Thursday, March 31, 2022

Shandee Blackburn: Australia: Major Development: Nine years after she was stabbed to death, a decision to reopen a murder inquiry has been made - prompted by a podcast which highlighted major flaws in the investigation," Sky News reports..."Shandee Blackburn was 23-years-old when she was stabbed to death more than 20 times in Mackay during the early hours of February 9, 2013. Her killer has never been brought to justice but last week, Coroner David O'Connell informed Shandee's mother he had made the decision to reopen the investigation, The Australian reports. His decision was sparked by the findings of investigative podcast series Shandee's Story of the errors in the forensic lab's handling of evidence in the murder case."

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SHANDEE'S  STORY: THE PODCAST;


"Shandee Blackburn was brutally murdered as she walked home from work - but this cold-case can still be solved. Gold Walkley-winning journalist Hedley Thomas - who created The Teacher’s Pet and The Night Driver - goes deep to find out who killed Shandee, and why. Episodes of the podcast first, plus exclusive stories, videos, pictures and extraordinary evidence are available with a subscription through The Australian's app, or at shandee.com.au To contact Hedley Thomas anonymously with any information on Shandee's Story email here -Shandee@theaustralian.com.au


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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "National Chief correspondent at The Australian and host of Shandee's Story Hedley Thomas said it's a "good day" for Ms Blackburn's family on what would otherwise would be a very "tough day". “I spoke to Vicki Blackburn – Shandee’s mother - a short time ago and she’s hopeful that what the coroner is going to do in reopening this investigation might produce the justice she’s been denied,” he told Sky News Australia. “And finally solve this terrible case.” Asked whether he believed the killer would be brought to justice, Mr Thomas replied: "Absolutely". "Absolutely, I've believed that from the start," he said. "It's a case where there's a lot of evidence, a very thorough investigation by police and thanks to the findings of Dr Kirsti Wright, we now know there were so many defects and errors made and terrible anomalies coming out of the Queensland health run forensic laboratories for DNA testing."

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STORY: "Shandee Blackburn murder investigation reopens after Hedley Thomas' podcast highlights fault in state-run forensics," 

SUB-HEADING: "The decision to reopen the murder inquiry of Shandee Blackburn nine years since she was stabbed to death was prompted by a podcast series which highlighted major flaws in the investigation."


PHOTO CAPTION: "Vicki Blackburn (mother of Shandee) with Dr Kirsty Wright, forensic scientist and Hedley Thomas, The Australian's investigative journalist."


GIST: A coronial inquiry into the murder of Queensland woman Shandee Blackburn has been reopened nine years after she was fatally stabbed, after findings from a podcast series highlighted the faults in the initial investigation.


Shandee Blackburn was 23-years-old when she was stabbed to death more than 20 times in Mackay during the early hours of February 9, 2013.


Her killer has never been brought to justice but last week, Coroner David O'Connell informed Shandee's mother he had made the decision to reopen the investigation, The Australian reports.


His decision was sparked by the findings of investigative podcast series Shandee's Story of the errors in the forensic lab's handling of evidence in the murder case.


National Chief correspondent at The Australian and host of Shandee's Story Hedley Thomas said it's a "good day" for Ms Blackburn's family on what would otherwise would be a very "tough day".


“I spoke to Vicki Blackburn – Shandee’s mother - a short time ago and she’s hopeful that what the coroner is going to do in reopening this investigation might produce the justice she’s been denied,” he told Sky News Australia.


“And finally solve this terrible case.”


Asked whether he believed the killer would be brought to justice, Mr Thomas replied: "Absolutely".


"Absolutely, I've believed that from the start," he said.


"It's a case where there's a lot of evidence, a very thorough investigation by police and thanks to the findings of Dr Kirsti Wright, we now know there were so many defects and errors made and terrible anomalies coming out of the Queensland health run forensic laboratories for DNA testing."


In 2014, Ms Blackburn's ex-boyfriend John Peros was charged with her murder but was found not guilty in a Supreme Court trial in 2017.


In August 2020, Coroner David O'Connell told the inquest there was enough evidence to show Mr Peros had the motive to kill Ms Blackburn and that there was no other possible conclusion.

Samples taken from Shandee's fingernails, arms, clothing and from 12 areas of possible blood in Mr Pero's car at the time are among those that could be retested."


