Harris County, Texas: Forgotten appeals - "overlooked by the court system for decades": Forgotten people; (A glaring betrayal of the public trust. HL): From our 'Report Card' department: E Minus to Texas courts, in light of the Death Penalty Information Center's report that the Harris County District Clerk’s Office is attempting to resolve nearly one-hundred criminal appeals, including two death penalty cases, that were overlooked by the court system for decades. Among them are the appeals of the two death-sentenced prisoners, Tony Tyrone Dixon and Syed Rabbani..."Tony Tyrone Dixon, a prisoner with intellectual disabilities, was convicted of capital murder he committed at the age of 17 and sentenced to death in 1995. In August 1998, Mr. Dixon’s appellate attorney filed his first post-conviction habeas corpus appeal, arguing that Mr. Dixon was mentally incompetent to stand trial. After the appeal was filed, the judge signed an order allotting prosecutors an unspecified amount of time to file their response beyond the then 30-day deadline. The prosecutors did not respond to Mr. Dixon’s request for a new trial until 2014. For years, the trial court never adjudicated on Mr. Dixon’s or the prosecution’s claims. During the 16-year gap between the filings, the U.S. Supreme Court held it was unconstitutional to people who committed their crimes as juveniles to death, resulting in a new sentence of life imprisonment. After the forgotten appeals were discovered last year, the district clerk sent Mr. Dixon’s appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals in August 2022. In response to Mr. Dixon’s case, Benjamin Wolff, Director of the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs, stated, “This now-46-year-old intellectually disabled person was largely forgotten by the criminal legal system.”... Syed Rabbani, a prisoner with mental illness, was sentenced to death in 1988. In his appeal, Mr. Rabbani’s attorneys argued that the jury had not been able to consider potentially mitigating evidence, such as his mental illness, when deciding whether to sentence him to life in prison or death. For 30 years, his appeal went unresolved until the district court sent his appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals in August 2022. The Court of Criminal Appeals remanded Mr. Rabbani’s case to the district court to review the arguments. In May 2023, the prosecutors agreed with Mr. Rabbani’s claim and recommended a new sentencing trial."... Syed Rabbani, a prisoner with mental illness, was sentenced to death in 1988. In his appeal, Mr. Rabbani’s attorneys argued that the jury had not been able to consider potentially mitigating evidence, such as his mental illness, when deciding whether to sentence him to life in prison or death. For 30 years, his appeal went unresolved until the district court sent his appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals in August 2022. The Court of Criminal Appeals remanded Mr. Rabbani’s case to the district court to review the arguments. In May 2023, the prosecutors agreed with Mr. Rabbani’s claim and recommended a new sentencing trial."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Jennifer Laurin, a University of Texas criminal law professor, commented on the overlooked appeals by stating, “Plenty of people like [Dixon] will have…factually intensive claims, claims that perhaps require testimony from witnesses, claims that might require accessing physical evidence that may have deteriorated, that the passage of time will make impossible to adjudicate.”

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STORY: "Serious Concerns Raised After Discovery of Death Penalty Appeals Overlooked for Decades By Texas Courts," published by The Death Penalty Information Centre, on July 14, 2023.

GIST: "The Harris County District Clerk’s Office is attempting to resolve nearly one-hundred criminal appeals, including two death penalty cases, that were overlooked by the court system for decades. Among them are the appeals of the two death-sentenced prisoners, Tony Tyrone Dixon and Syed Rabbani. 

Although the cause of the missing cases remains unknown, the court administration and the district clerk’s office created a process to notify court administrators every time a post-conviction appeal is filed. 

Jennifer Laurin, a University of Texas criminal law professor, commented on the overlooked appeals by stating, “Plenty of people like [Dixon] will have…factually intensive claims, claims that perhaps require testimony from witnesses, claims that might require accessing physical evidence that may have deteriorated, that the passage of time will make impossible to adjudicate.”

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/serious-concerns-raised-after-discovery-of-death-penalty-appeals-overlooked-for-decades-by-texas-courts

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.”

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

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