BACKGROUND: "After Calusinski’s conviction in Lake County court, well-known defense attorney Kathleen Zellner — who has helped clear many people accused of high-profile killings and represents Steve Avery of Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” series — agreed to handle Calusinski’s appeal. Her case has been featured on national news and true-crime programs.But if Calusinski has won sympathy in the court of public opinion, she has gained little traction in court. In 2016, amid assertions from Calusinski’s defenders that a new X-ray of Benjamin’s skull had been found in the Lake County coroner’s office that undermined the prosecution’s case, her lawyers were granted the opportunity to present what they said was new evidence of her innocence. But after three days of testimony, the judge ruled that the murder conviction against Calusinski would stand. Shanes said the defense’s claims — among them that the “new” X-ray proved Benjamin died of a pre-existing condition — “amount to Monday-morning quarterbacking.” Last year, an Illinois appeals court also upheld Calusinski’s conviction and, months later, the Illinois Supreme Court declined to hear the case. But Calusinski’s father, Paul, long her most vocal champion, said the family will keep fighting and vowed to take the case to federal court." The Charles Smith Blog:
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/5759290461343326429
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: Major (Welcome) Development: "The autopsy results along with Calusinski's confession led to her conviction. The case has gotten national attention and has been featured in the past on CBS News' "48 Hours."
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STORY: "Woman Convicted In Daycare Death To Get Clemency Hearing," by Reporter Amie Schaenzer, published by Patch, on June 14 2024.
GIST: "A former daycare worker convicted of first-degree murder for throwing a 16-month-old boy to the ground and causing a fatal head injury will seek clemency from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board next month.
The Daily Herald is reporting Melissa Calusinski, 37, will hear Calusinski's clemency request on July 9 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. The PRB will then make a recommendation to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on whether clemency should be granted.
A Lake County jury found Calusinki guilty of the murder of Benjamin King, of Deerfield, in 2011, and a state's appeals court upheld that ruling in 2014. Calusinksi has been fighting for her freedom on the claims that her confession was coerced.
Calusinski, of Carpenterville, has been in custody since 2009, when she was charged with Kingan’s murder. She is serving a 31-year prison sentence for his murder.
An autopsy at that time of Kingan's death showed the boy suffered a skull fracture that led to his death.
During a nine-hour interrogation, Calusinski repeatedly denied hurting the boy, but she eventually confessed to slamming Kingan’s head on the floor shortly before he was found unresponsive, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The autopsy results along with Calusinski's confession led to her conviction. The case has gotten national attention and has been featured in the past on CBS News' "48 Hours."
The entire story can be read at:
https://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/woman-convicted-daycare-death-get-clemency-hearing
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;
