ANTHONY CARAVELLA: EARLIER SUN-SENTINEL STORY INDICATES INNOCENT MAN MAY HAVE BEEN CONVICTED BECAUSE OF "TROUBLING ISSUES IN THE CASE."

"CUDDIHY SAID CARAVELLA'S CONVICTION WAS BASED SOLELY ON HIS CONFESSION. DNA TEST RESULTS ELIMINATE HIM AS THE SOURCE OF THE SEMEN IN THE VICTIM'S BODY AND PROVIDE A DNA PROFILE OF AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN, SHE SAID. THE DNA TEST PROVES CARAVELLA'S CONFESSION WAS FALSE, CUDDIHY SAID. SHE SAID CARAVELLA, WHOSE IQ IS 67, WAS BEATEN IN CUSTODY AND COERCED TO CONFESS. DEFENSE INVESTIGATORS FOUND A WITNESS IN RECENT YEARS WHO TOLD THEM CARAVELLA WAS HIT. MIRAMAR POLICE SPOKESWOMAN TANIA RUES SAID THE DEPARTMENT IS REVIEWING THE CASE BUT NOTED THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT ALLEGATIONS THAT CARAVELLA WAS HIT HAVE BEEN RAISED IN THE CASE. "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE HEARD THESE ALLEGATIONS IN THE 26 YEARS SINCE THE ARREST," SHE SAID. SPECIALISTS ON FALSE CONFESSIONS AND WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS SAID THE CARAVELLA CASE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW JUVENILES AND MENTALLY CHALLENGED PEOPLE ARE VULNERABLE TO CONFESSING TO CRIMES THEY DID NOT COMMIT. SUCH SUSPECTS WANT TO PLEASE AUTHORITY FIGURES AND USE INFORMATION KNOWINGLY OR UNWITTINGLY PROVIDED BY POLICE, STUDIES SHOW."

REPORTER PAULA MCMAHON; SUN-SENTINEL; SEPTEMBER 3, 2009;

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BACKGROUND: "Anthony Caravella, 41, spent 26 years in prison - more than half of his life - for a rape and slaying. He was 15 and had an IQ of 67, well below normal, when he was charged with the Nov. 5, 1983, murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58, in Miramar, Fla. Mr. Caravella exoneration was due to the perseverance of his lawyers, the attention given to the case by the Sun Sentinel, and the willingness of prosecutors to conduct DNA tests to investigate his guilt or innocence. The attitude of the Florida prosecutors contrasts significantly with the prosecutors in the State of Texas who have fought so hard against allowing the DNA tests which could show that Hank Skinner is innocent - even though he faces execution.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: When DNA exonerates a convicted inmate a crucial question must be posed: How could an utterly innocent person be convicted of a crime he or she did not commit? All too often the answer is that police and prosecutors (and occasionally judges) have to cut corners and "stretch" the system in order to get the conviction. (Like coercing or inducing a false confession); The following Sun-Sentinel story by reporter Paula McMahon shows that the Anthony Caravella prosecution may well be a case in point. (As Rubin Hurricane Carter has noted - it's much easier to convict a guilty person!)

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"New testing that shows a Miramar man serving life in prison for a 1983 rape and murder is not the source of DNA on the victim's body is just one of several troubling issues in the case, according to defense attorneys, experts and a Sun Sentinel review of the evidence," reporter Paula McMahon's Sun-Sentinel story, published on September 3, 2009, begins, under the heading, "DNA result just one of troubling aspects in convicted man's case."

"Among those issues is the track record of the prosecutor, who is now a Broward Circuit judge," the story continues.

"Anthony Caravella, now 41, was convicted of the murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58. Caravella was15 when he was arrested. Broward prosecutors sought the death penalty, but the jury voted 11-1 for a life sentence.

Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said Thursday that the Broward State Attorney's Office should take "a hard, critical look" at its practices in the aftermath of several local exonerations and other questionable convictions that have come to light.

One of his chief concerns, Finkelstein said, is the record of Robert Carney, who prosecuted Caravella and two other men convicted of murder but later released from prison after flaws in the state's cases came to light.

John Purvis, a mentally ill man, was freed after spending nine years in prison for the murder of his Fort Lauderdale neighbor and for leaving her toddler daughter to die. In 1985, just months after he was convicted, Carney and police received a tip that the victim's ex-husband, Paul Hamwi, hired someone to kill her. They closed the case, and Purvis' defense learned about the lead only by chance years later. Hamwi and another man, Paul Serio, ultimately were found guilty of the crimes and sentenced to life in prison.

