Thursday, September 30, 2021

Kevin Strickland; Missouri: Bulletin: Good news for him and his legal team as judge rejects Attorney General's application for more fingerprint testing - and denounces delay, KCTV (Reporter Angie Ricono) reports..."That motion involved additional fingerprint testing. The judge ruled the AG’s office has been aware of all the fingerprints collected by detectives back in 1978 and could have requested that weeks or even months ago instead of at the last minute. New fingerprint analysis excludes Kevin Strickland from the gun. Strickland has served more than 4 decades for a 1978 Kansas City triple murder he swears he did not do."

BACKGROUND: "The case against Strickland, who was 18 when he was arrested, was “thin from its inception” and relied almost entirely on the testimony of a traumatized woman who was shot during the murders, prosecutors now say. They began reviewing Strickland’s conviction in November after speaking with his lawyers and reviewing a Star investigation into his innocence claimFor decades, two men who pleaded guilty in the April 25, 1978, murders at 6934 S. Benton Ave. swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the shooting. The lone eyewitness also recanted and wanted Strickland released. A third suspect, who was never charged, said in 2019 that he knew there “couldn’t be a more innocent person than” Strickland, according to a Midwest Innocence Project investigator."
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PHOTO CAPTION: "A Jackson County judge ruled Wednesday there needs to be a “prompt resolution” in the Kevin Strickland case and denied a motion by the Missouri Attorney General’s office."

STORY: "Good news for Kevin Strickland and his legal team," by Reporter AngiecRicono, published by KCTV onSeptember 30, 2021.

SUB-HEADING: "Judge denies another delay."

GIST: A Jackson County judge ruled Wednesday there needs to be a “prompt resolution” in the Kevin Strickland case and denied a motion by the Missouri Attorney General’s office.

That motion involved additional fingerprint testing.

The judge ruled the AG’s office has been aware of all the fingerprints collected by detectives back in 1978 and could have requested that weeks or even months ago instead of at the last minute.

New fingerprint analysis excludes Kevin Strickland from the gun.

Strickland has served more than 4 decades for a 1978 Kansas City triple murder he swears he did not do.

The eyewitness who originally testified Strickland was there later doubted her testimony and even contacted a local innocence project to try to help him before she died.

The Jackson County prosecutor’s conviction integrity unit reviewed the case and concluded Strickland was innocent.

Several gunmen admit Strickland was not there the night of the murder.

The Missouri Supreme Court has yet to rule on another motion by the Missouri AG’s office which asks the hearing be moved completely out of Jackson County.

Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has previously commented that the Missouri Attorney General’s office has been disruptive in her pursuit to correct a mistake.

Jean Peters Baker did not comment on today’s ruling. She has previously accused the Missouri Attorney General of continually pushing for delays.

Strickland is represented by the Midwest Innocence Project."

The entire story can be read at:

://www.kctv5.com/news/good-news-for-kevin-strickland-and-his-legal-team/article_1e1d5b30-2184-11ec-bfb5-8b10d7b0df1c.html

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;

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FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.