Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Roy Sobotiak: Alberta: Most Unusual Development: As CBC Reporter Wallis Snowden reports, Alberta Attorney General Mickey Amery is seeking a judicial review of a decision of Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani (responding to an application by Innocence Canada) ordering a new trial because a "miscarriage of justice likely occurred," in the murder case for which Roy Sobotiak has already served 35 years…"In a statement to CBC News Wednesday, officials with the Department of Justice said a new trial is needed due to "the identification of new information that was not before the courts at the time of Sobotiak's trial or appeal." The department, however, declined to comment on the nature of that new information. Federal officials said it would be inappropriate to comment on the details as the case remains before the courts and is now subject to a judicial review."


PASSAGE ONE OF THE  DAY: "In a Federal Court filing last week, Amery argues that his federal counterpart provided no reason — written or otherwise —  to support his findings that a new trial is warranted."

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Police suspected foul play but no charges were laid until 1989 when Sobotiak, then 26, was charged with first-degree murder. The principal evidence against him was taped statements he made to an undercover police officer in which he boasted that he had tortured, sexually assaulted, killed, and dismembered Kaminsky in his mother's basement before disposing of her body in the garbage. He also confessed to the murder during a police interrogation but later changed his story. In 1991, he was convicted and later sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for more than 16 years.   Sobotiak has continued to insist his innocence and has never been granted parole." 

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STORY: "Alberta seeks judicial review after new trial ordered for man convicted of 1987 Edmonton murder," by Reporter Wallis Snowden, published by CBC News, on April 1, 2025. (Wallis Snowdon is a journalist with CBC Edmonton focused on bringing stories to the website and the airwaves. Originally from New Brunswick, Wallis has reported in communities across Canada, from Halifax to Fort McMurray. She previously worked as a digital and current affairs producer with CBC Radio in Edmonton.)

SUB-HEADING: "Roy Allan Sobotiak has served more than 35 years for killing Susan Kaminsky.

Roy Allan Sobotiak was granted a new trial in February by Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani, who said there were reasonable grounds to believe that a "miscarriage of justice likely occurred" in Sobotiak's case.

Alberta Attorney General Mickey Amery contests that decision and has applied for a judicial review.

In a Federal Court filing last week, Amery argues that his federal counterpart provided no reason — written or otherwise —  to support his findings that a new trial is warranted.

Sobotiak has served more than 35 years behind bars for second-degree murder in the death of 34-year-old Susan Kaminsky, an Edmonton mother who disappeared in 1987.

In a Feb. 26 news release, the federal Department of Justice said Virani's decision to order a new trial was "not a decision about the guilt or innocence of the applicant" but a "decision to return the matter to the courts where the new relevant legal issues may be determined according to the law."

In his request for a judicial review, Amery argues that Sobotiak was convicted by a jury of his peers, that all of his previous appeals have been rejected, and that Virani "failed to provide reasonably justifiable reasons" for concluding that Sobotiak's conviction was unjust.

"In communicating his decision to the Attorney General of Alberta, the minister provided a single page of correspondence, and a signed order addressed to the Alberta Court of King's Bench," Alberta Justice lawyer John-Marc Dubé wrote in the March 27 notice of application.

"The communication from the minister stated only that he had 'thoroughly reviewed the matter.' The minister owes a duty of procedural fairness to provide the Attorney General of Alberta written reasons when exercising his discretion to order a new trial."

Amery said the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service must know and understand what has made Virani believe a new trial is warranted. Virani failed to provide any reasons as to the nature of the miscarriage of justice, Amery argued. 

"Directing a new trial after determining there is a reasonable basis to concluding a miscarriage of justice likely occurred is an extraordinary remedy," Amery's application says.

"The public is entitled to receive reasonable, sufficient, intelligible and transparent reasons for the Minister's decision to grant the extraordinary remedy."

In a statement to CBC News Wednesday, officials with the Department of Justice said a new trial is needed due to "the identification of new information that was not before the courts at the time of Sobotiak's trial or appeal."

The department, however, declined to comment on the nature of that new information. Federal officials said it would be inappropriate to comment on the details as the case remains before the courts and is now subject to a judicial review.

Under the Criminal Code, a person who has been convicted of an offence and who has exhausted all rights of appeal may apply to the federal minister of justice for a review of their conviction.

