BACKGROUND: (FROM A PREVIOUS POST): "PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The case: On the morning of Dec. 5, 1998, Politte, then 14, found his mother's body face-up on the floor and her body on fire, according to Hedgecorth's motion. During his 2002 trial, the prosecution relied on expert testimony that claimed scientific analysis confirmed the presence of gasoline on Politte's shoes, Hedgecorth stated. "This was the only physical evidence that connected Michael Politte to his mother's murder," the motion states. "This evidence laid the foundation for the case against him." In 2020, the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) Crime Lab re-evaluated the chromatography analysis of Politte's shoes and concluded there were no ignitable liquids present. "With that analysis, the singular physical evidence against Politte is now universally recognized as false," the Highway Patrol analysis states. Similarly, the trial expert testimony that this fire was started with an accelerant -- which made the alleged gasoline on Politte's shoes damning evidence of guilt -- has been proven false as well. After learning about the chromatography analysis, Hedgecorth wrote that his office undertook a review of the case against Politte and has determined that, in light of the scientific evidence, his conviction "cannot be sustained." Hedgecorth said the new state law allowed him to file the motion. "Mr. Politte has maintained his actual innocence since the morning of his mother's tragic murder," Hedgecorth states. "He has never wavered."
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/8287470842621704795
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Politte was released on parole in April 2022 after serving 20 years in prison. Citing new analysis that refuted evidence from the original case, Washington County Prosecutor Joshua Hedgecorth filed a motion in May to overturn the conviction. The Attorney General’s office intervened, arguing that the law only allows such a motion from the prosecuting attorney in the county where the final conviction was obtained. Attorneys for Politte challenged the intervention from the attorney general, which has inserted itself in every case brought under the 2021 law, always arguing against freedom for those convicted."
STORY: "Missouri Supreme Court finds prosecutor has no jurisdiction in Washington County innocence case, by Reporter Rudi Keller, published by The Missouri Independent. on February 14, 2023.
GIST: "A 2021 state law intended to help innocent people get out of prison doesn’t apply in a case where the conviction was obtained after a change of venue, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
In one of the first appellate cases involving a law allowing prosecutors to bring new evidence forward, the Supreme Court ruled that the motion to overturn the conviction must be made by the prosecuting attorney in the jurisdiction where the case was tried, not the prosecutor’s office in the county where the case began.
“The language…has a plain and ordinary meaning that permits no construction,” Judge Patricia Breckinridge wrote in an unanimous opinion. “The statute authorizes only a prosecuting attorney in the jurisdiction in which a person was convicted of an offense to file a motion to vacate or set aside the judgment of conviction of such offense.”
As a result, the court ordered St. Francois County Associate Circuit Judge Robin Fulton to dismiss the motion by the Washington County prosecutor to vacate the 2002 murder conviction of Michael Politte.
Politte was a juvenile when was certified to stand trial as an adult and charged in June 1999 in Washington County with the second-degree murder of his mother. He was granted a change of venue a month later to St. Francois County. The Washington County prosecuting attorney handled the case, including his trial in April 2002.
Politte was released on parole in April 2022 after serving 20 years in prison.
Citing new analysis that refuted evidence from the original case, Washington County Prosecutor Joshua Hedgecorth filed a motion in May to overturn the conviction. The Attorney General’s office intervened, arguing that the law only allows such a motion from the prosecuting attorney in the county where the final conviction was obtained.
Attorneys for Politte challenged the intervention from the attorney general, which has inserted itself in every case brought under the 2021 law, always arguing against freedom for those convicted.
In the case, argued just three weeks ago, Tricia Bushnell, executive director for the Midwest Innocence Project, argued that the attorney general overstepped when he intervened in Politte’s case. Breckinridge’s decision did not rule on that question, noting that the procedural issue requiring the prosecutor of the jurisdiction where the case was tried to make the motion was sufficient to decide against Politte.
Reached for comment Tuesday while in a St. Louis court for a different innocence case, Bushnell said she had not yet had a chance to read the decision.
In her decision, Breckinridge wrote that the court must follow the plain meaning of the law or prosecutors would be challenging convictions from all over the state.
“Holding otherwise would lead to an absurd result as it would remove any limitation on a prosecuting or circuit attorney authorized to file the motion and, consequently, a prosecuting attorney in any jurisdiction in the state could file a…motion so long as he or she filed it in the jurisdiction of conviction,” Breckinridge wrote."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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:
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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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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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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