Friday, January 24, 2020

Ledell Lee: Arkansas: (Aftermath 2): Wall Street Journal (Reporter Laura Kusisto) beautifully captures a unique perspective of the ACLU's and Innocence Project's rare push to exonerate an executed man...Lawyers usually save their efforts for the living but are making an exception for him.


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;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

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;

---------------------------------------------------------------