PUBLISHER'S NOTE: So many extraordinary things about this trial. (Not just the presence on the panel of a juror who is a forensic psychology and law student and studied psychology and criminal justice!) Of particular interest to this Blog is that the jurors didn't blindly accept the autopsy report and the evidence of the prosecution's expert witnesses who were so certain that Dante had been a victim of foul play, Instead, they paid close attention to the defence position that the 2-year-old had accidentally died after choking on a cookie - and focussed on the factual evidence given by 'non-expert' witnesses who had a direct involvement in the case. Moreover, we know from news reports, that many members of the community - from which the jury was drawn - came to court to show their support for Dante - which is unusual in a case someone is accused of brutally murdering a child. Dante's aunt - his mother Leah's sister - even came to court to testify that she believed Tyree Bowie was innocent - and that he was trying to help Leah and the little boy. Last, but not least, the jurors clearly demonstrated that they would not send Tyree to prison for life as Dante's killer unless they were satisfied that the police had conducted a rigorous, thorough, professional investigation, which, it seems, simply was not the case. An extraordinary jury. An extraordinary trial. Who was Dante's killer? Stay tuned to this Blog for developments. PS: I agree entirely with the suggestion that any future investigation should be conducted by an 'outside' police force, for obvious reasons.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Madison Urich, another juror, brought some experience to the courtroom. She is a forensic psychology and law student at the University of Arizona, and studied psychology and criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg. The lead police detective Kyle Hower’s interview techniques rubbed Urich the wrong way, she said. Hower used a guilty presumptive process, honing in on Bowie, who dropped Dante off at the hospital unresponsive, without taking in all the evidence as a whole and hearing what others around the case had to say, Urich said. “I feel like the way they interviewed him the day after it happened, they automatically found him guilty,” Wiseman said. Prosecutors did not prove a motive or crime scene, according to Urich. No testimony indicated to her that Bowie was ever verbally or physically aggressive to Dante, Urich said. Wiseman said Bowie was probably one of the few people in Dante’s life trying to save him. “Dante never seemed scared of Tyree and Tyree never seemed to be aggressive, verbally or physically, toward Dante,” Urich said of videos and photos they saw of the pair. “It didn’t make sense that one night, he would abuse Dante.”
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The jurors said they wanted to hear more about the relationships Leah Mullinix, Dante’s mother, had with men before Sept. 6, including who had contact with Dante in the days before his hospitalization when Bowie had no contact with him at all. “They focused on Tyree immediately, and didn’t look elsewhere. A good investigation would have looked at Leah, and whoever else she had been around,” Wiseman said. Hower interviewed Bowie twice about Dante’s injuries and later death, but he read Bowie’s Miranda Rights beforehand. As the interviews went on, Hower accused Bowie of hurting Dante and of lying about it, and said that he could help with the charges if Bowie confessed to a crime. Bowie did not budge. Hower also tried to pressure Leah into laying the blame at Bowie’s feet, according to Urich. Leah only spoke praises for Bowie in the interview, but Hower kept asking, “Why are you protecting him?” Leah was charged with child endangerment, related to accusations she was negligent in providing proper medical care for Dante, who was suffering from a severe case of herpes at the time of his hospitalization. But her case was put on hold until after the murder trial. She is scheduled for a status conference next Wednesday in the York County Courthouse, and testified that prosecutors made no promises about benefits she could receive from testifying at Bowie’s trial on their behalf. At trial, Bowie’s lawyer, Farley Holt, accused Leah—not his client—of killing Dante."
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Sarah Mullinix, Leah’s sister and Dante’s aunt, never believed Bowie was guilty. She testified during trial, and later told reporters she thought Bowie was trying to help Leah and Dante. “Now they need to go after the ones who were abusing my nephew,” Sarah said. Mullinix said she wants an outside police agency to take Dante’s case, because “clearly this case is above their pay grade. Clearly the police are incompetent. All they evidence they have, and they still think it points toward Tyree when it is not Tyree.” York City Police did not answer questions about the status of the investigation into Dante’s death, and whether they deem the case open or closed. “The Office of the District Attorney cannot confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation against any individual until such time as charges are or are not filed,” Kyle King, a York District Attorney spokesperson said."
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That’s why, 10 minutes into deliberations, a York County jury took a vote and unanimously found Tyree Bowie not guilty of murder in the 2018 death of two-year-old Dante Mullinix.
Jurors interviewed by PennLive said prosecutors didn’t come close to proving their allegation that Bowie had brutally beaten Dante to death the night of Sept. 6, 2018, when he brought an unresponsive Dante to the hospital.
“There was no discussion. Nobody in that room had a thought he had done that,” Deanna Wiseman, a juror from Airville, said.
Instead, jurors said it appeared police zeroed in on Bowie without trying to figure out who harmed Dante before Bowie had even met the boy; and who gave the boy a sexually transmitted disease that Bowie didn’t have.
