Podcast alert: False confessions: Bulletin: Marshall Project launches new podcast tomorrow: Monday May 1, 2023: "Hosted by reporter Maurice Chammah, "Smoke Screen: Just Say You're Sorry" takes listeners inside Texas Ranger James Holland's questionable interrogation tactics, which elicited a murder confession from a man who claimed to have no memory of committing the crime."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of  scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially young suspects)  are to widely used interrogation methods  such as  the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’ As  all too many of this Blog's post have shown, I also recognize that pressure for false confessions can take many forms, up to and including inducement. deception (read ‘outright lies’) physical violence,  and even physical and mental torture.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog:

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GIST:  "Hosted by reporter Maurice Chammah, "Smoke Screen: Just Say You're Sorry" takes listeners inside Texas Ranger James Holland's questionable interrogation tactics, which elicited a murder confession from a man who claimed to have no memory of committing the crime. The podcast debuts on May 1, but the trailer is out and you can listen to new episodes each Monday wherever you get your podcasts or on our website."

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Read 'Marshall Project' backgrounder on this new podcast at the link below. It's by Maurice Chammah - and contains a link to a transcript of the first episode:

JUST SAY YOU’RE SORRY

In a Texas Cold Case, a

Potential Murder Witness

Slowly Realizes He’s a Suspect

In ‘Just Say You’re Sorry,’ a new Marshall

Project podcast, we meet a famed Texas Ranger

and a prisoner who says he was railroaded:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

“Would you confess to a crime you didn’t commit?

It’s hard to imagine. But what if the police told you they had proof of your involvement in a decade-old cold case? And what if they suggested you just didn’t remember committing the crime?

A couple of years ago, I learned about the case of Larry Driskill, who claimed that a Texas Ranger had manipulated him — through lies and other coercive tactics — into a false confession to the murder of Bobbie Sue Hill, a 29-year-old mother of five.

Pretty quickly I learned that Driskill, a 52-year-old Air Force veteran, had not confessed to just any detective. Texas Ranger James Holland was famous for eliciting confessions, especially from serial killers. 

He’d been credited with obtaining dozens of confessions from a California prisoner named Samuel Little, whom the Federal Bureau of Investigation was calling the “most prolific” murderer in U.S. history.

In the summer of 2021, I drove out to a remote prison to interview Driskill. I immersed myself in hours of audio and video from the interrogation room, and called psychologists to help me understand what I was hearing. I called up dozens of people connected to the case and Holland’s career — including Holland himself, who declined to be interviewed.

This all led to a story called “Anatomy of a Murder Confession,” which I published last year. But in a new podcast from The Marshall Project, Somethin’ Else, and Sony Music Entertainment, we go deeper.

In Episode 1, “Not That I Recall,” I describe how I first encountered Larry Driskill, and how he first encountered the Texas Ranger who would change the course of his life.

Listen to new episodes each Monday, through the player at the top of this page, or wherever you get your podcasts."

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/05/01/texas-rangers-cold-case-murder-suspect

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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;

—————————————————————————————————

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143

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Massachusett's tainted alcohol testing lab: Annie Dookhan; "Masslive' indicts, "A rogue state lab (that) once again fails public trust" in a blistering editorial that notes: "Across the state, 27,000 people are now getting notices that they have the right to seek new trials or to withdraw guilty pleas. What’s come to light concerns us all. It reveals a stunning arrogance of power. Beyond the damage to those defendants – who number almost as many as all who live in West Springfield – this is a body blow to public trust in governments and the courts"..."In a ruling last week, the Supreme Judicial Court documented a massive breakdown in due process that affected tens of thousands of people. The court’s 46-page decision reveals, in horrifying detail, that for years a secretive and insular office run by the Massachusetts State Police knowingly hid potentially exculpatory information from defense attorneys and their clients. That evidence: Internal worksheets completed by the office that showed that in hundreds of instances, devices used to test blood-alcohol levels in the drivers had “failed certifications.” That is not playing fair."

PASSAGE OF THE  DAY: "For the state, it wasn’t the first time one of its labs was found to have gone rogue. In 2012, a drug lab chemist, Annie Dookhan, was found to have falsified tests on illicit drugs, in some instances reporting false positive findings that provided inaccurate information to prosecutors and defense counsel. As many as 61,000 cases were affected; Dookhan served three years in prison."

EDITORIAL: 'A rogue state lab once again fails public trust'  published by 'Masslive' on April 29, 2023.'

GIST: "When people get in trouble with the law, they have a right to due process.

