Neonatal nurse: Lucy Letby: U.K. Another Major (Welcome) Development: Journalist Flaminia Luck reports on LBC (formerly 'London Broadcasting Company') that a panel of medical experts has concluded that "no criminal offences had been committed" in the case of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby," in a story sub-headed, "The 14-strong panel has provided alternative causes of death."…"An international panel of medical experts has provided case summaries on all 17 babies who featured in the 10-month trial of Lucy Letby. The 14-strong panel concluded that no criminal offences had been committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and instead provided alternative causes of death."

STORY: "Expert panel claims 'no criminal offences committed' in Lucy Letby case after bombshell new report into baby deaths," by Journalist Flaminia Luck, published by LBC (Formerly London Broadcasting Company), on April 3, 2025;

SUB-HEADING: "A panel of medical experts has concluded that "no criminal offences had been committed" in the case of child killer Lucy Letby."

SUB-HEADING: "Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016."

SUB-HEADING: "The 14-strong panel has provided alternative causes of death."

GIST: "An international panel of medical experts has provided case summaries on all 17 babies who featured in the 10-month trial of Lucy Letby.

The 14-strong panel concluded that no criminal offences had been committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and instead provided alternative causes of death:

• Baby 1 - (known as Child A in the trial): The prosecution said the boy was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism where bubbles form and block the blood supply. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had died from thrombosis, where a blood clot forms in a vessel.
• 
  
• Baby 2 - (Child B): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child A's twin sister by also injecting air into her bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had collapsed from thrombosis.
• 
  
• Baby 3 - (Child C): The prosecution said the boy was murdered with air forced down his feeding tube and into his stomach. The panel said the child died following ineffective resuscitation from a collapse after an "acute small bowel obstruction" that went unrecognised.
• 
  
• Baby 4 - (Child D): The prosecution said the girl was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and ruled the child died of systemic sepsis, pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (blood clotting). Issues with failures to give relevant antibiotics were also identified.
• 
  
• Baby 5 - (Child E): The Crown said Letby murdered the twin boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and she also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and bleeding was caused either by a lack of oxygen pre-birth or a congenital blood vessel condition.
• 
  
• Baby 6 - (Child F): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child E's twin brother by administering insulin. The panel ruled that the child's insulin levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio did not prove that exogenous insulin was used and were within the norm for pre-term infants. It added that there was poor medical management of the child's prolonged hypoglycaemia.
• 
  
• Baby 7 - (Child G): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by overfeeding her with milk and forcing air down her feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding. The infant's vomiting and clinical deterioration was due to infection, it found.
• 
  
• Baby 8 - (Child H): Jurors cleared Letby of one count of attempted murder and failed to reach a verdict on a second count. Prosecutors said the nurse sabotaged the girl's care in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. The panel said the deteriorations were due to medical mismanagement of a tension pneumothorax where air is trapped between the lung and chest wall.
• 
  
• Baby 9 - (Child I): The prosecution said Letby murdered the infant by injecting air into her bloodstream and stomach. The panel said it found no evidence of air injections and that the baby died of breathing complications caused by respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease.
• 
  
• Baby 10 - (Child J): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the girl. The panel said the deterioration was caused by sepsis and there was no evidence to support malicious airway obstruction.
• 
  
• Baby 11 - (Child K): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by deliberately dislodging her breathing tube. Among its findings the panel said there was no evidence to support a dislodged endotracheal tube (ETT) and the clinical deterioration was caused by use of an undersized ETT.
• 
  
• Baby 12 - (Child L): The Crown said the nurse poisoned the boy with insulin. The panel said the infant's insulin-related levels were within the norm for pre-term infants and there was no evidence of deliberate administration.
• 
  
• Baby 13 - (Child M): Prosecutors said Letby attempted to murder Child L's twin brother by injecting air into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and his collapse was caused by sepsis or a heart problem.
• 
  
• Baby 14 - (Child N): The Crown said the boy was the victim of attempted murder by inflicted trauma in his throat and an air injection into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no air embolism and it was likely his blood oxygen levels dropped due to his haemophilia condition or routine cares, which was "exacerbated" by repeated attempts to insert a breathing tube.
• 
  
• Baby 15 - (Child O): The prosecution said Letby murdered the triplet boy by injecting air into his bloodstream and inflicting trauma to his liver. The panel said he died from liver damage caused by traumatic delivery, resulting in bleeding in the abdomen and profound shock.
• 
  
• Baby 16 - (Child P): Prosecutors said Letby murdered Child O's brother by injecting him with air. The panel said there was no evidence to support that mechanism and that he died from a collapsed lung that was "suboptimally managed".
• 
  
• Baby 17 - (Child Q): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder.