Bowie maintained his innocence through the past four years preparing for trial, saying he tried to save the boy’s life with CPR after he choked on a cookie.
“We saw what happened to Dante, but there was nothing that showed us who did it to Dante. They weren’t able to show me that Tyree did it,” Madison Urich, another juror from Lewisberry, said.
Of the two hours spent in the deliberation room, the jury spent most of the time discussing a child endangerment charge, according to Wiseman.
“We didn’t understand where that charge stemmed from,” Kelly Wentz, an alternate juror, said.
The main jurors concluded that charge probably came from the murder charges, and if Bowie did not kill Dante, he did not endanger him, either, according to Wiseman.
The alternate jurors, meanwhile, wondered if Bowie was charged with child endangerment because he drove around with Dante not riding in a car seat, Wentz said.
They reasoned that had Bowie been pulled over with Dante riding without a car seat, Bowie would only have been fined, not charged with child endangerment, Wentz said. So, they agreed he was innocent of that charge, too.
Madison Urich, another juror, brought some experience to the courtroom. She is a forensic psychology and law student at the University of Arizona, and studied psychology and criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg.
The lead police detective Kyle Hower’s interview techniques rubbed Urich the wrong way, she said. Hower used a guilty presumptive process, honing in on Bowie, who dropped Dante off at the hospital unresponsive, without taking in all the evidence as a whole and hearing what others around the case had to say, Urich said.
“I feel like the way they interviewed him the day after it happened, they automatically found him guilty,” Wiseman said.
Prosecutors did not prove a motive or crime scene, according to Urich. No testimony indicated to her that Bowie was ever verbally or physically aggressive to Dante, Urich said.
Wiseman said Bowie was probably one of the few people in Dante’s life trying to save him.
“Dante never seemed scared of Tyree and Tyree never seemed to be aggressive, verbally or physically, toward Dante,” Urich said of videos and photos they saw of the pair. “It didn’t make sense that one night, he would abuse Dante.”
Wentz also said police should have analyzed Bowie’s bedroom if they thought he killed Dante in there, but they never did.
“The investigation was lousy on the part of Detective Hower. I think he had him guilty from the start,” Wentz said. “Common sense came into play here. And for him to get a promotion after this… I hope he gets demoted.”
Hower now is a sergeant but was a detective at the time of the death investigation. Police have not commented on criticisms of the case.
The jurors said they wanted to hear more about the relationships Leah Mullinix, Dante’s mother, had with men before Sept. 6, including who had contact with Dante in the days before his hospitalization when Bowie had no contact with him at all.
“They focused on Tyree immediately, and didn’t look elsewhere. A good investigation would have looked at Leah, and whoever else she had been around,” Wiseman said.
Hower interviewed Bowie twice about Dante’s injuries and later death, but he read Bowie’s Miranda Rights beforehand. As the interviews went on, Hower accused Bowie of hurting Dante and of lying about it, and said that he could help with the charges if Bowie confessed to a crime. Bowie did not budge.
Hower also tried to pressure Leah into laying the blame at Bowie’s feet, according to Urich. Leah only spoke praises for Bowie in the interview, but Hower kept asking, “Why are you protecting him?”
Leah was charged with child endangerment, related to accusations she was negligent in providing proper medical care for Dante, who was suffering from a severe case of herpes at the time of his hospitalization. But her case was put on hold until after the murder trial.
She is scheduled for a status conference next Wednesday in the York County Courthouse, and testified that prosecutors made no promises about benefits she could receive from testifying at Bowie’s trial on their behalf.
At trial, Bowie’s lawyer, Farley Holt, accused Leah—not his client—of killing Dante.
Sarah Mullinix, Leah’s sister and Dante’s aunt, never believed Bowie was guilty. She testified during trial, and later told reporters she thought Bowie was trying to help Leah and Dante.
“Now they need to go after the ones who were abusing my nephew,” Sarah said.
Mullinix said she wants an outside police agency to take Dante’s case, because “clearly this case is above their pay grade. Clearly the police are incompetent. All they evidence they have, and they still think it points toward Tyree when it is not Tyree.”
York City Police did not answer questions about the status of the investigation into Dante’s death, and whether they deem the case open or closed.
“The Office of the District Attorney cannot confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation against any individual until such time as charges are or are not filed,” Kyle King, a York District Attorney spokesperson said.
King sent the following statement:
“We do not comment on jury verdicts or comments from jurors. It is inappropriate and unethical to do so.
A motion for judgement of acquittal was raised at the close of testimony by the defense. The trial court, in considering the evidence and law ruled that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support a guilty verdict on all charges beyond a reasonable doubt, should the jury have returned such a verdict.
We know everyone involved with this case tried their very best. Our hearts will always be with Dante.""
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:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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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Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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