Thursday, January 28, 2021

Charles Don Flores: (Texas): Bulletin: (Major (Unwelcome) Development: "The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up his death row case involving police hypnosis," the Dallas Morning News, (Reporter Lauren McGauchy) reports..."The decision was a blow to inmate Charles Don Flores, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Farmers Branch resident Elizabeth “Betty” Black in 1998. It was also a setback for critics of the use of hypnosis by Texas law enforcement officers, who had hoped the Supreme Court would rule that investigative hypnosis is junk science that has no place in U.S. courts Flores’ lawyer, Gretchen Sween, said she will continue to fight for her client’s release from prison, but she wished the high court had taken a look at how hypnosis helped put him there. “I do think one of the positive things that has come out of this litigation is that Charles’ case has unsettled a lot of people. There is a lack of awareness that this is something the police do,” Sween said Monday."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Investigative hypnosis is a technique used by police attempting to guide witnesses or victims into a trance so they might better recall details of a crime. Dallas Morning News investigative series published last year revealed Texas has become the country’s premier destination for police hypnosis — both in training and practice — even though the scientific consensus is that the practice can warp memories. While many other states ban the testimony of people who have been hypnotized, or bar the introduction of evidence elicited during hypnosis sessions, law enforcement officers in Texas have used hypnosis to investigate hundreds of crimes over the years, sending dozens to prison — and some to their deaths. Flores challenged his conviction based on the fact that police tried to use hypnosis to refresh the memory of a witness who saw two men enter Black’s home on the morning of the crime. The justices denied his petition for review without comment Monday. Sween said this decision meant the court decided not to take up the case; it did not make any judgment on the merits of the case or the challenge against investigative hypnosis.

She will now return to state court and continue fighting to overturn Flores’ conviction on other grounds. While declining to provide specific details about her upcoming argument, Sween said she has recently learned additional details about the prosecution that raised questions about her client’s conviction. “There are other quasi-science [methods] that were used in the guilt phase of trial that would not withstand scrutiny,” Sween said. “We’re challenging the fundamental fairness of the entire trial.”


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


STORY: "U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up Texas death row case involving police hypnosis," by reporter Lauren  McGauchy, published by The Dallas Morning News on January 25, 2021.

SUB-HEADING: "The High Court denied Charles Don Flores petition for review without comment, leaving it up  to Texas legislators to determine whether police should continue the controversial practices."

INTRODUCTION: Investigative hypnosis, a practice deemed dubious by researchers and courts in other states across the country, has sent dozens of men to Texas prisons — and some to their deaths. On Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case of a Texas death row inmate who challenged his murder conviction because police used hypnosis during the investigation of the crime. The Texas Association for Investigative Hypnosis sold these commemorative medallions to members at its 2019 annual conference in Huntsville. The association is one of the few, if not the only, remaining societies for police employing hypnosis in criminal investigations. 


GIST: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a Texas death row inmate who argued that hypnosis helped convict him of murder.


The decision was a blow to inmate Charles Don Flores, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Farmers Branch resident Elizabeth “Betty” Black in 1998. It was also a setback for critics of the use of hypnosis by Texas law enforcement officers, who had hoped the Supreme Court would rule that investigative hypnosis is junk science that has no place in U.S. courts


Flores’ lawyer, Gretchen Sween, said she will continue to fight for her client’s release from prison, but she wished the high court had taken a look at how hypnosis helped put him there.

“I do think one of the positive things that has come out of this litigation is that Charles’ case has unsettled a lot of people. There is a lack of awareness that this is something the police do,” Sween said Monday.


Hypnosis helped put this Texan on death row, his lawyers say. The Supreme Court could soon decide his fate


Investigative hypnosis is a technique used by police attempting to guide witnesses or victims into a trance so they might better recall details of a crime. A Dallas Morning News investigative series published last year revealed Texas has become the country’s premier destination for police hypnosis — both in training and practice — even though the scientific consensus is that the practice can warp memories.


While many other states ban the testimony of people who have been hypnotized, or bar the introduction of evidence elicited during hypnosis sessions, law enforcement officers in Texas have used hypnosis to investigate hundreds of crimes over the years, sending dozens to prison — and some to their deaths.

Flores challenged his conviction based on the fact that police tried to use hypnosis to refresh the memory of a witness who saw two men enter Black’s home on the morning of the crime. The justices denied his petition for review without comment Monday.

Sween said this decision meant the court decided not to take up the case; it did not make any judgment on the merits of the case or the challenge against investigative hypnosis.

She will now return to state court and continue fighting to overturn Flores’ conviction on other grounds. While declining to provide specific details about her upcoming argument, Sween said she has recently learned additional details about the prosecution that raised questions about her client’s conviction.


“There are other quasi-science [methods] that were used in the guilt phase of trial that would not withstand scrutiny,” Sween said. “We’re challenging the fundamental fairness of the entire trial.” When asked whether she will continue to challenge the use of hypnosis in Flores’ case,  Sween added,  “wait and see.”


Now that the Supreme Court has declined to take up the issue of investigative hypnosis nationwide, the clearest path for challenging the practice here is through the state Legislature. Earlier this year, two Texas lawmakers filed bills to ban the introduction of hypnotically-induced testimony in state courts. Rep. Eddie Lucio III, one of the bill authors, said Texans deserve to have faith in the system.


“We need as much integrity in the criminal justice system as possible. The stakes are high. A person’s life — there’s no amount, there’s no dollar value you can place on [that],” Lucio, D-Brownsville, told The News in an interview on the first day of the 2021 legislative session.

Sen. Juan “Chuy’' Hinojosa credited The News’ series for revealing the extent to which police in Texas rely on hypnosis to investigate crimes: “It just confirms the depths of the problem.”

Hinojosa said he would have preferred the Supreme Court take up the issue and set a nationwide standard for investigative hypnosis. Without that, he said it is up to state lawmakers like him to crack down on the practice.

“This issue needs to be resolved on a state-by-state basis, as we are currently trying to do,” Hinojosa said Monday. “This is an issue of nationwide importance to our criminal justice system. Hypnosis is junk science.""


The entire story can be read at:


https://www.dallasnews.com/news/investigations/2021/01/25/us-supreme-court-declines-to-take-up-texas-death-row-case-involving-police-hypnosis/

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;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD (FOR NOW!): "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------