Christopher Clugston spent 12 years in prison for a 1981 murder in Hallandale Beach. The conviction was based on the testimony of a snitch, who recanted five years later and said he and the real killer framed Clugston. Clugston eventually was granted clemency and freed in 1993.

"I cannot think of another prosecutor anywhere in the U.S. that has put away three innocent people in separate cases," Finkelstein said.

In e-mail to the Sun Sentinel, Carney wrote he had no contact with the Caravella case in more than 25 years.

"Monday morning quarterbacking with information that was not available at the time of trial is not fair criticism," Carney wrote. "I feel confident that whatever criticisms there were about the handling of this case were brought to the attention of the appellate court and thoroughly litigated as they are in every criminal appeal."

Carolyn McCann, the prosecutor now in charge of the Caravella case, said her office is reviewing the DNA evidence and researching how a private lab in California reached its conclusions. Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will oppose or support releasing Caravella.

"I don't feel that any prosecutor, including Rob Carney, would ever want to convict an innocent person," McCann said. "I can assure you that we will do the right thing ... [Broward State Attorney] Mike Satz is taking this very seriously."

Caravella's public defender, Diane Cuddihy, spent Thursday working on a legal request to have his conviction thrown out and seek his release from prison. She hopes to file it Friday.

Cuddihy said Caravella's conviction was based solely on his confession. DNA test results eliminate him as the source of the semen in the victim's body and provide a DNA profile of an unidentified man, she said.

The DNA test proves Caravella's confession was false, Cuddihy said. She said Caravella, whose IQ is 67, was beaten in custody and coerced to confess. Defense nvestigators found a witness in recent years who told them Caravella was hit.

Miramar police spokeswoman Tania Rues said the department is reviewing the case but noted that this is the first time that allegations that Caravella was hit have been raised in the case. "This is the first time we've heard these allegations in the 26 years since the arrest," she said.

Specialists on false confessions and wrongful convictions said the Caravella case is another example of how juveniles and mentally challenged people are vulnerable to confessing to crimes they did not commit. Such suspects want to please authority figures and use information knowingly or unwittingly provided by police, studies show.

"When statements in these kinds of cases get more and more detailed and incriminating, we find that the information can only end up in the suspect's knowledge by a process known as contamination," said Steven Drizin, a Northwestern University law professor and expert on false confessions. "Nine out of 10 times, the source of that information is law enforcement officers."

After he was arrested on an unrelated charge, Caravella made five statements to Miramar police and a Broward Sheriff's Office sergeant over seven days. Cuddihy said the statements were conflicting — from the first statement, in which Caravella got key details wrong, to the fifth, in which some information appeared to have been suggested to him by leading questions. There were also breaks between statements when he continued to speak with police.

A Sun Sentinel review of the evidence shows that in Caravella's first statement, he referred to the 58-year-old victim as a "girl" and said she was taller than him. Caravella is 5 foot-11, and the victim was shorter.

He also said the weapon was a "butcher knife" and a "big long, long knife." In fact, a steak knife was used.

Caravella said three other juveniles stabbed the victim, but only in the chest and that she was left completely nude. He also said he saw no chair at the crime scene, on the grounds of Miramar Elementary School.

By the fifth statement, Caravella said he acted alone, the victim was shorter, he hit her with the leg of a folding chair, her pants were completely off, her shirt was pushed up and her shoes were off. He said that nothing happened to the knife but that he wiped off the handle. He also said he did not choke the victim.

According to the physical evidence, the victim was strangled and suffered 29 stab wounds, including several in areas where Caravella said she was not stabbed. The steak knife used to stab the victim broke and the handle and blade were found separately, and a rigid cafeteria chair, not a folding one, was found at the scene. The victim's pants were pulled down over her right shoe which was still on her foot."

The story can be found at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-dna-caravella-b090309,0,258915.story

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

DAY TWO: MAGNIFICENT PIECE OF REPORTING BY COLUMBUS DISPATCH LED TO RECENT CRIMINAL LAW REFORM BILL. OHIO REJECTS TESTS FOR PAROLEES AND THE DEAD.

"CONVICTS LOSE THEIR CHANCE FOR A DNA TEST WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED FROM PRISON, WHETHER THEY LEAVE ON PAROLE OR IN A HEARSE. OHIO IS AMONG 15 STATES THAT REQUIRE A PERSON TO BE ALIVE AND IN PRISON TO QUALIFY. HAD THAT RESTRICTION BEEN IN PLACE NATIONALLY, IT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED CLEARING THE NAMES OF AT LEAST 22 MEN WRONGLY CONVICTED OF RAPE OR MURDER. IF OHIO ALLOWED FOR EXPANDED DNA TESTING, THE NUMBER OF EXONERATIONS "WOULD BE HIGHER, THERE'S JUST NO QUESTION," SAID STEPHEN SALOOM, POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE INNOCENCE PROJECT OF NEW YORK. "YOU'VE GOT TO ASK: WHO BENEFITS FROM REFUSING TO LEARN WHETHER OR NOT AN INNOCENT PERSON WAS CONVICTED OF A SERIOUS CRIME? NOBODY BENEFITS -- EXCEPT THE REAL PERPETRATOR. EVERYONE ELSE LOSES.""

