QUOTE ONE OF THE DAY: "There
have been times over the last couple of years where I’ve thought: Is
this really what we should be doing with our limited resources? But none
of us could rest. There were so many lingering questions,” said Nina
Morrison, senior litigation counsel at the Innocence Project."
----------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE TWO OF THE DAY: "Ms.
Morrison said there is no precedent in Arkansas for turning over DNA
evidence based on a freedom-of-information request, but she believes Ms.
Young’s request should be granted because there is no longer an active
investigation, testing the evidence won’t damage or destroy it, and
there is a public interest in finding out who killed Ms. Reese. Even
if the testing shows the DNA and fingerprints at the scene don’t belong
to Mr. Lee it won’t change his conviction, but Ms. Morrison said it
could shake the public’s confidence in the death penalty. The number of
people sentenced to death dropped last year to the second-lowest level since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. “If
it turns out that he was innocent of this crime and was executed
without a basic investigation into that innocence, it will be a
bombshell,” she said."
-----------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Death-penalty supporters say Mr. Lee
would have had a chance to air doubts about the evidence in court over
some 15 years of appeals. “The odds of some important piece of
evidence not being introduced are extremely small,” said Michael
Rushford, president and chief executive of the Criminal Justice Legal
Foundation, a nonprofit based in Sacramento, Calif., that advocates for
the death penalty. “The chances of killing an innocent person in this
country are probably less than being struck by lightning.” But
the ACLU and Innocence Project—which took Mr. Lee’s case less than two
weeks before his execution—say they have found that his previous
appellate attorneys hadn’t asked for advanced forensic testing to be
conducted on the evidence using techniques that weren’t available at the
time of his trial. Mr. Lee’s sister, Patricia Young, is
petitioning Jacksonville police for the DNA evidence, including hairs
from the bedroom where the murder occurred and scrapings from under the
victim’s fingernails, to be released."
--------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Attorneys Make Rare Push to Exonerate an Executed Man," by reporter Laura Kusisto, published by The Wall Street Journal on January 23, 2020.
SUB-HEADING: "Lawyers usually save their efforts for the living but are making an exception for Ledell Lee, who was put to death in Arkansas for murder in 2017 .
PHOTO CAPTION: "Ledell Lee’s case drew national attention because he was the first person executed in Arkansas in 12 years."
GIST: "A case in Arkansas will test the limits of an inmate’s right to clear his name even after he has been put to death. Ledell Lee
was
executed in April 2017 after a legal battle that
went up to the Supreme Court. Now attorneys at the American Civil
Liberties Union and the Innocence Project have filed a
freedom-of-information request on Thursday asking the city of
Jacksonville, Ark., and its police department to turn over evidence from
the case so they can perform DNA testing on it. It is one of a
handful of attempts made to posthumously exonerate an executed person
through forensic testing, according to Mr. Lee’s attorneys. Such cases
are rarely pursued because the legal avenues are limited and
public-interest attorneys most often determine their resources can be
better spent defending the living. But Mr. Lee’s attorneys said he was executed so hastily they felt compelled to keep pursuing his innocence. “There
have been times over the last couple of years where I’ve thought: Is
this really what we should be doing with our limited resources? But none
of us could rest. There were so many lingering questions,” said Nina
Morrison, senior litigation counsel at the Innocence Project. Mr. Lee’s case drew national attention because he was the
first person executed in Arkansas in 12 years. The state had set out to
execute eight men in 11 days before its supply of a lethal-injection
drug ran out after a dispute with its distributor. Ultimately four of
the men were executed within a week. “He was one of many cases.
That just reduced the opportunity and the time for scrutiny.” said
Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project. Mr.
Lee was convicted of beating and strangling 26-year-old Debra Reese in
1993. After his arrest he was also charged with three sexual assaults
and was convicted of two. At his murder trial, prosecutors
presented testimony from Ms. Reese’s neighbors linking Mr. Lee to the
crime scene and evidence that his shoes matched footprints lifted from
the scene, among other evidence. The Supreme Court rejected the requests to stop his and others’ executions. Arkansas officials have said Mr. Lee’s execution was carried out expediently after a yearslong legal saga. “Tonight
the lawful sentence of a jury, which has been upheld by the courts
through decades of challenges, has been carried out,” Arkansas Attorney
General
Leslie Rutledge
said at the time. Death-penalty supporters say Mr. Lee
would have had a chance to air doubts about the evidence in court over
some 15 years of appeals. “The odds of some important piece of
evidence not being introduced are extremely small,” said Michael
Rushford, president and chief executive of the Criminal Justice Legal
Foundation, a nonprofit based in Sacramento, Calif., that advocates for
the death penalty. “The chances of killing an innocent person in this
country are probably less than being struck by lightning.” But
the ACLU and Innocence Project—which took Mr. Lee’s case less than two
weeks before his execution—say they have found that his previous
appellate attorneys hadn’t asked for advanced forensic testing to be
conducted on the evidence using techniques that weren’t available at the
time of his trial. Mr. Lee’s sister, Patricia Young, is
petitioning Jacksonville police for the DNA evidence, including hairs
from the bedroom where the murder occurred and scrapings from under the
victim’s fingernails, to be released. Stephanie Friedman, the
city attorney for Jacksonville, said state law doesn’t allow the city to
release genetic information under a freedom-of-information request. Ms.
Friedman said the city will only provide the evidence with a court
order or change to the law. Ms. Young said she is hoping to fulfill a promise she made to her brother when he called her the night he was to be executed. “On
that phone call, he said that he was an innocent person and he said
please don’t let my name go in vain,” Ms. Young recalled. ACLU
and Innocence Project lawyers are also trying to cast doubt on the
evidence presented at Mr. Lee’s trial. They have obtained affidavits
from forensics experts testifying that there are notable differences
between the shoes Mr. Lee was wearing when he was arrested and the
crime-scene prints and that a lineup of witnesses used to identify him
was biased. They also say insufficient resources were devoted to
his appeals, given the complexity of the case. Craig Lambert, an
attorney assigned to Mr. Lee’s post-conviction hearing, said he begged
for another lawyer to be assigned to the case and for money to
investigate the case further. He said he was addicted to prescription
medication at the time. “I went into a judge’s chamber with tears in my eyes, asking please give me some help on this case,” he said in an interview. Mr. Lambert said the $5,000 he was paid for the case amounted to just $6 an hour. Ms.
Morrison said there is no precedent in Arkansas for turning over DNA
evidence based on a freedom-of-information request, but she believes Ms.
Young’s request should be granted because there is no longer an active
investigation, testing the evidence won’t damage or destroy it, and
there is a public interest in finding out who killed Ms. Reese. Even
if the testing shows the DNA and fingerprints at the scene don’t belong
to Mr. Lee it won’t change his conviction, but Ms. Morrison said it
could shake the public’s confidence in the death penalty. The number of
people sentenced to death dropped last year to the second-lowest level since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. “If
it turns out that he was innocent of this crime and was executed
without a basic investigation into that innocence, it will be a
bombshell,” she said."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/attorneys-make-rare-push-to-exonerate-an-executed-man-11579791612
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;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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