Douglas (Chief) Stankewitz: California: Imprisoned for 47 Years: The Davis Vanguard continues its battle to free 'the longest serving prisoner on California's death row: In an interview with 'The Chief,' Attorney Alexandra Cock, "who has worked tirelessly for years on Chief's behalf" makes the case for the case for his innocence, noting that: "Chief’s story is a moral indictment of the justice system. When you look at his background—poverty, foster care, abuse, incarceration since age six—you begin to see how society fails the most vulnerable and then punishes them harshly for it. And yet he still has hope. That’s why we keep fighting."

BACKGROUND:  "In 2020, the Vanguard broke a quiet but explosive story that reignited the fight to free Douglas “Chief” Stankewitz—the longest-serving person on California’s death row. Our investigative reporting revealed glaring contradictions in the evidence, missing records, prosecutorial misconduct, and a disturbing absence of physical proof tying Chief to the crime. That piece launched a renewed legal campaign and public spotlight that continues today. Now, with a resentencing hearing and two pending Racial Justice Act motions, his case could reach a critical turning point. Attorney Alexandra Cock, who has worked tirelessly for years on Chief’s behalf, joined Every Day Injustice this week to discuss the uphill battle—one fraught with missing evidence, questionable judicial rulings, and deeply entrenched political resistance in Fresno. Yet despite it all, Chief has persevered. Now 66, he’s earning top marks in prison work assignments and holding on to hope that after 47 years, the system will finally acknowledge the truth: he didn’t do it."

"https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/%22Davis+vanguard%22/FMfcgzQZTzdXcxQvFvbdsdtJdlBfJvbc

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Vanguard: After everything that’s come out, why is Fresno still fighting so hard to keep Chief in prison?

Alexandra Cock: That’s the million-dollar question. Honestly, it seems they’re protecting the system. If he gets out, lawsuits will follow. They’ve already been counting on him dying in prison—he had five execution dates, serious health problems, and still, he’s here. I believe they’re hoping he’ll just die and make the problem go away.

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STORY: "Native American Man Imprisoned for 47 Years Seeks Justice and Freedom," by David Greenwald, published by The Davis Vanguard, ln April 7, 2025. (David Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.)

SUB-HEADING: "Alexandra Cock argues Stankewitz’s innocence and seeks justice after 47 years."

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GIST: "Nearly half a century after Chief Douglas Stankewitz was sentenced to die in a California courtroom, he remains imprisoned—now 66 years old, working as a porter at the California Men’s Colony, and still maintaining his innocence.

In this exclusive interview longtime advocate and attorney Alexandra Cock joins the Vanguard to discuss the status of the case, the recent denial of Stankewitz’s habeas petition, upcoming resentencing, Racial Justice Act motions, and the broader questions of prosecutorial misconduct, systemic racism, and perseverance in the face of what Cock calls “ongoing cover-up.”

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Vanguard: You’ve been working on this case for years. For those who aren’t familiar, what are the central issues in Chief Stankewitz’s case?

Alexandra Cock: He’s been down for 47 years now, and the central point is: why are we locking people up for decade after decade? There were many issues raised in the habeas. The gun and holster supposedly used in the murder were in law enforcement’s possession years before the shooting. Our position is that he didn’t do the shooting—he didn’t even have the gun. Ballistics analysis shows the bullet trajectory was upward, which contradicts the trial testimony. That would point to someone shorter than Chief, not taller.

He also tested negative for gunshot residue. When I saw that early in the case, I asked myself, how do you convict someone of a shooting without any trace of residue?

And that’s before we even get to the prosecutorial misconduct. Over 50 pieces of evidence were lost. Several county employees gave conflicting or false testimony at the evidentiary hearing—at least one committed perjury. And yet, Judge Arlan Harrell denied the habeas anyway.

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Vanguard: Why did Judge Harrell deny it, in your view?

Alexandra Cock: It came down to misrepresenting the record and glossing over crucial testimony. Despite appearing open-minded during the evidentiary hearing, in the end, he did the DA’s job for her. The DA didn’t even bring in witnesses to contest our case. And yet, the judge sided with them. It was a total Jekyll-and-Hyde situation. He made it look like we were being heard—but it was all a ruse.

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Vanguard: So now that the habeas is denied, what’s next?

