Monday, January 7, 2019

Back in action: On-Going: Pathologist Steven Hayne; Dentist Michael West: Mississippi: Retiring State Supreme Court justice Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. talks about his willingness to take on 'bite mark' evidence from the bench - calling it "perhaps improvident and improper" - but says a systematic review (of their work) is not the court's role, in interview with Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy broadcast on Mississippi Public Radio...


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Some have questioned why the state has never ordered an overall review of cases where Hayne and West testified. Waller said that admitting bite mark evidence "was perhaps improvident and improper" but said a systematic review wasn't the court's role. "We have to address them one at a time and we've done that," he said."

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STORY: "Mississippi chief justice: Time for another to lead court," by Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy, published by Mississippi Public Broadcasting on December 26, 2018.

GIST: "After 21 years on the Mississippi Supreme Court and 10 years as chief justice, Bill Waller Jr. says it's time for someone else to take the helm. "I think it's just a good time to have some fresh blood and for the court to reorganize under a new chief and frankly to give other folks the opportunity to be chief justice," said Waller, who will resign Jan. 31. In an interview with The Associated Press, Waller counted as successes a pay raise for judges, an expansion of drug courts, and an expanding electronic record system. The court also decreed criminal court rules that have helped defendants see judges more quickly, and get access to bail and public defenders. Waller's court has at times questioned problems with forensic evidence, but passed when asked to rule on the legality of Mississippi's cap on punitive damages. He said his biggest regret is not getting a statewide system of county courts..................Waller has also faced a number of decisions on criminal convictions based on the testimony about autopsies from pathologist Steven Hayne and about bite marks from dentist Michael West. In some cases, the justices have overturned verdicts. Waller specifically mentioned the decision he wrote for the court in the 2004 case of Tyler Edmonds, who had been convicted of helping his half-sister shoot her husband when Edmonds was 13. Hayne testified that Edmonds and the sister both held the gun, testimony Waller tossed as beyond Hayne's expertise. Some have questioned why the state has never ordered an overall review of cases where Hayne and West testified. Waller said that admitting bite mark evidence "was perhaps improvident and improper" but said a systematic review wasn't the court's role. "We have to address them one at a time and we've done that," he said.""