That’s the term for a protection at the heart of a free society. If government is to stand in judgment, in a civil or criminal proceeding, the process must be fair to the defendant.

Outside of the courts, it’s a principle taught from preschool on. In a civil society, people are accountable for their actions. And when there could be consequences, those actions must be judged impartially.

In a ruling last week, the Supreme Judicial Court documented a massive breakdown in due process that affected tens of thousands of people. The court’s 46-page decision reveals, in horrifying detail, that for years a secretive and insular office run by the Massachusetts State Police knowingly hid potentially exculpatory information from defense attorneys and their clients.

That evidence: Internal worksheets completed by the office that showed that in hundreds of instances, devices used to test blood-alcohol levels in the drivers had “failed certifications.”

That is not playing fair.

Across the state, 27,000 people are now getting notices that they have the right to seek new trials or to withdraw guilty pleas. What’s come to light concerns us all. It reveals a stunning arrogance of power. Beyond the damage to those defendants – who number almost as many as all who live in West Springfield – this is a body blow to public trust in governments and the courts.

The SJC decision said as much.

“These defendants … did not have the benefit of using exculpatory authorization reports, the quality assurance manual, failed certification worksheets, and internal repair records to challenge the validity of the breath test instrument used in their individual cases,” the court found.

Justices said the office held a “cavalier and supercilious attitude toward its discovery obligations … (which) led to the repeated concealment of evidence that its testing process was flawed.”

The extent of the office’s missteps? “Vast.”

“The broad scope and nature of these violations of court orders undermined the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth, compromised thousands of prosecutions for OUI offenses, and potentially resulted in inaccurate convictions,” the court found.

Because of that misconduct, defendants who were subject to breath tests between June 1, 2011, and April 18, 2019, can seek to have guilty findings vacated.

For the state, it wasn’t the first time one of its labs was found to have gone rogue. In 2012, a drug lab chemist, Annie Dookhan, was found to have falsified tests on illicit drugs, in some instances reporting false positive findings that provided inaccurate information to prosecutors and defense counsel. As many as 61,000 cases were affected; Dookhan served three years in prison.

Behind all the big numbers are individual defendants. Each of them was deprived of due process. In many cases, they paid high prices for lost livelihoods.

Problems with the Office of Alcohol Testing had been ferreted out in earlier litigation and were detailed in a 2017 investigation by the unit’s state police overseers. That year, the office was found to be acting in blatant disregard of court orders. Evidence that could benefit a defendant in an OUI case was intentionally withheld.

That probe found the office to be infected by “a longstanding and insular institutional culture that was reflexively guarded.”

Translation? When it came to accountability, the Office of Alcohol Testing had an infuriating “none of your business” attitude.

For nearly a decade, the office failed to play fair with breath tests taken from people believed to have been driving under the influence. The case behind the new SJC decision stems from a 2013 arrest in Beverly at a sobriety checkpoint. The driver told officers she’d had three drinks. She failed a field sobriety test and was recorded as having nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in her bloodstream.

Told by her lawyer the breath test results would seal the deal for prosecutors, she admitted to facts sufficient to produce a guilty finding, lost her license for two years and had to attend a 14-day second-offender program. A lower-court judge denied her request to change her plea, in light of problems with the Office of Alcohol Testing. The SJC decision now gives her – and thousands of others – that right.

They’d gone to court hoping for fairness. They now know a government office engaged in egregious misconduct that denied them due process. The road to trust will be long."

The entire editorial can be read at:

https://www.masslive.com/opinion/2023/04/a-rogue-state-lab-once-again-fails-public-trust-editorial.html

