PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Question of the Day: Will the U.S. Supreme Court similarly halt the execution of Robert Roberson - the next in line to die in Texas - whose imminent execution ( Thursday October 17) is based on the junk 'shaken baby syndrome?' I truly hope so;
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
————————————————————————————
INNOCENCE PROJECT PETITION:
Stop the execution of Robert Roberson: an innocent father;
https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/justice-for-robert-roberson/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Attorney Shawn Nolan said the high court’s action came as a relief. Agreeing to hear the case and extending the stay of execution “brings us one step closer to finally doing the DNA testing that will overturn Ruben’s wrongful conviction and death sentence,” he said."
----------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Supreme Court to hear a Texas death row case, after halting an execution," by Associated Press Reporter Lindsay Whitehurst, reported on October 4, 2024. ( Lindsay Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana.)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of a Texas man on death row who has long argued that DNA testing would help prove he didn’t kill an 85-year-old woman during a home robbery decades ago.
The order came down Friday in the case of Ruben Gutierrez, months after the justices stayed his execution 20 minutes before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection.
Gutierrez was condemned for the 1998 stabbing of Escolastica Harrison at her home in Brownsville, on the state’s southern tip.
Prosecutors said the killing of the mobile home park manager and retired teacher was part of an attempt to steal more than $600,000 she had hidden in her home because of her mistrust of banks.
Gutierrez has long asked for DNA testing on evidence like Harrison’s nail scrapings, a loose hair wrapped around one of her fingers and various blood samples from within her home.
His attorneys say there’s no physical or forensic evidence connecting him to the killing. Two others were also charged in the case.
Attorney Shawn Nolan said the high court’s action came as a relief. Agreeing to hear the case and extending the stay of execution “brings us one step closer to finally doing the DNA testing that will overturn Ruben’s wrongful conviction and death sentence,” he said."
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
———————————————————————————————
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;
