Monday, April 24, 2023

Kevin Strickland; Missouri: False confession; Tainted sole eye-witness testimony..."Having spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder he did not commit, Strickland alleges in a lawsuit that Kansas City police conducted a reckless investigation that led to his conviction by attributing false statements to him during the investigation and by pressuring the only eyewitness to the murders to identify him as the killer, the Associated Press (Fox 2 News) reports."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Strickland has always maintained that he was home watching television and had nothing to do with the killings, which happened when he was 18 years old. The lawsuit contends detectives pressured the only eyewitness to the triple murder to name Strickland as the shooter, even though they “knew or should have known” that he was innocent. The prosecution’s case against Strickland rested largely on the eyewitness’ testimony. After Strickland refused to confess to the killings, the detectives concocted inflammatory statements they attributed to him about loving to “kill people,” according to his lawsuit. Two men later confessed to being involved in the killings and swore for decades that Strickland was not at the home where the victims were slain."

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STORY: "Kevin Strickland sues K.C. Police Board over wrongful imprisonment," published by The Associated Press (Fox 2 News) on April 13, 2023.

GIST: "Kevin Strickland, 63, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Jackson County Court against the Kansas City Police Board of Commissioners, which oversees the police department, and five officers who have retired.

Strickland alleges that officers attributed false statements to him during the investigation and pressured the only eyewitness to the murders to identify him as the killer, The Kansas City Star reported.

The Kansas City Police Department said it does not comment on pending lawsuits.

Strickland was released from prison in November 2021 after a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted of killing three people in Kansas City in 1978. That decision followed a hearing held after Jackson County prosecutors said a review of the case led them to believe Strickland was innocent.

Strickland has always maintained that he was home watching television and had nothing to do with the killings, which happened when he was 18 years old.

The lawsuit contends detectives pressured the only eyewitness to the triple murder to name Strickland as the shooter, even though they “knew or should have known” that he was innocent. The prosecution’s case against Strickland rested largely on the eyewitness’ testimony.

After Strickland refused to confess to the killings, the detectives concocted inflammatory statements they attributed to him about loving to “kill people,” according to his lawsuit.

Two men later confessed to being involved in the killings and swore for decades that Strickland was not at the home where the victims were slain."

The entire story can be read at: 

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/kevin-strickland-sues-k-c-police-board-over-wrongful-imprisonment/

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The National Registry of Exonerations entry can be read at:


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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;

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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.”


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


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