The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the boy by injecting liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube.

The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach and the child deteriorated because he had early symptoms of a serious gastrointestinal problem, or sepsis."

The entire  story can be read at:

guilty/https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/lucy-letby-latest-panel-review-innocent-guilty/

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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Toforest Johnson: Alabama: Question of the day: Does Attorney General Steve Marshall want to kill an innocent man? That question is posed by columnist Roy S. Johnson on al.com, noting that: "I haven’t yet looked Marshall in the eye and asked. Asked if he’d support executing someone with a chorus of support for a new trial. Support from prominent public and criminal justice officials. Support all but calling his prior trial a sham. Someone like Toforest Johnson, a man who is probably innocent. Yet Marshall still argues to keep him on death row. Argues vociferously that he should not get a new trial. Like frothing-at-the-mouth argues. A lawsuit asking for a new trial did “not raise an issue of extraordinary public importance,” he responded. Like guilt and innocence aren’t of public importance. Like justice isn’t."

BACKGROUND: WIKIPEDIA: "Toforest Onesha Johnson (born February 8, 1973)^] is an American man on death row for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County deputy sheriff William G. Hardy in Alabama. Johnson's case is controversial and his quest for a new trial has attracted widespread support, from prominent lawyers such as the original prosecutor in his case and Alabama's former attorney general to celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. Johnson was convicted based on the testimony of a single witness, Violet Ellison, who allegedly overheard Johnson confessing to the murder during a jailhouse phone call she eavesdropped on.^] It was later revealed that Ellison was paid $5,000 for her testimony, unbeknownst to Johnson's lawyers. Johnson's lawyers have also presented alibi evidence showing that Johnson and a friend, Ardragus Ford, were together at a nightclub miles away when the murder happened.^[ Many, including current Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr and Johnson's original trial prosecutor Jeff Wallace,^] former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Drayton Nabers Jr.,ormer Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, and many Alabama legal, civil rights, and faith organizations,^[have publicly called for Johnson's conviction to be overturned. Johnson's story is the subject of a critically acclaimed^[ eight-episode investigative podcast, Earwitness, by Alabama-based journalist Beth Shelburne.^[13] Currently, Johnson remains on death row at the Holman Correctional Facility and his execution date has yet to be scheduled."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toforest_Johnson

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Gov. Kay Ivey doesn’t want to see an innocent person die. I know that now. I couldn’t say that a couple of weeks ago. She rubber-stamped and justified so many executions in our killer state that it’s easy to lose count. (Though we haven’t; it’s 21, soon likely to be 22.) She justified them even when the victim’s relatives asked to spare the life of the person convicted of killing their loved one. She’s as law-and-order as they come. But when presented with arguments and evidence that cast doubt on the 1994 conviction of Robin “Rocky” Myers, much of it deftly highlighted by my colleague Ivana Hrynkiw, she recently spared his life. Myers was found guilty in the stabbing of Ludie Mae Tucker three years prior, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and no one stepped forward to say they saw him do it. Now 63, he was set to die soon by inhaling pure nitrogen gas at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, where he’s lived on death row since his conviction. Until Ivey was moved. Until Feb. 28 when she commuted his sentence to life. Not death. Marshall? He lost his cookies."

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COMMENTARY: "Steve Marshall, if you believe Toforest Johnson is guilty, prove it in a new trial," by Roy S. Johnson, published by al.com, on March 16, 2025: (A Pulitzer Prize finalist in Commentary, opinion journalist Roy S. Johnson is a Columnist and Director of Content Development for the Alabama Media Group/AL.com, the largest news and information site in Alabama. He shares his perspective on issues, people, policies, and trends affecting us all, and challenges lazy thinking.)

GIST: "No one wants to see an innocent person executed. At least I don’t think so.

