PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "In 2022, the Los Angeles Innocence Project used DNA evidence to overturn the wrongful murder conviction of Maurice Hastings, who spent more than 38 years in prison. The organization says its mission is “to exonerate the wrongly convicted; free the wrongfully incarcerated; uncover and remedy past misuse of forensic and other scientific evidence in the courtroom,” and push for improvements in the criminal legal system, including standards for using forensic evidence in the court."
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It’s an important shift in Peterson’s case. Up to now, many of his attorneys’ efforts have focused on overturning his death sentence — an effort that succeeded in 2020. Peterson, 51, is now seeking exoneration and to free himself from serving a life sentence.
In a statement to NPR, the Los Angeles Innocence Project said it “represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his claim of actual innocence.”
Laci Peterson and her unborn child, Connor, disappeared in December of 2002. Scott Peterson, who was found to be having an affair, was charged with murder in April of 2003, almost immediately after his wife’s decomposed body was found along the shore of San Francisco Bay. He pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence in the years since.
At the end of a five-month trial, a jury convicted Peterson in November of 2004, after two jurors were dismissed from the panel during deliberations.
A jury approved the death penalty for Peterson, only to have that punishment rolled back by a finding that jurors hadn’t been properly screened. In December of 2022, a court rejected Peterson’s call for a new trial.
This week, Peterson’s team filed a discovery motion, referring to evidence related to his case, according to records at the San Mateo Superior Court. His attorneys also filed a motion for DNA testing, as well as a motion to seal some court records. They’re the first new court filings in his murder case in a year.
Comments from Peterson’s current and former lawyers suggest the new effort may focus on a burglary near the family’s home in Modesto, Calif., around the time Laci Peterson disappeared, according to ABC, which first reported the Los Angeles Innocence Project’s involvement in his case.
In 2022, the Los Angeles Innocence Project used DNA evidence to overturn the wrongful murder conviction of Maurice Hastings, who spent more than 38 years in prison.
The organization says its mission is “to exonerate the wrongly convicted; free the wrongfully incarcerated; uncover and remedy past misuse of forensic and other scientific evidence in the courtroom,” and push for improvements in the criminal legal system, including standards for using forensic evidence in the court."
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;
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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-12348801
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