PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’ As all too many of this Blog's post have shown, I also recognize that pressure for false confessions can take many forms, up to and including physical violence, even physical and mental torture.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog:
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BACKGROUND: Sandra “Sandy” Hemme has spent more than four decades in prison for a crime that evidence supports she did not commit, making her the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in the U.S. Although Ms. Hemme, now 63, has spent the majority of her life wrongfully imprisoned, she has never given up hope that her name would one day be cleared. Ms. Hemme was wrongly convicted for the 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke in St. Joseph, Missouri, after police exploited her mental illness and coerced her into making false statements while she was sedated and receiving treatment for hallucinatory episodes. In late February 2023, Ms. Hemme’s attorneys filed a petition for habeas relief in the 43rd Circuit Court of Livingston County based on compelling new evidence of her innocence. This new evidence was withheld by the State for decades and pointed to a police officer as the person who committed the crime. Innocence Project:
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Not only did Duncan represent Hemme in her 1985 murder trial, as court records indicate, but he was also the defense attorney for former death row inmates Leamon White, Clarence Dexter and Ed “Butch” Ruescher. Earlier this year, my colleague Melinda Henneberger wrote about Ruescher’s trials and tribulations with Duncan. In 1996, both Reuscher’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence were overturned because of Duncan’s ineffective counsel. Hemme’s release was long overdue. She’s wrongly spent 43 years in prison for the murder of Patricia Jeschke, a St. Joseph woman that the evidence shows Hemme did not kill, according to court records. No thanks to Duncan, Hemme was granted post-conviction relief last month. If her case and those of the others I mentioned above aren’t enough to warrant a thorough review of Duncan’s ineffective practice over the years, how could any of us have faith in Missouri’s justice system?"
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COMMENTARY: "Sandy Hemme's finally almost free. Who else did her ineffective lawyer get locked up?," by Columnist Toriano Porter, published by The Kansas City Star, pn July 11, 2024. (Toriano Porter is an opinion writer and member of The Star’s editorial board. He’s received statewide, regional and national recognition for reporting since joining McClatchy in 2012.)
PHOTO CAPTION: "Every case Bob Duncan has ever touched needs to be reviewed by the justice system,” said one private investigator."
GIST: "The day after the Missouri Court of Appeals ordered the release of exonerated Missouri prisoner Sandra “Sandy” Hemme, I received an unexpected text message from private investigator Latahra Smith, formerly of Kansas City.
She wanted to talk about the shoddy work done by one of Hemme’s original defense attorneys, Robert “Bob” Duncan, who died in 1997.
I was raised never to speak ill of the dead, so I will tread lightly here.
But to the best of my knowledge, at least five cases Duncan was associated with were overturned by the courts.
There possibly could be more.
In three of these cases, the defendants were on death row when they were either exonerated or had their death sentences vacated.
In each, Duncan was found ineffective, according to legal records.
When it comes to wrongful convictions, Smith knows her stuff.
Her tireless investigative work led to the release of Keith Carnes, a Kansas City man wrongfully convicted of murder in a 2003 fatal shooting here.
Although Duncan had no ties to Carnes’ defense, Smith said she’s researched a number of his criminal defense cases.
“Every case Bob Duncan has ever touched needs to be reviewed by the justice system,” Smith told me.
Based on what I know about Duncan’s history, her assertion has merit.
Folks, this is an issue that must be addressed by local prosecutors and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office.
Speaking of Bailey, his needless pleas to keep Hemme, 64, behind bars are inhumane.
In June, citing clear and convincing evidence, Livingston County Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman ruled that Hemme is innocent of a 1980 murder conviction in St. Joseph.
Yet, as of Wednesday, Hemme was still locked up in a Missouri prison.
Minutes after Smith’s text, Cliff Middleton of Kansas City emailed me.
Duncan’s legal work was the subject of Middleton’s correspondence as well.
“Sandra Hemme will be released,” Middleton wrote Tuesday evening. “Chalk number 5 up for Bob Duncan being found ineffective in a court of law.”
MIiddleton would know more than most about Duncan’s history.
For more than three decades, he has fought for his father, Ken Middleton, to be released from prison.
The elder Middleton is a former over-the-road truck driver from Blue Springs.
He is serving a life sentence for murder in the 1990 shooting death of his wife Kathy Middleton.
The Middletons have long maintained Ken did not kill his wife. In 2005, citing ineffective counsel — Duncan represented Ken at his original murder trial — former Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Edith Messina vacated Ken’s life sentence and ordered a new trial.
Despite that ruling, Ken has remained behind bars since his arrest 34 years ago.
Later this month, Ken will finally get a chance to argue his innocence in open court for the first time since Messina set aside his guilty verdict.
I’ve written about the travesty of justice that both Carnes and Ken Middleton faced in the Missouri judicial system.
Over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know both Smith and Cliff Middleton as they fought for their loved ones to come home.
So I understand why this week, both reached out to speak to me about Duncan, a former prominent attorney from Kansas City who ran afoul of federal law in the late 1980s and was later stripped of his law license for failing to pay federal income taxes, according to court records.
Not only did Duncan represent Hemme in her 1985 murder trial, as court records indicate, but he was also the defense attorney for former death row inmates Leamon White, Clarence Dexter and Ed “Butch” Ruescher.
Earlier this year, my colleague Melinda Henneberger wrote about Ruescher’s trials and tribulations with Duncan.
In 1996, both Reuscher’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence were overturned because of Duncan’s ineffective counsel. Hemme’s release was long overdue.
She’s wrongly spent 43 years in prison for the murder of Patricia Jeschke, a St. Joseph woman that the evidence shows Hemme did not kill, according to court records.
No thanks to Duncan, Hemme was granted post-conviction relief last month.
If her case and those of the others I mentioned above aren’t enough to warrant a thorough review of Duncan’s ineffective practice over the years, how could any of us have faith in Missouri’s justice system?
The entire commentary 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;
