Monday, August 31, 2020

Pervis Payne: Death Row; Tennessee: (Part 2): The colour factor: MLK50 reports on Pervis Payne and the colour of capital punishment in the south' as he seeks seeks a reprieve in the face of the state's denials of DNA testing his lawyers say may clear him.


APPEARING TODAY: SECOND EPISODE OF  MY NEW,  WEEKLY 'SELFLESS WARRIORS' BLOG:

Ex-Rugby star  Joe Karam: Selfless Warrior for David Bain (New Zealand)  who,  like Iwao  Hakamada (first post)  was wrongly convicted of murdering a family.  Sign 'Follow by email' to have the posts delivered weekly to your inbox. HL.

CHECK IT OUT AT:


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WORDS TO HEED: FROM OUR POST ON KEVIN COOPER'S  APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING; CALIFORNIA: (Applicable wherever a state resists DNA testing): "Blogger/extraordinaire Jeff Gamso's blunt, unequivocal, unforgettable message to the powers that be in California: "JUST TEST THE FUCKING DNA." (Oh yes, Gamso raises, as he does in many of his posts, an important philosophical question: This post is headed: "What is truth, said jesting Pilate."...Says Gamso: "So what's the harm? What, exactly, are they scared of? Don't we want the truth?" 
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Excellent analysis of the disturbing 'racial' background to this case:

A TASTE: "The state is now pursuing the execution of Pervis Payne, scheduled for Dec. 3. Payne is a Black man with intellectual disabilities from Millington who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1987. Payne had no criminal history and has been unwavering in his assertion that he is innocent of this crime for more than 30 years. During his trial, prosecutors used racial stereotypes to portray him as a hypersexual, violent drug user who attacked a white woman, even though Payne had no history of drug use. Such unfounded accusations have been used to justify lynching black men since the 1800s. "

Read the  entire commentary word for word  at:

https://mlk50.com/pervis-payne-and-the-color-of-capital-punishment-in-the-south-24fbc4fbe560


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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Sunday, August 30, 2020

Pervis Payne: Death row: Tennessee: (Part 1): Up-coming court hearing): His family is hoping that DNA testing - denied by the state of Tennessee - will finally reveal "the truth," WREG Memphis reports. (Reporter Stephanie Scurlock)..."Pervis wants DNA testing of evidence in the case. Recently, District Attorney Amy Weirich said bloody bedding his defense lawyers claim was new evidence wasn’t actually new at all. It was from another case and was a mix-up by the property room attendant. That does not sit well with Holman. She said she does not understand how someone can present evidence that is not from case."


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WORDS TO HEED: FROM OUR POST ON KEVIN COOPER'S  APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING; CALIFORNIA: (Applicable wherever a state resists DNA testing): "Blogger/extraordinaire Jeff Gamso's blunt, unequivocal, unforgettable message to the powers that be in California: "JUST TEST THE FUCKING DNA." (Oh yes, Gamso raises, as he does in many of his posts, an important philosophical question: This post is headed: "What is truth, said jesting Pilate."...Says Gamso: "So what's the harm? What, exactly, are they scared of? Don't we want the truth?" 
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: " Pervis Payne, a death row inmate who is set for execution in December, is heading back to a Shelby County courtroom in hopes it will lead to his freedom. A jury convicted Payne for the murders of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie, in their Millington apartment in 1987. Christopher’s 3-year-old son, Nicholas, was critically injured but survived the brutal stabbings. Payne continued to maintain his innocence. Now his family is speaking out, saying they just want his story to be heard. Rolanda Holman, Payne’s sister, said they have been waiting 33 years for the truth. “We have been just waiting for some type of breakthrough for his story to be heard and for the truth to finally be revealed,” Holman said. Three decades later, Payne’s court appearance will be centered around DNA evidence. Technology like testing DNA was just becoming a trend, during the time he was convicted. His sister said Payne has been on death row for more than 30 years and hopes her brother’s truth is heard. She said it was not heard some years ago. “My brother told his truth,” Holman said. “And his truth was manipulated, twisted, and turned to be pinned against him during his case. It was only circumstantial evidence, so he didn’t have a motive. He didn’t know the victims.” Pervis wants DNA testing of evidence in the case." 
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STORY: "Pervis Payne family hopes DNA will provide truth in murder mystery," by Reporter Stephanie Scurlock, published by Channel News 3, WREG Memphis, on August 26, 2020.

SUB-HEADING: "Hearing will be held next week by death row inmate Pervis Payne."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Pervis Payne, a death row inmate who is set for execution in December, is heading back to a Shelby County courtroom in hopes it will lead to his freedom.