Sobotiak applied to the minister for a review under Section 696 of the Criminal Code in February 2021. The Criminal Conviction Review Group of the Department of Justice Canada then conducted an investigation on behalf of the minister. 

The Attorney General of Alberta participated in the investigation and would be responsible for any new trial, including determining if there remains a reasonable likelihood of conviction and if the prosecution is in the public interest.

Without a trace

Kaminsky disappeared in February 1987 after a night out with friends at a north Edmonton pub. 

Her car was found abandoned. Her body has never been found. 

She once babysat Sobotiak when he was a child. Police determined he was the last person to see her alive.  

Police suspected foul play but no charges were laid until 1989 when Sobotiak, then 26, was charged with first-degree murder.

The principal evidence against him was taped statements he made to an undercover police officer in which he boasted that he had tortured, sexually assaulted, killed, and dismembered Kaminsky in his mother's basement before disposing of her body in the garbage.

He also confessed to the murder during a police interrogation but later changed his story.

In 1991, he was convicted and later sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for more than 16 years.  

'A free man soon'

Sobotiak has continued to insist his innocence and has never been granted parole. 

He previously launched unsuccessful appeals to both the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Innocence Canada, a non-profit organization that advocates against wrongful convictions, assisted Sobotiak in his application for a federal review. 

In a statement last month, Innocence Canada said Sobotiak, now 62, is grateful for the decision and hopes he "will be a free man soon." 

A Parole Board of Canada decision in November 2024 found that Sobotiak's release would pose an undue risk to society due his issues with substance abuse, his mental health and his continued failure to claim responsibility for the killing.

"You demonstrated a slightly improved understanding of your crimes; however, you still deny your offence," the parole board wrote.

"You continue to claim innocence." 

The federal government is working to set up a new wrongful conviction review body to replace the current ministerial review process, which has been criticized for taking too much time to review too few cases.

Over the past 20 years, there have been 200 applications arguing wrongful conviction. Thirty cases have been overturned.

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/sobotiak-homicide-judicial-review-1.7498885

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;

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Kara Beaty: Indiana: Excellent forensic investigation by Notre Dame Law School's exoneration justice clinic helps exonerate this innocent woman innocent woman whose wrongful conviction stemmed from a June 2020 collision between her vehicle and a motorcyclist…"Beaty, who was just 18 years old at the time of the crash, was charged with causing death or catastrophic injury to the motorcyclist while operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in her blood. Beaty was charged under this statute even though she had only trace amounts of THC in her blood from marijuana use a full day before the crash, and she was not impaired at the time of the crash."…At her August 2023 trial, the key issue was whether Beaty in fact caused the collision with the motorcyclist. The State’s case relied on two key pieces of evidence. First, a purported eyewitness testified that he was traveling behind the motorcyclist at the time of the collision and that the motorcyclist was traveling roughly 30 miles per hour. Second, Commander Tim Spencer of the St. Joseph County Fatal Alcohol and Crash Team testified that he determined, based on the distance that the motorcyclist's body was thrown after the crash, that the motorcyclist’s speed was 37-42 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Beaty was convicted based on this evidence and was sentenced to six years in prison, with three years executed at the Indiana Department of Corrections and three years on probation. On October 10, 2023, Ms. Beaty was sent to Indiana prison."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "But, evidence never heard by Beaty’s jury proved the State’s theory of the case to be wrong. The motorcyclist had in fact broadcasted his motorcycle ride leading up to the crash on “Facebook Live.” Landmarks visible in this Facebook Live video showed the motorcyclist’s actual route of travel, which contradicted the testimony of the purported eyewitness. In addition, an analysis of landmarks visible in the Facebook Live video showed that the motorcyclist was traveling over 100 miles per hour in the seconds before the crash—nearly three times as fast as the trial evidence suggested."

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On April 15, 2025, Judge Jeffrey Sanford of St. Joseph County Superior Court No. 3 in Indiana granted Exoneration Justice Clinic (EJC) client Kara Beaty’s petition for post-conviction relief and vacated her conviction for causing death or catastrophic injury to a motorcyclist. Then, on April 17, Judge Sanford granted the State of Indiana’s motion to dismiss the criminal charges against her, officially exonerating Beaty.