Alexandra Cock: We’re moving into resentencing. The Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled that Chief is entitled to full resentencing. Every part of the sentence—kidnapping, robbery, murder, gun enhancements—is up for reconsideration. They also said he’s entitled to a lesser sentence than life without parole, which he’s currently serving.

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Vanguard: Could that mean a path to release?

Alexandra Cock: Yes. If he gets life with the possibility of parole, he would immediately qualify for a parole hearing under both elderly parole and youthful offender provisions. He’s now 66 and went to prison when he was just 19.

We’re also arguing for time served based on the Eighth Amendment—there comes a point when any additional time becomes cruel and unusual. That’s not typically granted, but it’s now part of the record.

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Vanguard: And if the judge rejects that?

Alexandra Cock: Then it goes to the parole board. That has its own challenges, especially since Chief maintains his innocence. The board often wants people to confess. But there’s growing awareness that innocent people exist in the system and that not everyone should have to lie to get out. We’ll present a strong case.\

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Vanguard: You also filed two motions under California’s Racial Justice Act. What do they seek?

Alexandra Cock: One is a discovery motion. We’re seeking data from the Fresno DA’s office to examine whether Chief, as a Native American man, was charged more harshly than white defendants. We have a statistician prepared to analyze the data. We already know of cases where white defendants were not charged with special circumstances, which is what brought Chief the death penalty.

The second motion seeks an evidentiary hearing based on two issues: First, the only Native juror was kicked off during his second trial despite being favorable to the prosecution. Second, during the penalty phase, both the DA and the defense attorney portrayed life on the reservation in extremely negative, stereotypical terms—essentially justifying a death sentence based on racial and cultural bias.

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Vanguard: Could that potentially vacate the conviction?

Alexandra Cock: Yes. If the judge finds evidence of racial bias in the charging or sentencing, the remedy could be dismissal. Same with the discovery motion if the data reveals disparate treatment.

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Vanguard: After everything that’s come out, why is Fresno still fighting so hard to keep Chief in prison?

Alexandra Cock: That’s the million-dollar question. Honestly, it seems they’re protecting the system. If he gets out, lawsuits will follow. They’ve already been counting on him dying in prison—he had five execution dates, serious health problems, and still, he’s here. I believe they’re hoping he’ll just die and make the problem go away.

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Vanguard: What is Chief’s life like today?

Alexandra Cock: He’s at California Men’s Colony now, no longer on death row. He has a job as a porter, earned a perfect review, and got a raise to 21 cents an hour. He gets along well with staff and others. It’s a completely different life from the 46 years he spent mostly in solitary confinement.

Despite all that’s been taken from him, he remains hopeful. He’s proud of his heritage. He wants to work with youth and serve his community when he’s free.

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Vanguard: Have you considered commutation through the governor?

Alexandra Cock: We filed an application in April 2020 and have never heard back. But given what we’ve seen from this governor—avoiding hard decisions like with the Menendez brothers—I’m not optimistic. He’s politically cautious and doesn’t want to get his hands dirty.

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Vanguard: So your strongest chance lies with resentencing?

Alexandra Cock: Yes. Resentencing gives us the clearest path forward. That hearing is currently scheduled for May 1 in Fresno. We’ll also be collecting letters of support—anyone who wants to help can visit our site at justiceforchief.org.

Vanguard: Final thoughts?

Alexandra Cock: Chief’s story is a moral indictment of the justice system. When you look at his background—poverty, foster care, abuse, incarceration since age six—you begin to see how society fails the most vulnerable and then punishes them harshly for it. And yet he still has hope. That’s why we keep fighting."

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The entire story can be read at:

https://davisvanguard.org/2025/04/chief-stankewitz-justice-case/

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 Kaiser: Minnesota: Shaken baby syndrome retrial under way: (I will dip in from time to time. HL): Robert Kaiser spent more than seven years behind bars when the court ruled his conviction was based on false evidence - but now the prosecution says they can prove the case at a new trial. The Minnesota Star Tribune (Reporter Jenny Berg) reports, noting that: "Kaiser, 42, was charged in Stearns County District Court in 2014 after his 2-month-old son, William, died. In 2016, a jury acquitted Kaiser of one count of first-degree murder, but convicted him on two counts of second-degree unintentional murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. But that same court vacated his conviction in 2022 after finding the state’s experts gave false testimony that could have affected the outcome of the trial. That decision was affirmed by the state Supreme Court, which noted it did not “affirm the reversal of a murder conviction lightly” and “[made] our decision realizing a new trial will cause renewed pain for William’s family.”