A jury convicted Payne for the murders of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie, in their Millington apartment in 1987. Christopher’s 3-year-old son, Nicholas, was critically injured but survived the brutal stabbings.


Payne continued to maintain his innocence. Now his family is speaking out, saying they just want his story to be heard. Rolanda Holman, Payne’s sister, said they have been waiting 33 years for the truth.

“We have been just waiting for some type of breakthrough for his story to be heard and for the truth to finally be revealed,” Holman said.

Three decades later, Payne’s court appearance will be centered around DNA evidence. Technology like testing DNA was just becoming a trend, during the time he was convicted. His sister said Payne has been on death row for more than 30 years and hopes her brother’s truth is heard. She said it was not heard some years ago.

“My brother told his truth,” Holman said. “And his truth was manipulated, twisted, and turned to be pinned against him during his case. It was only circumstantial evidence, so he didn’t have a motive. He didn’t know the victims.”

Pervis wants DNA testing of evidence in the case. Recently, District Attorney Amy Weirich said bloody bedding his defense lawyers claim was new evidence wasn’t actually new at all. It was from another case and was a mix-up by the property room attendant.

That does not sit well with Holman. She said she does not understand how someone can present evidence that is not from case.

“That’s a problem within itself when you are able to give the wrong evidence to someone for their case. That should be a major violation of protocol,” Holman said.

Payne’s lawyers plan to ask a Memphis judge for testing on other evidence. They say no doubt comes from his case.

On the other hand, the mother of Charisse Christopher is convinced that Payne is guilty and said it is time for him to pay for what he did some three decades ago.

“It’s been 33 years, and I think that’s been long enough,” her mother said.

Payne’s family contends the prosecution manipulated both families, and they are fighting for the victims as well. They say everyone deserves to know the truth."

The entire story can be read at:
https://wreg.com/news/pervis-payne-family-hopes-dna-will-provide-truth-in-murder-mystery/


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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Saturday, August 29, 2020

Ronnie Long: North Carolina: Pro Bono division of Proskauer law firm Proskauer sponsored a brief by 40 specialists in forensic science played a role in overturning Ronnie Long's wrongful conviction after 40 years - and now Long is finally free. (Released from prison on August 27th. Hallelujah!): Proskauer informs us in a post. (Link to brief )..."Proskauer filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Mr. Long on behalf of some forty leading scholars who specialize in forensic science, emphasizing the grave impact of the prosecution’s repeated failures to disclose all the forensic evidence in the case. The Fourth Circuit agreed, and now Mr. Long is expected to be released imminently."


PASSAGE  ONE OF THE DAY: "As the result of continued litigation over the span of many decades, however, a steady stream of suppressed evidence concerning the crime, neither disclosed to the defense nor presented to the jury, came to light. It included lab-test results demonstrating that Mr. Long was not linked to the crime scene; medical evidence taken from the victim that unaccountably went missing; and, most recently, 43 latent fingerprints lifted from the scene, none of which matched Mr. Long.  It also became plain that the detectives who investigated the crime lied at trial about the evidence suppression."

PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Proskauer’s brief, which both the majority and the concurrence cited, argued for the imperative of disclosing all forensic tests, as a matter of professional ethics, sound science, and law, no matter whether the results are inculpatory, exculpatory, or inconclusive.  Proskauer further argued that exculpatory forensic results, as present here, carry powerful weight with juries; their suppression is a key cause of wrongful convictions."

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POST: "Proskauer Represents Forensic Scholars in Successful Amicus Brief Overturning  Wrongful Conviction After 40 Years," by Mark Harris and Nicollette R. Moser, published on 'The Proskauer   corporate social responsibility and pro bono blog' on  August 27, 2020.   (Wikipedia informs us that: "Proskauer Rose LLP (formerly known as Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, LLP) is an American law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1875 and currently has twelve offices worldwide."

GIST: "On August 24, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting en banc, reinstated defendant Ronnie Long’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging his rape conviction more than four decades earlier.  Proskauer filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Mr. Long on behalf of some forty leading scholars who specialize in forensic science, emphasizing the grave impact of the prosecution’s repeated failures to disclose all the forensic evidence in the case.  The Fourth Circuit agreed, and now Mr. Long is expected to be released imminently.