The entire story can be read at:


https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/crime/shandee-blackburn-murder-investigation-reopens-after-hedley-thomas-podcast-highlights-fault-in-staterun-forensics/news-story/7db3ae6ddecd3bd374727120410a63f6


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;




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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

The Shrewsbury Maternity Inquiry: U.K...(British Hospitals betraying the public trust): 'Operation Lincoln.'... Major Development...Police are examining 600 cases after damning NHS (National Health Service) baby deaths report, The Guardian (Health Editor Andrew Gregory) reports..."On Wednesday, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, issued a Commons apology for the failings, telling MPs: “We entrust the NHS with our care, often when we’re at our most vulnerable. In return we expect the highest standards. “But when those standards are not met, we must act firmly, and the failures of care and compassion that are set out in this report have absolutely no place in the NHS. To all the families that have suffered so gravely, I am sorry.” Javid offered reassurances that NHS staff responsible for the “serious and repeated failures” would be held to account. “There is also an active police investigation, Operation Lincoln, which is looking at around 600 cases,” he said. DCS Damian Barratt, of West Mercia police, said on Wednesday the investigation was “very much active”. “No arrests have been made and no charges have been brought, however we are engaging with the Crown Prosecution Service as our inquiries continue,” he said. “We will be fully reviewing the findings of the report and feeding appropriate elements into our investigation. “We do not underestimate the impact the report’s findings and our ongoing investigation has on the families involved, who have suffered unimaginable trauma and grief that they still live with today.”


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The combination of an obsession with “natural births” rather than caesarean sections with a shocking lack of staff, training and oversight of maternity wards resulted in a toxic culture in which mothers and babies died needlessly for 20 years while “repeated failures” were ignored again and again. It meant some babies were stillborn, died shortly after birth or were left severely brain damaged, while others suffered horrendous skull fractures or avoidable broken bones. Some babies developed cerebral palsy after traumatic forceps deliveries, while others were starved of oxygen and experienced life-changing brain injuries. Julie Rowlings, whose daughter Olivia died after 23 hours of labour following a consultant’s use of forceps, said: “I feel like after 20 years, my daughter finally has a voice. “For every family out there, every family that’s come forward, this is for them. Justice is coming. For every baby, justice is coming.”

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STORY: "Police examine 600 cases after damning NHS baby deaths report," by Health Editor Andrew Gregory, published by The Guardian, on March 30, 2022.

SUB-HEADING: "Inquiry into maternity practices at Shrewsbury and  Telford  Hospital Trust finds 201 babies (and 9 mothers HL) could have survived."

GIST: "Police are examining 600 cases linked to the biggest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS, after a damning report into baby deaths condemned health staff for blaming mothers while repeatedly ignoring their own catastrophic blunders for decades.


The independent inquiry into maternity practices at Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust uncovered hundreds of cases in which health officials failed to undertake serious incident investigations, while deaths were dismissed or not investigated appropriately.


Grieving families were denied access to reviews of their care and mothers were blamed when their babies died or suffered horrific injuries. A total of 201 babies and nine mothers could have or would have survived if the NHS trust had provided better care, the inquiry found.


There were also 29 cases where babies suffered severe brain injuries and 65 incidents of cerebral palsy. Rhiannon Davies, one of the mothers who fought for justice for years after her daughter Kate died in 2009, said the numbers themselves did “not tell the whole story” of the impact on families.


On Wednesday, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, issued a Commons apology for the failings, telling MPs: “We entrust the NHS with our care, often when we’re at our most vulnerable. In return we expect the highest standards.


“But when those standards are not met, we must act firmly, and the failures of care and compassion that are set out in this report have absolutely no place in the NHS. To all the families that have suffered so gravely, I am sorry.”


Javid offered reassurances that NHS staff responsible for the “serious and repeated failures” would be held to account. “There is also an active police investigation, Operation Lincoln, which is looking at around 600 cases,” he said.


DCS Damian Barratt, of West Mercia police, said on Wednesday the investigation was “very much active”.


“No arrests have been made and no charges have been brought, however we are engaging with the Crown Prosecution Service as our inquiries continue,” he said. “We will be fully reviewing the findings of the report and feeding appropriate elements into our investigation.


“We do not underestimate the impact the report’s findings and our ongoing investigation has on the families involved, who have suffered unimaginable trauma and grief that they still live with today.”


The combination of an obsession with “natural births” rather than caesarean sections with a shocking lack of staff, training and oversight of maternity wards resulted in a toxic culture in which mothers and babies died needlessly for 20 years while “repeated failures” were ignored again and again.


