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STORY: "Man wrongfully convicted as teen takes New Milford to court," by Reporter Caitlin Burchill, published on Monday March 10, 2025. (Caitlin Burchill has been NBC Connecticut’s consumer reporter since 2022. As a member of the NBC CT Responds team, she investigates consumer complaints, recoups viewers’ hard-earned cash, and empowers them to be savvy consumers, too."
GIST: "A man who spent 30 years behind bars for a wrongful murder conviction is suing the town of New Milford and two of its former officers for violating his rights.
A man who spent 30 years behind bars for a wrongful murder conviction is suing the town of New Milford and two of its former officers for violating his rights.
The civil trial began Monday in New Haven federal court.
Ricky Birch, 57, is accusing now-retired New Milford police officer Steven Jordan of suppressing evidence during the investigation leading to his murder conviction in 1989.
Birch also said former detective David Shortt allowed false evidence to be submitted in his case. Shortt died in 2019.
The lawyers representing the town of New Milford and these officers deny all wrongdoing.
They say both men handled their responsibilities appropriately and point to Connecticut State Police as the leaders of the murder investigation.
Everett Carr, 65, was found viciously murdered in his home 40 years ago.
Details of Carr’s death, the initial police response, and footwear analysis were the focus of day one in the courtroom Monday after an all-male jury was seated.
Birch and his former co-defendant Shawn Henning received a $25.2 million settlement from the State of Connecticut, after a state Supreme Court judge overturned their convictions, in part because forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee gave false testimony during their trials.
Henning settled with New Milford for $2.5 million late last year.
An attorney for the town told NBC Connecticut then that it was a reasonable settlement based on potential risks, and all parties involved are glad to put this behind them.
The civil trial is expected to last for at least 10 days.
NBC CT Investigates spoke exclusively with both Birch and Henning in the documentary “Traces of Doubt: the forensics of Doctor Henry Lee" which you can watch on our website, YouTube and Peacock."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/investigations/man-wrongfully-convicted-teen-new-milford-court/3516569/https://authory.com/HaroldLevy
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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;