Over forty years ago, Mr. Long was accused of committing a rape and burglary that he has consistently maintained he did not commit.  Relying heavily on the victim’s identification testimony, and the asserted “honesty” of law enforcement who investigated the crime, a jury found Mr. Long guilty of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary.  He was sentenced to life in prison, and his conviction was upheld on appeal.  As the result of continued litigation over the span of many decades, however, a steady stream of suppressed evidence concerning the crime, neither disclosed to the defense nor presented to the jury, came to light. It included lab-test results demonstrating that Mr. Long was not linked to the crime scene; medical evidence taken from the victim that unaccountably went missing; and, most recently, 43 latent fingerprints lifted from the scene, none of which matched Mr. Long.  It also became plain that the detectives who investigated the crime lied at trial about the evidence suppression.

In 2016, Mr. Long filed his second federal habeas petition claiming actual innocence and violation of his Bradyrights for the suppression of evidence.  After the district court dismissed the petition, a panel of the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal, with one judge dissenting.  The en banc court then agreed to rehear the case.

In the instant ruling, the en banc court vacated the district court’s dismissal of Mr. Long’s petition for habeas relief, finding that a previous adjudication of Mr. Long’s Brady claims was “an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent and objectively unreasonable.”  The Fourth Circuit also held that an earlier court incorrectly minimized the significance of the withheld evidence, which could have influenced the jury to reach a different result.

In a separate concurrence, three judges underscored the racially polarized context in which the case was investigated and prosecuted.  Mr. Long, a Black man, was tried by an all-White jury in a small town for the rape of the White widow of a prominent local business executive, for whose company four members of the jury or their spouses worked.  The concurrence noted that the detectives’ hiding of evidence took on a “particularly sinister meaning” given prevalent attitudes about race at the time.

Proskauer’s brief, which both the majority and the concurrence cited, argued for the imperative of disclosing all forensic tests, as a matter of professional ethics, sound science, and law, no matter whether the results are inculpatory, exculpatory, or inconclusive.  Proskauer further argued that exculpatory forensic results, as present here, carry powerful weight with juries; their suppression is a key cause of wrongful convictions.

The Fourth Circuit directed the district court to consider Mr. Long’s actual-innocence claim and to “act with dispatch,” given Mr. Long’s age and the length of his incarceration.  Two days after the decision was handed down, the State of North Carolina determined that it would not pursue a retrial, and asked the district court to issue the writ of habeas corpus without delay, which should result in Mr. Long’s immediate release.  In the words of the concurrence, “[f]orty-four years is an unconscionably long period to wait for justice.  It is time.”

Proskauer’s team included partner Mark Harris and former associate Adam Deitch.

Update: Mr. Long was released from prison on August 27th."

The entire releasee can be read at: 
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/proskauer-represents-forensic-scholars-52289/

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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Eddie Lee Howard: Mississippi: Valuable perspective by 'Injustice Watch' on the Mississippi high court's ordering of a retrial for death row inmate convicted on debunked bite-mark evidence..."Howard is one of 25 people who were featured in Injustice Watch’s 'Unrequited Innocence' series last year, which highlighted people who were sentenced to death and never exonerated despite compelling evidence of innocence. Since the series’ publication, Walter Ogrod was exonerated in Philadelphia and Karl Fontenot was released from an Oklahoma prison pending the result of his appeal."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Howard’s attorney, Tucker Carrington, called for Colom to drop the charges in a press release. “It’s now time to bring this case to an end — and to close another door on a disastrous era of injustice in this state,” he said. In an interview with Injustice Watch, Colom said that he read the court’s ruling Friday morning. Before he makes a decision to retry Howard, he said he would consult with Kemp’s family and with Howard’s legal team. “There’s a lot that has to be done before I make that decision,” he said. He declined to comment on the court’s observation of how little remaining evidence pointed to Howard’s involvement.“I think the opinion speaks for itself,” he said.""


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STORY: "Mississippi high court orders retrial for death row inmate convicted on debunked bite-mark evidence," by Reporter John Seasly, published  by 'Injustice Watch' on August 28, 2020.

GIST: "The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a retrial on Thursday for Eddie Lee Howard Jr., who was first sentenced to death in 1994 based largely on bite-mark evidence that has since been discredited.


It is the second time the court has ordered a new trial for Howard, who has spent more than a quarter-century on death row for the 1992 rape and murder of 82-year-old Georgia Kemp in Columbus, Miss., a small city near the state’s eastern border. Sixteenth Circuit Court District Attorney Scott Colom said on Friday that he had not yet decided whether to retry Howard.

New DNA evidence that excludes Howard as a suspect, along with the now-debunked bite-mark testimony, leave little evidence tying Howard to the murder, the Supreme Court concluded.