Beaty’s wrongful conviction stemmed from a June 2020 collision between Beaty’s vehicle and a motorcyclist. Beaty, who was just 18 years old at the time of the crash, was charged with causing death or catastrophic injury to the motorcyclist while operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in her blood. Beaty was charged under this statute even though she had only trace amounts of THC in her blood from marijuana use a full day before the crash, and she was not impaired at the time of the crash.

At her August 2023 trial, the key issue was whether Beaty in fact caused the collision with the motorcyclist. The State’s case relied on two key pieces of evidence. First, a purported eyewitness testified that he was traveling behind the motorcyclist at the time of the collision and that the motorcyclist was traveling roughly 30 miles per hour. Second, Commander Tim Spencer of the St. Joseph County Fatal Alcohol and Crash Team testified that he determined, based on the distance that the motorcyclist's body was thrown after the crash, that the motorcyclist’s speed was 37-42 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Beaty was convicted based on this evidence and was sentenced to six years in prison, with three years executed at the Indiana Department of Corrections and three years on probation. On October 10, 2023, Ms. Beaty was sent to Indiana prison.

But, evidence never heard by Beaty’s jury proved the State’s theory of the case to be wrong. The motorcyclist had in fact broadcasted his motorcycle ride leading up to the crash on “Facebook Live.” Landmarks visible in this Facebook Live video showed the motorcyclist’s actual route of travel, which contradicted the testimony of the purported eyewitness. In addition, an analysis of landmarks visible in the Facebook Live video showed that the motorcyclist was traveling over 100 miles per hour in the seconds before the crash—nearly three times as fast as the trial evidence suggested.

Based on this evidence, in June 2024, St. Joseph County elected prosecutor Ken Cotter agreed to release Beaty on an appeal bond to allow her to file a petition for post-conviction relief. At that point, Beaty had served over eight months in Indiana prison. The EJC, along with South Bend attorney John Kindley, then litigated Beaty’s petition for post-conviction relief. On March 28, 2025, Beaty and the State filed a joint motion for the Court to summarily grant Beaty post-conviction relief and vacate her conviction. This week, Judge Sanford granted that motion and then granted the State’s motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Beaty.

This successful outcome would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of the entire EJC team, including three of its students: Drew Garden, Autumn Chassie, and Alex Ragland. The students contributed to the case by drafting discovery, researching the factual and legal issues involved in the case, interviewing witnesses, and assisting with deposition preparation.

Beaty’s exoneration is the EJC’s third exoneration and its second in the past year, after the exoneration of Anthony Bedolla in August 2024. Since its founding, the EJC has remained committed to criminal justice reform, litigating wrongful conviction cases, and educating the public about miscarriages of justice.

Learn more about Notre Dame Law School’s Exoneration Justice Clinic at exoneration.nd.edu.


Reflections from the Exoneration Justice Clinic Team:

 

Jimmy Gurulé, Director and Professor of Law:

“This was a joint effort with the EJC and St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office that joined our motion to vacate Kara’s wrongful conviction. While Kara should never have been convicted of these crimes in the first place, ultimately, justice was done.”

Kevin Murphy, Staff Attorney and Term Teaching Professor:

"Kara's wrongful conviction was particularly devastating because it sent a young woman who had her life ahead of her to prison for a crime that she did not commit. It was a privilege to represent Kara and help undo this tragic injustice. We hope that our work on Kara's case will help her put this horrible chapter of her life behind her."

Lenora Popken, Staff Attorney:

"Kara's wrongful conviction stole from her the critical years of personal development that occur after high school graduation. While her exoneration will not give her back that time, it will allow her to heal and move forward. I cannot wait to see her grow and develop into the person she is meant to be now that this weight is off of her shoulders."

Drew Garden, 3L:

"When the jailhouse door slams behind an innocent person, it can feel like the world has ended. Exoneration work is special because with careful litigation and hard work, we're able to pry that door open and give people their lives back. I'm so happy for Kara and her family, and I'm inspired as always by our dedicated attorneys at the EJC."

Autumn Chassie, 2L:

“It has been a privilege to assist in Kara Beaty’s representation and contribute to the clinic’s work in any way I can. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to stand alongside Kara in her fight for justice and to be part of a team so unwavering in its commitment to righting wrongful convictions.”

