Eden Westbrook: Tasmania: Unusual (Disturbing) Development: Mamamia reports that an in dependent expert with 50 years’ experience has been knocked back from accessing autopsy photographs in the case of Eden Westbrook – a career-first that has left him “astounded,” in a story headed, "Forensic expert blocked in Tasmanian teenage death case."…"Consultant forensic pathologist Byron Collins was engaged to review the coronial file in the tragic 2015 case, in which 15-year-old Eden was found hanging in a tree in central St Helens. While Eden’s death was quickly deemed a suicide, her family believes she was in fact murdered – with the teenager’s mystifying story now reaching a wide and national audience. But when Dr Collins recently requested Eden’s file, he was refused access to her autopsyphotos – which he said had never occurred before in his career. “I have never faced this problem before and I’m astounded that it has occurred,” Dr Collins told podcaster Jay Walkerden in this week's episode of his podcast into Eden's case, Our Little Edey."

BACKGROUND: "In 2015, in the blissful coastal town of St Helens in Tasmania, her lifeless body was found by police in a local park.  Word had quickly spread through the small community that Eden had died, her parents Jason and Amanda rushing to the scene. Police ruled that Eden had taken her own life and a three-page report by a coroner agreed. But what really happened to Eden on the night she died continues to be questioned by those close to her. They don't believe she died by suicide. They believe that something far more sinister occurred.

://www.mamamia.com.au/eden-westbrook-case/

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It beggars belief that it has occurred. I understand that the photographs are very sensitive and can be very disconcerting and upsetting to people who may view them. “But as far as I’m concerned, as a consultant forensic pathologist who has been retained in this case or any other case … I fail to understand the reasoning behind any refusal and it’s not occurred in any requests that I’ve made ever over my career.”

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QUOTE TWO OF THE DAY: "Eden’s father and mother Jason and Amanda Westbrook said they were “in shock” after hearing Dr Collins had been knocked back from seeing his daughter’s autopsy photos. Mr Westbrook said the photos were particularly critical, as two of his other daughters said they noticed, when applying Eden’s makeup for her funeral, that she had “shattered” teeth andbruising around her neck. Since learning of their daughters’ concerns, the Westbrooks have been asking questions about whether these injuries could be signs of a struggle, and potential evidence that Eden did not die by self harm. “There’s things that need to be looked at. I don’t want to look at the photos and nor does Amanda – but Byron Collins, he’s qualified and trained and he’s able and he wants to look at them,” Mr Westbrook told the podcast. “Now we can put that to bed, we can be given a definitive answer on whether there was blunt force trauma to Eden’s face, teeth, or bruising to her neck. “It can be explained, through those photos, if they’re there or if they’re not. Why they’re not providing them and giving us closure on that as parents is mind-blowing.”

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NETWORKED KNOWLEDGE MEDIA REPORT:  (June 26, 2024): "Forensic expert blocked in Tasmanian teenage death case, published by Mamamia (Senior News Writer Isabella Ross), on June 18, 2024. (Mamamia(stylised as MamaM!a) is an Australian news, opinion and lifestyle website targeted at women. It was created in 2007 by former magazine-editor Mia Freedman as an online blog. The website has since expanded, growing into an online hub for women's news and opinion across many subjects, with over 100 different contributors creating content for the site. Wikipedia); 

GIST: "Eden Westbrook, 15, was deemed to have died by suicide in the Tasmanian east coast township of St Helens during 2015. But evidence has since come to light that she may have in fact been murdered.

An independent expert with 50 years’ experience has been knocked back from accessing autopsy photographs in the case of Eden Westbrook – a career-first that has left him “astounded”. 

Consultant forensic pathologist Byron Collins was engaged to review the coronial file in the tragic 2015 case, in which 15-year-old Eden was found hanging in a tree in central St Helens. 

While Eden’s death was quickly deemed a suicide, her family believes she was in fact murdered – with the teenager’s mystifying story now reaching a wide and national audience.