It meant some babies were stillborn, died shortly after birth or were left severely brain damaged, while others suffered horrendous skull fractures or avoidable broken bones. Some babies developed cerebral palsy after traumatic forceps deliveries, while others were starved of oxygen and experienced life-changing brain injuries.


Julie Rowlings, whose daughter Olivia died after 23 hours of labour following a consultant’s use of forceps, said: “I feel like after 20 years, my daughter finally has a voice.


“For every family out there, every family that’s come forward, this is for them. Justice is coming. For every baby, justice is coming.”


The report, led by the maternity expert Donna Ockenden, examined cases involving 1,486 families between 2000 and 2019, and reviewed 1,592 clinical incidents. In one case, the trust had kept crucial clinical information on post-it notes, which were then swept into the bin by cleaners.


“Throughout our final report we have highlighted how failures in care were repeated from one incident to the next,” she said. “For example, ineffective monitoring of foetal growth and a culture of reluctance to perform caesarean sections resulted in many babies dying during birth or shortly after their birth.


“In many cases, mothers and babies were left with lifelong conditions as a result of their care and treatment. The reasons for these failures are clear. There were not enough staff, there was a lack of ongoing training, there was a lack of effective investigation and governance at the trust and a culture of not listening to the families involved.


“There was a tendency of the trust to blame mothers for their poor outcomes, in some cases even for their own deaths. What is astounding is that for more than two decades these issues have not been challenged internally and the trust was not held to account by external bodies.


“This highlights that systemic change is needed locally, and nationally, to ensure that care provided to families is always professional and compassionate, and that teams from ward to board are aware of and accountable for the values and standards that they should be upholding. Going forward, there can be no excuses.”


Ockenden’s team of investigators found families were locked out of reviews into deaths and were mistreated by callous maternity staff.


The trust, which is now ranked inadequate, repeatedly failed to adequately monitor baby’s heart rates, with catastrophic results, alongside not using drugs properly in labour. 


Trust leaders and midwives also pursued a lethal strategy of deliberately keeping caesarean section rates low, despite the fact this repeatedly had severe consequences.


Ockenden identified nine areas – and 60 actions – for learning and improvement at the trust, including management of patient safety, patient and family involvement in care and investigations, complaints processes, and staffing.


In addition, 15 “immediate and essential actions” for all maternity services in England were put forward, covering 10 key areas, including that NHS England must commit to a long-term investment plan to ensure the “provision of a well-staffed workforce”.


Louise Barnett, the chief executive at the Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust, said: “We offer our wholehearted apologies for the pain and distress caused by our failings as a trust.”


 The NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin clinical commissioning group (CCG) said it deeply regretted the “horrific experiences these families went through and that we failed to provide the care they deserved”.


But Kayleigh Griffiths, whose daughter Pippa died in 2016, said words from the trust “aren’t going to be enough”. “Once we stop getting stories [which we’ve had] right up until today of poor care in SaTH, we’re not going to be settled that any improvements have been made,” she said.


The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) described the report’s findings as “appalling”. “Each of these cases is a family tragedy, with some affected more than once,” its chief executive, Andrea Sutcliffe, said."


The entire story can be read at:


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/30/baby-deaths-inquiry-shrewsbury-nhs-trust-condemned-for-repeated-failures?


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;




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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

Shrewsbury Maternity Inquiry: (Read this in disbelief and weep. HL): U.K, Damning report on hospital deaths: Maternity expert Donna Ockenden's report is released: 'Cruelty beyond comprehension' as mothers blamed for babies' deaths, The Independent (Reporter Rebecca Thomas) reports..."Mothers were blamed for their babies' deaths while fatal issues with care went ignored over decades, a damning report into the biggest maternity scandal in the NHS has concluded. The review into failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust found that 300 babies had died or suffered a brain injury as a result of poor care. Maternity expert Donna Ockenden, who led the inquiry, warned that poor treatment was still an issue at the trust despite calling for immediate action to be carried out after the initial findings in 2020."...The investigation into 1,486 families’ cases, which began in 2017, found: The trust “laid blame” on families following the deaths of their children Failures in care were repeated from one incident to the next Traumatic forceps deliveries caused skull fractures, broken bones or development of cerebral palsy in babies External bodies failed to hold the trust to account, and internally the trust did not learn from reviews Babies died after women were denied caesareans because of a culture that desired natural births."