Howard is one of 25 people who were featured in Injustice Watch’s Unrequited Innocence series last year, which highlighted people who were sentenced to death and never exonerated despite compelling evidence of innocence. Since the series’ publication, Walter Ogrod was exonerated in Philadelphia and Karl Fontenot was released from an Oklahoma prison pending the result of his appeal.


Howard, who represented himself at his first trial, was accused of raping and murdering Kemp. The prosecution’s key evidence at both trials was forensic bite-mark testimony by dentist Dr. Michael West, despite no visible evidence of bite marks in photos taken during Kemp’s autopsy.

The state Supreme Court found that Howard should not have been allowed to represent himself and called for a retrial, which took place in 2000. The bite-mark evidence was again presented and Howard was again found guilty and sentenced to death.


The American Board of Forensic Odontology, or ABFO, of which West was once a member, has since banned the type of bite-mark testimony West gave at Howard’s trials. West himself, testifying in another murder trial, said he no longer believed in bite-mark analysis.


“I don’t think it should be used in court. I think you should use DNA, throw bite marks out,” he said in 2011. However, four years later, he testified at an evidentiary hearing for Howard that he did believe in bite-mark analysis and that it proved Howard committed the murder.


West testified that he had been suspended from the ABFO for violating its guidelines by overstating the confidence of his conclusions in bite-mark matching, Justice David Ishee wrote for the majority in the court’s 8-1 ruling.


“Based on this record, we agree with Howard that a forensic dentist would not be permitted to identify Howard as the biter today as Dr. West did at Howard’s trial in 2000,” Ishee wrote.


In 2019, the Innocence Project catalogued 31 wrongful convictions and indictments based on bite-mark evidence. West testified in six of the cases, the most of any forensic odontologist included in the report. Justice James Kitchens, in a concurring opinion, wrote that West’s credibility has been “destroyed” in the years following Howard’s trial.


“In the intervening years, West and his methodology have plunged to overwhelming rejection by the forensics community to the point that today his methodology is not at all supported by mainstream forensic odontologists,” Kitchens wrote. “In fact, West’s methods are wholly contradicted and disqualified by today’s ABFO guidelines.”


Howard’s attorney, Tucker Carrington, called for Colom to drop the charges in a press release.


“It’s now time to bring this case to an end — and to close another door on a disastrous era of injustice in this state,” he said.


In an interview with Injustice Watch, Colom said that he read the court’s ruling Friday morning. Before he makes a decision to retry Howard, he said he would consult with Kemp’s family and with Howard’s legal team.

“There’s a lot that has to be done before I make that decision,” he said.

He declined to comment on the court’s observation of how little remaining evidence pointed to Howard’s involvement.

“I think the opinion speaks for itself,” he said.""


The entire story can be read at:

https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/2020/eddie-lee-howard-retrial/


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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Friday, August 28, 2020

Robert DuBoise: Florida" (Junk bite mark 'science'/jailhouse informant case): Bulletin: Free at last, the New York Post (Reporter Joshua Brett Miller) reports..."A Florida man who served 37 years behind bars walked out of prison one day after prosecutors said DNA evidence exonerated him in a 1983 murder and rape of a woman in Tampa. Robert Duboise, 55, was released Thursday from the Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green, where his mother, sister and an attorney greeted him as a free man for the first time in nearly four decades, the Tampa Bay Times reports. “It’s an overwhelming sense of relief,” Duboise told reporters, adding that he wasn’t angry for being wrongfully convicted in the case that relied on bite-mark evidence and a jailhouse informant. “I don’t have room in my life for bitterness. If you keep hatred and bitterness in your heart, it just steals your joy from everything else.”


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Recent tests of the DNA samples from the rape kit in the case did include DNA from two other men, including one who is now a person of interest in the 1983 slaying, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said."


STORY: "DNA clears man who served 37 years in prison for 1983 crime,"  by Reporter Joshua Brett Miller, published by The New York Post on August 28, 2020.


GIST: "A Florida man who served 37 years behind bars walked out of prison one day after prosecutors said DNA evidence exonerated him in a 1983 murder and rape of a woman in Tampa.


Robert Duboise, 55, was released Thursday from the Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green, where his mother, sister and an attorney greeted him as a free man for the first time in nearly four decades, the Tampa Bay Times reports.


“It’s an overwhelming sense of relief,” Duboise told reporters, adding that he wasn’t angry for being wrongfully convicted in the case that relied on bite-mark evidence and a jailhouse informant. “I don’t have room in my life for bitterness. If you keep hatred and bitterness in your heart, it just steals your joy from everything else.”


