PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Cooper came within eight hours of execution in 2004, when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay and ordered DNA testing of a bloody T-shirt found near the victims' home. Cooper's DNA was found on the shirt, and a majority of the court reaffirmed his death sentence. But in a 101-page dissent from the court's refusal to reconsider the case, Judge William Fletcher said Cooper "is probably innocent." Fletcher, joined by four colleagues, said the judge overseeing the case had discounted evidence of preservatives in the blood sample — an indication, he said, that officers had taken the blood from a lab and sprinkled it on the shirt in order to frame Cooper. Fletcher also said a potential witness had told officers that her boyfriend, a convicted murderer named Lee Furrow, had worn a T-shirt like the one found near the murder scene and had a hatchet that resembled descriptions of the murder weapon. Police retrieved a pair of bloody coveralls from Furrow but later destroyed them without testing them, Fletcher said. Cooper's lawyers contend that modern-day DNA testing would point to someone else as the killer."
STORY: "Gov. Jerry Brown hints at new DNA testing in Kevin Cooper murder case," by reporter Bob Egelko, published by The San Francisco Chronicle on July 3, 2018. (Bob Egelko has been a reporter since June 1970. He spent 30 years with the Associated Press, covering news, politics and occasionally sports in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento, and legal affairs in San Francisco from 1984 onward. He worked for the San Francisco Examiner for five months in 2000, then joined The Chronicle in November 2000.His beat includes state and federal courts in California, the Supreme Court and the State Bar.)
PHOTO CAPTION: "An undated California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation photo of Kevin Cooper, convicted of killing four people in San Bernardino County in 1983."
GIST: "Gov. Jerry Brown indicated Tuesday he was seriously considering ordering new DNA testing of evidence in four 1983 murders at the request of a condemned prisoner, who says the findings could clear him. Brown's legal affairs secretary, Peter Krause, stopped short of committing the governor's office to granting Kevin Cooper a reprieve that would allow re-examination of the evidence. But Krause said in a letter to Cooper's lawyer that the inmate's allegations that investigators planted evidence leading to his conviction "clearly deserve the serious consideration they have received." Krause asked defense attorney Norman Hile a series of questions, including which items he wanted tested, what he thought the tests would show and whether he had a forensic laboratory to recommend. Krause also noted other violent crimes Cooper had been accused of committing and asked why authorities would have planted evidence against him. He asked for a written reply by Aug. 17 and said he would then give prosecutors in San Bernardino County, where Cooper was convicted, a chance to respond. It was the first public response from Brown's office since Cooper's lawyers asked for the reprieve and new DNA testing in February 2016. It also comes less than two months after the New York Times posted an extensive article by columnist Nicholas Kristof, who pored over the case and concluded that Cooper had probably been framed. Hile declined to comment Tuesday, saying he wanted to review Krause's letter. Cooper, now 60, was convicted of fatally slashing a man, a woman and two children in the town of Chino Hills in June 1983, shortly after escaping from a nearby prison, where he was serving a sentence for burglary. He is one of more than 20 prisoners in California who have lost the final court appeals of their death sentences. Their cases are on hold while a federal judge in San Francisco considers challenges to the state's untested procedures for single-drug executions. Cooper came within eight hours of execution in 2004, when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay and ordered DNA testing of a bloody T-shirt found near the victims' home. Cooper's DNA was found on the shirt, and a majority of the court reaffirmed his death sentence. But in a 101-page dissent from the court's refusal to reconsider the case, Judge William Fletcher said Cooper "is probably innocent." Fletcher, joined by four colleagues, said the judge overseeing the case had discounted evidence of preservatives in the blood sample — an indication, he said, that officers had taken the blood from a lab and sprinkled it on the shirt in order to frame Cooper. Fletcher also said a potential witness had told officers that her boyfriend, a convicted murderer named Lee Furrow, had worn a T-shirt like the one found near the murder scene and had a hatchet that resembled descriptions of the murder weapon. Police retrieved a pair of bloody coveralls from Furrow but later destroyed them without testing them, Fletcher said. Cooper's lawyers contend that modern-day DNA testing would point to someone else as the killer. Krause, Brown's legal secretary, asked in his letter to Cooper's lawyer whether a DNA sample from Furrow or another alleged suspect was available. If additional testing shows only the presence of DNA of unknown origin, which could have come from anyone who handled the materials, Krause asked, "how would such a result aid in the determination of Mr. Cooper's guilt or innocence?""
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Gov-Jerry-Brown-hints-at-new-DNA-testing-in-13048256.phpPUBLISHER'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
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tune into The Charles Smith Blog at:
http://www.smithforensic.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Tune into The Charles Smith Blog at:
http://www.smithforensic.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------------------------
