Friday, May 28, 2021

Kevin Cooper: Death Row: California: Major Development: (I will be following closely. HL); Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an independent investigation into his convictions in the stabbing deaths of four people, including two children, at a suburban Los Angeles home in 1983, to help him sort out conflicting DNA test results..."Newsom appointed a law firm to review court records and all facts and evidence in the case, including those that don’t appear in trial and appellate records, along with the results of DNA tests previously ordered by the governor. The order said the tests had been completed, but Cooper’s lawyers and the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office have “starkly different views” about whether they support Cooper’s claims.""

PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "San Bernardino County prosecutors said previous DNA tests showed that Cooper, who had escaped from a prison two days before the slayings, was in the Ryens’ home and smoked cigarettes in the Ryens’ stolen station wagon, and that Cooper’s blood and the blood of at least one victim was on a T-shirt found by the side of a road leading away from the scene of the murders. Cooper claimed that investigators planted his blood on the T-shirt. He argued that trial evidence “was manufactured, mishandled, planted, tampered with, or otherwise tainted by law enforcement,” according to Newsom’s order. Cooper’s supporters have said other evidence, including untested hair samples, indicated there were multiple killers who were white or Hispanic. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered an independent investigation  into  the conviction of death row inmate Kevin Cooper, who says he was framed for the stabbing deaths of four people, including two children, at a suburban Los Angeles home in 1983."


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STORY:  Gov. Newsom orders independent investigation into death row inmate Kevin Cooper's murder conviction," reported by The Associated Press, published by KTLA  5.


GIST: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered an independent investigation into the conviction of death row inmate Kevin Cooper, who says he was framed for the stabbing deaths of four people, including two children, at a suburban Los Angeles home in 1983.


Cooper, 63, maintains he was framed and has been seeking gubernatorial clemency since 2016.


In his executive order, Newsom said he “takes no position” on Cooper’s guilt or innocence or whether to grant him clemency.


Newsom appointed a law firm to review court records and all facts and evidence in the case, including those that don’t appear in trial and appellate records, along with the results of DNA tests previously ordered by the governor.


The order said the tests had been completed, but Cooper’s lawyers and the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office have “starkly different views” about whether they support Cooper’s claims.

Cooper’s attorney, Norman Hile, called the order gratifying.


“We are confident that a thorough review will demonstrate that Kevin Cooper is innocent and should be released from prison,” he said.


Cooper was convicted of a 1983 attack in Chino Hills, east of Los Angeles. Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica and 8-year-old son, Joshua, were attacked in their sleep along with an 11-year-old neighbor, Christopher Hughes, who was a houseguest. Investigators said they were stabbed more than 140 times with an ice pick, knife and hatchet.


Joshua’s throat was slashed, but he survived.


San Bernardino County prosecutors said previous DNA tests showed that Cooper, who had escaped from a prison two days before the slayings, was in the Ryens’ home and smoked cigarettes in the Ryens’ stolen station wagon, and that Cooper’s blood and the blood of at least one victim was on a T-shirt found by the side of a road leading away from the scene of the murders.


Cooper claimed that investigators planted his blood on the T-shirt.


He argued that trial evidence “was manufactured, mishandled, planted, tampered with, or otherwise tainted by law enforcement,” according to Newsom’s order.


Cooper’s supporters have said other evidence, including untested hair samples, indicated there were multiple killers who were white or Hispanic.


The case attracted national interest after New York Times’ columnist Nicholas Kristof, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and reality television star Kim Kardashian urged officials to allow re-testing.


In December 2018, then-Gov. Jerry Brown ordered DNA retesting for a T-shirt, towel, and a hatchet handle and sheath. Two months later, Newsom ordered additional DNA testing of hair samples collected from the victims’ hands and the crime scene, as well as two blood samples and a green button that investigators said linked Cooper to the crime and his attorney alleged was planted.


According to Newsom’s executive order, prosecutors argue that “overwhelming evidence” points to Cooper’s guilt and contend that his conviction was affirmed by state and federal appeals courts after conducting “exhaustive reviews” of the evidence and Cooper’s misconduct claims.


Messages seeking comment from the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office weren’t immediately returned after hours.


Cooper had been scheduled for execution in 2004. But a federal appellate court stayed the execution pending further review. Both the California and U.S. supreme courts rejected his appeals.


California hasn’t executed anyone since 2006, and Newsom has imposed a moratorium. There are more than 700 men and women on the nation’s largest death row.


https://ktla.com/news/california/gov-newsom-orders-independent-investigation-into-kevin-coopers-murder-conviction/


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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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "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