ONE NIGHT. FIFTEEN MINUTES. A LIFE UPENDED.
(From 'Free Albert Wilson'): "Albert Wilson’s life forever changed one night in September 2016. Albert, a college student who was passionate about impacting the world and reshaping the narrative of Black identity through journalism, was falsely accused of raping a young woman he met at a bar. The interaction between them lasted only 15 minutes, but it changed Albert’s life forever. Albert was convicted despite no physical evidence of sexual intercourse, an impossible timeline, and a biased jury. An innocent young man was sentenced to 12 years in prison. This is his story."
www.freealbertwilson.com.
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PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "On September 10, 2016, Albert was at a popular college bar called Jayhawk Cafe (also known as “The Hawk”) near the University of Kansas. He met a young woman there and invited her back to his apartment. The pair were only gone for 15 minutes. Albert says that while he and the young woman were at his apartment, he kissed her but the two never had sexual intercourse. While the exam found Albert’s DNA on her chest (where he admitted to kissing her), a rape kit found no seminal fluid or DNA on her clothing or on a vaginal swab."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: “We are very relieved for Albert Wilson and his family today and obviously pleased with Judge Pokorny’s decision,” said Josh Dubin, who is representing Albert alongside attorney Michael Whalen. “This is the first step toward righting what we feel was a wrongful conviction. I look forward to fully vindicating Albert at a retrial in which all of the evidence, not just part of the story, is presented to a jury. Notwithstanding my confidence in clearing Albert Wilson’s name at a retrial, I would encourage a discourse with District Attorney Suzanne Valdez regarding whether it makes sense to continue to pursue this case, especially given the evidence that has come to light since Albert’s conviction.” Lava Media founder and criminal justice advocate Jason Flom, who has lent his support to Albert’s case, also expressed optimism. “It’s been a long road for Albert and his family,” Flom said. “I sincerely hope that this new trial will be a turning point in this nightmare and that the facts will finally be heard.”
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RELEASE: "New trial for Albert Wilson," released by 'The Press House' on March 16, 2012.
GIST: "In a long-awaited decision, a Douglas County judge has granted Albert Wilson, who was wrongfully convicted of rape in 2019, a new trial. Albert was 24 years old when he was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. In her decision, Judge Sally Pokorny said that his trial attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel.
On September 10, 2016, Albert was at a popular college bar called Jayhawk Cafe (also known as “The Hawk”) near the University of Kansas. He met a young woman there and invited her back to his apartment.
The pair were only gone for 15 minutes. Albert says that while he and the young woman were at his apartment, he kissed her but the two never had sexual intercourse. While the exam found Albert’s DNA on her chest (where he admitted to kissing her), a rape kit found no seminal fluid or DNA on her clothing or on a vaginal swab.
“We are very relieved for Albert Wilson and his family today and obviously pleased with Judge Pokorny’s decision,” said Josh Dubin, who is representing Albert alongside attorney Michael Whalen. “This is the first step toward righting what we feel was a wrongful conviction. I look forward to fully vindicating Albert at a retrial in which all of the evidence, not just part of the story, is presented to a jury. Notwithstanding my confidence in clearing Albert Wilson’s name at a retrial, I would encourage a discourse with District Attorney Suzanne Valdez regarding whether it makes sense to continue to pursue this case, especially given the evidence that has come to light since Albert’s conviction.”
Lava Media founder and criminal justice advocate Jason Flom, who has lent his support to Albert’s case, also expressed optimism. “It’s been a long road for Albert and his family,” Flom said. “I sincerely hope that this new trial will be a turning point in this nightmare and that the facts will finally be heard.”
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;
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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;
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