Duboise, who was originally sentenced to death, saw his sentence later reduced to life in prison following an appeal. He was convicted in the 1983 murder and rape of Barbara Grams, 19, who was attacked as she walked home from her job at a Tampa mall, the newspaper reports.


The Innocence Project picked up Duboise’s case in 2018 and notified the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit. Teresa Hall, the attorney who heads the department, told a judge Wednesday old DNA samples from a rape kit did not match Duboise, clearing the way for his Thursday release.


Without a legal basis for keeping Duboise incarcerated, Judge Christopher Nash ordered he be set free and amended his life sentence to time already served. A Sept. 14 hearing has been set to overturn his conviction, the newspaper reports.


Duboise learned Wednesday that he would soon be set free, but he had doubts, he said.

”After all these years, you always have to wonder if they’re going to throw another curve in there somewhere,” he told reporters.


Recent tests of the DNA samples from the rape kit in the case did include DNA from two other men, including one who is now a person of interest in the 1983 slaying, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said."


The entire story can be read at:


https://nypost.com/2020/08/28/dna-clears-florida-man-in-1983-murder-rape-of-woman/

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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Ronnie Long; North Carolina: Major (Welcome) long, long-overdue Development: Enough to make one weep: His case cries out innocence. Crucial exonerating forensic evidence that excluded him was concealed; That rape conviction by an all-white jury was back in 1976 - 44 years ago. The good news is, as WTVD reports, that his conviction is expected to be vacated and he is going to be freed, WTVD reports. Excellent background provided: "Ronnie Long is coming home!" Jamie Lau tweeted. He is part of Duke Law School's Wrongful Convictions Clinic, which represents Long. He said his conviction will soon be vacated."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In 2005, nearly 30 years after his trial, he filed one more petition to review biological evidence from the scene and submit to DNA testing. In a major win for Long, the judge in that case ordered both prosecutors and investigators to take a deep dive into the archives and locate and preserve all the evidence. What emerged was a treasure trove as far as Long was concerned: hair samples collected at the crime scene that didn't match Long; clothing fibers that didn't match Long's; and burned matches that didn't match Long's matchbooks. Strikingly, none of that evidence was ever shared with the defense during the discovery phase of Long's 1976 trial. The hospital that treated the victim, meanwhile, prepared several records showing the biological evidence collected, including a rape kit. That was also never disclosed, and the rape kit has never been found. A final surprise came in 2015, when Long took part in the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission's Postconviction DNA Testing Assistance Program: 43 fingerprints taken from the crime scene, also never shared with Long's defense. According to court documents, "testing excluded Long as the source of those prints."


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STORY: Ronnie Long, who was convicted of rape by all-white jury in 1976, will be released from prison, attorney says," published byABC Mews (WTVD) on August 27, 2020.

GIST: "A man convicted of raping a 54-year-old widow in 1976 will soon be free, one of his attorneys announced on Twitter Monday.


Ronnie Long has been behind bars for decades, convicted of a crime he may not have ever committed.


"Ronnie Long is coming home!" Jamie Lau tweeted. He is part of Duke Law School's Wrongful Convictions Clinic, which represents Long. He said his conviction will soon be vacated.


More than 40 years ago, an all-white jury convicted Long of rape and burglary.


He was sentenced to two life terms.


April 25, 1976:


The call came in around 9:30 p.m. reporting a forced entry at the home of 54-year-old Sarah Bost in Concord, a suburb of Charlotte.


According to court documents, "a man entered the home" and "put a knife to her throat." When Bost was unable to give the intruder any money, the man "became angry, cursed her, threw her to the ground, ripped her clothes off, beat her, and raped her."


The man would then escape, leaving Bost unclothed, but she still ran to her neighbor's house and "told her neighbor an African-American man had just raped her."


Concord Police Department led the investigation, which included a full search of the house and, of course, a debrief and interview with Mrs. Bost, who gave a detailed description of what she perceived as her attacker's height, build, facial hair and clothing.


Bost was also examined at the hospital.


The next day, detectives presented Bost with a series of photos of thirteen suspects, but she could not identify any of them as the attacker. The photos did not include a picture of Ronnie Long.


Several days later officers escorted Bost to the district court, telling her that the man who raped her might be in the courthouse.


Fearful of a traumatic encounter, Bost agreed to wear a disguise, and on May 10, 1976, Bost pointed to a man who appeared in court for an unrelated case, Ronnie W. Long, and told officers "there was no doubt in her mind that this person Ronnie W. Long was the person who entered her house."