I’d venture not even the most ardent “law and order” zealot would look me in the eye and say it was cool to execute an innocent person simply because a jury found them guilty and they were sentenced to die.

Not even Steve Marshall, Alabama’s ardent “law and order” attorney general would do that. At least I don’t think so.

I’ve written before that I abhor the death penalty. Oh, the human side of me believes for some crimes the perpetrator cannot be taken from this Earth soon enough. My spirit, though, believes thou shalt not kill. Period.

And thou would be us.

I believe vengeance belongs to someone else, not me.

And certainly not us.

We’re just too shady. Too human. As well-intentioned as we may be, as diligent and good-hearted as prosecutors, juries, defenders, judges and witnesses may be, we’re human. They’re human. They make mistakes.

Gov. Kay Ivey doesn’t want to see an innocent person die. I know that now. I couldn’t say that a couple of weeks ago. She rubber-stamped and justified so many executions in our killer state that it’s easy to lose count. (Though we haven’t; it’s 21, soon likely to be 22.)

She justified them even when the victim’s relatives asked to spare the life of the person convicted of killing their loved one.

She’s as law-and-order as they come. But when presented with arguments and evidence that cast doubt on the 1994 conviction of Robin “Rocky” Myers, much of it deftly highlighted by my colleague Ivana Hrynkiw, she recently spared his life.

Myers was found guilty in the stabbing of Ludie Mae Tucker three years prior, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and no one stepped forward to say they saw him do it. Now 63, he was set to die soon by inhaling pure nitrogen gas at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, where he’s lived on death row since his conviction.

Until Ivey was moved. Until Feb. 28 when she commuted his sentence to life. Not death.

Marshall? He lost his cookies.

“I am astonished by Governor Ivey’s decision to commute the death sentence of Rocky Myers and am bewildered that she chose not to directly communicate with me about this case or her decision.”

That was his statement. Part of it. Feel free to read the rest here.

Marshall doesn’t want innocent people to die, does he?

Myers was the first man in the state to have his death sentence commuted in what’s called “modern” history, which I’m not sure when that really began.

He shouldn’t be the last to have a chance to live. To prove their innocence.

Johnson deserves that chance, too

I’ve asked before, almost a year ago. He’s lived on death row since 1998; he was 25 then. He was convicted of murdering Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy William Hardy three years earlier in the parking lot of what was then the Crown Sterling Suites hotel in Birmingham, where Hardy worked a second job as a security guard.

He doesn’t deserve to be there. Be there despite a trial that would garner eye-rolls from a Law & Order jury.

But don’t just believe me, AG.

Listen to former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones and ex-Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, who once sat in Marshall’s now iceberg-cold seat. This week, they argued that Johnson deserves a new trial. Years ago, Baxley called the trial and conviction “deeply flawed.”

Okay, yeah, they’re Democrats. Ewww. We’re talking about someone’s life here.

Jones and Baxley jumped into a long line of respected public officials who also believe Johnson deserves a new trial.

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr (he wasn’t DA when Johnson was tried) has long called for Johnson to be granted a new trial, saying five years ago after an extensive investigation into the case his “duty to seek justice requires intervention in this case.”

So has — and you know this, Marshall, because you’ve long turned a deaf ear to the pleas — so has the man who prosecuted Johnson: Jeff Wallace.

So has a former governor. Two former state Supreme Court Chief justices agree. A former U.S. attorney. Another DA and a former DA agree. So has a Kardashian, of course.

Even three former jurors agree their wrong should be righted. Last year, Monique Hicks’s tune shifted, she wrote in a guest column published on AL.com. “My role in the wrongful conviction of an innocent man keeps me awake at night,” she penned.

Myers may have been a historic first, but there’s no quota or cap on right.

Johnson deserves a new trial. You believe strongly in his guilt? Prove it. Persuade Jefferson County Jefferson County Circuit Judge Kandice Pickett to flush Johnson’s conviction and order a new trial.

Then stand in court and prove it, sir.

Let the system have a chance to right its wrong.

Let it have a chance to work."

The entire commentary can be read at:

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2025/03/steve-marshall-if-you-believe-toforest-johnson-is-guilty-prove-it-in-a-new-trial.html

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;

----------------------------------------------------------------