Back in action: On-Going: A good choice: Merriam Webster’s 2018 word of the year: 'JUSTICE.'...(Let it flourish. HL); "The designation for “justice” came soon after President Trump’s one-time fixer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to conceal his boss’ alleged sexual affairs. He told a judge he agreed time and again to cover up Trump’s “dirty deeds” out of “blind loyalty.” It also came ahead of a Senate vote on the “First Step Act,” a criminal justice reform bill with broad bipartisan support. Earlier in the year, Kim Kardashian West not once but twice paid a White House visit on Trump to discuss prison and sentencing reform. Sentencing for drug crimes, treatment for opioid addiction, a loosening of cannabis laws, a Tesla probe, the Mueller investigation into the Trump campaign: Justice will remain top of mind into the new year."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement that “justice” consistently bubbled into the top 20 or 30 lookups on the company’s website, spiking at times due to specific events but also skating close to the surface for much of the year. While it’s one of those common words people likely know how to spell and use correctly in a sentence, Sokolowski pointed to other reasons that drive search traffic. Among them is an attempt to focus a train of thought around a philosophical problem, or to seek aspirational motivation. Such well-known words are often among the most looked up every year, including those that are slightly abstract, including “love,” he said.  “These are stories that connect to the culture and to society across races, across classes,” Sokolowski said."

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STORY: Merriam Webster’s 2018 word of the year is ‘justice,’  by Associated Press reporter Leanne Italie, published by The Toronto Star on December 17, 2018.

PHOTO CAPTION: "Merriam-Webster has chosen "justice" as its 2018 word of the year, driven by the churning news cycle and President Trump's Twitter feed."

GIST: "Racial justice. Obstruction of justice. Social justice. The Justice Department. Merriam-Webster has chosen “justice” as its 2018 word of the year, driven by the churning news cycle over months and months. The word follows “toxic,” picked by Oxford Dictionaries, and “misinformation,” plucked by Dictonary.com. Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement that “justice” consistently bubbled into the top 20 or 30 lookups on the company’s website, spiking at times due to specific events but also skating close to the surface for much of the year. While it’s one of those common words people likely know how to spell and use correctly in a sentence, Sokolowski pointed to other reasons that drive search traffic. Among them is an attempt to focus a train of thought around a philosophical problem, or to seek aspirational motivation. Such well-known words are often among the most looked up every year, including those that are slightly abstract, including “love,” he said.  “These are stories that connect to the culture and to society across races, across classes,” Sokolowski said. “We get this word that filters in.” That includes Twitter in a big way. Often, when Trump tweets about the Department of Justice, he uses simply “Justice.” On Aug. 1, when he tweeted his wish for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stop the Mueller investigation, searches spiked significantly. Trump referred to “obstruction of justice,” a separate entry on the Merriam-Webster site, prompting a lookup increase of 900 per cent over the same date the year before. Searches for “justice” throughout the year, when compared to 2017, were up 74 per cent on the site that has more than 100 million page views a month and nearly half a million entries, Sokolowski said. To be word of the year worthy, an entry has to show both a high volume of traffic and a significant year-over-year increase in lookups — as opposed to, say, a word that merely buzzed or felt lofty, he said. “We are not editorializing. We looked at our data and we were ourselves surprised by this word,” Sokolowski said. “This is a word that people have been thinking about for this entire year.” The word “justice” comes from Latin, unlike a lot of the more emotional words that rose in Old English. Old English did have “law,” ‘’fair” and “right,” but never “justice,” in reference to a system of laws. “It’s not a coincidence that it comes from the 12th century, which immediately follows the Norman conquest. When the Normans invaded England they brought their language, Old French, which was basically the then-modern version of Latin. They brought their system of government and laws and imposed them on the people they conquered, and that’s why all of the legal language in English today is Latin, just like the word justice,” Sokolowski explained. “It took the imposition of a system of laws to bring us the word justice.” One rule breaker: “witness,” a word with a purely Old English start. Other words that experienced lookup spikes this year: “maverick” (Sen. John McCain died); “respect” (Aretha Franklin died); “excelsior” (Stan Lee’s signature battle cry. He died); “pissant” (A radio host described Tom Brady’s daughter that way); “pansexual” (Janelle Monae described herself that way); “laurel” (Remember laurel vs. yanny?); “feckless” (What Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump, combined with a pejorative that begins with “c’’); “epiphany” (The title of a BTS K-pop song that dropped this year); “lodestar” (used in reference to McCain in the anonymous New York Times op-ed identified as coming from inside the Trump administration); and “nationalism” (At an Oct. 22 rally in Texas, Trump declared himself a nationalist)."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/12/17/merriam-websters-2018-word-of-the-year-is-justice.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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;  

Back in action: On-going: Patrick Pursley: Illinois: White elephant case? major Development: Ballistics: He has lost a motion to dismiss his retrial..."A 17th Circuit judge has denied the motion to dismiss a murder trial against Patrick Pursley, a man once convicted of the 1993 murder of Andy Ascher. Pursley spent more than two decades in prison for the murder until a ballistics test proved the gun in his original trial did not match the weapon used in Ascher's death. Following this revelation, Pursley was granted a new trial by Judge Joseph McGraw." Retrial to begin on January 10, 2019. alleging

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. Think Michael West;   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;

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "McGraw handed down his denial over the motion to dismiss on Friday evening. In his written opinion, McGraw said, "the court cannot find that the evidence supports that the State's Attorney's Office or the Rockford City Police Department acted in bad faith." McGraw, however, went on to conclude that both the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office and police "acted with gross negligence."

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SECOND PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Attorneys for Pursley filed the motion to dismiss after the victim's mother came forward with allegations in April 2017 that Rockford Police may have planted evidence in the original murder trial back in 1994 to get a conviction. Last week during an evidentiary hearing, though, Lois Ascher said she wasn't actually the one who had that conversation; she says it was her husband, who has since died. Questions over when the state's attorney's office received that information and handed it over to Pursley's defense team was a main focus of that hearing."

STORY: "Judge denies motion to dismiss in Pursley murder case; retrial will start Jan. 10,"  published by WREX on December 28, 2018.