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH:

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BACKGROUND: PART ONE: According to the Innocence Project, "Ohio lawmakers last week (Wednesday March 16, 2010) passed a package of sweeping criminal justice reforms aimed at preventing injustice by addressing the leading causes of wrongful convictions. The bill, which Gov. Ted Strickland is expected to sign within days, was called by one lawmaker “one of the most important pieces of criminal justice legislation in this state in a century."Each time DNA testing helps to free an innocent person from prison, we can study how our criminal justice system failed — and address the problem so it doesn’t happen again. Ohio is now a model in targeting reforms to help free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions and apprehend the true perpetrators of crime. The bill includes improvements to lineup procedures, a method for parolees to apply for DNA testing, incentives for police departments to record interrogations and a requirement that evidence in serious crimes be preserved. The Innocence Project worked closely with the Ohio Innocence Project for the last two years to pass these critical reforms. While these reforms are badly needed from coast to coast, the urgency for systemic change became clear in Ohio after the Columbus Dispatch published the groundbreaking series "Test of Convictions," documenting flaws in the state’s system and helping to bring about two exonerations so far. The series’ two reporters, Mike Wagner and Geoff Dutton, will receive the Innocence Network’s first-annual Journalism Award next month. (April, 2010)

BACKGROUND: PART TWO: THE FIVE PART COLUMBUS DISPATCH SERIES THAT PROMPTED DRAMATIC CRIMINAL LAW REFORM IN OHIO:

* PART ONE: Evidence is often lost or destroyed.
* PART TWO: Ohio rejects tests for parolees and the dead.
* PART THREE:Victims relive horror when inmates get testing.
* PART FOUR; Innocent man must register as sex offender.
* PART FIVE: DNA promising in questionable cases.
'
BACKGROUND PART THREE; THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH'S MODUS-OPERANDI: The Dispatch built case files on 313 inmates from 51 counties who applied for DNA tests. The newspaper reviewed every case with the Ohio Innocence Project, a University of Cincinnati-based legal clinic that represented many of the inmates. The reporters interviewed three dozen inmates and former inmates, as well as prosecutors, crime victims and others with a stake in the system.

BACKGROUND PART FOUR: THE REPORTERS; Geoff Dutton is a projects reporter who joined The Dispatch in 2002. He has reported on unsafe conditions in youth prisons, home foreclosures and predatory lending, and the consequences of sentencing juvenile criminals to adult prisons. Dutton worked previously for newspapers in Florida and Ohio. Mike Wagner has been a projects reporter at The Dispatch since 2006. He has profiled former OSU quarterback Art Schlichter, examined the lack of black coaches in high schools and detailed fan behavior at Big Ten football games. Previously, he worked as an investigative reporter for the Dayton Daily News.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am struck by the sheer contrast between Texas and Ohio when it comes to the criminal justice system. The State of Texas does its best to hide any information which could show that it could have convicted, or even executed an innocent man - as is so evident in the Cameron Todd Willingham and Hank Skinner cases. The State of Ohio is aggressively seeking to free the innocent and prevent wrongful convictions through legislation. This revolution in Ohio didn't just happen. It is the result of a magnificent investigation conducted by the Columbus Dispatch which began on January 27, 2008. This Blog applauds the Dispatch for pouring in the hefty resources required for such a massive undertaking, the Innocence Project and the Ohio Innocence Project, for its unique cooperation with the newspaper, and the writers, photographers and editorial staff who did such a phenomenal job. Reporters Geoff Dutton and Mike Wagner richly deserve the Innocence Network’s first-annual Journalism Award which is to be presented next month. (April, 2010);

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"GLEN, N.Y. -- The crunch of gravel under car tires rolling up the driveway sent chills across Eli Keim's skin. The frail Amish farmer, who has battled the effects of polio for most of his 58 years, limped toward the stranger," the story begins, under the heading, "Out of time: Ohio restricts convicts who try to prove innocence."

"The black man rolled down his car window and asked if he could buy some eggs," it continues.

""That poor man had no idea what that question did to me inside," Keim said.

Keim moved his family from northern Ohio to this rural Amish community in upstate New York about two years ago, but he can't leave behind the lingering memories of being choked and robbed by a black intruder who pretended to want eggs from his Ashland County farm.