INTRODUCTION: "Mothers were blamed for their babies' deaths while fatal issues with care went ignored over decades, a damning report into the biggest maternity scandal in the NHS  (National Health Service) has concluded. The review into failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust found that 300 babies had died or suffered a brain injury as a result of poor care. Maternity expert Donna Ockenden, who led the inquiry, warned that poor treatment was still an issue at the trust despite calling for immediate action to be carried out after the initial findings in 2020.


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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Health secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons on Wednesday that in one case important clinical information had been kept on Post-it notes, which were then binned by cleaners."


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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Investigations into cases revealed more than 200 avoidable deaths, including 131 stillbirths and 70 neonatal deaths. There were a further 29 cases of severe brain damage and 65 cases of cerebral palsy. Nine women were also found to have died following mistakes. Parents failed by the trust told The Independent they suffered “inhumanity” and “cruelty beyond comprehension” as they were blamed for the deaths of their babies. The families say they weren’t listened to and called for an independent board to scrutinise hospitals’ implementation of the recommendations. Health secretary Sajid Javid said the report was a “devastating account of bedrooms that are empty, families that are bereft and loved ones taken before their time”.


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STORY: "Shrewsbury Maternity Inquiry: 'Cruelty beyond comprehension' as mothers blamed for babies' deaths," The Independent (Health Correspondent Rebecca Thomas) reports.


SUB-HEADING: "Donna Ockenden warns of ongoing care failings as staff told her they still fear speaking out."


GIST: "Mothers were blamed for their babies’ deaths while fatal issues with care went ignored over decades, a damning report into the biggest maternity scandal in the NHS has concluded.


The review into failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust found that 300 babies had died or suffered a brain injury as a result of poor care.


Maternity expert Donna Ockenden, who led the inquiry, warned that poor treatment was still an issue at the trust despite calling for immediate action to be carried out after the initial findings in 2020.


Systemic issues at the trust were highlighted by Ms Ockendenas as long ago as November 2019 in her interim report, revealed by The Independent. But she said maternity staff had told her they still had concerns over the level of care today.


Families said they suffered “cruelty beyond comprehension” as their concerns were not addressed and some deaths were not investigated.


Health secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons on Wednesday that in one case important clinical information had been kept on Post-it notes, which were then binned by cleaners.


The investigation into 1,486 families’ cases, which began in 2017, found:

  • The trust “laid blame” on families following the deaths of their children
  • Failures in care were repeated from one incident to the next
  • Traumatic forceps deliveries caused skull fractures, broken bones or development of cerebral palsy in babies
  • External bodies failed to hold the trust to account, and internally the trust did not learn from reviews
  • Babies died after women were denied caesareans because of a culture that desired natural births

Ms Ockenden, chair of the review, told The Independent said she’d had staff as recently as Tuesday reach out to say they were “frightened to speak out” and “fearful of their job”.


The chair made clear there were ongoing concerns over care at the trusts despite an initial review in 2020 calling for actions to improve.


Ms Ockenden said it was “astounding” that for more than two decades the failings had not been challenged internally by the trust and that external healthcare bodies did not hold it to account.


She made clear there were ongoing concerns over care at the trust despite an initial review in 2020 demanding improvements and also warned the failures at Shrewsbury could “potentially be replicated elsewhere” outside of maternity services.


Investigations into cases revealed more than 200 avoidable deaths, including 131 stillbirths and 70 neonatal deaths. There were a further 29 cases of severe brain damage and 65 cases of cerebral palsy. Nine women were also found to have died following mistakes.


Parents failed by the trust told The Independent they suffered “inhumanity” and “cruelty beyond comprehension” as they were blamed for the deaths of their babies.


The families say they weren’t listened to and called for an independent board to scrutinise hospitals’ implementation of the recommendations.


Health secretary Sajid Javid said the report was a “devastating account of bedrooms that are empty, families that are bereft and loved ones taken before their time”.


Mr Javid said actions set out by Ms Ockenden would be accepted and offered reassurances that the individuals who were responsible for the “serious and repeated failures” will be held to account.


The Ockenden review was first commissioned by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017 and originally covered 23 families.


In 2019 The Independent revealed initial findings of the review had identified more than a dozen women and more than 40 babies died during childbirth.


The review has multiple reports from parents who said women were “blamed” or “held responsible” after women and babies were harmed or died.


