WORDS TO HEED: FROM OUR POST ON KEVIN COOPER'S APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING; CALIFORNIA: (Applicable wherever a state resists DNA testing): "Blogger/extraordinaire Jeff Gamso's blunt, unequivocal, unforgettable message to the powers that be in California: "JUST TEST THE FUCKING DNA." (Oh yes, Gamso raises, as he does in many of his posts, an important philosophical question: This post is headed: "What is truth, said jesting Pilate."...Says Gamso: "So what's the harm? What, exactly, are they scared of? Don't we want the truth?")
https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2018/06/kevin-cooper-2-california-application.html
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Rodney Reed filed his challenge to Texas’ post-conviction DNA testing statute on time. This is a huge step toward the goal of getting DNA testing in Rodney’s case, and ultimately proving his innocence. The case will now go to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for further proceedings on the merits. “We are grateful that the Court has kept the courthouse doors open to Mr. Reed, a Black man who has spent 24 years on death row for the murder of a white woman with whom he was having an affair, a crime he has steadfastly maintained he did not commit,” said one of Rodney’s attorneys Parker Rider-Longmaid of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP."
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RELEASE: By Jane Pucher: Senior Staff Attorney; The Innocence Project; Published on April 17, 2023.
GIST:"Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Rodney Reed filed his challenge to Texas’ post-conviction DNA testing statute on time.
This is a huge step toward the goal of getting DNA testing in Rodney’s case, and ultimately proving his innocence. The case will now go to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for further proceedings on the merits.
“We are grateful that the Court has kept the courthouse doors open to Mr. Reed, a Black man who has spent 24 years on death row for the murder of a white woman with whom he was having an affair, a crime he has steadfastly maintained he did not commit,” said one of Rodney’s attorneys Parker Rider-Longmaid of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Read more about the ruling and Rodney’s case, and then send him a note to let him know that you’re still fighting for him.
Rodney has been on death row in Texas for more than 23 years despite mounting evidence pointing to his innocence.
He was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites.
At the time, Stacey was having a consensual relationship with Rodney while she was engaged to a police officer named Jimmy Fennell.
But the prosecution told the jury that they had searched everywhere and no one ever said Rodney and Stacey knew each other.
But it was recently discovered that the prosecutors at Rodney’s 1998 trial committed a Brady violation by illegally concealing statements made by Stacey’s co-workers, statements that showed Rodney and Stacey knew each other and were romantically involved.
The State also illegally suppressed statements from Stacey’s neighbors about loud, violent arguments between Stacey and her fiancé, who was the prime suspect in her murder for nearly a year.
Right now, Rodney is seeking DNA testing of key crime scene evidence that has never been tested. “If DNA evidence exists, as it does in Rodney Reed’s case, it should be tested. The courts must do everything in their power to make sure that the state does not execute a man who may well be innocent, especially one who has assembled considerable evidence to prove it,” said Parker Rider-Longmaid.
Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a big step forward in finally testing evidence that could prove Rodney’s innocence — but the fight isn’t over yet.
Take a moment right now to learn more about Rodney’s case, and then send him a note to let him know that you’re still standing by his side.
Jane Pucher: Senior Staff Attorney; The Innocencce Project:
The entire story can be read at
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/rodney+reed+pucher/FMfcgzGsmDsZcsjXtPlRrPwlZFWSCsvX
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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