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "According to the Supreme Court opinion, the state’s experts made false statements of medical fact to the jury in the first trial. An ophthalmologist and forensic pathologist testified that macular schisis (found in William’s eyes) is caused only by abusive head trauma. But later, during an evidentiary hearing, the ophthalmologist said it “would be incorrect” if he testified abusive head trauma is the only cause of macular schisis. Attorneys from the Innocence Project say a team of experts concluded the medical evidence did not support the trauma diagnosis and instead identified a nontraumatic medical cause for his condition: blood clots in William’s brain veins known as cerebral venous thrombosis, a “serious medical condition that causes many of the same symptoms often attributed to [abusive head trauma].” The prosecuting team has argued this “new interpretation” is not new evidence, but “rather the same evidence in a different wrapper.”

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Kaiser’s retrial starts Monday (April 7, 2025)  with jury selection and is expected to run to early May. Opening statements are expected by mid- to late week."

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STORY: "A Stearns County man’s retrial in the fatal shaking of his baby begins today," by Jenny Berg, published by The Minnesota Star Tribune, on April 7, 2025.

(Jenny Berg has spent the last decade covering central Minnesota news for various publications, including the Litchfield Independent Review — where she was named Minnesota Newspaper Association’s New Journalist of the Year for weeklies — and the St. Cloud Times. She studied journalism and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.)

SUB-heading; 'Robert Kaiser spent more than seven years behind bars when the court ruled his conviction was based on false evidence. The prosecution says they can prove the case at a new trial.'

GIST: "More than eight years after Robert Kaiser’s first jury trial over the death of his infant son, the Stearns County man is headed back to court to again fight the accusation he was responsible.

Kaiser, 42, was charged in Stearns County District Court in 2014 after his 2-month-old son, William, died. In 2016, a jury acquitted Kaiser of one count of first-degree murder, but convicted him on two counts of second-degree unintentional murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

But that same court vacated his conviction in 2022 after finding the state’s experts gave false testimony that could have affected the outcome of the trial. That decision was affirmed by the state Supreme Court, which noted it did not “affirm the reversal of a murder conviction lightly” and “[made] our decision realizing a new trial will cause renewed pain for William’s family.”

Kaiser’s retrial starts Monday with jury selection and is expected to run to early May. Opening statements are expected by mid- to late week.

If a jury finds Kaiser guilty again, he could be sent back to prison but will get credit for time served, which includes more than two years in jail while he awaited trial and more than seven years in prison. He was expected to serve about 11 years total in prison with the remainder on supervised release.

Stearns County prosecutors said last year they “reviewed the case and have been in consultation with our medical experts. We believe the evidence shows that Mr. Kaiser committed this crime and we believe we can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”

The Great North Innocence Project, which works to free wrongfully convicted individuals, started investigating Kaiser’s case in 2020.

According to the Supreme Court opinion, the state’s experts made false statements of medical fact to the jury in the first trial. An ophthalmologist and forensic pathologist testified that macular schisis (found in William’s eyes) is caused only by abusive head trauma. But later, during an evidentiary hearing, the ophthalmologist said it “would be incorrect” if he testified abusive head trauma is the only cause of macular schisis.

Attorneys from the Innocence Project say a team of experts concluded the medical evidence did not support the trauma diagnosis and instead identified a nontraumatic medical cause for his condition: blood clots in William’s brain veins known as cerebral venous thrombosis, a “serious medical condition that causes many of the same symptoms often attributed to [abusive head trauma].”

The prosecuting team has argued this “new interpretation” is not new evidence, but “rather the same evidence in a different wrapper.”

According to court documents, Kaiser was caring for William on Aug. 27, 2014, while the child’s mother was at work. William was reportedly pale, sweaty and fussy during the day and became nonresponsive in the evening. He was brought to Children’s Hospital by air ambulance with seizure activity.

On Sept. 3, 2014, doctors found William’s neurological condition had deteriorated and he was moving toward brain death; they recommended he be removed from life support."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.startribune.com/stearns-county-man-robert-kaiser-retrial-fatally-shaking-baby-conviction-vacated-great-north-innocence-project/601321781

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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