Richard Stanton and Rhiannon Davies, whose daughter Kate died in March 2009, have been one of the key families leading the campaign for justice.


According to the final Ockenden report two babies died in similar circumstances within the year prior to Kate’s death.


Rhiannon Davies said there should be an independent whistleblowing line for staff to speak out and a panel to review each year’s progress against the Ockenden report recommendations.


Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths, who have also been at the forefront of the review, lost their daughter Pippa in 2016.


Speaking with The Independent they said: “We weren’t listened to and weren’t listened to by the trust, and they keep telling us that they’ve learned and today has shown us that even though they’re telling us they’ve implemented all the actions and staff are still coming forward. They haven’t learned and until they do that we’re not going to be satisfied.”


Despite warnings from the review chair of ongoing problems and that it had not implemented all previous recommendations, the trust’s chief executive Louise Barnett said on Wednesday it had delivered all of the actions asked of it following the 2020 interim report.


“We know that we still have much more to do to ensure we deliver the highest possible standard of care to the women and families we care for.”


Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said that because “culture of fear in the NHS” it has been left to the families to fight for justice.


Mr Hunt told the Commons: “Today’s report goes beyond my darkest fears when I commissioned it as health secretary in 2016.”


The final Ockenden review identifies at least eight regulators and external healthcare bodies investigated or highlighted concerns about care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust over 20 years.


In 2021 senior NHS commissioning staff told reviewers they were aware of issues within the service from 2013 to 2020 but were assured by the trust of changes and told they were “limited in their power to change things for the better”.


Healthwatch England, whose chair Sir Robert Francis led the public inquiry into failings at Mid Staffordshire, said the Ockenden report was “another scandal where it’s clear that lessons from past failures haven’t been learnt.”


The body’s national director Louise Ansari added: “We also know the problems in maternity care don’t stop at Shrewsbury hospital, with investigations into failures to provide safe care to mothers and babies being recently carried out in other parts of the country.”


The entire story can be read at: 


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/shrewsbury-maternity-inquiry-cruelty-b2047507.html?


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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;




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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;













Anthony Broadwater: Question of the day: (Among several important questions posed by author Marllna Williams in 'Electric Literature: "Why Didn't We Notice the Man Convicted of Alice Sebold's Rape Was Innocent?..."In January 2021, almost two decades after the memoir’s publication, a film adaptation of Lucky entered pre-production. One of the film’s executive producers, a disbarred, formerly incarcerated Michigan lawyer named Timothy Muccainte, noticed shocking flaws in the case, flaws that should have been obvious from the beginning. Broadwater’s conviction rested on an all-too-common confluence of discredited forensic science, rampant prosecutorial misconduct, and faulty eyewitness misidentification. The hair comparison testimony used to connect Broadwater to the crime is now widely considered “junk science,” and cross-racial identification, especially five months after the crime, is notoriously unreliable. Plagued by these suspicions, Muccainte left the project and hired a retired detective, Dan Myers, to investigate the case. Myers later connected Broadwater with a team of lawyers who were willing to represent him. On November 22, 2021, a New York State Supreme Court Justice exonerated Anthony Broadwater, now in his sixties, on the grounds that the case against him had been deeply flawed, making Broadwater just one of 132 wrongfully convicted individuals exonerated in 2021 alone. Broadwater, who maintained his innocence over the years, will no longer be categorized as a sex offender, a status that had severely limited where Broadwater could work, live, and travel in the years after his release from prison in 1998. "


PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "Despite the memoir’s obvious flaws, the white-dominated publishing world found nothing questionable or unsatisfactory about the narrative Sebold presented in Lucky when it was publishednor did the millions of people who read the memoir during the seventeen years it was in circulation.  Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. The vast majority of people who sell, acquire, edit, and market books are white, and despite a recent upsurge in demand for books like Just Mercy or How to Be an Antiracist, the industry has largely been uninterested in books that tackle racism or criticize our criminal justice system. Lucky, a book by a white woman that consciously or unconsciously panders to white assumptions about Blackness and criminality, was in fact right at home in this environment.  It took a curious outsider with his own criminal record and no links to the literary or publishing worlds to spot the problems waiting in plain sight on the memoir’s surface. The story of Alice Sebold and Anthony Broadwater is a case study in how the publishing industry champions white writers and their stories, often at the explicit expense of communities of color."