Bost's testimony proved crucial to the prosecution's case, especially since Long would fiercely defend himself by establishing an alibi. His attorneys also "pointed to the lack of any physical evidence tying him to the crime scene."


From the stand, Bost pointed at Ronnie Long, and that was the smoking gun as far as the all-white jury was concerned. Court documents also show the conviction being affirmed on direct appeal by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Bost has since died.


New evidence emerges 30 years after trial"


Long's legal team would file several petitions to state and federal court, but none proved effective.


In 2005, nearly 30 years after his trial, he filed one more petition to review biological evidence from the scene and submit to DNA testing.


In a major win for Long, the judge in that case ordered both prosecutors and investigators to take a deep dive into the archives and locate and preserve all the evidence.


What emerged was a treasure trove as far as Long was concerned: hair samples collected at the crime scene that didn't match Long; clothing fibers that didn't match Long's; and burned matches that didn't match Long's matchbooks.


Strikingly, none of that evidence was ever shared with the defense during the discovery phase of Long's 1976 trial.


The hospital that treated the victim, meanwhile, prepared several records showing the biological evidence collected, including a rape kit.


That was also never disclosed, and the rape kit has never been found.


A final surprise came in 2015, when Long took part in the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission's Postconviction DNA Testing Assistance Program: 43 fingerprints taken from the crime scene, also never shared with Long's defense.


According to court documents, "testing excluded Long as the source of those prints."


The startling discoveries indeed led to new hearings, and Long would also soon have a new defense team as well from Duke University's Wrongful Convictions Clinic.


Convictions still stand:


Despite the startling revelations, a three judge panel from the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected his quest for a new trial.


In a 2-1 decision released in January, Judge Julius N. Richardson wrote that, even with the new evidence Long would've been convicted anyway.


Still, in what amounted to a small victory for Long, one judge, Stephanie D. Thacker, penned a strong dissent, thus opening an appeal to the entire Fourth Circuit.


A new hearing:


Thacker is the same judge who wrote the opinion for the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday that ordered a new hearing in the case.


That could have led to an acquittal or new trial.


"That evidence has now trickled out, revealing the truth that Mr. Long has declared for decades: he should not have been found guilty," Thacker wrote. "Today, the Court remands to give the State yet another opportunity to disclose the evidence it should have disclosed nearly half a century ago. Based on the record in this case over the last fifteen years, I would not be surprised if more evidence does turn up. But since the evidence is sufficient today to grant Mr. Long the relief he has so long pursued, I would not wait for further proceedings on remand. Forty-four years is an unconscionably long period to wait for justice. It is time."


But on Wednesday, Lau wrote on Twitter that the State of North Carolina "said it will ask the district court to enter a writ vacating Ronnie's conviction."


"I spoke w/ Ronnie this morning," he said. "He grateful, overwhelmed, and looks forward to reuniting with his loved ones.""


The entire story  can be read at:

https://abc11.com/ronnie-long-nc-fayetteville-north-carolina-released/6389925/

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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Eddie Lee Howard: Mississippi: Bulletin: Junk bite mark 'science.' Major (Welcome) Development He has been granted new trial due to what Mississippi Supreme Court justices specifically point to in the ruling as the discredited findings of Dr. Michael West regarding bite marks. They also point to the newly discovered presence of another man’s DNA on the murder weapon. The Innocence Project which represented Howard says he is the fourth Mississippian tried and convicted for capital murder based on the forensic work and testimony of Dr. Steven Hayne and Dr. Michael West."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The Innocence Project which represented Howard says he is the fourth Mississippian tried and convicted for capital murder based on the forensic work and testimony of Dr. Steven Hayne and Dr. Michael West. Hayne was fired by the state in 2008. West was known for his technique to identify bite marks that has now been rejected by the forensics community, according to the Innocence Project. Kennedy Brewer who was sentenced to death and Levon Brooks who was sentenced to life had spent over three decades in prison before they were cleared in two separate rape and child murder cases in Noxubee County."

STORY: "Mississippi Supreme Court vacates conviction and sentence of Eddie Lee Howard," by reporter Maggie Wade, published by WLBT  on August 27, 2020.
A Mississippi man who has served almost 30 years in prison, much of it on death row, will get a new trial.

The Mississippi Supreme Court vacated the conviction and sentence for Eddie Lee Howard. Howard was convicted for the rape and murder of an 84-year-old woman in Lowndes County in 1994.