Alex Ragland, 2L:

“After being wrongfully convicted, getting her conviction vacated is a victory for Kara and for the clinic. We all did extensive research into Kara's case, and I'm so happy that our work helped lead to this fantastic result.”

The entire story can be read at:

https://exoneration.nd.edu/news-and-media/news/notre-dame-law-schools-exoneration-justice-clinic-exonerates-kara-beaty/

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;


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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;

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Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Jimmie Duncan: Louisiana: (Flawed bite-mark 'science' and much more): Here is some really good analysis. HL) Major (Welcome) Development: "Jimmy Christian Duncan has spent over 26 years on death row at Louisiana’s Angola prison for the rape and murder of his girlfriend’s toddler daughter—a crime he has always maintained never happened. On Thursday, a Louisiana judge dismissed his conviction, vindicating Duncan’s fierce, decades-long effort to prove his innocence. Between 1976 and 2015, an astonishing 80 percent of Louisiana’s capital sentences were later reversed."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In his order vacating the conviction, District Court Judge Alvin Sharp wrote that Duncan had successfully demonstrated his claim of “factual innocence” based on new evidence that was not available at the original trial. His conviction relied on a so-called bite mark analysis, a method that’s since been discredited and is widely regarded as ‘junk science’, that was conducted by a now-infamous duo, doctor Steven Hayne and dentist Michael West. As I reported in Bolts and Mother Jones last month, Hayne and West have since been found responsible for a host of other wrongful convictions; Duncan is the last man left on death row who had been convicted on the basis of their work."


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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: " Duncan’s case fits with a long tradition of wrongful convictions in Louisiana. Between 1976 and 2015, an astonishing 80 percent of the state’s capital sentences were later reversed—nine people have been exonerated off death row in the time that Duncan has been there.  But he is also the first person to receive relief under Louisiana’s factual innocence statute, a reform that the state created in 2021 under Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, which dramatically expanded how prisoners can make innocence claims by allowing people to introduce new facts rather than simply raise constitutional violations as part of their post-conviction review process. "


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STORY: "In Louisiana, a Judge Just Vacated a Controversial Death Row Case," by Piper French, published by Mother Jones, on April 27, 2025.


SUB-HEADING: "Chris Duncan’s longtime claims of innocence were boosted by the discrediting of bite mark analysis, and by recent reforms now under threat from the state’s  Republican leadership." (Piper French is a staff writer for Bolts. She lives in Los Angeles. Her freelance work can be found in publications like New York Review of Books, New York magazine, The Drift, and The Nation.) This article was first published by Bolts, as part of a collaboration with Mother Jones.

GIST: "Jimmie Christian Duncan has spent over 26 years on death row at Louisiana’s Angola prison for the rape and murder of his girlfriend’s toddler daughter—a crime he has always maintained never happened. On Thursday, a Louisiana judge dismissed his conviction, vindicating Duncan’s fierce, decades-long effort to prove his innocence. 

Between 1976 and 2015, an astonishing 80 percent of Louisiana’s capital sentences were later reversed.


In his order vacating the conviction, District Court Judge Alvin Sharp wrote that Duncan had successfully demonstrated his claim of “factual innocence” based on new evidence that was not available at the original trial. His conviction relied on a so-called bite mark analysis, a method that’s since been discredited and is widely regarded as ‘junk science’, that was conducted by a now-infamous duo, doctor Steven Hayne and dentist Michael West. As I reported in Bolts and Mother Jones last month, Hayne and West have since been found responsible for a host of other wrongful convictions; Duncan is the last man left on death row who had been convicted on the basis of their work.

Duncan’s case fits with a long tradition of wrongful convictions in Louisiana. Between 1976 and 2015, an astonishing 80 percent of the state’s capital sentences were later reversed—nine people have been exonerated off death row in the time that Duncan has been there. 

But he is also the first person to receive relief under Louisiana’s factual innocence statute, a reform that the state created in 2021 under Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, which dramatically expanded how prisoners can make innocence claims by allowing people to introduce new facts rather than simply raise constitutional violations as part of their post-conviction review process. 

When I spoke to Duncan shortly after he learned about the ruling, he told me he was in shock. “I’m scared to have full joy because I ain’t walked out that gate yet,” he said. “It’s been a really really long and difficult time.” He called his lawyers heroes, saying: “I would need a notepad to write down all the attorneys I would owe thanHe remains in prison for now; state officials could pursue options to fight Sharp’s ruling or try to seek a new conviction.

