GIST: "Lucy Letby’s appeal team is due to announce ‘new evidence’ which they believe ‘significantly undermines’ her convictions for murdering babies.
Barrister Mark McDonald, representing the killer neonatal nurse - serving 15 whole life terms - said he would be giving details of ‘fresh developments’ in the case.
Mr McDonald said he will make his announcement tomorrow afternoon at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
Letby, 34, was convicted of murdering seven babies and six attempted murders of infants in her care at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016, following a trial last year. She was found guilty of a seventh attempted murder after a retrial in the summer.
Mr McDonald said: ‘There will be a press conference by the legal defence team for Lucy Letby to announce fresh developments on the case. At the conference we will also be announcing new evidence, which significantly undermines the convictions.’
The barrister declined to reveal further details in advance of the new evidence or which aspects of the prosecution he believes to be unsafe.
Mr McDonald has revealed meeting more than 50 experts, covering neonatology, pathology and statistics, willing to assist in challenging Letby’s convictions.
Evidence cited by her supporters include flaws in door swipe data used to state the locations of various doctors and nurses when baby collapses and deaths occurred.
The jury was also not told how internal and external reviews - carried out by the hospital, public bodies, medical experts and pathologists - failed to find any evidence of foul play, her supporters argue.
Other grounds include how jurors were not told the neonatal unit had suffered an outbreak of a bug called pseudomonas, and had been criticised for being crowded and understaffed.
Mr McDonald is a human rights barrister whose previous cases include an unsuccessful challenge by Michael Stone, given three life sentences for the murders of Lin Russell, 45, and her six-year-old daughter Megan, who were found bludgeoned to death in Chillenden, Kent, in July 1996.
He also represents Ben Geen, convicted of murdering two of his patients and poisoning 15 others at Horton general hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Geen, then 25, was given a life sentence with a minimum 30-year term in 2006.
Previously discussing the Letby case, Mr McDonald said in September he plans to take her case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), to apply for it to be sent back to the Court of Appeal.
He said: ‘I knew almost from the start, following this trial, that there is a strong case that she is innocent.
Court artist drawing of Letby during her trail at Manchester Crown Court. Detectives have interviewed Letby under caution in prison over more deaths and incidents where babies suffered ‘serious harm’ t the Countess and also Liverpool Women’s Hospital
‘The fact is juries get it wrong. And yes, so do (sic) the Court of Appeal, history teaches us that."
The press conference is being held as the ongoing public inquiry into how Letby carried out her crimes - headed by Lady Justice Thirlwall - is taking a break to resume in the New Year.
Last week, it was revealed detectives have interviewed Letby under caution in prison over more deaths and incidents where babies suffered ‘serious harm’ at the Countess and also Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she spent time on placement in 2012 and early 2015.
Police previously said they are reviewing the care of the more than 4,000 babies Letby looked after during her career."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14195569/Lucy-Letbys-lawyers-announce-new-evidence-significantly-undermines-convictions.htmlPUBLISHER'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;