Brigadier General Alfred Dreyfus: (Tainted handwriting comparison): Major (Welcome) Development: The Government of France has moved to honour this victim of anti—semitism within the French army with a posthumous promotion over a century after his wrongful conviction, The Algemeiner reports, noting that: "In 1894, Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region in northeastern France, was accused of leaking secret information to a German military official and was put on trial amid a fierce antisemitic media campaign. Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason based on a handwriting comparison with a document found in a German official’s wastepaper basket in Paris, sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island in French Guiana, and stripped of his military rank. Years later, French Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, then head of military intelligence, secretly reopened the case and uncovered that the handwriting on the incriminating document belonged to another officer. But when he brought this evidence to the army’s general staff, Picquart was dismissed from his post and imprisoned for a year."

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "On Wednesday, the French Embassy in Israel announced the committee’s approval of Dreyfus’s posthumous promotion — a proposal put forward by former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. “The French Nation is just and does not forget,” the embassy said in a statement. “This rights an injustice, honors a warrior, and clarifies that antisemitism, from history to today, will never have a place in the Republic.”

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: " "In 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial, where he was again found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before ultimately receiving a pardon — though the charges against him were not formally overturned. It was seven years later, in 1906, when Dreyfus was officially exonerated after the French High Court of Appeal overturned the original verdict and reinstated him with the rank of major."

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STORY: "France Moves to Honor Alfred Dreyfus With Posthumous Promotion Over a Century After Wrongful Conviction," by International Affairs Reporter Ailin Vilches Arguello, published by The Algemeiner, onMay 29, 2025.

France’s National Defense and Armed Forces Committee has unanimously voted to posthumously promote Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general, in a symbolic act of justice more than a century after the Jewish army captain was wrongly convicted of espionage.

On Wednesday, the French Embassy in Israel announced the committee’s approval of Dreyfus’s posthumous promotion — a proposal put forward by former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

“The French Nation is just and does not forget,” the embassy said in a statement. “This rights an injustice, honors a warrior, and clarifies that antisemitism, from history to today, will never have a place in the Republic.”

With the approval of lawmakers on the committee, the bill is set to be adopted by the full National Assembly in its plenary session on June 2.

When introducing the legislation earlier this month, Attal said the law would “constitute an act of reparation, a recognition of [Dreyfus’s] merits, and a tribute to his republican commitment,” in an effort to rectify the wrongful conviction, which unfolded amid widespread antisemitism across the country at the time.

“Five years of exile and humiliation irreparably harmed his military career,” Attal said. “It is undeniable that, had it not been for this injustice, Alfred Dreyfus would have naturally ascended to the highest ranks.”

According to the French diplomat, the proposed legislation would also signal that the fight against antisemitism remains urgent, as France has seen a rise in antisemitic hate crimes following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.

Antisemitism in France continued to surge to alarming levels across the country last year, with 1,570 incidents recorded, according to a report by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) – the main representative body of French Jews.

In late May and early June, antisemitic acts rose by more than 140 percent, far surpassing the weekly average of slightly more than 30 incidents.

France is home to the world’s largest Jewish population after Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.

In 1894, Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region in northeastern France, was accused of leaking secret information to a German military official and was put on trial amid a fierce antisemitic media campaign.

Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason based on a handwriting comparison with a document found in a German official’s wastepaper basket in Paris, sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island in French Guiana, and stripped of his military rank.

Years later, French Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, then head of military intelligence, secretly reopened the case and uncovered that the handwriting on the incriminating document belonged to another officer. But when he brought this evidence to the army’s general staff, Picquart was dismissed from his post and imprisoned for a year.

In 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial, where he was again found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before ultimately receiving a pardon — though the charges against him were not formally overturned.

It was seven years later, in 1906, when Dreyfus was officially exonerated after the French High Court of Appeal overturned the original verdict and reinstated him with the rank of major.

He lived until 1935, dying at the age of 76."

