PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "On May 10, Duffy was released from prison on bond. On May 21, 2024, the Virginia Court of Appeals granted the writ of actual innocence, ending the case. “A.R.’s trial testimony was the only evidence that Duffy sodomized him. Thus, A.R.’s credible recantation effectively negates the only basis upon which a rational factfinder would convict Duffy,” the appeals court declared. “No one else witnessed Duffy’s alleged crimes, there was no physical or scientific evidence supporting them, and Duffy consistently proclaimed his innocence." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POST: Keshawn Duffy: Virginia; By Maurice Possley; Posted by The National Registry of Exonerations, on September 15, 2024. Contributing factor: Perjury and False Accusation; GIST: "On November 2, 2018, Keshawn Duffy was charged in Hampton City Circuit Court, in Virginia, with two counts of forcible sodomy after the son of his girlfriend accused him of anally raping him on two occasions between January 1 and June 1, 2017. In March 2019, Duffy went to trial in Hampton City Circuit Court. The prosecution called two witnesses – the boy, A.R., who was then 13, and his mother, J.I. There was no forensic or physical evidence. Duffy had moved in with A.R.’s mother in December 2016. A.R. testified that when he was 11, he was raped by Duffy on two occasions. A.R. told the jury that before the second attack, Duffy pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone. During his testimony, A.R. admitted that in June 2017, he had reported that his uncle, C.G., who was a year older than A.R., had raped him. During the investigation of that allegation, A.R. never said anything about being attacked by Duffy. The investigation of C.G. was closed in August 2017 without any charges being filed. A.R’s mother kicked C.G. out of the home. In June 2018, A.R. first reported that Duffy had attacked him in 2017. A.R. denied that his mother had told him to accuse Duffy. A.R.’s mother, who was a nurse’s aide, testified that she never took A.R. for a medical examination after the boy said he had been raped. She said A.R. was scared that the doctors “were going to stick a camera in his anus to look at the area,” and that she “didn’t want to put my son through any further pain.” She denied that she had told A.R. to accuse Duffy of the crime. She admitted although Duffy had moved out of the house, she still loved him and was upset that he had become involved in a relationship with another woman. The defense argued that A.R.’s mother had coerced A.R. to make the allegation to exact revenge on Duffy because he had begun a relationship with another woman. The defense sought to undermine A.R.’s credibility by presenting testimony from police that during the investigation of A.R.’s allegation against C.G., A.R. never mentioned that he had been assaulted by Duffy, even though, according to A.R.’s testimony, Duffy had attacked him prior to C.G.’s attack. Duffy testified and denied attacking the boy. He said that when A.R. alleged that C.G. had assaulted him, Duffy told J.I. that she should call the police and to seek medical attention for A.R. Duffy said he moved out of the house in October 2017 when his and J.I.’s relationship came to “a drastic end.” He said they continued seeing each other on and off until May 2018 when J.I. learned he was in a relationship with someone else. Duffy said he and J.I. argued at that time, and a month later, A.R. made his allegation against Duffy. On March 22, 2019, the jury convicted Duffy of both counts, which carried mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole because A.R. was under 13 at the time of the alleged attacks. The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld his convictions in 2020. In June 2020, J.I. experienced a mental breakdown that resulted with her being placed under a temporary detention order. She agreed to have her children, including A.R., placed in the care of the Hampton Department of Social Services (DSS) while she received mental health treatment. Aavalon Haynes, a DSS social worker, interviewed A.R. During the interview, A.R. said that he had never been sexually assaulted by C.G. or by Duffy. Haynes later reported that A.R. told him he made the accusation against Duffy because his mother told him to, and he was “just a child that did not know what to do at the time.” Hampton police corporal Sydney Wells reviewed the report of the interview and, after meeting with detectives and a prosecutor from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, decided that more interviewing needed to be done. Jennifer Howe, a child advocate from the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, then interviewed A.R. He said that days earlier, his mother had rushed him out of the house to a McDonald’s restaurant. There, she insinuated that she thought Damien Piper, who was then her live-in boyfriend, had sexually assaulted A.R. Howe reported that A.R. said the statement, which was not true, made him think his mother was “crazy” and “after contacting the police regarding his mother’s mental instability, [A.R.] admitted he was never sexually assaulted by K. Duffy.” Howe also reported that “A.R. stated that his mother would ask him in front of other people if he had been sexually assaulted, and this caused A.R. ‘great embarrassment.’ A.R. thought his mother was trying to ‘tarnish’ his name.” A.R. said sometime earlier he had seen a letter that Duffy wrote to J.I. from prison. In the letter, Duffy apologized for some of his behavior with J.I. In the letter, Duffy denied ever assaulting A.R. Howe said that A.R. said that Piper had shown him the letter and asked A.R. if it was true. A.R. said he admitted to Piper that he had lied. A.R. denied in this interview that J.I. had told him to accuse Duffy. A.R. told Howe that he had lied about C.G. and Duffy. Neither had assaulted him, A.R. said. When Howe asked him how he could provide so much detail in his allegations, A.R. said he was a skilled liar who was “good at making things up.” Corporal Wells interviewed A.R. on June 26, 2020, in the presence of A.R.’s foster father. A.R. said he falsely accused Duffy to “get back at him” for beating J.I and stealing some of A.R.’s belongings. He said that J.I. was “always accusing people of sexually assaulting her children,” so he decided he needed to refute the false claims. Wells interviewed Piper who said that sometime between March and June 2020, by which time he was living with J.I., he saw a letter that Duffy had written to J.I. apologizing for his behavior during their relationship and expressly denying that he ever assaulted A.R. Piper told Wells that Duffy was “proclaiming his innocence, denying that he’d ever assaulted” A.R. Piper confirmed that he had confronted A.R. and that A.R. had admitted he had lied. According to Piper, A.R. said that J.I. had repeatedly asked A.R. if Duffy had assaulted him and would beat A.R. when he said that Duffy had not assaulted him. On January 26, 2021, FBI forensic interviewer Jodie Hively was brought into the case to interview A.R. During this interview, A.R. said that although Duffy had used drugs and mistreated J.I., he never sexually assaulted A.R. Hively reported that A.R. said his false allegation against C.G. was a “stepping stone” to getting “revenge” on Duffy. In July 2021, the prosecution forwarded the police reports detailing the interviews to Duffy’s trial defense lawyer. At that time, the prosecution said it was taking no action because one of the forensic interviewers did not believe the recantation. On February 8, 2023, attorney David Hargett, who had become Duffy’s attorney after A.R.’s recantations were revealed, filed a petition for a writ of actual innocence in the Virginia Court of Appeals. The petition detailed A.R.’s recantations and sought dismissal of the case. “No physical or forensic evidence supported the notion that any crime ever happened,” the petition said. “There was nothing that supported A.R.’s trial testimony other than A.R.’s lies.” In December 2023, the appeals court remanded the case back to Hampton City Circuit Court where, on March 18, 2024, a hearing was held before Judge William S. Moore Jr. Three witnesses testified: A.R., Piper, and Haynes, who had conducted the very first interview during which A.R. recanted. On April 11, 2024, Judge Moore found A.R.’s recantation was credible and that Haynes and Piper provided support for the recantation. The judge found that A.R.’s mother had pressured him into fabricating the allegations against Duffy. The judge said that A.R.’s mother showed a pattern of falsely accusing others, including Department of Social Services employee Haynes, of sexually abusing A.R. and her other children. On April 26, 2024, lawyers acting on behalf of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed a response, saying that the prosecution would join with the defense in seeking the writ of actual innocence. The Commonwealth said that Duffy “is factually innocent of the two counts of forcible sodomy for which he was convicted.” "A free and just society owns up to its wrongdoings and has steps to correct them," Miyares said in a statement. "Virginia's writ of actual innocence process is intended to right those wrongs. It's never too late to deliver justice, and I'm proud to stand alongside Keshawn Duffy in his fight for his innocence." On May 10, Duffy was released from prison on bond. On May 21, 2024, the Virginia Court of Appeals granted the writ of actual innocence, ending the case. “A.R.’s trial testimony was the only evidence that Duffy sodomized him. Thus, A.R.’s credible recantation effectively negates the only basis upon which a rational factfinder would convict Duffy,” the appeals court declared. “No one else witnessed Duffy’s alleged crimes, there was no physical or scientific evidence supporting them, and Duffy consistently proclaimed his innocence."" The entire post 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.
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Saturday, September 28, 2024
Keshawn Duffy: Virginia: From our 'How on earth could this happen?, department: No physical Evidence! No forensic evidences! Just a mountainous pile of ugly lies. Maurice Possley masterfully describes Keshawn Duffy's nightmarish ordeal in his recent National Registry of Exonerations post…"On April 26, 2024, lawyers acting on behalf of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed a response, saying that the prosecution would join with the defense in seeking the writ of actual innocence. The Commonwealth said that Duffy “is factually innocent of the two counts of forcible sodomy for which he was convicted.” "A free and just society owns up to its wrongdoings and has steps to correct them," Miyares said in a statement. "Virginia's writ of actual innocence process is intended to right those wrongs. It's never too late to deliver justice, and I'm proud to stand alongside Keshawn Duffy in his fight for his innocence."
