting the wrong people and get the right people off the streets," Jones said of the legislation in an interview last month."
STORY: "Governor signs bill aimed at preventing eyewitness misidentifications in police line-ups," by reporter Emily Lane, published by The Times Picayune, on May 23, 2018. (Emily Lane covers criminal justice in New Orleans for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.)
GIST: "Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on
Wednesday (May 23) signed into law legislation requiring all police
agencies in Louisiana to adopt eyewitness identification procedures
aimed at preventing mistaken identifications and wrongful convictions. At Edwards' side during the signing ceremony, in a dark suit, blue tie and big smile, was Robert Jones,
a New Orleans man who spent 23 years of a life sentence in prison based
on a wrongful conviction. His lawyers from Innocence Project New
Orleans had argued he was mistakenly identified, perhaps in part because
of the manner in which New Orleans police officers presented victims
and witnesses with a photo array and line-up. Jones was released on bond in 2015, a few months after the court vacated his conviction. The Orleans parish District Attorney's Office dropped the charges against Jones in February 2017 and he now works as a client advocate for the Orleans Public Defender's Office. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans,
mandates all police agencies in the state adopt the Louisiana Sheriff's
Executive Management Institute model policy on eyewitness identification
procedures, or write its own policy that adapts best practices. The
model policy calls for, among other procedures, blind administration of
photo lineups and instructions that the suspect may or may not be in the
lineup. Misidentifications were a factor in 73 percent of the 2,000
exoneration cases in the United States since 1989, the National Registry
of Exonerations found. Of all the exonerations cases tracked by the
group, eyewitness misidentifications made unintentionally - as opposed
to intentional lies -- were a factor in 30 percent of the cases. "It
could prevent atrocities from happening like what happened to me and
other guys. ... And stop wasting taxpayer dollars prosecuting the wrong
people and get the right people off the streets," Jones said of the
legislation in an interview last month. Innocence Project New Orleans worked with the bill's sponsor, Wesley
Bishop, D-New Orleans, and criminal justice leaders across the state to
get the legislation in a posture so that most legislators could support
it. Other IPNO clients attended the signing ceremony, as did Mike
Ranatza, the executive director of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association -
among the most influential lobbying groups in the state on criminal
justice matters. Senate Bill 38 passed the House with a vote of 90-14, and the Senate with a vote of 34-5. The law requires each criminal justice agency that administers
eyewitness identification procedures to provide the Louisiana Commission
on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice with a copy
of its written policies by March 1, 2019."
The entire story can be found at:
The entire story can be found at:
Read story, also by reporter Emily Lane, on lawsuit launched by Robert Jones following 23 years of wrongful imprisonment at the link below: "Robert Jones was found to be wrongfully convicted of crimes for which he spent 23 years, seven months and two days in prison, most of that time at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. He is now suing the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office for violating his constitutional rights, claiming prosecutorial misconduct is to blame. Jones, now 44, was arrested at age 19 in 1992 and accused in string of violent crimes in the French Quarter that included the murder of British tourist Julie Stott, and a brutal kidnapping and rape. His attorneys say a bad Crimestoppers tip followed by a problematic photo and in-person line-up led to his arrest, and prosecutors kept their focus on him even as New Orleans police detectives who worked the case eventually ruled him out as a suspect. All the evidence except the identification of the victim and her boyfriend, the lawsuit claims, pointed to another suspect - Lester Jones, no relation to Robert Jones, and whose appearance and age better matched the initial description given by the rape victim. But that initial description was contained in a NOPD detective's notes and her supplemental report, the lawsuits states, which the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office refused to turn over to Robert Jones before his 1994 trial and for more than a decade after. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday (Jan. 16) in federal court claims prosecutors with the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, between 1992 though at least 2015, failed in their obligation to turn over exculpatory information and other favorable information to the defense. That failure constituted a violation of Robert Jones' constitutional rights spelled out in the 1963 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, the lawsuit claims. The suit alleges a pattern of Brady violations, saying the office does not take seriously its obligation to turn over favorable evidence to the defense and failed to train prosecutors on their Brady obligations even after several other convictions were thrown out for that reason. Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, citing the pending litigation, declined through a spokesman to comment on the lawsuit. When Cannizzaro's office dismissed the charge against Robert Jones, a spokesman for the office, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman, said the rape victim continued to assert Robert Jones was her attacker and that the DA's only regret "is that he was unable to provide a full measure of closure to a strong and heroic woman who suffered a brutal violation." The lawsuit also cites research on problems with eyewitness identifications, especially involving surviving victims of trauma, citing an analysis that says eyewitness misidentifications were a contributing factor in nearly two-thirds of DNA-based exonerations of wrongfully convicted defendants from 1989 to 2014. The Brady violations in Robert Jones' case were, "a direct and proximate result of OPDA's longstanding policy or custom of violating the constitutional rights of the defendants it prosecuted by not disclosing information favorable to their defense," the suit claims. The suit cites a policy manual used under former District Attorney Harry Connick Sr.'s tenure that says, "in response to the request of defense attorneys, the judge orders the state to produce so-called Brady material - that is, information in the possession of the state which is exculpatory regarding the defendant." The suit notes the written policy, "which, upon information and belief, remained in force during the period of Mr. Jones' trial," was "insufficient, inaccurate and a violation of the constitutional requirements." Rather than being ordered to do so at the request of the defense, the lawsuit points out, prosecutors are obligated to turn over not just exculpatory information, but any favorable information, to the defense without being asked to do so - and a judge's order is not required. A report on U.S. exonerations from 1989 to 2012 by the National Registry of Exonerations, which was cited by the lawsuit, states Orleans Parish had "the most exonerations per capita of any county with a population over 300,000, at a rate of more than 13 times the national average." The suit claims the findings about Orleans Parish in the report, which was authored by the editor of the registry, University of Michigan Law School Professor Samuel Gross, "is consistent with OPDA having an unwritten policy or custom of not complying with its Brady obligations. The information about the rape victim's initial description, in addition to a number of other facts favorable to the defense, including that Lester Jones was found with jewelry from each of the crimes in the spree and he drove a car matching the description of all the victims, were among "suppressed information" that the lawsuit claims "not only demonstrated Mr. Jones's innocence but also pointed convincingly to another man's guilt." The 46-page suit alleges several specific Brady violations. Another piece of information the suit says should have been turned over to the defense was the victim's statement, also recorded in the supplemental report, that her rapist told her he was bringing her to his "neck of the woods." Lester Jones lived in the Desire Projects, where the rape occurred, the suit notes, while Robert Jones lived more than two miles away from the site of the rape. The suit also claims the DA's Office, which argued to a jury that Lester Jones and Robert Jones committed crimes together, held back information, including a memo written around the time of the trial, that Lester Jones recanted his earlier statement saying he knew Robert Jones. After Louisiana's 4th Circuit Court of Appeal vacated Robert Jones' convictions in October 2014, pointing to Brady violations, the DA's office announced plans to retry him on the charges. After his attorney with Innocence Project New Orleans, Emily Maw, made arguments he was innocent, Robert Jones was given a low bond and was released from custody for the first time since he was a teenager. His grown daughter, who was unborn at the time of his arrest, was at the courthouse to see him for the first time out from behind bars. The DA's office dropped charges against Robert Jones just less than one year ago, on Jan. 26. Robert Jones is seeking a trial by jury and is suing for damages, including for "pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, lost income, physical illness, inadequate medical care, humiliation, injury to his reputation, psychological damage, and restriction of numerous forms of personal freedom." Named as defendants in the suit are the DA's office; Cannizzaro, in his official capacity; and insurance companies representing the DA's office."
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/01/wrongful_conviction_new_orlean.html
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