 GIST: "A 17th Circuit judge has denied the motion to dismiss a murder trial against Patrick Pursley, a man once convicted of the 1993 murder of Andy Ascher. Pursley spent more than two decades in prison for the murder until a ballistics test proved the gun in his original trial did not match the weapon used in Ascher's death. Following this revelation, Pursley was granted a new trial by Judge Joseph McGraw. McGraw handed down his denial over the motion to dismiss on Friday evening. In his written opinion, McGraw said, "the court cannot find that the evidence supports that the State's Attorney's Office or the Rockford City Police Department acted in bad faith." McGraw, however, went on to conclude that both the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office and police "acted with gross negligence." Attorneys for Pursley filed the motion to dismiss after the victim's mother came forward with allegations in April 2017 that Rockford Police may have planted evidence in the original murder trial back in 1994 to get a conviction. Last week during an evidentiary hearing, though, Lois Ascher said she wasn't actually the one who had that conversation; she says it was her husband, who has since died. Questions over when the state's attorney's office received that information and handed it over to Pursley's defense team was a main focus of that hearing. Andrew Vail, Pursley's attorney, argued that because there was a 19-month delay in his team learning about the 2017 allegations by Lois Ascher, there were due process violations by the prosecution and therefore a dismissal should have been granted. However, that motion has been denied. The murder retrial of Patrick Pursley will begin Jan. 10, 2019. 13 News will be there and bring you updates from the courtroom. You can read Judge McGraw's full opinion here: McGraw Opinion on Pursley Motion to Dismiss"
 

The entire story can be read at:

https://wrex.com/category/2018/12/28/judge-denies-motion-to-dismiss-in-pursley-murder-case-retrial-will-start-jan-10/

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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Back in action; On-Going: Grits For Breakfast explains how Texas's Junk science writ took out bite-mark evidence..."In the Steven Chaney case, Texas' junk science writ worked exactly as it was intended. Texas courts have refused to exclude bite-mark evidence on the front end through Daubert hearings. But the junk science writ gave wrongfully convicted defendants an avenue to challenge false convictions on the back end. And it provided the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals a vehicle to declare junk science invalid in a way that applies to the rest of the system going forward."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I recently ran a post on this import bite-mark case and wish to thank Grits for Breakfast for providing what I previously lacked  -  the majority opinion, all other opinions and briefs from the case. A veritable treasure trove. Posts like this explain why Grits for Breakfast is widely recognized as one of the finest criminal justice web sites.

Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;

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STORY: "Junk science writ takes out bite-mark evidence," published by Grits for Breakfast on December 22, 2018.

GIST: "In the Steven Chaney case, Texas' junk science writ worked exactly as it was intended. Texas courts have refused to exclude bite-mark evidence on the front end through Daubert hearings. But the junk science writ gave wrongfully convicted defendants an avenue to challenge false convictions on the back end. And it provided the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals a vehicle to declare junk science invalid in a way that applies to the rest of the system going forward. That's what happened here. Now, bite mark evidence cannot be portrayed as "matching" evidence to a defendant, and past cases where such evidence was a) overstated and b) pivotal to the case could result in more convictions being overturned. This case also lays out the model, and the reasoning, for how other "comparative" forensic science may be challenged in the future. See the majority opinion, and all opinions and briefs from the case here. This will definitely be a topic featured on January's Reasonably Suspicious podcast."

The entire article can be read at:
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2018/12/junk-science-writ-takes-out-bite-mark.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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Back in action: On-Going: 'Reason' Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey asks: "Can Algorithms Run Things Better Than Humans?" His answer is quite disturbing!..."As impressive as Rekognition is, it's not perfect. The same ACLU report found that a test of the technology erroneously matched 28 members of Congress with criminal mugshots. Being falsely identified as a suspect by facial recognition technology, prompting police to detain you on your stroll down a street while minding your own business, would annoy anybody. Being mistakenly identified as a felon who may be armed would put you in danger of aggressive, perhaps fatal, police intervention. Are you willing to trust your life and liberty to emerging algorithmic governance technologies such as Rekognition?

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In a June meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Amazon Web Services pitched the tech as part of a system of mass surveillance that could identify and track unauthorized immigrants, their families, and their friends, according to records obtained by the Project on Government Oversight. Once ICE develops the infrastructure for video surveillance and real-time biometric monitoring, other agencies, such as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and local police, will no doubt argue that they should be able to access mass surveillance technologies too.  Amazon boasts the tool is already helping with everything from minimizing package theft to tracking down sex traffickers, and the company points to its terms of use, which prohibit illegal violations of privacy, to assuage fears."

STORY: Can Algorithms Run Things Better Than Humans?  Welcome to the rise of the Alogocracy, by Ronald Bailey, published  by Reason in the January 2019 issue. (Ronald Bailey is science correspondent for Reason magazine and the author, most recently, of The End of Doom (2015).

GIST: Police in Orlando, Florida, are using a powerful new tool to identify and track folks in real time. Video streams from four cameras located at police headquarters, three in the city's downtown area, and one outside of a recreation center will be processed through Amazon's Rekognition technology, which has been developed through deep learning algorithms trained using millions of images to identify and sort faces. The tool is astoundingly cheap: Orlando Police spent only $30.99 to process 30,989 images, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). For now the test involves only police officers who have volunteered for the trial. But the company has big plans for the program. In a June meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Amazon Web Services pitched the tech as part of a system of mass surveillance that could identify and track unauthorized immigrants, their families, and their friends, according to records obtained by the Project on Government Oversight. Once ICE develops the infrastructure for video surveillance and real-time biometric monitoring, other agencies, such as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and local police, will no doubt argue that they should be able to access mass surveillance technologies too.  Amazon boasts the tool is already helping with everything from minimizing package theft to tracking down sex traffickers, and the company points to its terms of use, which prohibit illegal violations of privacy, to assuage fears. As impressive as Rekognition is, it's not perfect. The same ACLU report found that a test of the technology erroneously matched 28 members of Congress with criminal mugshots. Being falsely identified as a suspect by facial recognition technology, prompting police to detain you on your stroll down a street while minding your own business, would annoy anybody. Being mistakenly identified as a felon who may be armed would put you in danger of aggressive, perhaps fatal, police intervention. Are you willing to trust your life and liberty to emerging algorithmic governance technologies such as Rekognition? The activities and motives of a police officer or bureaucrat can be scrutinized and understood by citizens. But decisions made by ever-more-complex algorithms trained on vast data sets likely will become increasingly opaque and thus insulated from public oversight. Even if the outcomes seem fair and beneficial, will people really accept important decisions about their lives being made this way—and, as important, should they? (These are just a few paragraphs of a lengthy article. The entire article (link below) is well worth the read. HL);

The entire story can be read at:

https://reason.com/archives/2018/12/16/can-algorithms-run-things-bett

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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Mark Lundy; New Zealand: He has filed an appeal with his nation's Supreme Court..."He was found guilty again in a retrial in 2015. Stains on Lundy’s shirt have been the point of contention in his trials and appeals. While the Crown says they could be brain or spinal cord matter from his wife, the defence argues it could be food. Lundy’s lawyers also argued there were significant omissions from the Judge’s summing up at the first trial, while the retrial was abuse of process because of substantial changes to the Crown case compared to the first trial. But the Court of Appeal were satisfied the trial had been fair."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: (From Wikipedia): "A key defence argument was that Lundy could not possibly have made the round trip from Wellington to Palmerston North and back in three hours,^[22] pointing out that Lundy's phone records prove that his phone was in Petone at 5:43 pm and at 8:48 pm. Regarding the brain tissue evidence, the defence noted that there was blood and tissue splattered everywhere including on the walls, the bed and the floor around the bodies but "his car, glasses, wedding ring, shoes and other clothes were all tested for blood or other tissue and absolutely nothing was found";^[18] they said contamination could account for the tissue found on Lundy's shirt."

STORY: "Mark Lundy seeking conviction appeal with Supreme Court," published by Brinkwire on December 22, 2018.

