QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Darrell
Siggers [case] is just one example of charlatan 'experts' passing their
work off as 'good science.' And when detectives hide evidence from the
defendant . . . society’s trust in our criminal justice system is
eroded."
Michigan Innocence Clinic:
----------------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Mueller also said Houseworth testified that a bullet fragment was found near Siggers' apartment. But an earlier police report indicated that Siggers' apartment on Newport Street was a "dry hole," meaning that no evidence was found there. Bullet casings were found at the location on Phillip Street. Also, according to Mueller, Houseworth indicated that the bullet taken from Montgomery matched a bullet taken from the gun believed to have been recovered in the case, but there was never a match."
STORY: "Man exonerated in '84 slaying sues ex-Detroit cop, lab tech's estate," by reporter Oralandar Brand-Williams, published by The Detroit News on August 28, 2019.
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.detroitnews.com/…/man-exonerated-84…/2134509001/
------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the National Registry of Exonerations entry by Maurice Possley at the link below:
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "
In 2008, the Detroit police crime lab was shut down after an audit performed by the Michigan State Police exposed widespread errors in ballistics testing. Siggers subsequently contacted Claudia Whitman, founder of the National Capital Crime Assistance Network, a nonprofit organization that provides services to the incarcerated, including investigating cases of wrongful conviction. Whitman connected Siggers to David Townshend, a ballistics expert who had concluded that Detroit police ballistics testimony in the prosecution of Desmond Ricks had been false. Ricks was exonerated of murder in 2017. Townshend reviewed the testimony from Siggers’s trial. In 2015, he issued a report severely criticizing Sgt. Houseworth’s testimony linking the shell casings to bullets found at the scene and at the apartment across the hall from Siggers’s apartment. Townshend said Houseworth’s testimony was “unbelievable.” He said, “It is highly unlikely that a positive identification of the three bullets…would have been possible” even if the police had recovered the actual weapon used in the shooting. Townshend’s report noted that Houseworth testified about comparing bullets that weren’t even logged in the original reports of evidence recovered from the scene of the shooting and the apartment across the hall from where Siggers lived. Ultimately, Siggers wrote to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office requesting that the conviction integrity unit review his case. Whitman also arranged for David Balash, a retired Michigan State Police firearms examiner to review the ballistics evidence. Balash concluded Houseworth’s testimony was “both confusing and at times totally inaccurate.” The original evidence in the case was destroyed years earlier and so could not be retested or re-examined.
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Shortly before midnight on February 16, 1984, 25-year-old James Montgomery was gunned down as he walked with two friends on Phillips Street on the east side of Detroit, Michigan.
Montgomery’s friends—Derrick Lawson and Ranard Jackson—told police they recognized the gunman as 20-year-old Darrell Siggers, whom they had seen earlier in the evening at a gathering at the home of Christine Hooks, the mother of Siggers’s two children. Montgomery, Lawson, and Jackson came to the gathering, but were kicked out because they were highly intoxicated.
On February 22, 1984, Siggers was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
In July 1984, Siggers went to trial in Recorder’s Court in Detroit. Lawson and Jackson identified him as the gunman—although both admitted they were as much as 100 feet away from the gunman, the lighting was poor, and they had been drinking and taking drugs.
Detroit Police Sgt. Claude Houseworth, a ballistics analyst, testified that seven shell casings found at the scene had been fired from the same weapon—likely a rifle. He said that a bullet found at the scene, as well as shell casings and a bullet that had been recovered from wood molding in an apartment across the hall from Siggers’s apartment, came from the same weapon. The murder weapon was never recovered.
On July 19, 1984, the jury convicted Siggers and he was sentenced to life in prison.
In 1987, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and the Michigan Supreme Court denied him leave to appeal in June 1988.
In 1989, Siggers filed a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus, but that was denied. In 1996, Siggers filed another federal petition for habeas corpus, but that was denied as well. In 1998, Siggers made an additional federal filing, which was denied in 1999.
In March 2004, Siggers filed a motion for a new trial in Wayne County Circuit Court alleging that newly discovered evidence established his innocence.