Keim wiped wood chips from his salt-and-pepper beard and recalled the day that Arthur Swanson was arrested for the robbery. The day that he took the witness stand against the 54-year-old Mansfield man. The day that a jury convicted Swanson and a judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
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Then the Amish man, surrounded by 60 peaceful acres of corn and hay fields, wondered aloud about Swanson's well-being in prison. He wasn't aware that Swanson and his family have maintained his innocence and fought for a DNA test for years.

Or that after being locked up for seven years, Swanson died in prison of an extended illness in 2006.

"I always thought it was Arthur, but I would never ever say I'm positive it was him in my house that day," Keim said.

DNA testing of a cigarette butt and a hair collected from the scene could possibly settle the question, but Ohio law prevents it.

Convicts lose their chance for a DNA test when they are released from prison, whether they leave on parole or in a hearse.

Ohio is among 15 states that require a person to be alive and in prison to qualify. Had that restriction been in place nationally, it would have prevented clearing the names of at least 22 men wrongly convicted of rape or murder.

If Ohio allowed for expanded DNA testing, the number of exonerations "would be higher, there's just no question," said Stephen Saloom, policy director of the Innocence Project of New York.

"You've got to ask: Who benefits from refusing to learn whether or not an innocent person was convicted of a serious crime? Nobody benefits -- except the real perpetrator. Everyone else loses."

Fairfield County Assistant Prosecutor Gregg Marx doesn't buy it. He opposed testing for a paroled rapist there, he said, out of confidence in and respect for the jury, the appeals court and the victim.

"We think it would be devastating to victims everywhere, not just this victim," Marx said. "What will happen if we're allowed to continually attack verdicts years later?"
Swanson: Was it him?

Sarah Keim was scrubbing the breakfast dishes when she saw the long gray car creep up the driveway. It was just after 7 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving 1998, an odd time for visitors, she thought.

Their 16-year-old son, Benny, already was outside hitching up the horses.

"Good morning, I'm looking to buy some eggs," the man said to Eli when he greeted him at the door.

When Eli returned with two dozen eggs, the man was standing inside the white two-story farm house. He grabbed Eli around the neck and demanded cash. Eli's face was purple by the time the man dragged him into the kitchen. "He had me in a death grip," Eli said. "I thought I was going to die, but I just didn't want him to hurt Sarah or Benny."

Sarah screamed at the man and tried to free her husband. She backed off when he threatened to kill Eli, and then gave him a billfold with $60.

"I want more," the man screamed. Sarah grabbed a desk drawer with loose change.

The man ordered Sarah to lie on the floor and released Eli before he sprinted out the back door. As the car pulled away, the couple raced outside to check on their son and tried to read the license plate.

"It was hard to see, but we thought we got the first three letters -- DXL, QXL, OXL -- or something like that," Eli said.

A detective discovered a fresh cigarette butt at the corner of the house, likely left by the robber. The Keims didn't see the attacker smoking but couldn't see what he was doing before entering their home. Investigators took the hair from inside the house, where Eli said no black person had ever been.

Even so, the cigarette butt and hair were never tested.

The nightmares soon followed and stayed -- and so did the guilt."We regretted that we told police, because we (Amish) believe that it's wrong to seek revenge," Eli said. "But the other side is, he could do this to someone else."

Either way, the sound of any vehicle rolling up the driveway would haunt him.

Two weeks later, an anonymous caller told the Ashland County sheriff's office that Swanson was the robber and had used his mother's car. Swanson was arrested at his mom's Mansfield home. Out front was his mom's car: a light silver Chrysler New Yorker, license plate DXL 781.
Passing the test

Nationally, DNA has exonerated at least 22 people who were already out of prison, one of them dead, T he Dispatch found. Eight others had been released but were returned for parole violations by the time of their tests.

Together, they served more than 370 years in prison, plus years on parole, for crimes they didn't commit.

Texas cleared James Curtis Giles in June with DNA tests that proved his innocence -- and identified the actual rapist -- 15 years after Giles was released on parole.

"The only sad part is my momma didn't live that long," he said. "She didn't get a chance to celebrate my exoneration. Likewise, my dad."

Virginia cleared Marvin Anderson with a DNA test after he spent 15 years in prison and five years on parole for rape. The test in 2002 revealed the real rapist and led to the testing and exoneration of two inmates in separate cases.

The sudden pileup of exonerations prompted the state to randomly test evidence from 31 other old cases, which exonerated two more men who had served a combined 31 years in prison and by then were on parole.

Now, Virginia is combing more than a half-million old files looking for other mistakes.