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

------------------------------------------------------------------

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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Shaken Baby Syndrome: Arkansas: Zachary Culp's personal and potent fight for justice, the wisdom of legislating a right to a second opinion, and proof that one person can make a difference: A new post (always a special occasion) from Sue Luttner of 'On Shaken Baby,' a very informative Blog..."When doctors at the Arkansas Children's Hospital diagnosed 3-month-old Quincy as a victim of child abuse, the press ran with the story. Medical imaging revealed 17 fractures to the boy's tiny bones, and police were targeting his father, Zachary Culp, who worked in the school cafeteria. The community understood that an accused child abuser had been in regular contact with its children. The day of his arrest, while Zachary waited for processing with other prisoners in the holding tank, a breaking-news bulletin interrupted normal programming on the wall-mounted television to announce the development. His face loomed on the screen. The first assault came just a few hours later, and the guards were in no hurry to stop the violence. "They beat the crap out of me," Zachary recalls. "I didn't think I was going to live the next 72 hours.” He credits his survival to his uncle, a police detective who'd offered him a set of jailhouse tips before his arrest. When assaulted, Zachary says, he was told to "assume the fetal position, like you're getting ready for a hurricane." Zachary lost 48 pounds during the 73 days he spent in jail, he reports, but he did survive."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: ""That was all Sarah," Zachary says. "She has phenomenal research skills. Sarah had started by searching on traits they'd noticed about Quincy since birth: easy bruising, blue sclera, lots of spitting up, with slow weight gain—the last diagnosed in Quincy as "failure to thrive." She found the story of Rebecca Wanosik, an accused parent who helped form the group Fractured Families, which offers support to parents accused of abuse based on a medical diagnosis. She learned about EDS and Dr. Michael Hollick in Boston. Zachary was out on bail by then, but because of a "no-contact" order against him, Sarah took Quincy by herself to Boston for their first consultation. "Dr. Holick saved our son's life," Zachary maintains. At that point, Quincy was so small he had "fallen off the growth charts," he explains. "He was barely making it. We were desperate for help.” EDS can't be confirmed in an infant, but Dr. Holick diagnosed Sarah with EDS and found early signs in Quincy. He also gave Sarah the first useful advice she'd gotten about Quincy's diet, and her baby started gaining weight. Now 5 years old, Quincy has been diagnosed definitively with Stickler's Syndrome, another auto-immune condition."

------------------------------------------------------------------

PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: 

"Immediately after his family's legal ordeal, Zachary Culp became an activist in the arena. A seriously effective activist. In 2021, only three years after his arrest, Zachary had ushered "Quincy's Law" through both his state senate and the house: Families accused of abuse in Arkansas based on a medical diagnosis now have the right to a second opinion—like the opinion that finally got Quincy's health on track."

--------------------------------------------------------------

PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Zachary recognizes Child Abuse Awareness Month most years—not this year, because a tornado had just ploughed through his part of Arkansas—by taking out an ad in the local newspaper, looking for other accused families. He and Sarah offer advice and support to the newly accused, who find him through the ads or on Facebook. He's keeping track of disputed diagnoses by Dr. Karen Farst, the child abuse pediatrician who diagnosed abuse in Quincy's case."

--------------------------------------------------------------

POST: "A personal & potent fight for justice," by Sue Luttner, published on her excellent Blog "On Shaken Baby" on April 29, 2023.

GIST: "When doctors at the Arkansas Children's Hospital diagnosed 3-month-old Quincy as a victim of child abuse, the press ran with the story. Medical imaging revealed 17 fractures to the boy's tiny bones, and police were targeting his father, Zachary Culp, who worked in the school cafeteria. The community understood that an accused child abuser had been in regular contact with its children.

The day of his arrest, while Zachary waited for processing with other prisoners in the holding tank, a breaking-news bulletin interrupted normal programming on the wall-mounted television to announce the development. His face loomed on the screen.

The first assault came just a few hours later, and the guards were in no hurry to stop the violence. "They beat the crap out of me," Zachary recalls. "I didn't think I was going to live the next 72 hours.”

He credits his survival to his uncle, a police detective who'd offered him a set of jailhouse tips before his arrest. When assaulted, Zachary says, he was told to "assume the fetal position, like you're getting ready for a hurricane." Zachary lost 48 pounds during the 73 days he spent in jail, he reports, but he did survive.

"That was all Sarah," Zachary says. "She has phenomenal research skills."

Sarah had started by searching on traits they'd noticed about Quincy since birth: easy bruising, blue sclera, lots of spitting up, with slow weight gain—the last diagnosed in Quincy as "failure to thrive." She found the story of Rebecca Wanosik, an accused parent who helped form the group Fractured Families, which offers support to parents accused of abuse based on a medical diagnosis. She learned about EDS and Dr. Michael Hollick in Boston.

Zachary was out on bail by then, but because of a "no-contact" order against him, Sarah took Quincy by herself to Boston for their first consultation.

"Dr. Holick saved our son's life," Zachary maintains. At that point, Quincy was so small he had "fallen off the growth charts," he explains. "He was barely making it. We were desperate for help.”

EDS can't be confirmed in an infant, but Dr. Holick diagnosed Sarah with EDS and found early signs in Quincy. He also gave Sarah the first useful advice she'd gotten about Quincy's diet, and her baby started gaining weight. Now 5 years old, Quincy has been diagnosed definitively with Stickler's Syndrome, another auto-immune condition.