At an evidentiary hearing, Darryl Dulin testified that he was on the street on the night of the murder and that he saw a man named Toby Red shoot Montgomery. In addition, Richard Braxton testified that he later heard Toby Red admit that he shot Montgomery.
Siggers also presented a sworn affidavit from Bruce Spearman saying that Ranard Jackson, his cousin and one of the witnesses at Siggers’s trial, admitted that he falsely identified Siggers after police threatened to arrest him.
Another witness, Jack Fuqua, testified that Toby Red came to his house carrying a rifle and admitted that he just shot someone. Fuqua said he told police about the conversation, but he never told anyone else about it after police threatened to arrest him.
William Arnold testified that he heard Toby Red come to Fuqua’s door on the night of the murder and admit to having shot someone. Arnold said he did not volunteer this evidence at the time of the trial because police threatened to have public benefits withheld from his sister and her children.
The judge ruled that the witnesses were not credible and denied the motion for a new trial. The denial was upheld on appeal.
In 2008, the Detroit police crime lab was shut down after an audit performed by the Michigan State Police exposed widespread errors in ballistics testing.
Siggers subsequently contacted Claudia Whitman, founder of the National Capital Crime Assistance Network, a nonprofit organization that provides services to the incarcerated, including investigating cases of wrongful conviction. Whitman connected Siggers to David Townshend, a ballistics expert who had concluded that Detroit police ballistics testimony in the prosecution of Desmond Ricks had been false. Ricks was exonerated of murder in 2017.
Townshend reviewed the testimony from Siggers’s trial. In 2015, he issued a report severely criticizing Sgt. Houseworth’s testimony linking the shell casings to bullets found at the scene and at the apartment across the hall from Siggers’s apartment. Townshend said Houseworth’s testimony was “unbelievable.” He said, “It is highly unlikely that a positive identification of the three bullets…would have been possible” even if the police had recovered the actual weapon used in the shooting.
Townshend’s report noted that Houseworth testified about comparing bullets that weren’t even logged in the original reports of evidence recovered from the scene of the shooting and the apartment across the hall from where Siggers lived.
Ultimately, Siggers wrote to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office requesting that the conviction integrity unit review his case. Whitman also arranged for David Balash, a retired Michigan State Police firearms examiner to review the ballistics evidence. Balash concluded Houseworth’s testimony was “both confusing and at times totally inaccurate.”
The original evidence in the case was destroyed years earlier and so could not be retested or re-examined.
On July 19, 2018, Siggers’s lawyer and the prosecution presented a joint motion to vacate Siggers’s conviction. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Shannon Walker granted the motion. On August 30, 2018, Siggers was released after spending more than 34 years in custody.
On October 19, 2018, the prosecution dismissed the charges. In August 2019, Siggers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking damages for his wrongful conviction."
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;
Darrell
Siggers, 55, says that he is not bitter for the time he spent behind
bars and prefers to be positive about what happened to him. "I
suffered a lot of harm in prison," said Siggers, the father of three
and grandfather of eight who went to prison when he was 20 for the
1984 slaying of James Montgomery. "I'm not the only one (falsely
accused). I could be bitter and sad ... I want to be able to be on the
other side of life." Siggers' attorney, Wolfgang
Mueller, filed the lawsuit Tuesday against former Detroit police
detective Joseph Alex, now an attorney himself, and the estate of
Detroit Crime Lab technician Claude Houseworth. Mueller
said Alex and Houseworth hid and fabricated evidence and testimony that
landed Siggers behind bars for a murder he did not commit. A man answering the phone Wednesday at Alex's listed law office number declined to comment. Siggers
was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Montgomery, who
was shot Feb. 6, 1984, as he walked on Phillip Street on Detroit's east
side, Montgomery and two others had gone to the
home of a young woman Siggers had children with. An argument broke out
between Montgomery and his pals with the man believed to be the real
killer. Darrell Siggers, recently exonerated in a murder case, talks about
his 34 years in prison. His attorney has filed a $150 million suit.
