READ INNOCENCE PROJECT STATEMENT BY SENIOR LITIGATION COUNSEL NINA MORRISON FOLLOWING LINK TO STORY: HL;
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BACKGROUND: "(Ledell) Lee’s case drew national attention in 2017 as one of eight executions Arkansas sought to carry out hastily, before the drugs used for lethal injection expired. Arkansas succeeded in killing only four of the condemned men, Ledell Lee first among them. Had the DNA testing he requested not been denied in the State’s rush to push its drugs, Lee might very well have been found innocent during his lifetime. The 1993 bludgeoning death of Debra Reese, a 26-year-old White woman, in Jacksonville, Arkansas got sparse investigation. Within hours, Lee, a 28-year-old Black man, was picked up walking in his own neighborhood, and charged with the crime. The ensuing trials included such egregious errors as an alleged judge/prosecutor love affair, racist references to the defendant as a “predator,” flawed eyewitness testimony based on shoddy cross-race identification protocol, failure of counsel to introduce an alibi defense, and a drunk appellate attorney. The jury never heard evidence of Lee’s intellectual disability. The almost all-White jury took three hours to convict him of first-degree murder, and another three to condemn him to death. Later, the courts rejected Lee’s request for DNA testing of hair and blood evidence. He maintained his innocence throughout. Now, with ACLU and Innocence Project backing, Lee’s surviving family members have filed a lawsuit requesting the DNA testing denied just prior to the execution, plus more sophisticated testing of other evidence."
Prof. Lauri Umansky: Arkansas State University.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: “While the results obtained 29 years after the evidence was collected proved to be incomplete and partial, it is notable that there are now new DNA profiles that were not available during the trial and post-conviction proceedings in Mr. Lee’s case,” Nina Morrison, Innocence Project senior litigation counsel, said in a statement. “We are hopeful that one or more of these forensic law enforcement databases will generate additional information in the future,” Morrison said.
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"STORY: "New DNA information emerges in Ledell Lee case, 4 years after execution," by reporter Lara Farrar, published by Arkansas online on April 30, 2021.
GIST: "Four years after the execution of an inmate convicted of murdering his Jacksonville neighbor in 1993, new DNA evidence has emerged revealing genetic material and fingerprints from an unknown male, according to a report released Friday from the Innocence Project and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ledell Lee maintained his innocence until he was executed on April 20, 2017, for the murder of Debra Reese. Lee was convicted in 1995.
DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene, including the murder weapon and a bloody shirt, revealed the profile of an unknown male. New fingerprints found on crime scene evidence could also not be identified, according to the Innocence Project and the ACLU.
The DNA and fingerprint profiles have been entered into a national database but so far no matches have been identified.
“While the results obtained 29 years after the evidence was collected proved to be incomplete and partial, it is notable that there are now new DNA profiles that were not available during the trial and post-conviction proceedings in Mr. Lee’s case,” Nina Morrison, Innocence Project senior litigation counsel, said in a statement.
“We are hopeful that one or more of these forensic law enforcement databases will generate additional information in the future,” Morrison said."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/apr/30/new-dna-information-released-ledell-lee-case/
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The Innocence Project released this statement from Senior Litigation Counsel Nina Morrison on the case:
“We thank the City Attorney, City Council, and Mayor of Jacksonville for their cooperation in facilitating the DNA testing and fingerprint analysis that Mr. Lee sought to conduct prior to his execution. While the results obtained twenty-nine years after the evidence was collected proved to be incomplete and partial, it is notable that there are now new DNA profiles that were not available during the trial or post-conviction proceedings in Mr. Lee’s case. These include a DNA profile from an unknown male who is not Ledell Lee that was found on the murder weapon (a wooden club) and a bloody shirt. The unknown male profile has been entered into the national DNA database, but no hits to known individuals were obtained. While this phase of the litigation and court-ordered DNA testing is now concluded, the investigation into the case remains open due to the possibility of a future database ‘hit’ to the unknown male DNA or unknown fingerprints from the crime scene. We are hopeful that one or more of these forensic law enforcement databases will generate additional information in the future.”
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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;
