James Dailey: Florida: Notorious jailhouse informant Paul Skalnik: Bulletin: (Major (Unwelcome) Development): The Florida Supreme Court has refused to reconsider Dailey's 1985 Pinellas murder conviction -without reasons - the News Service of Florida reports..."Attorneys from Florida and other states have fought to overturn Dailey’s conviction, contending that he is innocent of the murder. In part, that has been based on a signed declaration in 2019 by Pearcy that he —- not Dailey —- killed Boggio. Also, the attorneys have targeted jailhouse informant Paul Skalnik, whose testimony helped lead to Dailey’s guilty verdict. (He’s a liar, a con artist and a snitch. His testimony could soon send a Florida man to his death: Paul Skalnik has a decadeslong criminal record and may be one of the most prolific jailhouse informants in U.S. history. The state of Florida is planning to execute a man based largely on his word.) Attorneys for Dailey argued at the Supreme Court that a prosecutor during Dailey’s 1987 trial had allowed false testimony from Skalnik. Justices on Sept. 23 rejected an appeal, which led to Dailey’s attorneys filing the motion for rehearing."

STORY: "Florida Supreme Court refuses to reconsider James Dailey's 1985 Pinellas murder conviction," published by Florida News Service  on December 3, 2021.

GIST: "The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday refused to reconsider a September decision that rejected an appeal by a Death Row inmate convicted of murdering a 14-year-old girl in 1985 in Pinellas County. 

Justices, in a 6-1 ruling, denied a motion for a rehearing sought by James Dailey, whose case has drawn national attention. As is common, the court did not explain its reasons for denying the motion. 

Justice Jorge Labarga was the only dissenter.

Dailey, now 75, and co-defendant Jack Pearcy were convicted in the murder of Shelly Boggio, whose nude body was found with multiple stab wounds floating in water near Indian Rocks Beach. 

Attorneys from Florida and other states have fought to overturn Dailey’s conviction, contending that he is innocent of the murder. In part, that has been based on a signed declaration in 2019 by Pearcy that he —- not Dailey —- killed Boggio. 

Also, the attorneys have targeted jailhouse informant Paul Skalnik, whose testimony helped lead to Dailey’s guilty verdict. 

(He’s a liar, a con artist and a snitch. His testimony could soon send a Florida man to his death: Paul Skalnik has a decadeslong criminal record and may be one of the most prolific jailhouse informants in U.S. history. The state of Florida is planning to execute a man based largely on his word.)

Attorneys for Dailey argued at the Supreme Court that a prosecutor during Dailey’s 1987 trial had allowed false testimony from Skalnik. Justices on Sept. 23 rejected an appeal, which led to Dailey’s attorneys filing the motion for rehearing. 

“Rehearing and clarification are necessary because this court’s decision to sanction the state’s conduct —- its knowing decision to permit and then leverage its star witness’s perjury at James Dailey’s capital trial —- runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution and departs from this court’s own precedent,” the Oct. 8 motion for rehearing said."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.cltampa.com/news/florida-supreme-court-refuses-to-reconsider-james-daileys-1985-pinellas-murder-conviction-12489037

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.