GIST: "Mark Lundy will attempt to appeal his convictions for murdering his wife and daughter at the Supreme Court. On Friday, the Supreme Court confirmed to Newshub that Lundy’s solicitor had filed an application to appeal his convictions. In October, the Court of Appeal rejected a legal bid by Lundy, saying his appeal should be dismissed on the basis no substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred. He has twice been convicted of killing his wife, Christine, and daughter, Amber, in Palmerston North in 2000.The first conviction came in 2002, before the Privy Council overturned his conviction in 2013. He was found guilty again in a retrial in 2015. Stains on Lundy’s shirt have been the point of contention in his trials and appeals. While the Crown says they could be brain or spinal cord matter from his wife, the defence argues it could be food. Lundy’s lawyers also argued there were significant omissions from the Judge’s summing up at the first trial, while the retrial was abuse of process because of substantial changes to the Crown case compared to the first trial. But the Court of Appeal were satisfied the trial had been fair.  Lundy is serving life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 20 years."

The entire story can be read at:

http://en.brinkwire.com/news/mark-lundy-seeking-conviction-appeal-with-supreme-court/

Read also the Wikipedia entry  on "The Lundy Murders"  at the link below: Prosecution case: The prosecution contended that Lundy killed his wife for her life insurance money because of financial pressures on him, and killed his daughter because she was a witness. They said that after talking to his wife and daughter on the phone, Lundy got in his car, drove back to Palmerston North, bludgeoned his wife and daughter to death, changed his clothes, disposed of the evidence, altered the time on the family computer, ran back to his car wearing a blonde wig and then drove back to his motel in Petone at high speed.^[18] The prosecution's case was also based on a speck of body tissue found on one of Lundy's polo shirts; the shirt was found along with other clothes and miscellaneous items on the back seat of his car. Although New Zealand pathologists could not identify it as Christine's brain tissue, a pathologist from Texas did. The prosecution argued the only way this brain tissue could have got on the shirt was if Lundy himself was the murderer. Later reports and tests by other experts cast doubt upon the identification of the material as brain tissue^[19] No weapon was ever found, but paint found in the hair of victims matched the paint Lundy used to mark the tools in his toolshed.^[20] The prosecution called more than 130 Crown witnesses.^[21]Defence case: The defence called three witnesses including Lundy himself, who emphatically denied killing his wife and daughter. A key defence argument was that Lundy could not possibly have made the round trip from Wellington to Palmerston North and back in three hours,^[22] pointing out that Lundy's phone records prove that his phone was in Petone at 5:43 pm and at 8:48 pm. Regarding the brain tissue evidence, the defence noted that there was blood and tissue splattered everywhere including on the walls, the bed and the floor around the bodies but "his car, glasses, wedding ring, shoes and other clothes were all tested for blood or other tissue and absolutely nothing was found";^[18] they said contamination could account for the tissue found on Lundy's shirt. Verdict: The jury deliberated for seven hours before finding Lundy guilty of the murder of his wife and child.^[16] He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Lundy's brother Craig, who gave evidence at the trial, publicly stated that he believed Lundy was guilty, while his sister and brother-in-law claimed his innocence..........Second Appeal: In October 2017, Lundy appealed his second conviction at the Court of Appeal in Wellington.^[30] Lundy was represented in the Court of Appeal by Jonathan Eaton QC, Julie-Anne Kincade, Jack Oliver-Hood and Helen Coutts.^[30] The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in October 2018. It ruled that the Crown evidence about RNA (the alleged presence of brain tissue on Lundy's shirt and similar to DNA) in the retrial was inadmissible but decided the appeal should be dismissed "on the basis that no substantial miscarriage of justice has actually occurred."^[31]Other theories of the murders: Geoff Levick, who runs a campaign to have Lundy's convictions overturned, believed Lundy was innocent largely based on the time needed to travel from Petone to Lundy's house and return. He speculated that a creditor of Lundy's paid someone to go to Lundy's house to "teach him a lesson", but Lundy was not there and matters "got out of hand".^[32] In 2009, North and  South magazine published the results of an investigation into the case by Mike White titled The Lundy murders: what the jury didn't hear. Lundy would have had only three hours to make the return journey from Petone to Palmerston North, a round trip of approximately 290 km (180 mi), kill his wife and daughter, change his clothes and dispose of evidence; White contended that was not possible in such a short time frame.^[18] In order to make it back to Petone by 8.28 pm, Lundy would have had to drive to Palmerston North in rush hour traffic at an average speed of around 117 km/h (the maximum open road speed limit in New Zealand at the time was 100 km/h),^[18] commit the crimes, and make the return journey back to Petone at an average speed of 120 km/h.^[18] In 2012, documentary film maker, Bryan Bruce made an episode examining the Lundy case as part of his series The Investigator. Like others, Bruce believed that Lundy could not possibly have made the return trip in three hours,^[33][34] but he thought Lundy could have made the trip and committed the crimes later that night, returning to Petone in the early hours of the morning.^[34Lundy 500:] "In July 2009, Salient editor Jackson Wood courted controversy by announcing the "Lundy 500", an event whereby teams of vehicles would "travel from Petone to Palmerston North as convicted double murderer Mark Lundy did in 2000, before murdering wife Christine and daughter Amber, according to the prosecution at his 2002 trial." Participants were tasked with doing the trip in 68 minutes or less, the same time Lundy is argued to have driven the distance. Wood argued that the "event was designed to draw attention to some of the inconsistencies in the New Zealand legal system", and emphasised that he wasn't encouraging anyone to break the law.^[35] However, the proposed event was harshly criticised in the media,^[36][37] and on August 2, it was announced that the event was to be cancelled. Wood apologised to the Lundy family and wrote that: "He acknowledged that their viewpoints were not adequately taken into account before the event was announced on Friday, and that there were other ways for this point to be communicated".^[38] A similar re-enactment of the travel involved in the Lundy case, dubbed the "Lundy Three Hundy" was proposed in 2013 by Nic Miller. It was likewise criticised in the media, with Mathew Grocott writing that "this event should not go ahead and if those involved have any human decency then it won't go ahead.^""
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lundy_murders

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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Back in action: On-Going: Todd Carlisle Fisher: Montana: Evidence tampering? Crime scene clean-up defence has failed in case where the defendent claimed there had been a burglary in the family home where his elderly father was killed. (Police found no signs of break-in.)..."In August, Todd Fisher's defense attorneys sought to have the case dismissed after learning that Brett Hoagland, a Dawson County Sheriff's deputy and a friend and neighbor of the Fishers, had hired a cleaning service for the home after the killing. The defense argued the actions of Hoagland, who was also named as a beneficiary in Wilbur Fisher's will, potentially destroyed evidence that could have been used to prove Wilbur's death could have been a suicide, or that some other suspect was responsible. Investigators acknowledged poor judgment on Hoagland's part, but countered that after two days of gathering evidence at the home, they had cleared the crime scene and allowed Todd Fisher to return to the property for a few days before he was arrested."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dawson County District Judge Michael Hayworth on Nov. 9 issued a summary order denying the motion to dismiss the case, without elaborating further on his reasoning. However, he left open the door for the defense to address "the circumstances surrounding the clean-up at trial." Defense attorneys did raise the issue at trial, Irigoin said. “They really tried to rehash it at trial and make it an issue, that it really wasn’t,” the county attorney said. “At the very least, I think that the jurors’ verdict in this case is a vindication to show that no wrongdoing took place whatsoever with regard to that deputy.”

