Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Charles Erickson: Missouri: False confession series: (Part Two)...Reid Technique... He has already served 15 years for murder of Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt in 2001 - but his family persists in protesting his innocence and a new lawyer has filed a petition (link provided) in part alleging that a false confession obtained using the notorious Reid Technique played a role in the case..."Charles has a new lawyer, Landon Magnusson, who has filed a 98-page petition he hopes will help Charles' case. Marianne said she is very pleased to have Magnusson on board and knows he will continue to fight for her son's freedom. "We're in a wonderful stage in Charlie's case because a professionally trained appellate attorney has taken on his appeal - his habeas corpus appeal - to demonstrate actual innocence," Marianne said. "He [Landon Magnusson] has taken on this case with so much diligence and we have not had this before."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’"
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog:
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The 98-page petition filed on Erickson's behalf by his new lawyer (entire petition at the link below) is quite a powerful document - especially as it relates to the notorious Reid technique- and other questionable techniques used by police in this case on teenagers.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "His mother, Marianne Erickson, was one of the people at the park Sunday. She described her son as loving, beloved and caring. "Charlie is our beloved son, brother, uncle, nephew and scholar currently working on his undergraduate degree at Ohio University," Marianne said. She argues certain police techniques used in Charles' case contributed to his "unjust" sentence. "Prosecutors and police can use something called the Reid technique, which allows police to lie to people that they are interrogating, and it's because of the lying and the withholding of evidence that would prove Charlie innocent that convinced him and coerced him into giving a false confession," she said."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: (From introduction to petition): "In the early spring of 2004, two teenaged boys, Charles Timothy Erickson and Ryan William Ferguson, were arrested for a crime they did not commit. During the months following their arrest, the Columbia police and Boone County prosecutors took a no-holds-barred approach to convince a jury that those two boys acted together to attack, rob, and murder a man during the early morning hours of November 1, 2001. They withheld evidence. They fabricated evidence. And they unconstitutionally coerced Charles to falsely confess and plead guilty. As a direct consequence of the State’s abuses and despite their innocence, Charles and Ryan were convicted of robbery and murder. Ryan spent a third of his life in prison before the Court of Appeals found prosecutorial abuses required his release in 2013."
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "During their marathon interrogation, the police employed coercive methods to wrench a confession from Charles—even though he lacked any personal knowledge of Mr. Heitholt’s murder. Many of the tactics police and prosecutors employed against Charles to accomplish this goal mirror the “Reid Technique”—a once widely used, and now widely criticized, interrogation protocol that relies on deceit and false evidence ploys to pressure interrogation subjects to confess to crimes."
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STORY: "Family, support group hold rally for Charles Erickson's freedom," by reporter Temi Oshadiya, published by KOMA 8, on April 28, 2019.
GIST: "Family members and a support group met in Peace Park Sunday to gather signatures for a petition to help free Charles Erickson. Erickson is currently serving a 25-year sentence for his connection to the murder of Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt in 2001. He's been in prison now for 15 years. His mother, Marianne Erickson, was one of the people at the park Sunday. She described her son as loving, beloved and caring. "Charlie is our beloved son, brother, uncle, nephew and scholar currently working on his undergraduate degree at Ohio University," Marianne said. She argues certain police techniques used in Charles' case contributed to his "unjust" sentence. "Prosecutors and police can use something called the Reid technique, which allows police to lie to people that they are interrogating, and it's because of the lying and the withholding of evidence that would prove Charlie innocent that convinced him and coerced him into giving a false confession," she said. Marianne said prosecutors should do more investigating before bringing cases to court. "I really think that prosecutors should not bring cases to trial when there is no evidence to support guilt," she said. Marianne and Les Maters, founder of Voices of Innocence, organized Sunday's petition rally to gather signatures that might help free Charles. They had nearly 20 signatures in an hour. Maters said there are many people sitting behind bars who are wrongly convicted and rallies like the one held Sunday help raise awareness. "A friend of mine, Rodney Lincoln, said if it happened to him, it can happen to you. We need to put a stop to this," Maters said. Charles has a new lawyer, Landon Magnusson, who has filed a 98-page petition he hopes will help Charles' case. Marianne said she is very pleased to have Magnusson on board and knows he will continue to fight for her son's freedom. "We're in a wonderful stage in Charlie's case because a professionally trained appellate attorney has taken on his appeal - his habeas corpus appeal - to demonstrate actual innocence," Marianne said. "He [Landon Magnusson] has taken on this case with so much diligence and we have not had this before." According to previous KOMU reporting, here is a timeline of events relating to Charles' case and Heitholt's murder.
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