PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "Dr Cala, who now works as a senior forensic pathologist within NSW Health, has maintained it was unlikely for three babies in one family to have sudden - unexplained deaths. While he could not determine a cause of the children’s deaths, he asserted it was possible Ms Folbigg had smothered her babies and left no signs of injury. “That evidence should have been deemed inadmissible, because it’s just not part of his expertise,” Dr Moles said, adding that a review should be launched to determine whether similar mistakes could have been made in other cases, along with Ms Folbigg’s. Dr Cala’s evidence in Ms Folbigg’s case put him at odds with other expert witnesses at the 2022 inquiry, such as Monash University emeritus professor of forensic pathology Stephen Cordner, who said that if smothering had occurred it “could be expected to leave some injuries”. Canadian forensic pathologist Matthew Orde also told the inquiry there was no reliable evidence to indicate she had suffocated her babies. “It’s clear that, sadly, there would likely be significant struggling (if a baby were smothered) which may give rise to the possibility of injury to the face,” Dr Orde said. During the inquiry, Dr Cala rejected an accusation that he adopted a “dogma” that multiple infant deaths in one family indicated death by human infliction rather than natural causes, and said he had “an open mind”.
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: It’s not the first time Dr Cala’s evidence has been called into question during a criminal trial. Dr Cala made an error in the early 2000s when he misinterpreted the murder of two elderly Australians, Pam and Bill Weightman, as an accident. He told a misconduct inquiry that he had wrongly concluded that Ms Weightman had died of a head injury in a car accident, after conducting an autopsy on a brain that was not hers. Upon discovering this, he immediately contacted the coroner. The couple had actually been murdered by their adopted son and his friend, the NSW Supreme Court later found. Dr Cala was fined $5500 for his misconduct. Acting as an expert witness in the murder trial of Jeffrey Gilham, accused of killing his parents and his brother in the early 2000s, Dr Cala was adamant the pattern of the stab wounds in all three deaths were indicative of one perpetrator. Dr Cala’s evidence was considered paramount in Mr Gilham’s conviction, which landed him behind bars for three years, serving two life sentences. But the Court of Appeal later rejected Dr Cala’s evidence as having no proper scientific backing, and that “the purported similarity of the pattern of stab wounds on the three victims is not available to support an inference that there was only one perpetrator. Dr Cala has provided expert testimony for dozens of criminal cases, mostly in the early 2000s. It’s understood issues have only been raised with a very small proportion of the cases in which Dr Cala has given evidence."
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POST: Networked Knowledge media report: Ellie Dudley (Exclusive): The Australian: 'Calls rot review evidence of Folbigg forensic pathologist. (Published on June 8, 2023);
GIST: "Legal experts have called for a review of cases involving the evidence of a scientist whose testimony helped convict Kathleen Folbigg of murder.
In one previous case, forensic pathologist Allan Cala misinterpreted a murder as an accident after performing an autopsy on the wrong brain.
The experts allege Dr Cala gave evidence throughout Ms Folbigg’s 2003 trial which was “outside the scope of his expertise”, potentially confusing the jury.
Ms Folbigg was released from prison on Monday after 20 years, following a [12 month] judicial inquiry into the deaths of her four young children that found there was reasonable doubt as to whether she killed them.
While NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley has been adamant Ms Folbigg’s pardon was purely due to the revelations of new scientific evidence, Flinders University law professor Bob Moles has raised questions over the impact Dr Cala’s evidence had on her original trial.
Dr Cala, who now works as a senior forensic pathologist within NSW Health, has maintained it was unlikely for three babies in one family to have sudden - unexplained deaths.
While he could not determine a cause of the children’s deaths, he asserted it was possible Ms Folbigg had smothered her babies and left no signs of injury.
“That evidence should have been deemed inadmissible, because it’s just not part of his expertise,” Dr Moles said, adding that a review should be launched to determine whether similar mistakes could have been made in other cases, along with Ms Folbigg’s.
Dr Cala’s evidence in Ms Folbigg’s case put him at odds with other expert witnesses at the 2022 inquiry, such as Monash University emeritus professor of forensic pathology Stephen Cordner, who said that if smothering had occurred it “could be expected to leave some injuries”.
Canadian forensic pathologist Matthew Orde also told the inquiry there was no reliable evidence to indicate she had suffocated her babies. “It’s clear that, sadly, there would likely be significant struggling (if a baby were smothered) which may give rise to the possibility of injury to the face,” Dr Orde said.
During the inquiry, Dr Cala rejected an accusation that he adopted a “dogma” that multiple infant deaths in one family indicated death by human infliction rather than natural causes, and said he had “an open mind”.
It’s not the first time Dr Cala’s evidence has been called into question during a criminal trial.
Dr Cala made an error in the early 2000s when he misinterpreted the murder of two elderly Australians, Pam and Bill Weightman, as an accident.
He told a misconduct inquiry that he had wrongly concluded that Ms Weightman had died of a head injury in a car accident, after conducting an autopsy on a brain that was not hers.
Upon discovering this, he immediately contacted the coroner.
The couple had actually been murdered by their adopted son and his friend, the NSW Supreme Court later found. Dr Cala was fined $5500 for his misconduct.
Acting as an expert witness in the murder trial of Jeffrey Gilham, accused of killing his parents and his brother in the early 2000s, Dr Cala was adamant the pattern of the stab wounds in all three deaths were indicative of one perpetrator.
Dr Cala’s evidence was considered paramount in Mr Gilham’s conviction, which landed him behind bars for three years, serving two life sentences.
But the Court of Appeal later rejected Dr Cala’s evidence as having no proper scientific backing, and that “the purported similarity of the pattern of stab wounds on the three victims is not available to support an inference that there was only one perpetrator.”
Dr Cala has provided expert testimony for dozens of criminal cases, mostly in the early 2000s. It’s understood issues have only been raised with a very small proportion of the cases in which Dr Cala has given evidence.
Dr Cala did not respond to The Australian’s request for comment.
NSW Health pathology, on his behalf, said it had “no comment on the inquiry or any other aspect of the case”.
Henry Keogh, wrongfully convicted of murdering his fiancée Anna-Jane Cheney and jailed for 21 years, also called for an inquiry into Dr Cala’s conduct during Ms Folbigg’s case.
Drawing similarities between his case – which hinged on the evidence of a now discredited forensic pathologist – and Ms Folbigg’s, Mr Keogh said: “Some of the things I’ve seen and heard in trials are outrageous. “(The forensic pathologist in my trial) was basically a hired gun and not properly qualified. “Expert witnesses can be hired to comment on areas way out of their expertise, and it beggars belief,” he said."
The entire post can be read at"
http://netk.net.au/Folbigg/Folbigg145.pdf
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/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
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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