Back in action: On-going: White elephant case? Andrew Ganz: State Bar judge says San Francisco prosecutor was "grossly negligent" for failure to turn over critical evidence - not disclosing a meeting with a pathologist and statements made at that meeting -in a 2012 murder case, The San Francisco Chronicle reports..."The charges stem from the Vallejo murder case against Michael Daniels, who was accused of killing his girlfriend in August 2012. Ganz and detectives met with the forensic pathologist in the case, who told them she could not rule the death a homicide. But Ganz never revealed the meeting to Daniels’ public defender, even though the pathologist later testified that the death “was most likely a homicide.” “In this case, the court finds that (Ganz) was grossly negligent in not disclosing to the defense the Jan. 10, 2013 meeting, and more importantly, the statements that were made at the meeting,” McElroy wrote in her decision. “Once (Ganz) saw that Dr. Hogan left the details from the meeting out of her report, (he) should have made the disclosure himself or had someone on the prosecution team memorialize the detail from the meeting.”
In the years since I started publishing this Blog I have become
increasingly disturbed by the 'white elephant' in the room: Sheer,
unadulterated, willful misconduct in the criminal justice system -
much of it involving forensic evidence - committed by lab technicians,
pathologists, police officers, prosecutors and others. Think Annie
Dookhan; Think Sonia Farak; Think David Kofoed; Think Charles Smith;
Think Ken Anderson; Think Gene Morrison. I have therefore decided to run this image of a
white elephant at the top of every applicable post henceforth, to draw
our reader's attention to what I see as a major problem in all too
many criminal justice system's - my own included. Harold Levy;
Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; "Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be
independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is
a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing
these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful
convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved
deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury.
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009; http://www.t-mlaw.com/blog/post/the-elephant-in-the-crime-lab/
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Andrew
Ganz was found culpable of suppression of exculpatory evidence,
misrepresentation to defense counsel, failure to comply with California
law and violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights after a
weeks-long trial that began Aug. 22. State
Bar Court Judge Pat McElroy released her findings Tuesday and
recommended that Ganz, 40, be suspended for 90 days and placed on
probation for two years. The state Supreme Court must app McElroy did
not find Ganz culpable on two additional charges, including
intentionally suppressing exculpatory evidence."
STORY: "State Bar judge says SF prosecutor should be suspended for misconduct," by reporter Evan Sernoffsky, published by The San Francisco Chronicle on November 1, 2018. (Evan
Sernoffsky is a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle specializing
in criminal justice, crime and breaking news.)
GIST: "A
top San Francisco homicide prosecutor was “grossly negligent” and
should be suspended for failing to turn over critical evidence in a 2012 murder case he tried while working for the Solano County district attorney’s office, a State Bar Court judge ruled. Andrew
Ganz was found culpable of suppression of exculpatory evidence,
misrepresentation to defense counsel, failure to comply with California
law and violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights after a
weeks-long trial that began Aug. 22. State
Bar Court Judge Pat McElroy released her findings Tuesday and
recommended that Ganz, 40, be suspended for 90 days and placed on
probation for two years. The state Supreme Court must app McElroy did not find Ganz culpable on two additional charges, including intentionally suppressing exculpatory evidence. The charges stem from
the Vallejo murder case against Michael Daniels, who was accused of
killing his girlfriend in August 2012. Ganz and detectives met with the
forensic pathologist in the case, who told them she could not rule the
death a homicide. But
Ganz never revealed the meeting to Daniels’ public defender, even
though the pathologist later testified that the death “was most likely a
homicide.” “In
this case, the court finds that (Ganz) was grossly negligent in not
disclosing to the defense the Jan. 10, 2013 meeting, and more
importantly, the statements that were made at the meeting,” McElroy
wrote in her decision. “Once (Ganz) saw that Dr. Hogan left the details
from the meeting out of her report, (he) should have made the disclosure
himself or had someone on the prosecution team memorialize the detail
from the meeting.” The
San Francisco district attorney’s office said it could not comment on
the case because it is a personnel matter, and officials declined to say
if Ganz will continue to work for the office after the Supreme Court
makes a decision on the judge’s recommendation. Ganz has not been prosecuting cases since the State Bar charges were filed in April. His
attorney, Al Giannini, said that while his client’s career “has been
terribly, if not irreparably, damaged by the case,” he was still “very
relieved by the result.”
