PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Despite the devastating harm caused to these two lives, and the great harm to the integrity of the criminal legal system, the Arizona State Bar never disciplined Levy for his gross misconduct in either case. It’s no coincidence that Maricopa County is one of the largest contributors of new death sentences in the entire country, in part due to its aggressive, overzealous, and often unethical, prosecutors. This culture of impunity is so entrenched that prosecutors not only escape discipline for misconduct and unethical behavior, they are, in fact, rewarded in spite of it."
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RELEASE: "We Are Fighting Maricopa County's Rampant Prosecutorial Misconduct," by Senior Anna Arcenaux and Jared Keenan, published by The American Civil Liberties Union, on April 4, 2019. (Anna Arceneaux, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project and Jared Keenan, Criminal Justice Staff Attorney, ACLU of Arizona,)
GIST: "Unfortunately, Juan
Martinez’s behavior is not uncommon in the Maricopa County Attorney’s
Office. It is indicative of a decades-long culture of misconduct that
flows from the top down, one that prioritizes winning convictions over
pursuing fairness and executing justice. One of the more egregious examples is prosecutor Noel Levy.
Over his long career at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Levy
sent two innocent people to death row. Debra Milke spent 24 years
incarcerated, including 22 on death row, for a crime she did not commit.
At her 1990 trial, Levy never shared with Milke’s defense team that the
lead detective, who claimed Milke had confessed to him, had a long
history of lying under oath and other misconduct – information Levy was
required to disclose to the defense under the federal and state
constitutions. Milke was finally released from death row in 2015, after Levy’s prosecutorial misconduct was exposed and that transparency allowed her to clear her name. Two
years after Milke’s trial, Levy prosecuted Ray Krone for the murder of a
woman who worked at a bar he frequented. Levy relied on questionable
bitemark evidence to secure a death sentence against Krone, who had no
criminal history before the murder charge. But, it turned out that the
bitemark comparison images had been manipulated to match Krone’s teeth. A
decade later, DNA evidence cleared Krone
and pointed to another man who was in prison for a sex crime. Krone was
finally released after serving 10 years in prison, including four years
on death row. Despite the devastating harm caused to these two
lives, and the great harm to the integrity of the criminal legal system,
the Arizona State Bar never disciplined Levy for his gross misconduct
in either case. It’s no coincidence that Maricopa County is one of the
largest contributors of new death sentences in the entire country, in
part due to its aggressive, overzealous, and often unethical, prosecutors. This culture of impunity is so entrenched that prosecutors not only
escape discipline for misconduct and unethical behavior, they are, in
fact, rewarded in spite of it."
The entire release can be read at:
The entire release can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