I’ve been talking to Duncan about his case for well over a year now as I’ve reported the feature article, which detailed his fight to clear his name during the decades he’s spent on death row. Duncan was arrested in December 1993 and charged with negligent homicide after his girlfriend’s daughter Haley drowned in the bathtub while he was caring for her. But after Hayne and West, who were tasked with the autopsy, reported that Haley had been bitten and raped, Duncan’s charges were upgraded to capital murder and he was convicted and sentenced to death. 

Over the years, successive legal teams for Duncan turned up significant exonerating evidence, some of which the prosecution never turned over to his original trial lawyers. Perhaps most damning was the mid-2000s discovery of a shocking videotape that depicted Dr. West pressing a mold of Duncan’s teeth into Haley’s body, appearing to create the bite marks the dentist claimed were already there—evidence that the jury in Duncan’s trial never saw. Despite these discoveries, broader advancements in forensic scientific understanding, and revelations about the extent of Hayne and West’s misconduct, Duncan remained on death row. 

In 2024, he was finally granted a new evidentiary hearing. At the hearing this past September, which I attended, Duncan’s legal team presented a series of experts who testified that Hayne and West’s methods were indefensible, that bite mark matching is no longer considered scientifically valid, and that Haley’s death was most likely an accidental drowning. 

The judge, in his ruling filed on April 24, determined this testimony to be convincing. He wrote that Duncan had “carried his burden” in providing new evidence under the factual innocence statute.

An additional witness, a capital defense expert named Jim Boren, testified about the inadequate representation Duncan received from his trial lawyers, who had never defended a death penalty case before, a common state of affairs in Louisiana in the 1990s. In light of Boren’s testimony, the judge found that Duncan was also entitled to relief under Louisiana’s standard post-conviction review process, which focuses on constitutional violations.

What happens next is uncertain. The district attorney in Duncan’s home parish, Ouachita Parish, Steve Tew, could appeal the decision. He could also choose to retry Duncan on equal or lesser charges, though the burden of proof would be back on the state, and prosecutors would have to contend with the fact that key evidence used against Duncan at his original trial is now discredited. The age of the case also means that other evidence has been destroyed or lost, and some of the initial participants, including Hayne, have passed away. 

As of publication, the DA’s office has not responded to my requests for comment regarding their next steps. Duncan’s legal team declined to comment. 

This stunning development in Duncan’s case comes at a time when the state’s Republican leaders are actively seeking to execute as many death row prisoners as they can, as well as significantly restrict the post-conviction review process for Louisiana prisoners that Duncan has relied on to prove his innocence.

Landry, the Republican governor who has pushed hard to make state laws more punitive since he took office in early 2024, has derided the 2021 law that created the factual innocence statute as a “woke, hug-a-thug policy,” arguing that it gave too much discretion to DAs to let prisoners go free. In a blog post about the law written while he was running for governor in 2023, he opined: “once a verdict has been finalized, there are no more ‘get out of jail free’ cards.” 

After Landry assumed office, the state legislature under his direction amended part of the 2021 post-conviction relief law that established the factual innocence statute, restricting DAs’ power to consider cases for relief and handing more control over the process to the attorney general. They also passed a bevy of laws designed to speed up the machinery of death in Louisiana, including legalizing new methods of execution and shielding execution procedures from scrutiny. 

Bill Quigley, a veteran capital appeals lawyer and law professor, told me previously that these changes will mean that “people are going to be executed who wouldn’t be executed if the system was really working.” 

In March, the state carried out its first execution in 15 years, using nitrogen gas to kill Jessie Hoffman, a close friend of Duncan’s. “This state has got the wrong agenda, and Jessie had to pay the price,” Duncan told me.

Now, lawmakers have introduced legislation to further limit compensation for wrongfully convicted people and significantly roll back post-conviction relief, which could make it much harder for people in Duncan’s position to appeal their convictions. Duncan fears that the law, if passed, will make it easier to send to the execution chamber the many other people he knows on death row who do not have factual innocence claims but whose cases are marred by procedural violations and other injustices. 

“How is that okay?” he asked. 

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/jimmie-duncan-innocence-death-row-louisiana-vacate-conviction/

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;

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