Howard has been granted a new trial due to what justices specifically point to in the ruling as the discredited findings of Dr. Michael West regarding bite marks. They also point to the newly discovered presence of another man’s DNA on the murder weapon.

The Innocence Project which represented Howard says he is the fourth Mississippian tried and convicted for capital murder based on the forensic work and testimony of Dr. Steven Hayne and Dr. Michael West.

Hayne was fired by the state in 2008. West was known for his technique to identify bite marks that has now been rejected by the forensics community, according to the Innocence Project.

Kennedy Brewer who was sentenced to death and Levon Brooks who was sentenced to life had spent over three decades in prison before they were cleared in two separate rape and child murder cases in Noxubee County.

Howard’s attorneys say his conviction has been reversed twice by the State Supreme Court."


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Read the court's decision at the link below. Thanks to Dr. Michael Bower's publisher of the pre-eminent 'Forensics and Law in Focus' Blog. The post is headed 'Forensics: Another bitemarker conviction gets vacated, and bearing the caption: "This case from MS has taken over 25 to litigate for Eddie Lee Howard. Read about the famous film flam artist Dr. Michael West - talks about his own brilliance - kudos to all."


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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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Reid Technique: Junk Science; Course promoted by the Austin Regional Intelligence Centre comes under scrutiny by reporter Brant Bingamon in the Austin Chronicle under the heading, 'Trainings Teach Cops and Informants Junk Science: Police are learning lessons in fear," Austin police, like police everywhere, have an occupational obsession: sifting truth from lies. So a course promoted by the Austin Regional Intelligence Center in July 2019 was no doubt appealing. Offered by a group calling itself the Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation, the program promised, for a fee, to turn each attendee into a "walking polygraph." The only problem: Real scientists in the real world consider the course to be bullshit".


QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Junk science like SCAN is the root problem in so many false convictions," said criminal justice reform advocate Kathy Mitchell of Just Liberty. "We have no idea how many people have falsely confessed based on coercive techniques that we now know are no better than guesswork. And SCAN incorporates handwriting analysis, which should be consigned to the dustbin of history."

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "Documents found in BlueLeaks also detail courses offered to police on the Reid technique, most recently in December 2018. This involves not just an interrogation process, but a philosophy of how a suspect should be treated when brought in for questioning. The Reid technique is the spiritual heir to the "third degree," that legendary trope of detective novels where a suspect is bound to a chair, a single light bulb dangling before his face as shadowy detectives grill him for hours about his connection to a crime. Like the third degree, the Reid technique instructs interrogators to assume a suspect is guilty and to treat a confession as the ultimate goal. Interrogators analyze a subject's nonverbal cues; if they determine the subject is lying (as they often do), then follows a series of nine scripted steps. They tell suspects that law enforcement has proof of their guilt, even when untrue. They shut down any denials offered by suspects. They then attempt to cozy up to suspects, validating any reasoning they might have for committing a crime, attempting to extract a confession. Decades of research have shown that, like SCAN, the accuracy of nonverbal cues in determining a person's guilt is about the same as a coin flip. Reid teaches interrogators to look for signs of anxiety, even though most people, regardless of guilt, react with anxiety when questioned by officers. As these cues prompt officers to push harder for confessions, critics say the Reid technique amounts to little more than coercion. "The Reid technique has been discredited over and over in the real world, where innocent people have confessed to horrible crimes and then been exonerated by DNA," Mitchell said. "But that happens only in the highest-profile cases. Most criminal cases have no DNA; the confession is everything. So we cannot know how many innocent people right now are sitting in prison because of a coercive Reid interrogation."

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STORY: "ARIC training teach cops and informants junk science,"  by reporter Brant Bingamon, published by The Austin Chronicle on August 28, 2020. 

SUB-HEADING: "Police are learning lessons in fear."

GIST: Austin police, like police everywhere, have an occupational obsession: sifting truth from lies. So a course promoted by the Austin Regional Intelligence Center in July 2019 was no doubt appealing. Offered by a group calling itself the Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation, the program promised, for a fee, to turn each attendee into a "walking polygraph." The only problem: Real scientists in the real world consider the course to be bullshit.

Known as Scientific Content Analysis, or SCAN, the course is one of many training programs sponsored in recent years by ARIC, many of them of dubious value. A flier advertising SCAN was among the documents included in the BlueLeaks hack of ARIC and other "fusion centers" across the country.

