PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "A key issue in Stabile’s decision was the defense attorney’s failure to prevent testimony by Wecht that he believed that semen linked to Hopkins in 2010 via DNA testing had been deposited on a sheet in Walsh’s bedroom at the time of her killing. It is impossible, even with current technology, to determine when DNA was deposited on any surface, Stabile noted. He found the defense attorney should have sought to prevent Wecht from giving any DNA dating testimony to the jury on grounds that such testimony “was not generally accepted in the forensic community.” He found that Hopkins’ trial was skewed because the jurors apparently accepted the faulty time-related testimony from the famed Wecht. That is so even though Wecht stated on cross-examination that DNA dating isn’t possible, Stabile concluded. “The record demonstrates that no scientific method exists for dating DNA deposits, and that Dr. Wecht’s methodology is not generally accepted in the forensic pathology field,” Stabile wrote. “We conclude trial counsel had no reasonable basis for failing to seek preclusion of Dr. Wecht’s testimony…and the admission of his testimony caused substantial prejudice to” Hopkins. Hopkins, now 74, has been serving an 8- to 16-year prison sentence."
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STORY: "PA man convicted of part-time lover 1979 murder deserves a new trial, state appeals court rules," by reporter Matt Miller, published by Pennsylvania Real-Time News.
GIST: Saying the defense attorney dropped the ball, a state Superior Court panel Monday ordered a new trial for a Pennsylvania man convicted of the 1979 murder of a woman that was a cold case for 31 years.
Gregory Hopkins’ lawyer simply wasn’t effective in challenging expert witness testimony by famed pathologist Cyril Wecht during Hopkins’ 2013 trial for the slaying of his part-time lover Janet Walsh, Judge Victor P. Stabile found in overturning Hopkins’ third-degree murder conviction."
A key issue in Stabile’s decision was the defense attorney’s failure to prevent testimony by Wecht that he believed that semen linked to Hopkins in 2010 via DNA testing had been deposited on a sheet in Walsh’s bedroom at the time of her killing.
It is impossible, even with current technology, to determine when DNA was deposited on any surface, Stabile noted. He found the defense attorney should have sought to prevent Wecht from giving any DNA dating testimony to the jury on grounds that such testimony “was not generally accepted in the forensic community.”
He found that Hopkins’ trial was skewed because the jurors apparently accepted the faulty time-related testimony from the famed Wecht. That is so even though Wecht stated on cross-examination that DNA dating isn’t possible, Stabile concluded.
“The record demonstrates that no scientific method exists for dating DNA deposits, and that Dr. Wecht’s methodology is not generally accepted in the forensic pathology field,” Stabile wrote. “We conclude trial counsel had no reasonable basis for failing to seek preclusion of Dr. Wecht’s testimony…and the admission of his testimony caused substantial prejudice to” Hopkins.
Hopkins, now 74, has been serving an 8- to 16-year prison sentence.
Walsh, who was in the process of going through a divorce, was found strangled in her Beaver County apartment on Sept. 1, 1979. Hopkins, who later became a councilman for Bridgewater Borough, told police at the time that he and the 23-year-old Walsh had been having occasional casual sex.
No arrests were made until DNA testing, which wasn’t available in 1979, detected Hopkins’ DNA on a bedsheet in the bedroom where Walsh was killed. In charging Hopkins with the slaying, prosecutors insisted he had strangled her with a bandanna during sex. Investigators said Walsh, who was wearing a nightgown, was found face-down on her bed. Her hands were bound with the cloth belt from a bathrobe.
“We do not reach this decision lightly,” Stabile wrote in ordering a new trial. “This case involves a heinous crime that snuffed out the life of a young and blameless woman. Decades after the victim’s death, the Commonwealth went to considerable lengths to solve the crime with cutting-edge technology.”
“Nevertheless,” he contined, “the record establishes that the verdict was the product of ineffective assistance of trial counsel… We believe that there is a reasonable probability the outcome of this case may well have been different had trial counsel moved to preclude Dr. Wecht’s testimony.”
The entire story can be read at:
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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