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STORY: "Glendive man guilty of killing elderly father," published by The Billings Gazette on December 20, 2018.

GIST: A Dawson County jury on Wednesday found a Glendive man guilty of killing his elderly father in their home outside town in October 2017 and then tampering with the crime scene. Todd Carlisle Fisher was convicted Wednesday of deliberate homicide and tampering with physical evidence. The eight-day trial included more than 40 witnesses, and jury deliberations spanned two days.Fisher had reported his father Wilbur’s death to law enforcement, telling authorities he had been away from the house for several days and returned to find his 80-year-old father dead. He claimed there had been a burglary, though investigators didn’t see signs of a break-in. Todd and Wilbur Fisher had a rocky relationship, according to court documents. Todd Fisher was the beneficiary of a $60,000 life insurance policy and Wilbur Fisher’s will. Deputies arrested him four days after he reported his father’s death. Chief Medical Examiner for Montana Dr. Robert Kurtzman told jurors Wilbur Fisher died from a single gunshot wound to the face — near the bridge of his nose, according to Dawson County Attorney Brett Irigoin. Prosecutors also called witnesses from Stockman and Wells Fargo banks, who testified about the father and son’s finances, Irigoin said in a call after the verdict was returned. Fisher was “more or less broke” and his father supported him financially, Irigoin said. Fisher had “run up a lot of credit card debt on his dad’s card” and prosecutors believed it was a factor in the killing. In August, Todd Fisher's defense attorneys sought to have the case dismissed after learning that Brett Hoagland, a Dawson County Sheriff's deputy and a friend and neighbor of the Fishers, had hired a cleaning service for the home after the killing. The defense argued the actions of Hoagland, who was also named as a beneficiary in Wilbur Fisher's will, potentially destroyed evidence that could have been used to prove Wilbur's death could have been a suicide, or that some other suspect was responsible. Investigators acknowledged poor judgment on Hoagland's part, but countered that after two days of gathering evidence at the home, they had cleared the crime scene and allowed Todd Fisher to return to the property for a few days before he was arrested. Dawson County District Judge Michael Hayworth on Nov. 9 issued a summary order denying the motion to dismiss the case, without elaborating further on his reasoning. However, he left open the door for the defense to address "the circumstances surrounding the clean-up at trial." Defense attorneys did raise the issue at trial, Irigoin said. “They really tried to rehash it at trial and make it an issue, that it really wasn’t,” the county attorney said. “At the very least, I think that the jurors’ verdict in this case is a vindication to show that no wrongdoing took place whatsoever with regard to that deputy.” Fisher’s defense counsel did not return a request for comment left Wednesday afternoon. Fisher faces up to life in prison on the homicide charge, with a minimum of 12 years, according to Irigoin. On the tampering charge, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Irigoin said he had not yet settled on a sentencing recommendation.. Sentencing is set for March 22."

 The entire story can be read at:

 https://billingsgazette.com/news/crime/glendive-man-guilty-of-killing-elderly-father/article_ac28a5ac-5aff-5c67-96cd-fd8de5722a4f.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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Back in action: On-Going. Rohan Naahar reviews Netflix production "The Innocent Man" based on John Grisham non-fiction work...A perspecitve from India..."Ada (Alabama) is concentrated among a few at the top of the ivory tower, while the poor are systematically ignored and oppressed. Their lives and their memories are being washed away by alcohol and drugs and violence. And the criminal justice system is taking care of whatever’s left. But stories such as this aren’t restricted to Ada or America; something similar happened in our own backyard. The recent documentary film, The Karma Killings, told a version of this story about the rich and the poor and the murder of innocent girls - that made headlines a few years ago, and through its own tale of class conflict and cruel injustice, suggested that perhaps Nithari in Uttar Pradesh and Ada, Oklahoma aren’t too different after all."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Shows such as The Innocent Man, based on best-selling author John Grisham’s first (and only) non-fiction book, are a window into an America that we rarely see, an America that is rarely projected. It is fitting then, that this side of America - a rotten, crime-infested land of rampant corruption and backward beliefs - is brought to our attention by the same people that the country is trying to hide.

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STORY:  The Innocent Man review: Netflix, John Grisham end 2018 with an addictive treat for true crime fans," by Rohan Naahar, published by The Hindustan Times on December 21, 2018.

SUB-HEADING: "The Innocent Man review: Netflix’s latest binge-fest, based on John Grisham (only) non-fiction book, is yet another tale of wrongful conviction. An addictive treat for true crime fans."

GIST: "Ada, Oklahoma, is the sort of small town that has ‘a church on every corner’, a woman who lives there says in the first episode of Netflix’s latest true crime series, The Innocent Man. It is also, as we will see a couple of minutes later, the sort of small town whose pastors preach the Gospel of Christ with a loaded gun on their person. “Five in the clip, none in the chamber,” says one of them, glowing with pride. Only God should have the power to take a life, he offers as an explanation; but in Ada, Oklahoma, some men have robbed God of this power. Shows such as The Innocent Man, based on best-selling author John Grisham’s first (and only) non-fiction book, are a window into an America that we rarely see, an America that is rarely projected. It is fitting then, that this side of America - a rotten, crime-infested land of rampant corruption and backward beliefs - is brought to our attention by the same people that the country is trying to hide. Grisham came across this incredible story because of his association with the Innocence Project - a heroic group of lawyers who’ve made it their mission to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. Grisham was presented the case of one Ron Williamson, a mentally ill man who in the mid-80s was arrested for and convicted of killing a young woman. Williamson was sentenced to death - he spent 11 years on death row - and came within five days of being executed on one occasion. He was released when new DNA evidence cleared his name, in an appeal effort lead by the Innocence Project. But more than a decade spent on death row, untreated for mental illnesses that were visibly taking over his body, had an irreparable effect on Williamson, who could not adjust to life as a free man. “It took Ron four years to drink himself to death,” Grisham says plainly. In offering justice for the death of one person, the system took the life of another. “If I were to write this story as a novel,” says Grisham, also credited as one of the show’s producers, “no one would believe it.” But it gets stranger. A few years before the Ada police picked up Williamson, they’d arrested two young men for the rape and murder of another young woman. Both Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot are still in prison, serving life sentences on the basis of what they claim were false confessions, coerced out of them by law enforcement officers covering their own tracks. What unfolds is a story that is all too familiar but just as difficult to believe as the several other times we’ve seen similar cases on screen, in The Thin Blue Line, the Paradise Lost trilogy, and more recently, in Netflix’s own Making a Murderer. It’s a story about greed and corruption, about systemic malpractice, but it is also a story about human perseverance, and decency. As someone who has, like millions of others, lapped up every new true crime series that we’re given, The Innocent Man is in many ways a reminder of just how overwhelming certain injustices truly are. It’s so heartbreaking that simply based on the broadest outlines of certain cases, an experienced viewer can accurately predict how the story will play out. More often than not, it begins with a dead woman (it’s always a woman), a false confession - usually extracted from the most vulnerable they can prey upon - and ends in a wrongful conviction. What follows is an indictment of the American justice system - it is estimated that over 90,000 wrongfully convicted prisoners are incarcerated in its overpopulated (and privatised) prisons - and a story of the many lives that are affected by such deliberate wrongdoing. In what is perhaps the most tragic example of this case’s fallout, the victim’s mother, now an ageing lady who needs a wheelchair to move around, recalls how her life disintegrated after her daughter’s death. “I have been on antidepressants for 35 years,” she says, plagued by the guilt of knowing that it was a belt that she’d gifted her daughter that was used as the murder weapon. Ada, Oklahoma is the sort of nondescript Bible Belt town that we’ve seen so often in shows like The Innocent Man - a town where class distinctions are a life sentence in themselves. All the power in Ada is concentrated among a few at the top of the ivory tower, while the poor are systematically ignored and oppressed. Their lives and their memories are being washed away by alcohol and drugs and violence. And the criminal justice system is taking care of whatever’s left. But stories such as this aren’t restricted to Ada or America; something similar happened in our own backyard. The recent documentary film, The Karma Killings, told a version of this story about the rich and the poor and the murder of innocent girls - that made headlines a few years ago, and through its own tale of class conflict and cruel injustice, suggested that perhaps Nithari in Uttar Pradesh and Ada, Oklahoma aren’t too different after all."

