the charles smith blog
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Beleaguered Medical Examiner Michael McGee: Under scrutiny yet again: The Star Tribune (Reporters Greta Paul and Andy Mannix) reports that a wrongful conviction casts doubt on former Ramsey County medical examiner's methods - and It's not the first time - adding that, "A new lawsuit adds to questions of whether Dr. Michael McGee used sound science to investigate deaths in Minnesota over a career spanning four decades."…"Now the integrity of the science McGee has used over his career is being challenged. In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, McGee is accused of fabricating medical conclusions and providing false testimony in the 1996 drowning death of Jane Rhodes, resulting in 25 years of wrongful imprisonment for her husband. After Thomas Rhodes' release a year ago, an investigation by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office found evidence McGee used "medically unsupported testimony" to arrive at his opinion. "McGee reasoned backward — from the nonmedical evidence to the medical findings," the report said."
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PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: " Rhodes is at least the fourth person to either be released from prison or resentenced to a lower penalty afte...
Monday, March 18, 2024
Nota Bene: Karen Read; Massachusetts: Publisher's note. I have begun to follow this case as it may turn out to be of interest to the reader's of this Blog. She is charged in connection with the death of a Boston police officer. CNN (Reporters Faith Karimi and Zenebou Sylla) reports that a state trooper investigating the death of a Boston police officer is now under investigation himself, adding another layer of complexity to a case that has sharply divided a Massachusetts suburb. Hmmmmmm! Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog. "Investigators allege O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, hit him with her SUV in the Boston suburb of Canton in January 2022 and left him outside in the snow to die. But Read’s defense team alleges that he was fatally beaten in the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer, and that Read is the victim of a coverup to protect those inside the home that night. Read has said she dropped O’Keefe outside the home shortly after midnight — after they left a bar — then drove off to his house to sleep because she was not feeling well. O’Keefe’s body was found about six hours later outside the home. Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The Massachusetts State Police did not specify whether Proctor’s alleged violation is related to Read’s case. “Tr...
Jessie Dotson: Tennessee: (From our 'read this and weep,' department: False confession, witness intimidation and so much more. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that he has filed a petition asking a judge to vacate his conviction and death sentence…"The petition details that “Over the course of the evening, Lt. Armstrong threatened to arrest Jessie’s mother, Priscilla Shaw, and sister, Nicole Dotson. He threatened to kill Jessie. He threatened to put Jessie in general population with the Gangster Disciples in the jail at 201 Poplar and let them kill him. He lied to Jessie and told him that they had Jessie’s footprints in blood at the [crime] scene. He made promises to Jessie, but told him he had to hurry or else Lt. Armstrong couldn’t help him. And then, he repeatedly played the tape of C.J. [Dotson], saying that Jessie did it. Jessie broke. He confessed.”
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and m...
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