But when Dr Collins recently requested Eden’s file, he was refused access to her autopsyphotos – which he said had never occurred before in his career. “I have never faced this problem before and I’m astounded that it has occurred,” Dr Collins told podcaster Jay Walkerden in this week’s episode of his podcast into Eden’s case, Our Little Edey. “It beggars belief that it has occurred. I understand that the photographs are very sensitive and can be very disconcerting and upsetting to people who may view them. “But as far as I’m concerned, as a consultant forensic pathologist who has been retained in this case or any other case … I fail to understand the reasoning behind any refusal and it’s not occurred in any requests that I’ve made ever over my career.”

Dr Collins said the autopsy photos were essential in any post mortem examination, and needed in order to conduct a full review. “I’m not a little hamstrung – I’m totally hamstrung and totally frustrated, because I can’t provide a complete review of the circumstances in this particular case.” He said there was also no avenue to appeal the decision.

The Mercury reached out to Tasmania’s Coronial Division for a response, but was told the “issue around the refusal for the release of the autopsy photos is not a matter for comment”.

The Mercury also contacted Attorney-General Guy Barnett, specifically questioning if he would consider intervening or order the coroner to hold a full public inquest – as done in the case of another young Tasmanian, Jari Wise, by his predecessor Elise Archer. Mr Barnett did not comment on a possible intervention, and also responded that the release of information in relation to a coronial investigation was normally a matter for coroners.

However, he said he would look into the matter. “I have asked my department to make enquiries about the circumstances of the request and the release of information in relation to coronial matters,” he said.

Eden’s father and mother Jason and Amanda Westbrook said they were “in shock” after hearing Dr Collins had been knocked back from seeing his daughter’s autopsy photos. Mr Westbrook said the photos were particularly critical, as two of his other daughters said they noticed, when applying Eden’s makeup for her funeral, that she had “shattered” teeth andbruising around her neck.

Since learning of their daughters’ concerns, the Westbrooks have been asking questions about whether these injuries could be signs of a struggle, and potential evidence that Eden did not die by self harm. “There’s things that need to be looked at. I don’t want to look at the photos and nor does Amanda – but Byron Collins, he’s qualified and trained and he’s able and he wants to look at them,” Mr Westbrook told the podcast.

“Now we can put that to bed, we can be given a definitive answer on whether there was blunt force trauma to Eden’s face, teeth, or bruising to her neck. “It can be explained, through those photos, if they’re there or if they’re not. Why they’re not providing them and giving us closure on that as parents is mind-blowing.”

The entire story can be read at:

http://www.netk.net.au/Tasmania/Tasmania42.pdf

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

———————————————————————————————

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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Tim Rees: Ontario: My former Toronto Star colleague Betsy Powell, (a superb, highly experienced court reporter and author) tells the disturbing story of a man whose case has been already been recognized by Canada's Minister of Justice as a likely 'miscarriage of justice'. The story is headed, "Did Toronto police ‘bury’ evidence of this girl’s real killer? Shocking tape of admitted abuser never turned over to Crown, defence," - and sub-headed, "Timothy Rees, 61, spent 19 years in prison for the 1989 murder of 10-year-old Darla Thurrott. It was only later, with the help of the Innocence Project, that he learned Toronto police had never turned over a startlingly incriminating interview with another man." At the heart of the story is Darla, a 10-year-old -old girl, whose life was cut so obscenely short short, and who died such a horrifying brutal death - and the awful possibility that an innocent man has been sentenced to life and imprisoned as a child-killer, because, as Tim Rees' lawyers allege, the police buried evidence of the real killer…."A tape-recorded police interview with James Raymer — a 53-year-old man who slept in a room across from Darla’s bedroom — was so incriminating, Rees should never been charged with her murder, let alone convicted, Rees’s lawyer James Lockyer argued this week while grilling several former Toronto police officers over their investigation. Rees long ago exhausted all avenues of appeal, and so he turned to Innocence Canada while serving his life sentence. It was only when a lawyer with the non-profit advocacy group requested full disclosure of the case, that they received an audio cassette tape of an interview conducted between a Toronto police constable and Raymer, the owner of the Etobicoke house where Darla lived with her parents. The recording was never disclosed to Rees’s defence lawyer in 1990. After reviewing this “fresh evidence,” federal justice officials last year sent the case back to the Ontario Court of Appeal for a rare criminal conviction review hearing, saying there was “reasonable basis to believe that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.” If the panel of three judges agrees, Rees’s case will join the list of Canada’s highest-profile wrongful convictions, alongside those of names like Steven Truscott, Guy Paul Morin, Donald Marshall and David Milgaard."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "After Innocence Canada contacted Toronto police about Rees’s case, members of the service’s homicide cold case squad uncovered the tape of the interview with Raymer, which was conducted at 22 Division on March 17, 1989, the day after Darla’s murder. The interview, conducted by now-retired Toronto police Const. George Clanfield, contains shocking admissions and incriminating statements from a man described in court documents as having physical and intellectual disabilities. Over roughly 40 pages of the interview’s transcript, Raymer — who died in 1999 — admits that he had sexually “played” with the little girl in the past and that, on the night she was killed, he went into her room to “kiss her goodnight.” “I think a long time ago, I fell in love with her,” Raymer says at one point in the interview, explaining how he and the 10-year-old girl would often “have fun” late into the night. In a long exchange, Clanfield presses Raymer to explain what exactly that means. “About a month ago you and her played together. Did she make you hard?” Clanfield asks. “Oh yeah,” Raymer responds. “You touched Darla and got her excited and, and you got all excited and everything. Right?” “Yeah.” At the end of the interview, Clanfied pushes harder still about the night of Darla’s murder; by now, Raymer has changed his story. “I told you I didn’t see her,” he says. “That’s a lie,” the officer responds. Raymer later testified at Rees’s trial and denied any involvement in the murder; none of his statements to police were disclosed to the defence. In court earlier this week, Clanfield said he didn’t recall meeting Raymer, nor the tape, which he described as “a complete revelation to me.”

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STORY: "Did Toronto police ‘bury’ evidence of this girl’s real killer? Shocking tape of admitted abuser never turned over to Crown, defence," by Court  Reporter Betsy Powell, published by The Toronto Star, on July 2, 2024.  (Betsy Powell is a reporter with the crime, courts and justice team at the Star. She is the author of Bad Seeds: the True Story of Toronto's Galloway Boys Street Gang.")

 SUB-HEADING: "Timothy Rees, 61, spent 19 years in prison for the 1989 murder of 10-year-old Darla Thurrott. It was only later, with the help of the Innocence Project, that he learned Toronto police had never turned over a startlingly incriminating interview with another man.

PHOTO CAPTION: "10-year-old Darla Thurrott was found strangled in her Etobicoke bedroom on March 17, 1989."

PHOTTO CAPTION: "Timothy Rees arrives at the Ontario Court of Appeal at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Thursday. Rees spent 19 years in prison and continues to serve a life sentence."

GIST: "Did Toronto police investigators “bury” a shocking tape recording of a man admitting sexual encounters with a 10-year-old murder victim in order to convict a man who went on to serve nearly two decades in prison for a crime he insists he did not commit?

That’s the allegation at the heart of an unusual court proceeding initiated by Timothy Rees, 61, who claims he was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder in the strangulation death of Darla Thurrott, found lifeless in her bed on March 17, 1989.

A tape-recorded police interview with James Raymer — a 53-year-old man who slept in a room across from Darla’s bedroom — was so incriminating, Rees should never been charged with her murder, let alone convicted, Rees’s lawyer James Lockyer argued this week while grilling several former Toronto police officers over their investigation.