Todd McInturf, The Detroit News
During
interrogations with Alex, Montgomery's friends said Siggers was the
killer. Mueller said the gunman was described by others in the
neighborhood as afair-skinnedAfrican-American man and pointed to a man identified by the nickname "Toby Red." Siggers is brown-skinned. Alex, according to Mueller, also threatened and coerced Montgomery's pals into naming Siggers as the gunman. Mueller
also said Houseworth testified that a bullet fragment was found near
Siggers' apartment. But an earlier police report indicated that Siggers'
apartment on Newport Street was a "dry hole," meaning that no evidence
was found there. Bullet casings were found at the location on Phillip
Street. Also,
according to Mueller, Houseworth indicated that the bullet taken from
Montgomery matched a bullet taken from the gun believed to have been
recovered in the case, but there was never a match.
Five
months after Montgomery's death, Siggers was convicted and sent to
prison. He says he was shackled up like a "slave" and entered a Michigan
prison facing an uncertain fate. He
said he immediately got to work and educated himself earning a GED and
then an associate's degree. He focused, said Siggers, on learning the
law and getting out of prison. Along the way, Siggers got help from appellate attorneys, innocence activists and the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic.
Siggers was released from prison
July 30, 2018. In addition to the lawsuit, Siggers is seeking
compensation from the state through its Wrongful Conviction Compensation
fund for the three decades he spent behind bars. Mueller
said while $150 million might be a lot of money, it doesn't compare to
what Siggers went through for a crime he didn't commit. "It is a huge amount of money, (but) it is a huge amount of harm that happened to him," said Mueller. Siggers said he wanted the lawsuit filed to bring awareness and "accountability" to similar cases. “This
case is typical of the DPD Crime Lab methods that caused the lab to be
shut down in 2008," Mueller said. "Darrell Siggers is just one example
of charlatan 'experts' passing their work off as 'good science.' And
when detectives hide evidence from the defendant that hurts their theory
of the case, society’s trust in our criminal justice system is
eroded." During his time in prison, Siggers'
parents, a brother and a sister died. Last year, his daughter died of a
seizure in her sleep just as he was getting his freedom. Siggers said he is moving forward with his life. He has founded a company that helps others like himself. "I
can't surrender my life to an unfair conviction," said Siggers, the
owner of Access Plus LLC, a company that helps ex-offenders and others
involved in criminal cases get access to court records, court files and
other information. "These were the challenges I faced. It enriches my
soul to be able to help people.""
The entire story can be read at:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the National Registry of Exonerations entry by Maurice Possley at the link below:
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "
In 2008, the Detroit police crime lab was shut down after an audit performed by the Michigan State Police exposed widespread errors in ballistics testing. Siggers subsequently contacted Claudia Whitman, founder of the National Capital Crime Assistance Network, a nonprofit organization that provides services to the incarcerated, including investigating cases of wrongful conviction. Whitman connected Siggers to David Townshend, a ballistics expert who had concluded that Detroit police ballistics testimony in the prosecution of Desmond Ricks had been false. Ricks was exonerated of murder in 2017. Townshend reviewed the testimony from Siggers’s trial. In 2015, he issued a report severely criticizing Sgt. Houseworth’s testimony linking the shell casings to bullets found at the scene and at the apartment across the hall from Siggers’s apartment. Townshend said Houseworth’s testimony was “unbelievable.” He said, “It is highly unlikely that a positive identification of the three bullets…would have been possible” even if the police had recovered the actual weapon used in the shooting. Townshend’s report noted that Houseworth testified about comparing bullets that weren’t even logged in the original reports of evidence recovered from the scene of the shooting and the apartment across the hall from where Siggers lived. Ultimately, Siggers wrote to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office requesting that the conviction integrity unit review his case. Whitman also arranged for David Balash, a retired Michigan State Police firearms examiner to review the ballistics evidence. Balash concluded Houseworth’s testimony was “both confusing and at times totally inaccurate.” The original evidence in the case was destroyed years earlier and so could not be retested or re-examined.
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Shortly before midnight on February 16, 1984, 25-year-old James Montgomery was gunned down as he walked with two friends on Phillips Street on the east side of Detroit, Michigan.
