PUBLISHER'S NOTE: What a powerful, convincing, beautifully expressed column. Hannah Cox points the finger where it belongs - at the Supreme Court which she hopes will lift Dailey’s case out of the shadows and shine a spotlight on the state of Florida’s dirty hands.
Bravo.Harold Levy. Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
-----------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Most voters assume our process zealously checks for issues of innocence, especially in death penalty cases, and that new evidence that might prove a wrongful conviction would be readily considered. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. There is a multitude of legal hurdles that have been implemented with the intention of speeding up processes that actually make it quite difficult to have a court consider new evidence. The state has a vested interest in upholding its convictions, and prosecutors often work quite diligently to discredit or exclude new evidence. That means our justice system is incentivized toward obtaining convictions, not pursuing truth or justice. Compounding these problems is the federal courts’ highly deferential posture toward state courts and their decisions. In order to obtain a federal review, defendants must prove that states not only got it wrong but that they got it so wrong, no reasonable person could disagree. That’s a heavy lift, especially when considering the lack of adequate counsel afforded to the majority of individuals on death row. Any judicial system that frequently convicts and executes the innocent will result in a complete erosion of public trust. With one person exonerated for every nine executions (yes, you read that right) and counting, we are quite clearly approaching that result. When our states consistently neglect to protect an individual’s life, liberty, and property, it is just and proper that the federal courts intervene, and, so, we should all hope the Supreme Court lifts Dailey’s case out of the shadows and shines a spotlight on the state of Florida’s dirty hands."
----------------------------------------------------------------
COMMENTARY: "Florida might soon execute an innocent man, reminding us why conservatives should oppose the death penalty," by Hannah Cox, published by The Washington Examiner on February 11, 2020. (Hannah Cox is the National Manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty and a Newsmax Insider where she writes under her blog Life and Liberty)
GIST: "Last year, a man named Rodney Reed was scheduled for execution in Texas despite the presence of evidence
that might exonerate him. For some reason, this case blew up in the
news, with celebrities tweeting about it and thousands signing onto a
petition that might save him. His execution is currently under a stay. While the spotlight shone heavily on Texas and its bloody history
of problematic death sentences, several similar cases in other states
progressed without much media coverage. One of those cases was that of
James Dailey in Florida. Dailey is a veteran who has spent 34 years on death row. His conviction was based almost entirely
on the testimony of prolific jailhouse informants, one of whom was a
known crooked cop facing over 20 counts of fraud and larceny. For his
testimony, which also sent three other men to death row and many others
to prison, the informant received leniency in his own sentencing. Over the years, numerous other informants have come forward
to allege that a man named Jack Pearcy is solely responsible for the
crime in question, the murder of a young woman, and, in fact, it was
Pearcy that prosecutors initially went after for the crime, but, when a
jury failed to hand down a death sentence for him, the prosecutors
turned their focus and energy toward Dailey. Pearcy has repeatedly confessed to being the sole
perpetrator in the homicide, even going so far as to sign a sworn
affidavit at one point. Dailey has also been excluded as a source for
the existing forensic evidence in the case, a hair found in the victim’s
hand. But none of this really seems to matter in Florida, a state that leads the country
in exonerations from death row, with 29, and that has carried the
highest number of executions since reinstatement, a whopping 99. Despite
all of these factors, Dailey has been unsuccessful at obtaining a new
trial and still stands to be executed in the near future. This is why several unlikely allies have joined in asking the Supreme Court to intervene. The organization I run, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty,
filed a friend of the court brief this week alongside eight former and
current prosecutors and attorneys general, the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops, and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. For
the wonks in the room, you can read the briefs here. Most voters assume our process zealously checks for issues
of innocence, especially in death penalty cases, and that new evidence
that might prove a wrongful conviction would be readily considered. In
reality, nothing could be further from the truth. There is a multitude of legal hurdles
that have been implemented with the intention of speeding up processes
that actually make it quite difficult to have a court consider new
evidence. The state has a vested interest in upholding its convictions,
and prosecutors often work quite diligently to discredit or exclude new
evidence. That means our justice system is incentivized toward obtaining
convictions, not pursuing truth or justice. Compounding these problems is the federal courts’ highly
deferential posture toward state courts and their decisions. In order to
obtain a federal review, defendants must prove that states not only got
it wrong but that they got it so wrong, no reasonable person could
disagree. That’s a heavy lift, especially when considering the lack of
adequate counsel afforded to the majority of individuals on death row. Any judicial system that frequently convicts and executes
the innocent will result in a complete erosion of public trust. With one
person exonerated for every nine executions (yes, you read that right)
and counting, we are quite clearly approaching that result. When our states consistently neglect to protect an
individual’s life, liberty, and property, it is just and proper that the
federal courts intervene, and, so, we should all hope the Supreme Court
lifts Dailey’s case out of the shadows and shines a spotlight on the
state of Florida’s dirty hands."
The entire story can be read at:
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/florida-might-soon-execute-an-innocent-man-reminding-us-why-conservatives-should-oppose-the-death-penalty
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;
-----------------------------------------------------------------