The entire story cannot be be read at:

https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/05/29/france-moves-honor-alfred-dreyfus-posthumous-promotion-over-century-after-wrongful-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

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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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Robert Sanderson: Manitoba: Great News! Flawed hair evidence; Incentified witness: Innocence Canada announces that Robert Sanderson's convictions for first degree murder were quashed earlier today - 29 years after three homicide that occurred in 1996, noting that: "The new evidence came in two forms: 1. A crown expert testified that hair seized from the leg of one of the deceased was “more likely” from Mr. Sanderson. The Crown used this testimony to suggest that Mr. Sanderson “left a piece of himself at the scene of the crime.” Post-conviction DNA testing has established that the hair, as the Court of Appeal puts in their decision today, it “did not and could not have come from Mr. Sanderson.” 2. An eyewitness to events before the homicides who linked Mr. Sanderson to them was given substantial sums of money by the authorities pursuant to an agreement after he testified at the trial, totalling more than $15,000.00. This was not disclosed to Mr. Sanderson and the prosecution could not explain why it was not disclosed."

BACKGROUND: From a previous post of this Blog: (June11, 2023):  "Manitoba Justice? Robert Sanderson:  Canada's justice minister  has agreed to refer  his case to the Manitoba Court of Appeal - after Sanderson has served 25 years in prison for a 1996 triple murder. As Investigative Reporter Katrina Clarke reports in the Winnipeg Free Press, in Sanderson's mind, that hearing - which he hopes will unequivocally acquit him - cannot come soon enough…"In 1996, Sanderson became the police’s focus in a murder investigation partly because they found blood from three men killed at a West Kildonan home in his car, along with a bloody baseball bat. Sanderson told police he loaned out his car but he refused to “rat out” the person to whom he had lent it.  “I’m not saying my car wasn’t there,” he told police the day after the killings. “I wasn’t there.  But police also found a hair on a foot of a victim at the crime scene. At trial, an expert Crown witness said the hair belonged to Sanderson, based on microscopic analysis.  Adding to that, two witnesses testified against Sanderson and the two other accused, Roger Sanderson (no relation) and Robert Tews.  A 15-year-old, who said she was a former sex worker who worked for Robert Sanderson, testified she saw him leave their hotel room with guns and knives the night of the murder and return with bloody clothes and jewelry.  Brent Stevenson, 20, who was a friend of the 15-year-old and a former gang associate, testified that Roger Sanderson confessed to him that Robert Sanderson and Tews were his co-conspirators in the murders.  A jury convicted all three men, sentencing them to life in prison."  

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/1722915946616826836

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QUOTES OF THE DAY: "Mr. Sanderson’s mother was Ojibway and he is a member of the Métis Nations. Since his arrest and imprisonment in 1996, he was to become a well-known Aboriginal artist, and his Indigenous artwork includes wood carvings, masks and traditional paintings of extraordinary beauty. He was released on parole in 2021 and now lives in western Canada. As the Court of Appeal said in its decision: “Mr. Sanderson is self-employed as an Indigenous artist with a considerable reputation and has maintained a stable relationship and has positive support in the community.” Innocence Canada counsel Jerome Kennedy and James Lockyer said today: “We are grateful to Minister Lametti and the Manitoba Court of Appeal for their decisions in Mr. Sanderson’s case.  We spoke to Mr. Sanderson this morning and he is delighted that his case is almost over. It has, he said, been a long time."

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INNOCENCE CANADA RELEASE: May 30, 2025:

GIST: "This morning, Robert Sanderson’s convictions for three counts of First-Degree Murder were quashed by the Manitoba Court of Appeal, who ordered a new trial. 

The Crown has advised the Court of Appeal that it will exercise its discretion and enter a stay of the proceedings on public interest grounds. It is anticipated that this could occur as soon as later today.

On August 6, 1996, three men, Stefan Zurstegge, Thomas Krowetz and Jason Gross were found murdered in Mr. Krowetz’s home. 

It was the Crown theory that Mr. Krowetz and Mr. Zurstegge were members of the Red Liners gang and were being courted by the Hells Angels and were murdered by members of the Manitoba Warriors, a gang of which Mr. Sanderson was alleged to be a member.

On September 19, 1996, Mr. Sanderson and two other men were charged with the murders. 

On June 26, 1997, Mr. Sanderson and one of his co-accused were convicted of the murders and both lost their subsequent appeals.

In 2017, Innocence Canada submitted an application to the Minister of Justice for ministerial review of his convictions based on new evidence. 