Montgomery’s friends—Derrick Lawson and Ranard Jackson—told police they recognized the gunman as 20-year-old Darrell Siggers, whom they had seen earlier in the evening at a gathering at the home of Christine Hooks, the mother of Siggers’s two children. Montgomery, Lawson, and Jackson came to the gathering, but were kicked out because they were highly intoxicated.
On February 22, 1984, Siggers was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
In July 1984, Siggers went to trial in Recorder’s Court in Detroit. Lawson and Jackson identified him as the gunman—although both admitted they were as much as 100 feet away from the gunman, the lighting was poor, and they had been drinking and taking drugs.
Detroit Police Sgt. Claude Houseworth, a ballistics analyst, testified that seven shell casings found at the scene had been fired from the same weapon—likely a rifle. He said that a bullet found at the scene, as well as shell casings and a bullet that had been recovered from wood molding in an apartment across the hall from Siggers’s apartment, came from the same weapon. The murder weapon was never recovered.
On July 19, 1984, the jury convicted Siggers and he was sentenced to life in prison.
In 1987, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and the Michigan Supreme Court denied him leave to appeal in June 1988.
In 1989, Siggers filed a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus, but that was denied. In 1996, Siggers filed another federal petition for habeas corpus, but that was denied as well. In 1998, Siggers made an additional federal filing, which was denied in 1999.
In March 2004, Siggers filed a motion for a new trial in Wayne County Circuit Court alleging that newly discovered evidence established his innocence.
At an evidentiary hearing, Darryl Dulin testified that he was on the street on the night of the murder and that he saw a man named Toby Red shoot Montgomery. In addition, Richard Braxton testified that he later heard Toby Red admit that he shot Montgomery.
Siggers also presented a sworn affidavit from Bruce Spearman saying that Ranard Jackson, his cousin and one of the witnesses at Siggers’s trial, admitted that he falsely identified Siggers after police threatened to arrest him.
Another witness, Jack Fuqua, testified that Toby Red came to his house carrying a rifle and admitted that he just shot someone. Fuqua said he told police about the conversation, but he never told anyone else about it after police threatened to arrest him.
William Arnold testified that he heard Toby Red come to Fuqua’s door on the night of the murder and admit to having shot someone. Arnold said he did not volunteer this evidence at the time of the trial because police threatened to have public benefits withheld from his sister and her children.
The judge ruled that the witnesses were not credible and denied the motion for a new trial. The denial was upheld on appeal.
In 2008, the Detroit police crime lab was shut down after an audit performed by the Michigan State Police exposed widespread errors in ballistics testing.
Siggers subsequently contacted Claudia Whitman, founder of the National Capital Crime Assistance Network, a nonprofit organization that provides services to the incarcerated, including investigating cases of wrongful conviction. Whitman connected Siggers to David Townshend, a ballistics expert who had concluded that Detroit police ballistics testimony in the prosecution of Desmond Ricks had been false. Ricks was exonerated of murder in 2017.
Townshend reviewed the testimony from Siggers’s trial. In 2015, he issued a report severely criticizing Sgt. Houseworth’s testimony linking the shell casings to bullets found at the scene and at the apartment across the hall from Siggers’s apartment. Townshend said Houseworth’s testimony was “unbelievable.” He said, “It is highly unlikely that a positive identification of the three bullets…would have been possible” even if the police had recovered the actual weapon used in the shooting.
Townshend’s report noted that Houseworth testified about comparing bullets that weren’t even logged in the original reports of evidence recovered from the scene of the shooting and the apartment across the hall from where Siggers lived.
Ultimately, Siggers wrote to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office requesting that the conviction integrity unit review his case. Whitman also arranged for David Balash, a retired Michigan State Police firearms examiner to review the ballistics evidence. Balash concluded Houseworth’s testimony was “both confusing and at times totally inaccurate.”
The original evidence in the case was destroyed years earlier and so could not be retested or re-examined.
On July 19, 2018, Siggers’s lawyer and the prosecution presented a joint motion to vacate Siggers’s conviction. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Shannon Walker granted the motion. On August 30, 2018, Siggers was released after spending more than 34 years in custody.
On October 19, 2018, the prosecution dismissed the charges. In August 2019, Siggers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking damages for his wrongful conviction."
----------------------------------------------------------------
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;