The entire story can be read at:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/tv/the-innocent-man-review-netflix-john-grisham-end-2018-with-an-addictive-treat-for-true-crime-fans/story-n0ZhRMz6TZGQB9xoZAROjL.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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.    Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;

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Back in action: On-Going: Gail Maney: Investigator Tim McKinnel; Another meaty New Zealand case to follow. Echoes of Teina Pora: What do police do when they have no body and utterly no hard forensic evidence?..."McKinnel's involvement in the case began when he was approached by Maas for input into the podcast. When he started to look into the case more closely there were several red flags, he says. "There is not a scrap of physical evidence to support the contention that Fuller-Sandys was murdered and that's a pretty frightening place to start from for a murder prosecution." He found some concerning similarities to Teina Pora's case too, particularly when it came to the way police managed witnesses. "We have what appears to be a rather prolific use of deals, inducements, threats; potentially offers of rewards, relocation and pay-outs."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  Check out the podcast 'Gone Fishing' at the link below, (Towards end of 'Passage of the day." I have taken a few paragraphs from this lengthy feature article. The entire piece can be found at the link below - and is well worth the read. HL.

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The former cop, father-of-three and tireless campaigner who led the effort to overturn Teina Pora's convictions for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett, currently has his sights set on what he thinks might just be New Zealand's next wrongful conviction case: that of Gail Maney. And when asked if he thinks Maney's case could end up being on the same scale as Pora's, McKinnel says simply, "It could be bigger.  In 1999, Maney was found guilty of ordering the killing of Deane Fuller-Sandys, who had gone missing a decade earlier. At the time it was thought that Fuller-Sandys had died after slipping from rocks while fishing at Whatipu, on Auckland's west coast. In 1997, eight years after he disappeared, presumed drowned, police received a tip off about a story of a body in a car boot and thus began an extraordinarily complex tangle of conflicting accusations made by multiple witnesses, culminating in Maney and three others being found guilty. During Maney's trial, the Crown was unable to produce any hard forensic evidence such as DNA, blood-matches or weapons. Fuller-Sandys' body has never been found. Following Maney's successful appeal, a retrial took place in 2000, but she was found guilty a second time, and a second appeal was thrown out. Maney, a mother-of-three, spent 15 years behind bars, and is currently serving out a life sentence on parole.  All along, Maney has professed her innocence. In fact, she has said she did not know Fuller-Sandys, and that when she was charged with murder it was the first time she'd heard his name. Her case is now receiving new attention, thanks largely to the recent RNZ-Stuff true crime podcast Gone Fishing, by journalists Amy Maas and Adam Dudding, which investigates her story."

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STORY: "Gail Maney case 'could be bigger' than Teina Pora's - Investigator Tim McKinnel," by reporter Felicity Monk, published by New Zealand Radio on December 18, 2018.

GIST: He helped overturn Teina Pora's murder conviction. Now Tim McKinnel is investigating another potential wrongful conviction he believes could out-do even that case.

PHOTO CAPTION: "Tim McKinnel was unrelenting in his determination to overturn Teina Pora's murder and rape convictions.

PHOTO CAPTION: "Gail Maney was convicted without any hard forensic evidence." 

PHOTO CAPTION: "For years, Deane Fuller-Sandys was presumed to have been swept from the rocks while fishing at Whatipu on Auckland's west coast. "

GIST:  "It's a drizzly, grey Tuesday morning when I meet Tim McKinnel at his west Auckland home, down the world's most complicated driveway. The 44-year-old investigator (don't preface it with 'private', he says; it makes people think you "sneak around taking photos of cheating spouses and that sort of thing") leads me through to his home office with its large desk, multiple screens and boxes of files stacked in towers. The former cop, father-of-three and tireless campaigner who led the effort to overturn Teina Pora's convictions for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett, currently has his sights set on what he thinks might just be New Zealand's next wrongful conviction case: that of Gail Maney. And when asked if he thinks Maney's case could end up being on the same scale as Pora's, McKinnel says simply, "It could be bigger.  In 1999, Maney was found guilty of ordering the killing of Deane Fuller-Sandys, who had gone missing a decade earlier. At the time it was thought that Fuller-Sandys had died after slipping from rocks while fishing at Whatipu, on Auckland's west coast. In 1997, eight years after he disappeared, presumed drowned, police received a tip off about a story of a body in a car boot and thus began an extraordinarily complex tangle of conflicting accusations made by multiple witnesses, culminating in Maney and three others being found guilty. During Maney's trial, the Crown was unable to produce any hard forensic evidence such as DNA, blood-matches or weapons. Fuller-Sandys' body has never been found. Following Maney's successful appeal, a retrial took place in 2000, but she was found guilty a second time, and a second appeal was thrown out. Maney, a mother-of-three, spent 15 years behind bars, and is currently serving out a life sentence on parole.  All along, Maney has professed her innocence. In fact, she has said she did not know Fuller-Sandys, and that when she was charged with murder it was the first time she'd heard his name. Her case is now receiving new attention, thanks largely to the recent RNZ-Stuff true crime podcast Gone Fishing, by journalists Amy Maas and Adam Dudding, which investigates her story. In August, lawyers Julie-Anne Kincade, Nicholas Chisnall and Aieyah Shendi agreed to represent Maney in a bid to have her case re-heard by the Court of Appeal. McKinnel's involvement in the case began when he was approached by Maas for input into the podcast. When he started to look into the case more closely there were several red flags, he says. "There is not a scrap of physical evidence to support the contention that Fuller-Sandys was murdered and that's a pretty frightening place to start from for a murder prosecution." He found some concerning similarities to Teina Pora's case too, particularly when it came to the way police managed witnesses. "We have what appears to be a rather prolific use of deals, inducements, threats; potentially offers of rewards, relocation and pay-outs.".........In 2015, McKinnel, along with another investigator, a couple of lawyers and a forensic scientist, founded the New Zealand Public Interest Project. Unlike many other countries, New Zealand does not have a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), whose purpose is to pursue miscarriages of justice, and so McKinnel and his colleagues felt they needed to fill that absence. Since launching, they have received hundreds of applications but because the team is working pro bono and in their spare time, it has been difficult coordinating everyone and dealing with the volume of applications. They try to meet monthly and McKinnel says of the cases he has looked at, "One in ten looks not only troubling, but viable in terms of doing something. I wouldn't be surprised if there were dozens of relatively serious wrongful convictions in New Zealand and that is why a CCRC is, in my view, such a necessary tool. I would like to think that a properly funded and empowered commission would mean that we don't need to exist anymore." McKinnel may soon get his wish: there is currently a bill before Parliament to establish a CCRC in New Zealand. So what's next for this reluctant hero? Aside from his commercial investigation work and Maney, McKinnel is looking into the case of Alan Hall (also the subject of a podcast, Newshub's Grove Road) who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1985 murder of 52-year-old Arthur Easton. Like Maney's case, there's a lot that doesn't stack up and there's a lot of work to be done. The measured and studious McKinnel, still with the cop's haircut, doesn't sound like he'll be retiring his cape anytime soon."