On February 10, 2023, Justice Minister David Lametti found that there was a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred, and referred Mr. Sanderson’s case to the Manitoba Court of Appeal for a new appeal.

Today, with the agreement of the prosecution, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions.

The new evidence came in two forms:

1. A crown expert testified that hair seized from the leg of one of the deceased was “more likely” from Mr. Sanderson. The Crown used this testimony to suggest that Mr. Sanderson “left a piece of himself at the scene of the crime.” Post-conviction DNA testing has established that the hair, as the Court of Appeal puts in

their decision today, it “did not and could not have come from Mr. Sanderson.”

2. An eyewitness to events before the homicides who linked Mr. Sanderson to them was given substantial sums of money by the authorities pursuant to an agreement after he testified at the trial, totalling more than $15,000.00. This was not disclosed to Mr. Sanderson and the prosecution could not explain why it was not disclosed.

Mr. Sanderson’s mother was Ojibway and he is a member of the Métis Nations. Since his arrest and imprisonment in 1996, he was to become a well-known Aboriginal artist, and his Indigenous artwork includes wood carvings, masks and traditional paintings of extraordinary beauty.

 He was released on parole in 2021 and now lives in western Canada.

 As the Court of Appeal said in its decision: “Mr. Sanderson is self-employed as an Indigenous artist with a considerable reputation and has maintained a stable relationship and has positive support in the community.”

Innocence Canada counsel Jerome Kennedy and James Lockyer said today:

“We are grateful to Minister Lametti and the Manitoba Court of Appeal for their decisions in Mr. Sanderson’s case. 

We spoke to Mr. Sanderson this morning and he is delighted that his case is almost over. It has, he said, been a long time.""

There entire story can be read at:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox?projector=1

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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Steven Lawson Trial: Crystal Rogers case - (I promised to 'dip' in from time to time where there might be issues of interest to the readers of this Blog. HL) - Kentucky: Closing arguments are complete, and jury deliberations are underway on Day 4 of this trial - in which Crystal Rogers' body has never been recovered, but she is presumed dead by investigators - …"Joseph Lawson is also charged with tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to commit murder and will stand trial in June alongside Brooks Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. Houck is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "While on the stand May 30, Lawson said he moved the driver’s seat forward in Rogers’ car and retrieved his son’s mini Louisville Slugger bat that he carried with him everywhere. Lawson’s attorneys have already conceded that he is guilty of tampering with physical evidence.  Prosecutors argued that Lawson agreeing to help move the car after Houck told him he “wanted his wife gone” could constitute a conspiracy."

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STORY: "Closing arguments complete, deliberations underway on Day 4 of Steven Lawson trial," The Louisville Courier Journal (Reporter Killian Baarlaer) reports, Noting that:  "

GIST: A jury is in deliberations May 30 in the first of two trials set in connection with the Crystal Rogers case.

Steven Lawson was the final person to take the stand in the trial centered on the disappearance of Rogers, the Bardstown mother who disappeared in 2015. The defense rested its case following testimony from Lawson, 54, who faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. 

He was the second person to testify on the fourth day of the trial, following brief testimony from his mother. Lawson admitted to picking up his son, Joseph Lawson, from Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown after the car “broke down” on the side of the road the night when Rogers was last seen, but denied having any knowledge of Brooks Houck’s alleged murder of Rogers or any role in planning it.

Rogers' body has never been recovered, but she is presumed dead by investigators.

Joseph Lawson is also charged with tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to commit murder and will stand trial in June alongside Brooks Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. Houck is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence.

While on the stand May 30, Lawson said he moved the driver’s seat forward in Rogers’ car and retrieved his son’s mini Louisville Slugger bat that he carried with him everywhere. Lawson’s attorneys have already conceded that he is guilty of tampering with physical evidence. 

Prosecutors argued that Lawson agreeing to help move the car after Houck told him he “wanted his wife gone” could constitute a conspiracy. 

Prior to closing arguments, Judge Charles Simms III told jurors he hopes to have the case “resolved” by the end of the day."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2025/05/30/steven-lawson-takes-stand-in-first-crystal-rogers-trial/83946026007/

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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