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SUB-HEADING: "A new podcast based on an article from The Marshall Project examines that and other questions raised by an investigation into a 2005 murder."
GIST: "In the audio above, we ask Chammah what intrigued him about this specific case, how it found its way to the Texas Rangers cold case unit, how Holland came around to considering Driskill a suspect, and why Driskill says he confessed to a crime he says he does not remember committing.
As Chammah tell us, the tactics Holland used included hypnotizing a witness nine years after the murder to develop a sketch that bore no resemblance to the witness’s original description.
Holland also lied to Driskill about evidence, and, under long and brutal interrogation over multiple days, used hypotheticals to get Driskill to use certain language that steered him to the confession.
As Chammah shares in the podcast and with us, Driskill was convicted, but he has since been granted parole and continues to maintain his innocence.
He’s currently working with the Texas Innocence Project to try to clear his name.
Meanwhile, law enforcement in Texas and other states are reviewing whether hypnosis, lying to suspects, and other once-common tactics should be discontinued."
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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