Anderson, who speaks about wrongful convictions around the country, knows that, despite his horrifying ordeal, he has much to be thankful for -- particularly that he wasn't convicted in a state such as Ohio that prohibits parolees from getting a test.

"I'd probably still be walking around as a convicted sex offender," he said.

"All these states need to wake up. If a person is innocent of a crime, regardless of whether he's in or out, he should be able to prove his innocence."

Authorities have tested evidence after an inmate's death in at least three death-penalty cases in three different states.

In 2000, DNA tests cleared Frank Lee Smith of raping and murdering an 8-year-old girl in Florida -- a year after Smith died of cancer while awaiting execution for 14 years on Death Row. The DNA tests also identified the real attacker.

In Virginia, DNA tests in 2006 ended years of speculation and doubt, confirming the guilt of Roger Coleman 14 years after his execution. And Georgia tried to settle questions about the guilt of Ellis Wayne Felker in 2000, four years after his execution, but tests were inconclusive.

The case of Donte Booker shows what might lie beneath the surface in Ohio.

The Cleveland man served 15 years for rape before being paroled as a registered sexual offender in 2002. A short time later, Ohio passed its law allowing inmates to request a DNA test.

Booker applied, but the prosecutor rightly noted that he didn't qualify. It didn't matter that Booker offered to pay for the test himself; he wasn't in prison, with at least a year left on his sentence, as required by law.

Coincidentally, Booker got into a fight with his girlfriend eight days later and was arrested -- a parole violation that landed him back in prison. This time, he won approval for testing sperm left behind by the rapist nearly 20 years earlier.

The results not only cleared Booker in 2005 but revealed the real rapist, an ex-convict whose DNA profile remained in a state database because of an aggravated robbery he committed while Booker sat in prison. The man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years for the rape for which Booker had already served 15 years.

The case shows the arbitrary and risky nature of excluding people from testing after their release from prison.

"If we're all interested in justice, what's the problem with doing that?" asked his attorney, W. Scott Ramsey of Cleveland. "It leads one to believe it's not all about justice. A person who served 20 years and is out on parole deserves to clear his name."
Swanson: Weak case?

Maebell Owens looked but couldn't find answers in the soot-covered box of prison paperwork, all that remained of her son's fight to prove he didn't rob the Amish family. The 86-year-old woman shuffled across the creaky porch of her ramshackle Mansfield home, leaning on the snow shovel handle she uses as a makeshift cane. She nearly fell when she bent down to lift the box. Her tears dripped on a torn, faded picture of her son.

"This is what my son lived with and died with in that cell," Owens said of her son, Arthur Swanson. "My boy was innocent."

Swanson's life was ordinary before a robbery conviction. He graduated from high school, where he ran track, then worked at an automotive factory in Michigan. He later returned to Ohio to work odd jobs so he could help care for his aging mother. He never married but had two sons.

In his early 20s, stemming from separate incidents, Swanson was convicted of unarmed robbery and breaking and entering. He later was convicted on drug and forgery charges and served more than two years in prison.

The prosecution's case against him was based mainly on testimony from the Amish couple and other witnesses. They described the "long gray car" that matched Owens' vehicle and the partial license plate of DXL that Eli Keim had written down when the robber fled his farm.

But even the Keims concede that lingering questions surround the case.

They described the suspect to police as 30 to 35 years old. Swanson was 54 at the time and showed no resemblance to the sketch distributed by the sheriff's department.

Sarah Keim couldn't identify Swanson in a photo lineup.

Her husband also struggled to identify the attacker from the six photos. But after taking what authorities called "considerable time," he guessed at the person in photo No. 2 - Swanson.

Detectives also showed a photo lineup to a woman who told police that a black man had stopped at her house the morning of the robbery to ask where he could buy eggs from an Amish family. That woman picked the man in photo No. 4 - not Swanson.

The Keims initially were confused about whether one or two men were involved in the robbery, and whether the letters on the license plate were accurate.

Swanson's mother says she was driving her own car to the grocery store the morning of the robbery. A rusted license plate with the letters DXL still sits on her porch.

"Arthur didn't have my car," she said. Swanson's alibi was that he was at a friend's house during the robbery.

Swanson wrote dozens of letters, pleading for help. He asked private attorneys, law schools and other advocates to persuade the justice system to test the cigarette butt and hair.

Swanson's plea for a DNA test was rejected, with prosecutors and a judge saying it wouldn't prove his innocence. They argued that even if the DNA evidence didn't match Swanson, it still wouldn't have cleared him of the robbery.

Swanson never received his DNA test. He died at age 61 on Independence Day.
Fighting for justice

Each year, more Ohio inmates die or are freed after years in prison, only to be trapped by a system unwilling to reconsider their guilt in light of DNA.