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COMMENTARY: "Why Didn't We Notice the Man Convicted of Alice Sebold's Rape Was Innocent?" by Marlena Williams,  published by 'Electra Literature' on March 17, 2022.

SUB-HEADING: "Anthony Broadwater's examination shows the unique power publishing holds in shaping how Americans consider races prison and sexual assault." 

COMMENTARY: “Why didn’t we notice the man convicted of Alice Sebold’s rape was innocent?, by Marlena Williams, published by ‘Electric Literature’, on March 17, 2022. (Marlena Williams is described as  “a writer from Portland, Oregon. You can find her work in the Yale Review, Literary Hub, the Rumpus, Electric Literature, and Across the Margin. Her essay collection, Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of the Exorcist, will be published by Mad Creek Books in 2023. She currently works for a small foundation dedicated to ending mass incarceration in the United States.”...Electric Literature describes itself as"a nonprofit digital publisher with the mission to make literature more exciting, relevant, and inclusive. We are committed to publishing work that is intelligent and unpretentious, elevating new voices, and examining how literature and storytelling can help illuminate social justice issues and current events. We are particularly interested in writing that operates at the intersection of different cultures, genres, and media."


GIST:  "In 1982, Alice Sebold, an 18-year-old freshman at Syracuse University, was brutally attacked during an evening walk in Thornden Park. 


Though Sebold reported the crime to the police, they were unable to identify a suspect until five months later, when Sebold spotted Anthony Broadwater while walking down Marshall Street—not far from the scene of the crime. 


Sebold recognized him as her attacker and immediately notified the police. 


Though she was later unable to identify Broadwater in a police lineup, he was taken into custody and charged with eight felony counts, including rape and sodomy. Sebold remained steadfast in her belief that Broadwater was her attacker. “I could not have identified him as the man who raped me unless he was the man who raped me,” she later testified.


After a trial that lasted just two days, Broadwater was sentenced to 8⅓ to 25 years in state prison. 


Seventeen years later, Alice Sebold published Lucky, a searing account of the attack and its aftermath.

 

The memoir vividly details her experiences working with the police as a victim, testifying in the trial, and struggling with hyper-vigilance, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as PTSD in the years following her rape.


 Published in 1999, Lucky went on to sell over a million copies and helped to launch Sebold’s successful career as a novelist.


 The memoir served as an inspiration for many feminists and survivors who seldom saw the ongoing traumas of sexual assault written about in such a raw and unflinching way. 


To an extent, Lucky also offered a unique sort of comfort to readers. Despite the violence and pain it depicted, it was a heartening example of the criminal legal system working: a victim endured a horrible crime, police arrested a supposedly dangerous suspect, and the guilty party was swiftly convicted and punished—except for one thing: Broadwater wasn’t guilty.


Despite the violence and pain it depicted, it was a heartening example of the criminal legal system working.


In January 2021, almost two decades after the memoir’s publication, a film adaptation of Lucky entered pre-production.


 One of the film’s executive producers, a disbarred, formerly incarcerated Michigan lawyer named Timothy Muccainte, noticed shocking flaws in the case, flaws that should have been obvious from the beginning.


 Broadwater’s conviction rested on an all-too-common confluence of discredited forensic science, rampant prosecutorial misconduct, and faulty eyewitness misidentification.


 The hair comparison testimony used to connect Broadwater to the crime is now widely considered “junk science,” and cross-racial identification, especially five months after the crime, is notoriously unreliable.


 Plagued by these suspicions, Muccainte left the project and hired a retired detective, Dan Myers, to investigate the case. Myers later connected Broadwater with a team of lawyers who were willing to represent him.


On November 22, 2021, a New York State Supreme Court Justice exonerated Anthony Broadwater, now in his sixties, on the grounds that the case against him had been deeply flawed, making Broadwater just one of 132 wrongfully convicted individuals exonerated in 2021 alone.


 Broadwater, who maintained his innocence over the years, will no longer be categorized as a sex offender, a status that had severely limited where Broadwater could work, live, and travel in the years after his release from prison in 1998. 


As a registrant, Broadwater was forced to abide by a strict curfew.


 He struggled to find stable employment, instead taking temporary jobs doing yard work, bagging potatoes, and scavenging for scrap metal.


 Because his computer was closely monitored after his release, he felt it easier not to learn how to use it.

 

When the Justice announced the decision, Broadwater released an audible gasp, bursting into tears. 


The case was covered in major outlets and sparked justified outrage on social media.