Immediately after his family's legal ordeal, Zachary Culp became an activist in the arena. A seriously effective activist.

In 2021, only three years after his arrest, Zachary had ushered "Quincy's Law" through both his state senate and the house: Families accused of abuse in Arkansas based on a medical diagnosis now have the right to a second opinion—like the opinion that finally got Quincy's health on track.

Zachary based Quincy's Law (now Act Number 976) on legislation crafted and tweaked by family activists in Texas. He offers advice and a template to families interested in pushing for similar laws in their own states.

Zachary says his political strategy was to approach elected officials personally, "one relationship at a time." He started with the legislators closest to him, in Pulaski County. He tried to find common ground, ways that he could support their own efforts, with letters or phone calls or outreach. "I like to see what they want to talk about first, before I push my own agenda," he explains.

He worked his way out in wider geographical circles and up the hierarchy, routinely driving to the state capitol in Little Rock on his days off. He networked with other Arkansas families who had experienced a medical misdiagnosis of abuse.

Zachary recognizes Child Abuse Awareness Month most years—not this year, because a tornado had just ploughed through his part of Arkansas—by taking out an ad in the local newspaper, looking for other accused families.

He and Sarah offer advice and support to the newly accused, who find him through the ads or on Facebook. He's keeping track of disputed diagnoses by Dr. Karen Farst, the child abuse pediatrician who diagnosed abuse in Quincy's case.

Last year, he made his first shot at his own seat in the legislature. He lost, but that's the norm for a first-time candidate. He's not giving up.

These days, Zachary's social media feed offers dispatches from EDS and innocence activists, in between celebrations of his family and his church community.

Whatever he does next, Zachary Culp has already proven that one person can make a difference."

Links:

• Quincy's Law
• Trial coverage
• Plea coverage
• The story of SB1578 in Texas

The entire post can be read at:

https://onsbs.com/2023/04/29/a-personal-potent-fight-for-justice/

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

------------------------------------------------------------------

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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Chester Weger: Argument on DNA motion delayed as his lawyer's offer 95 reasons for removing county prosecutors, WSPY News (Reporter Mark Harrington) reports..."In court documents obtained by WSPY News, 95 reasons are listed for removal of Will County. Judge Jansz received the motion 23 hours prior, saying that was not enough time for him to rule. The summary reads that Glasgow’s office failed and refused to inspect and then misrepresented physical evidence, failed and refused to interview any of Hale’s witnesses, review key documents, and opposed Weger’s defense team to conduct new forensic testing of evidence or to conduct its own forensic investigation. Hale says Glasgow has failed and refused to carry out its most basic and fundamental duties in this case."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Elsewhere, Hale met with the media after the 15-minute hearing. WSPY News inquired about the mitochondrial DNA testing results at a Virginia-based lab that could exclude Weger as the killer.  But earlier, Hale told WSPY News exclusively that the DNA results of hairs found in the clutches of two victims may be too degraded after 63 years locked up in a LaSalle County courthouse file cabinet.  Hale was attempting more proof that Weger didn’t commit the crime after an Elgin-based lab proved one hair was not from him but from a different male."

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STORY: "New motion and another delay occurs in Chester Weger case," by Reporter Mark Harrington, published by WSPY News, on April 20, 2023.

GIST: "Saying he was ready to hear arguments on a forensic testing motion, Judge Michael Jansz delayed the procedure on Wednesday after attorney Andrew Hale delivered a second motion to the courts the prior afternoon to remove Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow’s office as special prosecution. 

The case involves 84-year-old Chester Weger, who was found guilty of one of three women’s fatal head beatings in LaSalle Canyon at Starved Rock State Park in 1960.  After recanting his confessions two days later and eight months after the murders, he maintains his innocence, even during his nearly six decades in prison. 

In the LaSalle County courtroom, Judge Jansz said he can’t do anything on the previous motions until the motion to remove the special prosecution is resolved.  Hale said Jansz would have to poll area counties to see if another state attorney would be willing to take the case. 

A June 20th 2:00 p.m. hearing will be Weger’s next court date.  

Elsewhere, Hale met with the media after the 15-minute hearing. 

FREE inspection

WSPY News inquired about the mitochondrial DNA testing results at a Virginia-based lab that could exclude Weger as the killer. 

But earlier, Hale told WSPY News exclusively that the DNA results of hairs found in the clutches of two victims may be too degraded after 63 years locked up in a LaSalle County courthouse file cabinet. 