SCAN was developed 30 years ago by Avinoam Sapir, a 71-year-old former Israeli intelligence officer who travels the world teaching the course, including a stop in our city. (Unlike other trainings promoted by ARIC, the three-day SCAN course hosted by the Travis County Sheriff's Office was not free.) Sapir claims the technique is 95% effective in detecting deception and sells SCAN analyses online of everything from the Book of Genesis to the Robert Mueller report.

The LSI website's assertions and testimonials about SCAN have the savor of a late-night infomercial. They claim that "SCAN will solve every case for you quickly and easily. You only need the subject's own words, given of his/her own free will." The technique is appealingly simple: "To use SCAN you need to do the following: 1. Give the subject a pen and paper. 2. Ask the subject to write down his/her version of what happened. 3. Analyze the statement and solve the case."

Law enforcers worldwide, including the Travis County Sheriff's Office, have bought the LSI sales pitch that "Training your personnel in the SCAN technique will be the best investment in their law enforcement career!" But multiple studies have concluded that SCAN is utter nonsense. A 2016 U.S. government review of the program concluded that it "did not distinguish truth-tellers from liars above the level of chance" and that some of its "indicators of deception" were in fact signs that a suspect was telling the truth.

"Junk science like SCAN is the root problem in so many false convictions," said criminal justice reform advocate Kathy Mitchell of Just Liberty. "We have no idea how many people have falsely confessed based on coercive techniques that we now know are no better than guesswork. And SCAN incorporates handwriting analysis, which should be consigned to the dustbin of history."

Spot the Terrorist!

As previously reported, ARIC's threat liaison officer program enlists not only sworn police officers but also security guards, EMTs, firefighters, and private citizens from a variety of backgrounds – having them sign nondisclosure agreements to keep the program a secret. Many of the trainings that ARIC presents and promotes are offered to lay audiences, including TLOs, to help them identify suspicious activity and threatening behavior.

One recurring topic of these is school shootings. In October 2018 ARIC presented a class to educators, law enforcement, and "anyone else who may be involved in addressing threatening behavior" in schools. The center also promoted a presentation in early 2020 by the U.S. Secret Service on how to identify students of concern and implement intervention strategies. "The threshold for intervention should be low," the course description reads.

Another area of emphasis – following from the fusion centers' post-9/11 roots – is foreign and domestic terrorism. In a 2017 course called "Terrorism Recognition, Aware­­ness, and Prevention Partnership (TRAPP)," participants – including not just first responders but also emergency managers, medical personnel, and "non-sworn security" – were taught to spot "terrorism­-related indicators" and identify terrorist groups and their methods. Another program in 2018 focused on the prevention of suicide bombing.

ARIC also sponsored lectures on white supremacist organizations and the radicalization of American citizens by the Islamic State. A program held at Great Hills Baptist Church was titled "Protecting Faith Based Institutions – How can the local Fusion center help keep you safe?" It featured an FBI speaker who instructed attendees on what constitutes suspicious activity and how to report it. The target audience: anyone involved in the leadership of faith-based institutions in Central Texas.

The Third Degree, 2.0

Documents found in BlueLeaks also detail courses offered to police on the Reid technique, most recently in December 2018. This involves not just an interrogation process, but a philosophy of how a suspect should be treated when brought in for questioning. The Reid technique is the spiritual heir to the "third degree," that legendary trope of detective novels where a suspect is bound to a chair, a single light bulb dangling before his face as shadowy detectives grill him for hours about his connection to a crime.

Like the third degree, the Reid technique instructs interrogators to assume a suspect is guilty and to treat a confession as the ultimate goal. Interrogators analyze a subject's nonverbal cues; if they determine the subject is lying (as they often do), then follows a series of nine scripted steps. They tell suspects that law enforcement has proof of their guilt, even when untrue. They shut down any denials offered by suspects. They then attempt to cozy up to suspects, validating any reasoning they might have for committing a crime, attempting to extract a confession.

Decades of research have shown that, like SCAN, the accuracy of nonverbal cues in determining a person's guilt is about the same as a coin flip. Reid teaches interrogators to look for signs of anxiety, even though most people, regardless of guilt, react with anxiety when questioned by officers. As these cues prompt officers to push harder for confessions, critics say the Reid technique amounts to little more than coercion.

"The Reid technique has been discredited over and over in the real world, where innocent people have confessed to horrible crimes and then been exonerated by DNA," Mitchell said. "But that happens only in the highest-profile cases. Most criminal cases have no DNA; the confession is everything. So we cannot know how many innocent people right now are sitting in prison because of a coercive Reid interrogation.""

The entire story can be read at:
https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2020-08-28/aric-trainings-teach-cops-and-informants-junk-science/

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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