 Broadwater’s story offered a sobering reminder of the ways in which rape accusations have historically been weaponized as a tool of white supremacist violence. 


Though Broadwater was not murdered like Emmitt Till or the Scottsboro Boys, his wrongful conviction is still a modern product of the same hateful, racist legacy—one that is still alive and well. According to data from the National Registry of Exonerations, a Black man serving time for sexual assault is 3.5 times more likely to be innocent than a white man.


Broadwater’s story offered a sobering reminder of the ways in which rape accusations have historically been weaponized as a tool of white supremacist violence.


Though many understandably criticized Sebold for the clear role of racial bias in her misidentification of Broadwater, the case also brought renewed attention to the ways in which police and prosecutors casually mishandle and manipulate traumatized victims in pursuit of a conviction. 


As the Black Lives Matter movement and other activists across the country continue to bring much-needed attention to the many failures of policing and prisons in the United States, the saga of Alice Sebold and Anthony Broadwater served as an upsetting example of how the criminal legal system so recklessly and routinely destroys the lives of people of color, often in the name of “justice.”...


 .........................................


It also highlighted publishing’s complicity in this broken system.


 Despite the memoir’s obvious flaws, the white-dominated publishing world found nothing questionable or unsatisfactory about the narrative Sebold presented in Lucky when it was published, nor did the millions of people who read the memoir during the seventeen years it was in circulation. 


Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. The vast majority of people who sell, acquire, edit, and market books are white, and despite a recent upsurge in demand for books like Just Mercy or How to Be an Antiracist, the industry has largely been uninterested in books that tackle racism or criticize our criminal justice system.


  Lucky, a book by a white woman that consciously or unconsciously panders to white assumptions about Blackness and criminality, was in fact right at home in this environment. 


It took a curious outsider with his own criminal record and no links to the literary or publishing worlds to spot the problems waiting in plain sight on the memoir’s surface.


 The story of Alice Sebold and Anthony Broadwater is a case study in how the publishing industry champions white writers and their stories, often at the explicit expense of communities of color.


After the story broke, Sebold issued an apology to Broadwater via Medium


Simon & Schuster announced they would cease distribution of Lucky pending a possible revision.


 The film adaptation of the memoir was also dropped. 


The literary world, it seems, is at a crossroads. 


In the years since the #MeToo movement jump-started a national reckoning, memoirs of sexual assault and harassment have become commonplace. 


From celebrity memoirs like Brave by Rose McGowan to literary accounts of campus rape like Know My Name by Chanel Miller and Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford, stories of sexual assault, once niche, have found increased visibility and marketability. 


The news about Lucky and the racist harm its publication perpetrated has further amplified calls for change in the literary and publishing worlds. 


What do revelations like this mean for the steadily growing body of literature focused on sexual harassment and assault? How can one write about their experiences of sexual violence without contributing to the many harms caused by policing and mass incarceration? What happens when #MeToo and #Defund inevitably collide? And what role can publishing play in ensuring that what happened to Anthony Broadwater never happens again?


Publishing cannot do the work of the criminal legal system, but it can act as a critical check on its tremendous power. Through diversifying their staff and authors and changing the way stories about crime are acquired and published, the industry can begin to combat the historical exclusions, biases, and blind spots that allowed a flawed book like Lucky to be published in the first place, and that helped the suffering of a man like Anthony Broadwater to go completely unchecked for close to twenty years.


In the months since his exoneration, Broadwater has received an outpouring of support from people across the country, including over $160,000 from a GoFundMe Campaign aiming to raise money for his housing and legal fees. 


Broadwater is currently seeking financial compensation from New York state for his wrongful conviction, and he hopes to one day have enough money to buy a farmhouse in the country with his wife, Elizabeth.


 Toward Sebold, he remains forgiving and empathetic, telling the New York Times, “She went through an ordeal, and I went through one too.”


 With time, Broadwater has set up his own email account and is slowly learning how to use a computer and navigate the internet. 


Timothy Mucciante, the lawyer and producer who helped bring attention to the story, is interested in partnering with Broadwater to make a documentary film about his life. Soon, Broadwater may get the chance to share his own story with the world."


The entire commentary can be read at: 


https://electricliterature.com/anthony-broadwaters-innocence-condemns-how-publishing-sells-sexual-assault-narratives/


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;




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!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
https://electricliterature.com/anthony-broadwaters-innocence-condemns-how-publishing-sells-sexual-assault-narratives/