At Robert Blackburn's trial in 1993, a Fairfield County prosecutor held up an 8-year-old girl's pair of semen-stained underwear to help seal his conviction.

The latest DNA testing techniques could possibly, finally, discredit Blackburn's continuing claims of innocence or correct a horrible injustice. But prosecutors successfully fought it, and Blackburn lost his chance to keep arguing the point when he was paroled in 2005.

"The victim in this case, we wanted her to get closure on this matter," Prosecutor David Landefeld said. "I think it would be devastating for her. It just dredges up a lot of memories. She was a brave little girl to come in and testify."

Blackburn still wants the girl's underwear sent to a DNA lab. He hasn't seen his three children since his conviction, and few people, not even relatives, have looked at him the same since.

"They don't want to believe I did 15 years in prison for something I didn't do. Nobody does."

Some inmates would even prefer to remain in prison to continue their fight for a DNA test, especially those who would be classified as sex offenders.

"If it means a chance to clear my name, and get this test, I would rather stay in prison than be paroled," said Robert McClendon, an inmate at the Ross County Correctional Facility who is serving a sentence of 15 years to life for rape. McClendon, who was convicted in 1991, is now eligible for parole.

"If I do get out on parole, I will fight this rap from the street," he said. "I am no angel. I've done some bad things in life, but I'm not a rapist."
Swanson: Grant a test?

A stream of barefoot schoolchildren passed beneath the big oaks that tower over Eli Keim's farm. He grinned. In that same moment last October, his wife set a piece of homemade pie on his work bench. Their son stopped in after a day's work to say hello before he headed into the woods to bow hunt.

Keim has the serenity that any man covets. He didn't come to New York to escape the past.

But the memories of the robbery and Arthur Swanson linger. Keim once tried to visit Swanson in prison.

"I wanted to give him a chance to ask for our forgiveness, make peace with everything," Keim said. "But they wouldn't let me because I'm the victim."

Owens often visited her son in prison. She sent him the little money she had to help pay for extra medicine to ease his suffering in the last months of his life.

The elderly woman's health is failing now, and she knows her time is short. Her last wish, however, isn't to take a lavish trip or move into a nicer home.

"All I want before I die is to clear my baby's name," she said.

Ashland County Prosecutor Ramona Rogers said she will continue to follow the law when it comes to considering any future motions for DNA testing in Swanson's case.

"I will not make an exception in this case with no statutory authority to do so," said Rogers, who was not involved in prosecuting Swanson.

While she could endorse a DNA test, Rogers argues that prosecutors had a strong case against Swanson; his attorneys didn't ask for DNA testing at the time of trial; and, under the state's old law, several courts have ruled that a DNA test would not help prove Swanson's innocence.

"I understand the Amish are a forgiving culture," she said. "But I can't be governed by what the victims want."

Still, Keim and his family hope for a test.

"If he's guilty, then we will know once and for all," Keim said. "If he is innocent, then they should clear him.

"We humans," he said, "make mistakes all the time.""

This story can be found at:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/28/dna2.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

GRAHAM STAFFORD: GOVERNMENT WILL NOT RETRY: CALLS FOR COMPENSATION AND INVESTIGATION; JAILED 15 YEARS. LEANNNE HOLLAND'S KILLER REMAINS FREE.

"The Court of Appeal judgment referred to Mr Stafford's "limited" opportunity to kill Leanne, a lack of motive and his good character. It said he had not had a fair trial, and that the Crown case as put at trial had since been "fundamentally undermined" by further evidence. Criminologist Professor Paul Wilson, who co-wrote a book on the case, said he was delighted for Mr Stafford that he did not have to go through another trial. "On the other hand, it's a great pity that he cannot get the justice he deserves through a complete exoneration," Prof Wilson told AAP. "I'm calling for an investigation into both the police handing of the case and into the CMC (Crime and Misconduct Commission), which failed to find anything wrong in the police investigation."

Reporter Bret Wortman: Sunshine Coast Daily;