The entire story can be found at:

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/in-depth/378282/gail-maney-case-could-be-bigger-than-teina-pora-s-investigator-tim-mckinnel

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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.    Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Back in action: On-going: Kevin Cooper: California; No pardon, but Gov. Jerry Brown orders new tests in the death row inmates quadruple-murder case, the Los Angeles Times reports. (Reporter Alene Tchekmedyian)..." The clues at the Ryens’ unlocked home were scant: a bloody shoe print on a sheet in the master bedroom and a single drop of blood on a wall in the hallway. At his trial and throughout the appeals process, Cooper’s attorneys argued that the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department had destroyed or suppressed evidence suggesting the attackers were three white men, including a convicted contract killer."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Cooper was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985. In 2002, the attorney general’s office green-lighted additional DNA testing in the case. The results showed that Cooper’s DNA was on a bloody T-shirt found outside a bar near the Ryens’ home, on two cigarette butts inside the family’s stolen station wagon and in the blood droplet inside the home. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals intervened eight hours before Cooper’s execution in 2004 to order more tests on the T-shirt. Tests later revealed that Cooper’s blood stains on the T-shirt had a high concentration of the chemical EDTA, which is used to preserve blood samples in police labs. Cooper’s attorney argued that the blood was planted."

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STORY: "Gov. Jerry Brown orders new tests in quadruple-murder case of death row inmate Kevin Cooper," by Alene Tchekmedyian, published by The Los Angeles Times on December 24, 2018. (Alene Tchekmedyian is a reporter in the Metro section of the Los Angeles Times. She covers breaking news in California).

PHOTO CAPTION: "Kevin Cooper, center, was convicted in 1985 of killing four people and sentenced to death. Years after the trial, experts and critics have raised doubts about whether authorities sent the right person to prison."

 

GIST: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday ordered new tests of physical evidence in the case of Kevin Cooper, whose high-profile quadruple-murder conviction three decades ago has come into question in recent years. Brown said in a statement that he was directing “limited retesting of certain physical evidence in the case and appointing a retired judge as a special master to oversee this testing, its scope and protocols.” Cooper has maintained his innocence throughout the case and has claimed that law enforcement planted evidence and ignored statements by witnesses that pointed to other possible suspects. He has lost more than a dozen appeals. Brown’s legal staff has been digging into Cooper’s 2016 clemency petition, discussing the case with both prosecutors and defense attorneys. In July, Brown said he would consider Cooper’s request to order additional forensic testing in the case. Cooper’s attorneys have said some key items recovered during the investigation were never properly tested and should be analyzed using more current DNA technology. The case dates to 1983, when three family members and an unrelated boy, 11-year-old Christopher Hughes, were found hacked and slashed to death in a Chino Hills home. The boy’s father discovered the bloodied bodies when he went to the hilltop home looking for Christopher, who had not returned from a sleepover in time for church one Sunday morning. Through the window, he discovered the bodies of Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher. The victims had been stabbed a total of 143 times with an ice pick, an ax and a knife. The Ryens’ 8-year-old son, Joshua, was slashed across the throat but survived. News reports at the time said the case shook the community so powerfully that homeowners began locking their doors at night and parents no longer allowed their children to attend sleepovers. Two days before the killings, Cooper had escaped from a prison in Chino, where he was serving a sentence for burglary. Police found ample evidence — cigarette butts, a button from a prison uniform, a leather hatchet sheath — that Cooper had spent two days in a house near the Ryens’ after his escape. He was arrested about seven weeks after the killings. At the trial, jurors heard the lone survivor give a videotaped statement that conflicted with what he had said when he was first interviewed by authorities. After Joshua Ryen was airlifted to a hospital, he told a sheriff’s deputy and a social worker that his attackers were three white men. An hour later, he said they were Latino. Later that month, the boy told a deputy that Cooper, who is black, was not the killer after he saw the man’s face on a wanted poster on television. Jurors heard him say that he saw just one man or maybe a shadow in his home.  The clues at the Ryens’ unlocked home were scant: a bloody shoe print on a sheet in the master bedroom and a single drop of blood on a wall in the hallway. At his trial and throughout the appeals process, Cooper’s attorneys argued that the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department had destroyed or suppressed evidence suggesting the attackers were three white men, including a convicted contract killer. Meanwhile, Cooper repeatedly maintained his innocence. At one point, he told a prosecutor: “You’re trying to make me remember detail by detail. … I only know what I didn’t do.” Cooper was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985. In 2002, the attorney general’s office green-lighted additional DNA testing in the case. The results showed that Cooper’s DNA was on a bloody T-shirt found outside a bar near the Ryens’ home, on two cigarette butts inside the family’s stolen station wagon and in the blood droplet inside the home. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals intervened eight hours before Cooper’s execution in 2004 to order more tests on the T-shirt. Tests later revealed that Cooper’s blood stains on the T-shirt had a high concentration of the chemical EDTA, which is used to preserve blood samples in police labs. Cooper’s attorney argued that the blood was planted. The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office sent a 94-page memo to Brown in May refuting Cooper’s arguments and vehemently opposing any grant of clemency."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kevin-cooper-20181224-story.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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Back in action: On-Going: Noel Dean: (Texas): Radley Balko shows how some police officers can use their presence in the autopsy room to pollute the autopsy process, in an opinion piece headed ""It shouldn't be routine for cops to consult with medical examiners."..."There’s so much wrong here, it’s hard to know where to begin. But let’s start with the fact that it’s apparently “customary” in Harris County, Tex., for police investigators to attend an autopsy and, before the autopsy begins, to share their theory of the crime with the doctors who will be performing it. This is not how you go about getting an objective, scientific autopsy report untainted by cognitive bias. But it is a shortcut to getting a conviction. There’s a good argument to be made that police and prosecutors shouldn’t consult with medical examiners at all until after the autopsy report is completed. Any information you provide could corrupt the doctor’s opinion. And there are studies showing that the more information about the crime you provide to forensic analysts, the more likely they are to erroneously implicate the suspect — which is exactly what happened here."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  There is much to be learned about the role that police officers should - or should not play in autopsies - from Justice Stephen Goudge's public inquiry into many of former doctor Charles Smith's cases. In his section on 'Interaction with the Police at Autopsy,' Justice  Goudge makes clear that the officer's essential role is to make written notes  on generic information  such as: "who was present, when they came and went, whether photographs were taken and by whom, and  what exhibits were collected" all of which are vital to a police officer's function, - and important to preserve continuity.   But Justice Goudge makes clear that officers should not go beyond that line into the recording of everything they hear. If, however, the pathologist makes a substantive finding during the course of the autopsy, the pathologist  should tell the the officer  verbatim what  to write down, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Importantly, Justice Goudge makes clear that: "There is nothing necessarily wrong with providing information to the police, such as a suggestion for investigation or a preliminary opinion. Indeed, when appropriate, such an opinion can be of great assistance, but pathologists must speak cautiously.  They must ensure that they have sufficient basis for their preliminary opinions and that they qualify those opinions appropriately. A failure to do so can cause  lasting harm by skewering the police investigation." (I totally agree. Key words are "lasting harm" which no doubt refers, among other reasons,  to the the wrongful laying of charges, and to wrongful convictions." HL);

