Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Justin Plummer: UK: Major Development: British Criminal Cases Review Commission assails evidence given by two prosecution experts (one of whom was a dentist and bite mark expert) as it sends the murder conviction to The Court of Appeal..."Following a detailed review, the CCRC has decided to refer Mr Plummer’s conviction to the Court of Appeal because new evidence now suggests that the expert footwear mark evidence at Mr Plummer’s trial was fundamentally flawed and the jury were misled. In particular: Two of the prosecution experts who gave evidence (one of whom was a dentist and bite marks expert) did not meet the industry standards required to conduct reliable footwear marks comparison. These experts gave subjective opinions, in persuasive terms, with the appearance of expertise they did not, in fact, possess. In the CCRC’s view, neither expert should have been permitted to give evidence at the trial."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Two of the prosecution experts who gave evidence (one of whom was a dentist and bite marks expert) did not meet the industry standards required to conduct reliable footwear marks comparison. These experts gave subjective opinions, in persuasive terms, with the appearance of expertise they did not, in fact, possess. In the CCRC’s view, neither expert should have been permitted to give evidence at the trial."

RELEASE: "Commission refers the murder conviction of Justin Plummer to The Court of Appeal,  published by The Criminal Cases Review Commission (‘CCRC’) on February 18, 2902.

GIST: The Criminal Cases Review Commission (‘CCRC’) has referred the 1998 murder conviction of Justin Plummer to the Court of Appeal.

On 16 December 1998, following a trial at St Albans Crown Court, Justin Plummer was convicted of the murder of Janice Cartwright-Gilbert. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 16 years, and remains in prison.

Ms Cartwright-Gilbert was found dead inside the mobile home she shared with her partner on 28 February 1997. She had been stabbed multiple times and the mobile home had been set on fire. Her body had bruising to the head consistent with stamping.

Mr Plummer was a prolific burglar who had committed a string of burglaries in the local area during January and February 1997. The prosecution case was that Mr Plummer murdered Ms Cartwright-Gilbert during a burglary, attacking her when she disturbed him. The key issue at trial was whether Mr Plummer’s right shoe could be attributed to marks found on Ms Cartwright-Gilbert’s face.

On 17 January 2000, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal made on Mr Plummer’s behalf. Mr Plummer applied to the CCRC in March 2000 and, in January 2001, the CCRC decided that there was no real possibility that the Court of Appeal would quash his conviction. Mr Plummer re-applied to the CCRC in November 2017.

Following a detailed review, the CCRC has decided to refer Mr Plummer’s conviction to the Court of Appeal because new evidence now suggests that the expert footwear mark evidence at Mr Plummer’s trial was fundamentally flawed and the jury were misled. In particular:

  • Two of the prosecution experts who gave evidence (one of whom was a dentist and bite marks expert) did not meet the industry standards required to conduct reliable footwear marks comparison. These experts gave subjective opinions, in persuasive terms, with the appearance of expertise they did not, in fact, possess. In the CCRC’s view, neither expert should have been permitted to give evidence at the trial.
  • New expert evidence obtained by the CCRC has highlighted errors in the evidence that was given at trial and led the CCRC to conclude that the strength of the expert evidence which can now be relied upon is weaker than it was both at trial and in December 1997 when the CPS advised that the case against Mr Plummer should be dropped.

This referral relies, at least in part, on the work of the Forensic Science Regulator (a post created in 2007), developments in the Criminal Practice Direction on expert evidence and a body of case law that primarily post-dates both Mr Plummer’s trial and the CCRC’s first review.

Mr Plummer is represented by Scanlans Solicitors, 23 John Street, Sunderland SR1 1JG.

The entire release can be read at:

 https://ccrc.gov.uk/commission-refers-the-murder-conviction-of-justin-plummer-to-the-court-of-appeal/

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;