Hale was attempting more proof that Weger didn’t commit the crime after an Elgin-based lab proved one hair was not from him but from a different male. 

WSPY News sought permission to ask Weger if he knew who committed the triple murder, but lawyer Hale refused.  

Finally, asked if the last seven of 55 Tik Tok videos would still play, where he explains why Weger’s conviction should be vacated, Hale’s eyes widened and a smile grew.  

Does that mean he has new and surprising evidence?

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The entire story can be read at:

https://www.wspynews.com/news/local/new-motion-and-another-delay-occurs-in-chester-weger-case/article_a2ba2e42-df72-11ed-b0cc-6fdfb334e6d4.html

-----------------------------------------------------------

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

------------------------------------------------------------------

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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Edward Bowles; Kentucky: Wayne Burgess; Tennessee: Disgraced former Medical Examiner Charles Harlan: Something in common: They have both challenged convictions based on the testimony of Tennessee's discredited former chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles Harlan - with different results. (The Louisville Courier Journal: Investigation, Courts and Judicial System Reporter Andrew Wolfson... "Edward Bowles of Kentucky is not the first offender to challenge a conviction based on the testimony of Tennessee's discredited former chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles Harlan. Wayne Burgess of Tennessee was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the death of his girlfriend’s 1-year-old daughter, Nakeavia Rivers, who died Aug. 8, 1997, after being rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Harlan testified the infant died of a blow to the abdomen shortly before being brought to the hospital. But 24 years after Burgess was convicted, a Tennessee judge vacated his sentence on April 13. He concluded that Harlan got it wrong and Burgess was innocent. In contrast, the Kentucky Court of Appeals last month affirmed a lower court order refusing to vacate Bowles' conviction and life sentence for a 1994 murder in Christian County. Citing a recent opinion from a retained expert witness, former Kentucky Chief Medical Examiner Dr. George Nichols, Bowles claimed Harlan got it wrong when he concluded the victim of that crime died of asphyxiation. But a Christian Circuit Court judge and the Court of Appeals said there was other evidence supporting Bowles' conviction."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The momentous decision in Burgess' case came after three expert witnesses – including Tennessee's current chief medical examiner, Dr. Adele Lewis – testified in a hearing this month that Nakeavia could not have died the way Harlan said she did – that it was medically impossible. The amount of blood and fluid found in her abdomen during an autopsy would have taken hours or days to gather, the experts said. But Burgess was only alone with the infant for minutes before she was brought to the hospital.  “Mr. Burgess could not have committed the crime and is innocent of the offense,” Circuit Judge David L. Green wrote in an order.  Unlike in Bowles’ case in Kentucky, the judge held the testimony of the three experts was “new scientific evidence not presented or available to the jury” that convicted Burgess."

-----------------------------------------------------------

STORY: "Wayne Burgess' murder sentence vacated over disgraced medical examiner's testimony,"  by Investigative, Courts and Judicial System Reporter Andrew Wolfson, published by The Louisville Courier Journal, on  April 27, 2023.

GIST: "Edward Bowles of Kentucky is not the first offender to challenge a conviction based on the testimony of Tennessee's discredited former chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles Harlan. 

Wayne Burgess of Tennessee was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the death of his girlfriend’s 1-year-old daughter, Nakeavia Rivers, who died Aug. 8, 1997, after being rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Harlan testified the infant died of a blow to the abdomen shortly before being brought to the hospital. 

But 24 years after Burgess was convicted, a Tennessee judge vacated his sentence on April 13. 

He concluded that Harlan got it wrong and Burgess was innocent. 

In contrast, the Kentucky Court of Appeals last month affirmed a lower court order refusing to vacate Bowles' conviction and life sentence for a 1994 murder in Christian County.

 Citing a recent opinion from a retained expert witness, former Kentucky Chief Medical Examiner Dr. George Nichols, Bowles claimed Harlan got it wrong when he concluded the victim of that crime died of asphyxiation. 

But a Christian Circuit Court judge and the Court of Appeals said there was other evidence supporting Bowles' conviction.

The momentous decision in Burgess' case came after three expert witnesses – including Tennessee's current chief medical examiner, Dr. Adele Lewis – testified in a hearing this month that Nakeavia could not have died the way Harlan said she did – that it was medically impossible.

 

The amount of blood and fluid found in her abdomen during an autopsy would have taken hours or days to gather, the experts said. But Burgess was only alone with the infant for minutes before she was brought to the hospital. 

“Mr. Burgess could not have committed the crime and is innocent of the offense,” Circuit Judge David L. Green wrote in an order. 

