PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Mitchell has spent a decade testifying in just under a dozen Kansas counties, and his testimony has helped lead to murder convictions. But news articles, defendants and others have argued he doesn't always get it right. In the Ortiz case, the state argued that Buchhorn had her day in court and the jury found Mitchell’s theory more believable. But other cases Mitchell worked on have been overturned. In 2021, the Kansas City Star reported that one of Mitchell’s autopsies misidentified an injury, which was an important piece of evidence used to wrongly convict someone of murder. That person has since been freed. In 1993, Mitchell agreed to resign as the Onondaga County, New York, medical examiner because he removed organs without consent and improperly stored skeletons, the New York Times reported then. Valdez said the DA’s office sought out an independent medical expert because of Mitchell’s checkered past. While Mitchell is able to testify in cases, (District Attorney Suzanne) Valdez said her office has never asked him to do so. “I chose not to use Dr. Mitchell as a witness of any sort due to his questionable professional reputation,” Valdez said. “If there is any consolation to be had by those who mourn the loss of Ollie, it can be found in the fact that many trained professionals worked tirelessly to pursue justice, and Ollie will never be forgotten.”
----------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: By Social Services and Criminal Justice Reporter Blaise Mesa, published by KCUR (NPR) on January 25, 2023.
SUB-HEADING: "Dr. Erik Mitchell has been a coroner in Douglas County and has testified in cases across Kansas. Critics say he sometimes gets it wrong."
GIST: "The Douglas County district attorney will not retry a Eudora woman for murder after questionable conclusions from a medical examiner led to concern that she was improperly convicted.
Carrody Buchhorn, a day care worker, was convicted in 2018 for killing 9-month-old Ollie Ortiz while in Buchhorn’s care. The case hinged on testimony from medical examiner Dr. Erik Mitchell. He said Buchhorn had stomped on the baby's head. But lawyers for Buchhorn say Mitchell’s theory is based on junk science because the baby had no signs of brain trauma.
They contend, and independent reports say, the baby died of natural causes and Buchhorn tried to give CPR.
This case went to trial and a jury convicted Buchhorn of reckless second-degree murder before Douglas County DA Suzanne Valdez won election to office. Buchhorn appealed and her conviction was later overturned.
The Douglas County DA requested time to bring in an independent expert to review the case to see if it was worth pursuing again. That report found conflicting information, which convinced the DA’s office to back off of prosecution.
“While there are conflicting findings between the state’s two retained experts, as well as other evidence to support prosecution, we do not believe the evidence is likely to meet our burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Valdez said in a news release.
Mitchell has spent a decade testifying in just under a dozen Kansas counties, and his testimony has helped lead to murder convictions. But news articles, defendants and others have argued he doesn't always get it right. In the Ortiz case, the state argued that Buchhorn had her day in court and the jury found Mitchell’s theory more believable. But other cases Mitchell worked on have been overturned.
In 2021, the Kansas City Star reported that one of Mitchell’s autopsies misidentified an injury, which was an important piece of evidence used to wrongly convict someone of murder. That person has since been freed.
In 1993, Mitchell agreed to resign as the Onondaga County, New York, medical examiner because he removed organs without consent and improperly stored skeletons, the New York Times reported then.
Valdez said the DA’s office sought out an independent medical expert because of Mitchell’s checkered past. While Mitchell is able to testify in cases, Valdez said her office has never asked him to do so.
“I chose not to use Dr. Mitchell as a witness of any sort due to his questionable professional reputation,” Valdez said. “If there is any consolation to be had by those who mourn the loss of Ollie, it can be found in the fact that many trained professionals worked tirelessly to pursue justice, and Ollie will never be forgotten.”
The entire story can be read at:
douglas-county-halts-prosecution-of-murder-case-that-defense-attorney-says-used-junk-science
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.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------