Rees long ago exhausted all avenues of appeal, and so he turned to Innocence Canada while serving his life sentence. It was only when a lawyer with the non-profit advocacy group requested full disclosure of the case, that they received an audio cassette tape of an interview conducted between a Toronto police constable and Raymer, the owner of the Etobicoke house where Darla lived with her parents.

The recording was never disclosed to Rees’s defence lawyer in 1990.

After reviewing this “fresh evidence,” federal justice officials last year sent the case back to the Ontario Court of Appeal for a rare criminal conviction review hearing, saying there was “reasonable basis to believe that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.” 

If the panel of three judges agrees, Rees’s case will join the list of Canada’s highest-profile wrongful convictions, alongside those of names like Steven Truscott, Guy Paul Morin, Donald Marshall and David Milgaard.

On Friday, Lockyer challenged the retired Toronto police homicide detective in charge of the Thurrott case, who denied concealing the taped interview with Raymer — who was, the lawyer noted, the son of a senior Ontario Provincial Police officer.

“When you charged Tim Rees, you decided then and there to bury negative information about James Raymer,” Lockyer suggested to Wayne Cotgreave, who retired in 2005.

“Absolutely not, there was no reason to,” Cotgreave replied, saying he first heard the incriminating recording in 2011, long after Rees was already convicted.

Any suggestion that Cotgreave and his partner Doug Massey, who died last year, were “trying to get Raymer off the hook, is just, to me despicable,” the 73-year-old former detective said.

Lockyer continued: “You didn’t tell ... (the prosecutor) that Raymer admitted sexual relations with Darla, he admitted kissing her goodnight, he admitted meeting ... her in the washroom in the middle of the night.” 

“Those details are on the tape,” Cotgreave replied. “I did not see the tape.” 

The murder of Darla Thurrott

Immediately after the murder, and lacking any signs of forced entry, police concentrated their investigation on the occupants: Darla’s mother, her boyfriend, a basement tenant, Raymer, and Rees, a family friend who had stayed overnight following a night of partying at the residence.

At the time, Rees was 26. He had a criminal record and a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Eventually, after two months and multiple police interviews, Rees told police he choked Darla to death, saying he did so to “send her on to a more perfect life.” (At trial, the jury heard Darla had a learning disability and was teased at school.)

But Rees later recanted, and at his trial in 1990, his defence lawyer claimed he’d been “pressured” into making a false confession after he had gone without food or sleep for days amid a booze and drug binge.

Nonetheless, the jury convicted Rees of second-degree murder and handed him a life sentence.

According to the Star’s archives, Rees — who is currently on parole and was in court to watch the hearings this week — “swore and spat at” Cotgreave after the jury’s verdict was announced.

“The handcuffed Rees, 27, had to be physically restrained by court security as he struggled in the prisoner’s box,” the Star reported at the time.

Rees would spend the next 19 years in federal prison before he was paroled in 2016.

It was only then, long after Rees had exhausted all regular avenues to appeal, that he turned to Innocence Canada, a non-profit organization with a mandate to identify, advocate for and exonerate individuals convicted of crimes they did not commit.

The unseen evidence against James Raymer

Over the years, Innocence Canada has successfully overturned several wrongful convictions over issues including faulty eyewitness identification, false confessions, police and prosecutorial tunnel vision, systemic discrimination, errors and advances in forensic science, and professional misconduct — which can include the withholding of evidence from the defence.

The latter is at the heart of the Rees case.

After Innocence Canada contacted Toronto police about Rees’s case, members of the service’s homicide cold case squad uncovered the tape of the interview with Raymer, which was conducted at 22 Division on Mach 17, 1989, the day after Darla’s murder.

The interview, conducted by now-retired Toronto police Const. George Clanfield, contains shocking admissions and incriminating statements from a man described in court documents as having physical and intellectual disabilities.