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BACKGROUND: (WIKIPEDIA): Graham Stuart Stafford was a sheet metal worker from Goodna, near Ipswich, Queensland who was convicted in 1992 of the murder of twelve-year-old Leanne Sarah Holland. Leanne Holland, the younger sister of Stafford's former partner, Melissa Holland, was murdered in September 1991. Her viciously mutilated body was found three days after she was reported missing in nearby Redbank Plains. It is possible she was also sexually interfered with and tortured with a cigarette lighter. Stafford appealed to the Queensland Court of Appeal, but this appeal was rejected on 25 August 1992. In 1997, the Queensland Court of Appeal re-examined the case after Stafford lodged an application for pardon with the State Governor on the basis of evidence gathered by private detective, Graeme Crowley. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal again by a two-to-one majority on the grounds that there was still enough evidence to convict. Two applications for special leave to the High Court of Australia subsequently failed. Stafford was released in June 2006 after serving over 14 years in prison. Stafford, who was born in England and does not have Australian citizenship despite having migrated to Australia in 1969, faced deportation in November 2006. Some people, including Professor Paul Wilson of Bond University believe that Stafford is a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The Queensland Attorney-General, Kerry Shine, has agreed to closely consider any request on Stafford's behalf concerning a petition to clear him of the murder conviction. In April 2008, the Queensland Attorney-General referred the case to the Court of Appeal for a very rare second appeal for pardon. On December 24, 2009 the Court of Appeal overturned Graham Stafford's conviction and ordered a retrial by a 2-1 majority. The dissenting judge wanted an immediate acquittal...WIKIPEDIA informs us that: "A Brisbane Sunday Mail examination of the police investigation revealed that an Ipswich computer store worker provided information to the police about a man who had entered the store on the same day as Leanne's body was dumped in nearby bushland. The worker claimed that the man had been behaving in a peculiar manner and had blood stains on his hands and trousers when he entered the store. Furthermore, reports of Leanne having been seen alive on the day after the police allege she was murdered were ignored. A report of a vehicle other than Stafford's being sighted near the body was also ignored. Forensic scientist, Angela van Daal, gave evidence at trial that helped convict Stafford of the murder. She has since stated that the blood identified as Leanne's could have come from another family member. Although the frequency of the blood type matching anyone in the general population was only about one percent, the frequency among relatives is as high as 25 percent. Around the time of the murder, Leanne's brother Craig had slashed his hand in a pub fight and had bled freely in the family home. It has also been revealed that another twelve-year-old girl was murdered less than one kilometre away from where Leanne Holland lived within thirteen days of Leanne's murder. The man who was charged with the second murder had been known to Leanne. Furthermore, daughters of a police informant in the Leanne Holland case have come forward claiming their father sexually abused them at the murder site, burnt them with cigarette lighters and showed them crime scene photographs of Leanne's body."

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"SUPPORTERS of Graham Stafford are preparing a bid for compensation, and seeking a new investigation, following the chief prosecutor's decision not to proceed with another trial," reporter Bret Wortman's story published March 26, 2010, published in the Sunshine Coast Daily on March 26, 2010 begins, under the heading, "Graham Stafford will not face retrial."

"Graham Stuart Stafford was jailed for life in 1992 after being found guilty of murdering 13-year-old schoolgirl Leanne Holland when he was aged 28," the story continues.

"He was convicted on circumstantial evidence of using a blunt object to bash to death the sister of his then-fiancee at a home in Goodna, west of Brisbane, on September 23, 1991.

Stafford was released from jail in 2006 after serving almost 15 years.

He campaigned to clear his name, and in December last year the Queensland Court of Appeal ruled that his conviction be quashed and a retrial be conducted.

Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions Tony Moynihan, SC, on Friday announced a retrial would not take place.

"I have consulted with the family of Leanne Holland and the Queensland Police Service and they support my decision that it is not in the public interest to proceed with another trial for a number of reasons," he said in a statement.

These included that Mr Stafford had served his sentence, had been deemed fit for release back into the community and that 20 years had passed since the murder, which had affected the state of the evidence, he said.

The Court of Appeal judgment referred to Mr Stafford's "limited" opportunity to kill Leanne, a lack of motive and his good character.

It said he had not had a fair trial, and that the Crown case as put at trial had since been "fundamentally undermined" by further evidence.

Criminologist Professor Paul Wilson, who co-wrote a book on the case, said he was delighted for Mr Stafford that he did not have to go through another trial.

"On the other hand, it's a great pity that he cannot get the justice he deserves through a complete exoneration," Prof Wilson told AAP.

"I'm calling for an investigation into both the police handing of the case and into the CMC (Crime and Misconduct Commission), which failed to find anything wrong in the police investigation."

Prof Wilson said a compensation bid would be lodged with the Queensland attorney-general.

"It will be very hard because it's not a complete exoneration," he said.

"And the Queensland government has got an appalling record on criminal compensation."

He said the case also showed the need for an independent commission to investigate miscarriages of justice, similar to the UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Prof Wilson said there was a darker side to the case.

"Let's not forget the real killer is still out there - I'm sure of it," he said.

Mr Stafford, who was present for the brief hearing on Friday, told reporters outside the court he was pleased the charges had been dropped.

"I'm hopeful that the authorities will now reopen the investigation into Leanne's murder, for the sake of justice for both Leanne, myself and for both families," he said.

