Back in action: Catch-up; Dr. Henry Lee; Part Three: What happens now? Commentary uses Lee cases in arguing that Connecticut should establish an independent board to review the integrity of criminal convictions - noting that "Too many criminal convictions are wrong."..."Recently, as The Courant has covered, the Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the convictions of two men who were incarcerated for 33 years, citing inaccurate testimony given by Dr. Henry C. Lee, the renowned former state criminologist and director of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory. In another case, there was testimony that blood was found on a sneaker alleged to belong to the accused; later testing showed that not only was the substance not blood, but the DNA was not connected to the victim of the crime. DNA testing was not available at the time the accused in these Dr. Lee cases were convicted. Even so, both cases also included mistakes in analyzing the evidence. These cases reflect what might be expected: some of the worst situations arise where multiple factors of wrongful conviction exist in combination."

PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "You might ask how, with all the checks and balances of the legal system, wrongful convictions can occur. One main factor is inadequate or inaccurate science. With scientific advances, techniques once taken as absolute (including bite mark analysis and microscopic hair comparison) have been proved invalid. Of course, the best-known scientific progress has been in the area of DNA. The Innocence Project has logged more than 365 exonerations based on DNA evidence showing that the convicted person was innocent. Three Connecticut cases illustrate the power of DNA evidence. In 1986, Kenneth Ireland was convicted of the rape and murder of a mother of four; after spending 21 years in prison, he was freed when DNA testing led to the arrest and conviction of another man. In 1989, James Tillman was convicted of a brutal assault and rape; he spent 18 years behind bars before being exonerated when rape kit DNA proved his innocence. In 2009, Miguel Roman was freed after 20 years in prison for murder; newly-analyzed DNA evidence led police to arrest another man, who was charged with that murder along with two other brutal killings/ Another main factor is eyewitness misidentification. One compelling example is the story of Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton, who can be seen in the award-winning PBS Frontline episode What Jennifer Saw. Today, they tour the country giving talks about the profoundly sad consequences of her misidentification of him as her rapist."

PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "A third main factor is error by justice system professionals. Recently, as The Courant has covered, the Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the convictions of two men who were incarcerated for 33 years, citing inaccurate testimony given by Dr. Henry C. Lee, the renowned former state criminologist and director of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory. In another case, there was testimony that blood was found on a sneaker alleged to belong to the accused; later testing showed that not only was the substance not blood, but the DNA was not connected to the victim of the crime. DNA testing was not available at the time the accused in these Dr. Lee cases were convicted. Even so, both cases also included mistakes in analyzing the evidence. These cases reflect what might be expected: some of the worst situations arise where multiple factors of wrongful conviction exist in combination."

COMMENTARY: "Too many criminal convictions are wrong. Connecticut needs a review board. by Darcy McGraw  and Christine Rapillo,"  published by The Hartford Courant on July 28, 2019. Attorney Christine Rapillo is the Chief Public Defender for the Division of Public Defender Services, an independent division of state government that handles more than 100,000 criminal, family support, and child protection cases each year.

GIST: Wrongful convictions make victims of innocent people, robbing them, their families, and their communities of years — even decades. Such convictions give false comfort to individual crime victims, and a false sense of security to communities impacted by the underlying crimes.

In these ways, wrongful convictions add to the already tragic nature of crime and perpetuate injustice. It is time for Connecticut to establish an independent body to review the integrity of criminal convictions. The National Registry of Exonerations has documented 2,472 exonerations since 1989, amounting to a staggering 21,725 lost years of innocent people’s lives. Twenty-five of those exonerations have been Connecticut cases, in which innocent people had spent a total of 265 years in prison. You might ask how, with all the checks and balances of the legal system, wrongful convictions can occur. One main factor is inadequate or inaccurate science. With scientific advances, techniques once taken as absolute (including bite mark analysis and microscopic hair comparison) have been proved invalid. Of course, the best-known scientific progress has been in the area of DNA. The Innocence Project has logged more than 365 exonerations based on DNA evidence showing that the convicted person was innocent. Three Connecticut cases illustrate the power of DNA evidence. In 1986, Kenneth Ireland was convicted of the rape and murder of a mother of four; after spending 21 years in prison, he was freed when DNA testing led to the arrest and conviction of another man. In 1989, James Tillman was convicted of a brutal assault and rape; he spent 18 years behind bars before being exonerated when rape kit DNA proved his innocence. In 2009, Miguel Roman was freed after 20 years in prison for murder; newly-analyzed DNA evidence led police to arrest another man, who was charged with that murder along with two other brutal killings/ Another main factor is eyewitness misidentification. One compelling example is the story of Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton, who can be seen in the award-winning PBS Frontline episode What Jennifer Saw. Today, they tour the country giving talks about the profoundly sad consequences of her misidentification of him as her rapist. A third main factor is error by justice system professionals. Recently, as The Courant has covered, the Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the convictions of two men who were incarcerated for 33 years, citing inaccurate testimony given by Dr. Henry C. Lee, the renowned former state criminologist and director of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory. In another case, there was testimony that blood was found on a sneaker alleged to belong to the accused; later testing showed that not only was the substance not blood, but the DNA was not connected to the victim of the crime. DNA testing was not available at the time the accused in these Dr. Lee cases were convicted. Even so, both cases also included mistakes in analyzing the evidence. These cases reflect what might be expected: some of the worst situations arise where multiple factors of wrongful conviction exist in combination. (To further illustrate the point, consider that 70 percent of DNA exonerations involved eyewitness misidentification. Science advances. People err. These are givens. We can’t expect the justice system to be perfect. It’s designed and administered by people, after all. But we can and must have the integrity to hold every part of the system to the highest standards. This should include a systematic approach by an independent body addressing each claim that a criminal conviction should be reviewed in light of new evidence or science. As public defenders, we will work with diverse partners to build support for this important idea. We’ll look at efforts being made in other states and consider what would make sense for Connecticut. In the meantime, don’t worry about wrongful conviction. It couldn’t happen to you. You’re innocent."

The entire commentary can be read at:

https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-mcgraw-rapillo-public-defender-exonerations-0728-20190728-felmlpkz4jb4dp326n4e4rvz6q-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;