Over roughly 40 pages of the interview’s transcript, Raymer — who died in 1999 — admits that he had sexually “played” with the little girl in the past and that, on the night she was killed, he went into her room to “kiss her goodnight.”

“I think a long time ago, I fell in love with her,” Raymer says at one point in the interview, explaining how he and the 10-year-old girl would often “have fun” late into the night.

In a long exchange, Clanfield presses Raymer to explain what exactly that means.

“About a month ago you and her played together. Did she make you hard?” Clanfield asks.

“Oh yeah,” Raymer responds.

“You touched Darla and got her excited and, and you got all excited and everything. Right?”

“Yeah.”

At the end of the interview, Clanfied pushes harder still about the night of Darla’s murder; by now, Raymer has changed his story.

“I told you I didn’t see her,” he says.

“That’s a lie,” the officer responds.

Raymer later testified at Rees’s trial and denied any involvement in the murder; none of his statements to police were disclosed to the defence.

In court earlier this week, Clanfield said he didn’t recall meeting Raymer, nor the tape, which he described as “a complete revelation to me.”

Lockyer asked Clanfield if he shared the contents with the two homicide investigators on the case, Cotgreave and Massey.

“One hundred per cent, I cannot see why I would not,” Clanfield replied.

Why was the tape never heard?

In court this week, Lockyer has repeatedly challenged police witnesses on why the tape never saw the light of day.

On Thursday, Lockyer asked Clanfield if he remembered that Raymer came from a family with a lot of money and that his father was a superintendent with the OPP.

Yes, Clanfield said, saying he recalled Raymer’s dad was “high up,” in the OPP. 

The disclosure of the prosecution’s evidence against an accused person — including exculpatory evidence — is a core pillar of the Canadian justice system.

In 1991, that principle was enshrined in the landmark Supreme Court decision R. v. Stinchcombe, which states the Crown has a legal duty to disclose all relevant information to the defence, “to be used to ensure that justice is done.”

For his part, Cotgreave noted the Thurrott murder predated that decision. In a sworn affidavit, he wrote: “As I recall, disclosure rules 35 rules ago — pre-Stinchcombe — were very different. Police were not required to give full disclosure of their investigations.”

On Friday, he explained that the first time he heard the recording was last month after it was sent to him as part of the current proceeding. The cassette was found in a banker’s box at police headquarters with his name on it.

However, Cotgreave added, even if he was aware of what was on the recording, he’s not certain he would have advised the prosecution, saying it may not have been relevant. 

How could a man’s admission to sexually molesting the victim not be relevant to a murder prosecution, Lockyer pressed.

“To me, sexual assault doesn’t equal a killer,” Cotgreave replied.

Cotgreave retired from the Toronto Police Service in 2005 after a 35-year career over which he rose up the ranks from constable to superintendent, eventually working in the office of then-Chief of Police Julian Fantino. 

According to a document filed with court, Crown prosecutors have conceded that the tape should have been handed over to prosecutors by police, even 35 years ago before the Stinchcombe ruling.

Associate Chief Justice Michal Fairburn, and Justices Gary Trotter and Benjamin Zarnett are conducting the review, which will resume this fall."

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/did-toronto-police-bury-evidence-of-this-girl-s-real-killer-shocking-tape-of-admitted/article_80779f00-33df-11ef-899d-73600204a64c.html

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

———————————————————————————————

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;

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Karen Read: Massachusetts: Washington Post editorializes on the end of the case in a mistrial in an editorial headed, "The Read trial did produce a verdict - on law enforcement," which happens to mention some very novel forensic techniques used by the police.