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY:   "The National Association of Medical Examiners recommends that a forensic pathologist "investigate cooperatively with, but independent from, law enforcement and prosecutors. The parallel investigation promotes neutral and objective medical assessment of the cause and manner of death.” But the idea that a police investigator would essentially hover over an autopsy, pointing to marks or wounds that support his theory of the crime as the doctor is working is just absurd. (It’s also worth noting that Harris County has a long and sordid history when it comes to bias and corruption in its crime labs.)"

COMMENTARY: "It shouldn't be routine for cops to consult with medical examiners," by Radley Balko, in his influential and enlightening Blog 'The Watch', published by The Washington  Post on  December 21, 2018.  (Radley Balko blogs and reports on criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties for The Washington Post. Previously, he was an investigative reporter for the Huffington Post and a writer and editor for Reason magazine. His most recent book is "The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South.")

GIST: "This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit released an opinion in Dean v. Phatak, a case involving testimony from a medical examiner in a trial over a crime that turned out not to be a crime at all. Here’s the background: Noel Dean was arrested and charged with shooting and killing his wife, Shannon Dean, in 2007. Noel Dean claimed that Shannon Dean shot herself as he watched. He noted her previous suicide attempts as well as notes in which she had contemplated suicide. The autopsy on Shannon Dean was done by medical examiner Darshan Phatak. Based on very little, Phatak ruled Shannon Dean’s death a homicide. He said in depositions that he did so after watching video of a police interrogation with Noel Dean in which Noel Dean claimed that his wife was holding the gun to the right side of her head, with the handle pointing toward the floor. Phatak claimed to have found evidence that the handle of the gun was actually pointed upward, toward the ceiling. He first said his evidence for this conclusion was the position of the gun’s “injector rod" on the floor, but then changed and said it was due to the “line of sight." It isn’t clear what he meant by either. Phatak also claimed that Shannon Dean was passed out drunk on the floor when she was shot and killed, and thus could not have taken her own life. His basis for that conclusion was her blood alcohol level was between .15 and .19. But while that level of intoxication would classify as “drunk" under most any definition, it isn’t normally even associated with loss of consciousness, much less, as Phatak’s testimony would imply, so drunk that we should assume that Shannon Dean would have been passed out. Noel Dean’s first trial resulted in a hung jury. During the second trial, another medical examiner made a photographic overlay of the muzzle of the gun and compared it to the marks the gun left on Shannon Dean’s head. The overlay showed that the gun’s orientation was handle-down when it was fired, just as Noel Dean had claimed. The state dismissed the charge.

Noel Dean then sued Phatak for violating his civil rights. As regular readers will know, it is extremely difficult to sue an expert witness. They’re protected by qualified immunity, which means that you basically have to show that they either manufactured evidence or willingly gave false testimony. Even “gross negligence” isn’t enough to get in front of a jury. A district court judge ruled that Noel Dean had indeed shown that Phatak manufactured evidence, and dismissed the doctor’s claim of qualified immunity. The ruling this week vacates that ruling and asks the judge to reconsider. The ruling itself turns on a somewhat complicated legal matter about whether the district court judge properly reviewed all of the evidence. For the purpose of this post, I want to draw your attention to this passage, from the majority opinion:

The following day, July 31, 2007, Harris County Assistant Medical Examiner, Dr. Darshan Phatak, conducted Shannon’s autopsy. Phatak had passed his board-certification exam in forensic pathology and joined the Medical Examiner’s office in the previous year. As was customary, the investigating officer, Millard Waters of the Houston Police Department, attended the autopsy. There, Waters shared his theory with Phatak that Dean was the shooter, and expressed his hope that the autopsy would confirm his suspicions. He stressed that the position of the gun would be important: if the gun was fired with the handle upward it was likely a murder; if it faced downward, as Dean had recounted, it was likely a suicide. During the autopsy, Waters pointed out what appeared to be an imprint of the pistol’s front sight in the five o’clock position with respect to the entrance wound, and another mark at about the eleven o’clock position apparently corresponding to the weapon’s ejector rod. Waters observed that these impressions were inconsistent with Dean’s description of the shooting. Waters also brought to Phatak’s attention a dark line on Shannon’s arm. Phatak examined it, and concluded it was not the result of a suicide attempt . . . 

A week later, on August 6, 2007, Phatak met to discuss the case with Waters and other officials. Such meetings were a normal practice for medical examiners. In this meeting, Phatak examined the gun used in the shooting. He also examined photos of the wound. Holding the gun, Phatak lay down on the floor and demonstrated the manner in which Dean described Shannon shooting herself. He explained that he had observed abrasions around the entrance wound: a crescentic abrasion in the 11 o’clock position, and linear abrasions at the 4 and 5 o’clock positions. He observed that the crescentic abrasions corresponded to the gun’s ejector rod, and the linear abrasions to the gun’s front sight—meaning that the gun was fired in a “handle up” position, the opposite from the gun position in Dean’s description . . . 

Following the meeting, Phatak viewed part of Dean’s videotaped interview, the less than five minutes during which Dean described how Shannon had shot herself. He found that during this part of the video Dean was never instructed to place the gun against his head in exactly the way it was positioned during the shooting.

