HEADING: "Final written arguments due today in Kevin Strickland's wrongful conviction hearing," by reporter Martin Augustine, published by KMBC News, on November 22, 2021
SUB-HEADING: "A retired Missouri Court of Appeals judge will decide if Strickland will go free after 43 years in prison."
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GIST: "After making a case in front of a judge earlier this month, written arguments must be submitted today in the wrongful conviction hearing of Kevin Strickland. Judge James Welsh, a retired Missouri Court of Appeals judge, will decide his fate.
Strickland has spent the last 43 years in prison for a triple murder. Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Strickland, 62, was wrongly convicted in 1979.
He has maintained since his conviction that he wasn't anywhere near the crime scene. A woman, who was wounded in the gunfire, recanted her story placing Strickland at the scene. For years she told people Strickland wasn't there. She died recently, making it impossible for her to testify hearing. Fingerprint evidence also suggests he wasn't at the crime scene.
Jackson County prosecutors are exercising a new Missouri law allowing them to review past cases in which they believe someone was wrongly convicted of a crime. However, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office argues that Strickland was one of the killers and should remain in prison.
There was plenty of emotion during the courtroom testimony in this case earlier this month. Welsh also instructed lawyers to provide written arguments for him to review, which are due here today. The judge says he’ll make a decision in a timely fashion.
However, Welsh did decline to set a specific deadline for his verdict.
https://www.kmbc.com/article/final-written-arguments-due-kevin-strickland/38320431?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%20-%20Local%20Breaking%20News&utm_source=619c20d304aa8d8245a1ce0f0c086f17&brzu=c838168dc7288e7a8617e09d806f21e6cabd8958c3f89186ca123dd43bf5d249&lctg=613f2ae8a51a71373300179e#
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: "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.
