Saturday, January 8, 2022

Steven H. Downs: Alaska: Bulletin: His DNA-centered trial on charges of raping and murdering Sophie Sergie 28 years ago is set to begin on Monday, The Lewiston Sun Journal Reporter (Christopher Williams) reports. (DNA is at the heart of prosecution's case; DNA is at the heart of the alternative suspects defence...(Important ballistics issues in the case as well):...."Downs’ arrest occurred after his DNA was matched in 2018 to evidence found at the crime scene through a random hit after Downs’ aunt submitted her DNA to a genealogy website. Through a pretrial motion, defense attorneys for Downs had sought to present evidence at trial linking men other than Downs to the murder as alternative suspects. Fairbanks Superior Court Judge Thomas Temple wrote in a December decision that Downs would be allowed to introduce at trial evidence against three alternative suspects in an effort to raise reasonable doubt about Downs’ guilt. But Thomas excluded 13 other men as possible alternative suspects, concluding Downs’ attorneys hadn’t established a direct link between them and the crime."


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: As this trial is expected to go for about six weeks, my plan is to dip in from time to time, when issues of interest to this Blog emerge.

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

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STORY: "Auburn man's murder trial in Alaska 'cold case' scheduled next week," by Reporter Christopher Williams, published by The  Lewiston Sun Journal on January 7, 2022.

SUB-HEADING: "Steven H.Downs was charged in 2019 with the raping and murdering of an Alaska woman in 1993 when he was a college student."

GIST: The trial of an Auburn man charged in the sexual assault and murder of an Alaskan woman 28 years ago is expected to get underway Monday with jury selection in Fairbanks.

Steven H. Downs, 47, is charged in the April 25, 1993, slaying of Sophie Sergie, 20, of Pitkas Point, Alaska.

Downs was arrested in Auburn in February 2019 and extradited to Fairbanks, where he is being held at the local jail pending trial.

Jury selection was delayed Thursday because one of Downs’ attorneys tested positive for COVID-19. Jury selection is expected to start Monday, and opening statements scheduled for Monday may take place midweek at the earliest.

Downs’ arrest occurred after his DNA was matched in 2018 to evidence found at the crime scene through a random hit after Downs’ aunt submitted her DNA to a genealogy website.

Through a pretrial motion, defense attorneys for Downs had sought to present evidence at trial linking men other than Downs to the murder as alternative suspects.

Fairbanks Superior Court Judge Thomas Temple wrote in a December decision that Downs would be allowed to introduce at trial evidence against three alternative suspects in an effort to raise reasonable doubt about Downs’ guilt.

But Thomas excluded 13 other men as possible alternative suspects, concluding Downs’ attorneys hadn’t established a direct link between them and the crime.

His defense team includes two Lewiston, Maine, attorneys and an Alaska lawyer.

Downs, a 1992 Edward Little High School graduate, became a licensed registered nurse in 2011.

Downs’ cross-country extradition hampered by the pandemic and court cybersecurity has prolonged efforts to bring the case to trial, which is expected to last roughly six weeks."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.sunjournal.com/2022/01/07/auburn-mans-murder-trial-in-alaska-cold-case-starts-monday

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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SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:


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!
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