PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Because there was no biological or DNA evidence to prove Finch's innocence, Coleman said, he and a team of attorneys at Duke's Wrongful Convictions Clinic had to re-investigate the case from the ground up. It took more than 15 years to prove that Finch did not commit the crime. The principal evidence against Finch was an eyewitness identification, a person at the crime scene who identified Finch by the type of clothing he was wearing in a lineup. Before DNA evidence, Coleman said, these types of eyewitness-based convictions were routine. "What we know is, the kinds of errors that were made in Ray Finch's case were made in other cases during that period," he said. "Nobody could credibly believe that there weren't mistakes made in other cases that resulted in an innocent person being sentenced to death."
COMMENTARY: "NC Wrongful Conviction Spotlights Problems with Death Penalty," by Nadia Ramlagam, published by The Public News Service on June 6, 2019. (Public News Service (usually shortened to PNS) was launched in 1996 by journalist Lark Corbeil in Idaho. Today, PNS has 37 state-based news services that provide multi-platform content for free to news outlets as a way to advocate journalism in the public interest. (Wikipedia);
GIST: "The case of North Carolinian Charles Ray Finch, 81, released
last month after more than 40 years in prison for a 1976 murder he did
not commit, spotlights some of the problems with death-penalty
convictions. Finch was convicted and sentenced under what was then a state law that
made the death penalty mandatory for certain crimes. On the day he was
sentenced, the U.S. Supreme Court declared mandatory death sentences
unconstitutional, and Finch was given life in prison. James Coleman, a
Duke University law professor and Finch's attorney, said the timing may
have saved Finch's life. "If the court had not declared the death penalty unconstitutional,"
Coleman said, "I think there is a very good chance that Ray would have
been executed years ago, and that we would have not been able to develop
the evidence to show that he was innocent." Because there was no biological or DNA evidence to prove Finch's
innocence, Coleman said, he and a team of attorneys at Duke's Wrongful
Convictions Clinic had to re-investigate the case from the ground up. It
took more than 15 years to prove that Finch did not commit the crime.
The principal evidence against Finch was an eyewitness identification, a
person at the crime scene who identified Finch by the type of clothing
he was wearing in a lineup. Before DNA evidence, Coleman said, these
types of eyewitness-based convictions were routine. "What we know is, the kinds of errors that were made in Ray Finch's case
were made in other cases during that period," he said. "Nobody could
credibly believe that there weren't mistakes made in other cases that
resulted in an innocent person being sentenced to death." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which overturned
Finch's conviction, said the evidence, both old and new, would fail to
convince any reasonable juror of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. There are now 142 people on death row in North Carolina."
The entire post 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/