Unlike in Bowles’ case in Kentucky, the judge held the testimony of the three experts was “new scientific evidence not presented or available to the jury” that convicted Burgess. 

The state of Tennessee has 30 days to appeal, and for now, Burgess is still locked up in Tennessee’s Hardeman County Correctional Facility."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2023/04/27/wayne-burgess-conviction-in-nakeavia-rivers-murder-vacated/70138124007/

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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Melvin Quinney: Texas: Satanic Panic: Major (Welcome) Development; Exonerated officially at last, KSAT (Reporter Erica Hernandez) reports..."In court on Monday, (April 10) Melvin Quinney had his charge dismissed by 227th District Court Judge Christina Del Prado. The state exonerated Melvin Quinney of his conviction of indecency with a child back in February but Monday’s hearing made the exoneration official. “It’s like the beginning of the end of a very long nightmare,” Quinney said. Quinney’s conviction was vacated, and he would no longer have to register as a sex offender."

PASSAGE  OF THE DAY: "In 1991, Quinney’s son accused him of being the leader of a Satanic cult and said Quinney had sexually abused him and his sister. Quinney was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 1999 and was then required to register as a sex offender his entire life. Last summer, with the help of the Innocence Project of Texas, Quinney’s son John Parker, now an adult, was back in court to testify that the entire ordeal was a lie. Parker, in testimony, said he was forced by his mother and other adults to say what he did as a child after his parents had separated."

----------------------------------------------------

QUOTE  OF THE DAY: "During the ‘80s and ‘90s, multiple trials took place where individuals were accused of being in Satanic cults and being convicted of sexually abusing children. It was called “Satanic Panic.” “I admire Mr. Quinney and his family so much for sticking with him and pursuing justice, truth in his case,” said Mike Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas. “I also really respect the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office in the way they handled this case.” During last summer’s hearing, the district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit took up the case and agreed with Ware and his team that Quinney was wrongfully convicted."

-----------------------------------------------------------

STORY: "San Antonio man wrongfully convicted in 1991 has charges dismissed in Satanic Panic case," by Reporter Erica Hernandez, published by KSAT, on April 10, 2023.

GIST: "Melvin Quinney was wrongfully convicted in 1991 during the Satanic Panic hysteria."

GIST: "A San Antonio man wrongfully convicted in 1991 during the so-called Satanic Panic hysteria is now officially a free man.

In court on Monday, Melvin Quinney had his charge dismissed by 227th District Court Judge Christina Del Prado.

The state exonerated Melvin Quinney of his conviction of indecency with a child back in February but Monday’s hearing made the exoneration official.

“It’s like the beginning of the end of a very long nightmare,” Quinney said.

Quinney’s conviction was vacated, and he would no longer have to register as a sex offender.

In 1991, Quinney’s son accused him of being the leader of a Satanic cult and said Quinney had sexually abused him and his sister.

Quinney was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 1999 and was then required to register as a sex offender his entire life.

Last summer, with the help of the Innocence Project of Texas, Quinney’s son John Parker, now an adult, was back in court to testify that the entire ordeal was a lie.

 Parker, in testimony, said he was forced by his mother and other adults to say what he did as a child after his parents had separated.

During the ‘80s and ‘90s, multiple trials took place where individuals were accused of being in Satanic cults and being convicted of sexually abusing children. It was called “Satanic Panic.”

“I admire Mr. Quinney and his family so much for sticking with him and pursuing justice, truth in his case,” said Mike Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas. “I also really respect the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office in the way they handled this case.”

During last summer’s hearing, the district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit took up the case and agreed with Ware and his team that Quinney was wrongfully convicted.

Quinney now hopes, with the compensation owed to him by the state, to move to Dallas to be closer to his kids and grandkids.

“We love each other, and that’s the main thing,” Quinney said. “We’re back together.""

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/04/10/san-antonio-man-wrongfully-convicted-in-1991-has-charges-dismissed-in-satanic-panic-case/

---------------------------------------------------------------

NPR: (All things considered):  Texas continues to exonerate people who were wrongly convicted during 'satanic panic': Paul Flahive: "Texas courts are still exonerating people who were falsely convicted and imprisoned amid the "moral satanic panic" of the 1980s and '90s. Their persecution was based on lies and conspiracy theories."

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/18/1170710006/texas-continues-to-exonerate-people-who-were-wrongly-convicted-during-satanic-pa

----------------------------------------------------------------

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

------------------------------------------------------------------

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

-------------------------------------------------------------------