BACKGROUND: (From a previous post of this Blog): "The case regained momentum more than a decade ago when Ms. Dodge’s mother, Carol, sought the involvement of the Idaho Innocence Project, which is based at Boise State University. The group is part of a network of legal advocacy nonprofits affiliated with the Innocence Project, a national organization based in New York that also became involved in the case. Not convinced that her daughter’s killer had been brought to justice because of the lack of a DNA match, Ms. Dodge had asked to see Mr. Tapp’s taped confession. A genealogist who had been enlisted was able to create a new DNA profile for the killer from evidence collected at the crime scene. According to an arrest warrant affidavit from 2019, a family tree of potential suspects led to Mr. Dripps, who had lived across the street from Angie Dodge in Idaho Falls at the time of her murder but had moved to Caldwell, on the other side of the state. A discarded cigarette butt from Mr. Dripps matched the DNA evidence taken from the crime scene, the affidavit said. Genetic genealogy, which matches crime scene DNA to that of relatives, has been credited with providing investigators with breakthroughs in many cold cases, a majority of them yielding arrests. But Mr. Tapp’s case was the first time that the technique was used to clear a convicted killer’s name."
————————————————————————————————
https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2022/06/back-in-action-after-seasonal-break.html
----------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "After Tapp’s release, Tapp became involved in the Idaho Innocence Project, an organization that seeks to prevent and fight wrongful convictions. He led its policy group that lobbies for changes in law, said Greg Hampikian, Idaho Innocence Project director. Hampikian called both the wrongful conviction and his early death the “two tragedies” of Tapp’s life. Tapp’s exoneration inspired legislation he helped craft, sponsored by Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, and Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, that compensated Idahoans who are wrongfully convicted of crimes — $62,000 for every year of wrongful incarceration, or $75,000 for every year wrongfully on death row. Gov. Brad Little signed the Idaho Wrongful Conviction Act into law in March 2021."
------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Idaho man freed after wrongful murder conviction dies in Las Vegas accident," by Reporter Sally Krutzig, published by The Idaho Statesman, on November 7, 2023.
STORY: "BOISE, Idaho — Christopher Tapp, an Idaho Falls man who was imprisoned for more than 20 years after being wrongfully convicted of murder, has died, the Idaho Innocence Project told the Idaho Statesman.
Tapp, 47, suffered an accident in Las Vegas that resulted in a head injury, and he passed away on Sunday “peacefully at a hospital with his family by his side,” East Idaho News reported.
Tapp was wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of 18-year-old Angie Dodge in Idaho Falls in 1998.
He was released after serving 21 years in prison in 2017 following concerns that his confession had been coerced. In 2019, new evidence matched Dodge’s neighbor Brian Leigh Dripps to the DNA found at the crime scene.
In August, Tapp’s wife, Stacy Tapp, died in a car accident.
After Tapp’s release, Tapp became involved in the Idaho Innocence Project, an organization that seeks to prevent and fight wrongful convictions.
He led its policy group that lobbies for changes in law, said Greg Hampikian, Idaho Innocence Project director. Hampikian called both the wrongful conviction and his early death the “two tragedies” of Tapp’s life.
Tapp’s exoneration inspired legislation he helped craft, sponsored by Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, and Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, that compensated Idahoans who are wrongfully convicted of crimes — $62,000 for every year of wrongful incarceration, or $75,000 for every year wrongfully on death row. Gov. Brad Little signed the Idaho Wrongful Conviction Act into law in March 2021.
“The mission to help other people who were in his position really gave him meaning and purpose later in his life in terms of work,” Hampikian said.
Idaho Falls agreed to pay Tapp $11.7 million in a settlement last year after he sued the city.
The Post Register reported that the city also agreed to send an official apology letter to Tapp and host “a full discussion with thought leaders on interrogation techniques” as part of the settlement.
“Shortly after he’s compensated, both Stacy and him are gone,” Greg Hampikian, Idaho Innocence Project director, told the Statesman by phone. “It’s so supremely tragic and ironic. It’s hard to wrap your head around. The lesson for me is we have to prevent these wrongful convictions.”
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/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
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;
—————————————————————————————————
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;
------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
