PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in eye-witness identification issues because wrongful identifications are at the heart of so many DNA-related exonerations in the USA and elsewhere - and because so much scientific research is being conducted with a goal to making the identification process more transparent and reliable- and less subject to deliberate manipulation. I have also reported far too many cases over the years - mainly cases lacking DNA evidence pointing to the suspect - where the police have rigged the identification process in order to make an identification inevitable. Sure sounds like obstruction of justice to me. PS: And what if the 'witness is simply lying, for whatever iniquitous purpose that might be?
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dunn's defense team has maintained that there was no credible testimony or physical evidence placing Dunn at the scene of the shooting since two eye witnesses, who were 12 and 14 at the time, have since recanted their testimony. "There remains no evidence upon which a reasonable jury could return a verdict of guilty,” St. Louis Prosecutor Gabe Gore said. “In fact your honor, in this case there simply remains no evidence at all."
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STORY: "Closing arguments heard in case to vacate murder conviction against Christopher Dunn, by Reporter Holden Kuwicki, published by KSDK on May 22, 2024.
SUB-HEADING: "There remains no evidence upon which a reasonable jury could return a verdict of guilty,” St. Louis Prosecutor Gabe Gore said.'
GIST: "A St. Louis judge is weighing arguments to decide if a convicted killer will be released from prison.
Christopher Dunn has been locked up for more than 30 years after being convicted of murdering a teenager in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood in St. Louis.
As the hearing entered day two, the case continued to hinge on the testimony of witnesses who both state and defense attorneys have called unreliable.
DeMorris Stepp was one of two eyewitnesses to the 1990 murder of 15-year-old Recco Rogers.
Stepp initially testified that Dunn was the gunman on that fateful night, but he has since recanted his statement, and then walked that back, saying he didn't know who the gunman was.
However, the state may have thrown a curve ball by declining Stepp to the stand.
"This court will see the evolution of Chris Dunn's story,” Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep said. “Over time, he or people working for him inside or outside of prison, have cultivated the current version of Dunn's lies."
Nicole Bailey, a childhood friend of Dunn, testified that it wasn't possible for Dunn to have pulled the trigger because he was at home talking to her on the phone at the time Rogers was killed.
"I was a child,” Nicole Bailey said. “I tried to tell them then he couldn't have been there. I was on the phone with him. Anybody that knows us at that time we talked on the phone for hours all the time. I would've known if Chris was upset."
Throughout the trial, Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep argued that Christopher Dunn was in fact the gunman who killed 15-year-old Recco Rogers based on his 1991 conviction in the case, along with changing stories from both Dunn and his family as to where he was the night of the shooting.
"An innocent man’s best defense is the truth,” Estep said. “You've just heard lies from Christopher Dunn. He's never told you where he was that night."
Dunn's defense team has maintained that there was no credible testimony or physical evidence placing Dunn at the scene of the shooting since two eye witnesses, who were 12 and 14 at the time, have since recanted their testimony.
"There remains no evidence upon which a reasonable jury could return a verdict of guilty,” St. Louis Prosecutor Gabe Gore said. “In fact your honor, in this case there simply remains no evidence at all."
A decision on Dunn's future won't be made immediately."
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
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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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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;
—————————————————————————————————
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.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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