There’s so much wrong here, it’s hard to know where to begin. But let’s start with the fact that it’s apparently “customary” in Harris County, Tex., for police investigators to attend an autopsy and, before the autopsy begins, to share their theory of the crime with the doctors who will be performing it. This is not how you go about getting an objective, scientific autopsy report untainted by cognitive bias. But it is a shortcut to getting a conviction. There’s a good argument to be made that police and prosecutors shouldn’t consult with medical examiners at all until after the autopsy report is completed. Any information you provide could corrupt the doctor’s opinion. And there are studies showing that the more information about the crime you provide to forensic analysts, the more likely they are to erroneously implicate the suspect — which is exactly what happened here. I have spoken to some medical examiners who disagree with a blanket ban on talking to investigators — they argue that a preliminary consultation with police or prosecutors about where and how the body was found can be instructive. The National Association of Medical Examiners recommends that a forensic pathologist "investigate cooperatively with, but independent from, law enforcement and prosecutors. The parallel investigation promotes neutral and objective medical assessment of the cause and manner of death.” But the idea that a police investigator would essentially hover over an autopsy, pointing to marks or wounds that support his theory of the crime as the doctor is working is just absurd. (It’s also worth noting that Harris County has a long and sordid history when it comes to bias and corruption in its crime labs.) It’s also troubling that Phatak watched the police interrogation of Noel Dean and used it to inform his conclusions. Again, despite what you may have seen on “CSI," a medical examiner is not a police investigator. He is not part of the state’s investigatory team. He is supposed to be an objective party who conducts an autopsy and, when possible, uses the results of that autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. When necessary, he should contradict police or prosecutors. When necessary, he should make their jobs more difficult, not less. The facts underlying Dean v. Phatak suggest that (a) Phatak wasn’t a great medical examiner, and (b) his “consultation” with Waters biased him into making erroneous conclusions that nearly sent an innocent man to prison. If Waters hadn’t shared his theory that Noel Dean killed his wife, Phatak likely would merely have noted the bullet hole, the toxicology reports and so on, and then concluded that she died of a gunshot wound to the head. It would then be up to the police to apply that report to the other evidence they had collected. Perhaps they’d have made the same mistake, but getting Phatak to endorse a theory of murder imbued that theory with the veneer of “science.” As dissenting Judge James E. Graves Jr. writes, “when asked, Phatak acknowledged that he made a determination of homicide ‘with Detective Waters right there, egging on that he believed that this was a homicide.’”

And yet while the majority opinion notes the Waters-Phatak consultation, and adds that such interactions are customary in Harris County, the opinion then simply moves on. There’s no comment on the propriety of Waters’s presence during the autopsy, or a hint of recognition that this “custom” might be producing biased results and tainting other investigations in Harris County. The counterargument here is that it isn’t the job of a federal appeals court to offer commentary on investigatory procedures. The judges are only to consider the merits of the case before them. But that’s precisely the problem. Police, prosecutors and medical examiners have strong incentives to continue conducting investigations this way. Anyone with the appropriate amount of detachment to say, “This is wrong, and you’re almost guaranteeing biased results” is too detached to have any legal standing to do much about it. We have designated judges to be the gatekeepers of sound science in the courtroom. But there’s little evidence that it’s a role they’re equipped to handle."

The entire post can be  read at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/21/it-shouldnt-be-routine-cops-consult-with-medical-examiners/

STORY: "Gov. Jerry Brown orders new tests in quadruple-murder case of death row inmate Kevin Cooper," by Alene Tchekmedyian, published by The Los Angeles Times on December 24, 2018. (Alene Tchekmedyian is a reporter in the Metro section of the Los Angeles Times. She covers breaking news in California).

PHOTO CAPTION: "Kevin Cooper, center, was convicted in 1985 of killing four people and sentenced to death. Years after the trial, experts and critics have raised doubts about whether authorities sent the right person to prison."

GIST: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday ordered new tests of physical evidence in the case of Kevin Cooper, whose high-profile quadruple-murder conviction three decades ago has come into question in recent years. Brown said in a statement that he was directing “limited retesting of certain physical evidence in the case and appointing a retired judge as a special master to oversee this testing, its scope and protocols.”

Cooper has maintained his innocence throughout the case and has claimed that law enforcement planted evidence and ignored statements by witnesses that pointed to other possible suspects. He has lost more than a dozen appeals.

Brown’s legal staff has been digging into Cooper’s 2016 clemency petition, discussing the case with both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

In July, Brown said he would consider Cooper’s request to order additional forensic testing in the case. Cooper’s attorneys have said some key items recovered during the investigation were never properly tested and should be analyzed using more current DNA technology.

The case dates to 1983, when three family members and an unrelated boy, 11-year-old Christopher Hughes, were found hacked and slashed to death in a Chino Hills home.

The boy’s father discovered the bloodied bodies when he went to the hilltop home looking for Christopher, who had not returned from a sleepover in time for church one Sunday morning.

Through the window, he discovered the bodies of Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher. The victims had been stabbed a total of 143 times with an ice pick, an ax and a knife. The Ryens’ 8-year-old son, Joshua, was slashed across the throat but survived.

News reports at the time said the case shook the community so powerfully that homeowners began locking their doors at night and parents no longer allowed their children to attend sleepovers.

Two days before the killings, Cooper had escaped from a prison in Chino, where he was serving a sentence for burglary. Police found ample evidence — cigarette butts, a button from a prison uniform, a leather hatchet sheath — that Cooper had spent two days in a house near the Ryens’ after his escape.

He was arrested about seven weeks after the killings.

At the trial, jurors heard the lone survivor give a videotaped statement that conflicted with what he had said when he was first interviewed by authorities.

After Joshua Ryen was airlifted to a hospital, he told a sheriff’s deputy and a social worker that his attackers were three white men. An hour later, he said they were Latino. Later that month, the boy told a deputy that Cooper, who is black, was not the killer after he saw the man’s face on a wanted poster on television.

Jurors heard him say that he saw just one man or maybe a shadow in his home.

The clues at the Ryens’ unlocked home were scant: a bloody shoe print on a sheet in the master bedroom and a single drop of blood on a wall in the hallway.

At his trial and throughout the appeals process, Cooper’s attorneys argued that the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department had destroyed or suppressed evidence suggesting the attackers were three white men, including a convicted contract killer.

Meanwhile, Cooper repeatedly maintained his innocence. At one point, he told a prosecutor: “You’re trying to make me remember detail by detail. … I only know what I didn’t do.”

Cooper was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985.

In 2002, the attorney general’s office green-lighted additional DNA testing in the case. The results showed that Cooper’s DNA was on a bloody T-shirt found outside a bar near the Ryens’ home, on two cigarette butts inside the family’s stolen station wagon and in the blood droplet inside the home.

But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals intervened eight hours before Cooper’s execution in 2004 to order more tests on the T-shirt.

Tests later revealed that Cooper’s blood stains on the T-shirt had a high concentration of the chemical EDTA, which is used to preserve blood samples in police labs. Cooper’s attorney argued that the blood was planted.

The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office sent a 94-page memo to Brown in May refuting Cooper’s arguments and vehemently opposing any grant of clemency."

The entire story can be read at:
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kevin-cooper-20181224-story.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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;