BACKGROUND:  (June 11, 2024): "Read has maintained her innocence and said she’s being framed as part of an elaborate law-enforcement conspiracy. She had dropped O’Keefe off at the home of fellow Boston police Officer Brian Albert. After that, the attorneys argued, people at the home beat him and then left him to die in the snow; they also suggest he was bitten by the family dog, a German shepherd mix named Chloe. During the trial, which is now in its seventh week, the defense has cross-examined nearly all of the more than 50 witnesses the prosecution has called, particularly honing in on the testimony of several key police officers. One of the most striking examples of what they hoped to show were shoddy investigative techniques came early on in the trial: Canton police officers, the first on the scene, collected O’Keefe’s frozen blood in red Solo cups given to them by a neighbor, and then transported the cups to the police station in a Stop & Shop bag. Read’s attorneys also pushed the police officers on their use of a sergeant’s personal leaf blower to clear the snow, officers’ failure to seek a warrant to search the home, their handling of witnesses, and inconsistent recordkeeping. "

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/11/metro/karen-read-investigation-police/?p1=Article_Inline_Text_Link

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EDITORIAL:  "The Read trial did produce a verdict - on law enforcement" , published by The Washington Post Editorial Board, on July 1 2024.

SUB-HEADING: "Jurors deadlocked on the charges against Read. But the proceedings did reveal iffy police work and tolerance for misogyny at the State Police."

GIS: "Karen Read’s murder trial was an eight-week string of embarrassments for law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts. The high-profile proceedings revealed both iffy local police work — collecting evidence in a red Solo cup, in one infamous instance — and tolerance for misogyny within the ranks of the State Police.

And now, those agencies may get to experience those embarrassments all over again.

The judge declared a mistrial on Monday, after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the charges. Norfolk County prosecutors have said they will retry the case, which would effectively bring the spectacle at the Dedham courthouse back for Season 2.

Read was accused of murdering her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by ramming him with her car on a snowy night in Canton in 2022. The case became an unlikely national story, fueled by social media that amplified conspiracy theories that Read had been framed and the undeniable soap opera aspects of a case where stormy personal texts between Read and O’Keefe became part of the record.

If there’s an upside to a potential second trial — a big if, but bear with us — it’s that by keeping law enforcement’s missteps and problems in such a prominent spotlight, it might keep up the pressure on departments to address them;

Let’s start with the State Police. Evidence showed the lead State Police investigator on the O’Keefe case, Michael Proctor, sending crude and misogynistic text messages to friends and fellow troopers. Not only were the messages boorish, but they gave ammunition to the defense to raise doubts about the whole case.

As bad as the messages were, their disclosure in a high-profile setting served a purpose, showing the extent of the culture problem that the State Police’s next leader will need to solve. Police departments need a climate in which officers hold one another accountable and where texts like Proctor’s wouldn’t be tolerated — for the sake of their own cases, if nothing else. Governor Maura Healey has moved slowly in selecting a new colonel for the State Police, but the revelation of the Proctor messages fueled calls to pick a leader and change agent from outside the ranks.

There were other missteps; when federal authorities looked into the case, they reportedly turned up records that the state prosecutor had ignored. Other conduct revealed by the trial was simply embarrassing. Canton police, according to testimony, collected evidence from the crime scene in red Solo cups and carried it in a Stop & Shop bag.

Altogether, Read’s lawyers had plenty of fodder to portray law enforcement as sloppy and to raise doubts about the potential bias of investigators. The US attorney is also reviewing the case and may yet turn up more details that could be uncomfortable for law enforcement.

The trial highlighted some of the new realities for law enforcement everywhere. Police and prosecutors are under a microscope like never before. They are operating in an environment of widespread distrust of authority, conspiracy theories broadcast on social media, and technology that collects and preserves the personal communications of cops and robbers alike. A second trial, if it occurs, would highlight those challenges all over again.

There will be more murder investigations and trials in Massachusetts after this one. It’s for the sake of those cases that law enforcement should take the Read trial as a wake-up call. Defense lawyers will always prod and poke to find ways to cast doubt on law enforcement. But police and prosecutors don’t have to make it so easy for them."

Thhe entire editorial can be read at:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/01/opinion/karen-read-mistrial-verdict/

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

———————————————————————————————

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;