"An open and honest inquiry into the murder investigation is the only way this will ever be resolved and the perpetrator of Leanne's murder will be behind bars."

He said he was discussing a compensation bid with his advisers.

Asked what he felt after 15 years behind bars, Mr Stafford said: "I feel angry that it's taken this long. It should never have taken this long."

Mr Stafford said the case had yet to reach its "full stop".

"(My name's) been cleared but pursuing it until such time as the person responsible is behind bars will probably be the full stop," he said."

The story can be found at:

http://www.dailymercury.com.au/story/2010/03/26/stafford-retrial-wont-go-ahead/

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

GRAHAM STAFFORD; QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA; UP-DATE: LEARNS TODAY IF WILL FACE NEW TRIAL; FRESH "BLOOD" EVIDENCE;

"GRAHAM STAFFORD EXPECTS TO FIND OUT TODAY WHETHER HE WILL FACE A RETRIAL OVER THE 1991 MURDER OF GOODNA SCHOOLGIRL LEANNE HOLLAND. AFTER SPENDING 15 YEARS IN JAIL FOR THE SHOCKING MURDER, STAFFORD HAD HIS CONVICTION QUASHED BY THE QUEENSLAND COURT OF APPEAL IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR. THE COURT DID NOT ACQUIT HIM OF THE CHARGE AND TODAY THE 46-YEAR-OLD IS SCHEDULED TO FACE BRISBANE MAGISTRATES COURT TO FIND OUT IF PROSECUTORS INTEND TO RETRY HIM OVER THE CASE."

REPORTER ZANE JACKSON: THE QUEENSLAND TIMES;

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BACKGROUND: (WIKIPEDIA): Graham Stuart Stafford was a sheet metal worker from Goodna, near Ipswich, Queensland who was convicted in 1992 of the murder of twelve-year-old Leanne Sarah Holland. Leanne Holland, the younger sister of Stafford's former partner, Melissa Holland, was murdered in September 1991. Her viciously mutilated body was found three days after she was reported missing in nearby Redbank Plains. It is possible she was also sexually interfered with and tortured with a cigarette lighter. Stafford appealed to the Queensland Court of Appeal, but this appeal was rejected on 25 August 1992. In 1997, the Queensland Court of Appeal re-examined the case after Stafford lodged an application for pardon with the State Governor on the basis of evidence gathered by private detective, Graeme Crowley. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal again by a two-to-one majority on the grounds that there was still enough evidence to convict. Two applications for special leave to the High Court of Australia subsequently failed. Stafford was released in June 2006 after serving over 14 years in prison. Stafford, who was born in England and does not have Australian citizenship despite having migrated to Australia in 1969, faced deportation in November 2006. Some people, including Professor Paul Wilson of Bond University believe that Stafford is a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The Queensland Attorney-General, Kerry Shine, has agreed to closely consider any request on Stafford's behalf concerning a petition to clear him of the murder conviction. In April 2008, the Queensland Attorney-General referred the case to the Court of Appeal for a very rare second appeal for pardon. On December 24, 2009 the Court of Appeal overturned Graham Stafford's conviction and ordered a retrial by a 2-1 majority. The dissenting judge wanted an immediate acquittal...Wikipedia informs us that: "A Brisbane Sunday Mail examination of the police investigation revealed that an Ipswich computer store worker provided information to the police about a man who had entered the store on the same day as Leanne's body was dumped in nearby bushland. The worker claimed that the man had been behaving in a peculiar manner and had blood stains on his hands and trousers when he entered the store. Furthermore, reports of Leanne having been seen alive on the day after the police allege she was murdered were ignored. A report of a vehicle other than Stafford's being sighted near the body was also ignored. Forensic scientist, Angela van Daal, gave evidence at trial that helped convict Stafford of the murder. She has since stated that the blood identified as Leanne's could have come from another family member. Although the frequency of the blood type matching anyone in the general population was only about one percent, the frequency among relatives is as high as 25 percent. Around the time of the murder, Leanne's brother Craig had slashed his hand in a pub fight and had bled freely in the family home. It has also been revealed that another twelve-year-old girl was murdered less than one kilometre away from where Leanne Holland lived within thirteen days of Leanne's murder. The man who was charged with the second murder had been known to Leanne. Furthermore, daughters of a police informant in the Leanne Holland case have come forward claiming their father sexually abused them at the murder site, burnt them with cigarette lighters and showed them crime scene photographs of Leanne's body."

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"GRAHAM Stafford expects to find out today whether he will face a retrial over the 1991 murder of Goodna schoolgirl Leanne Holland," the Queensland Times story by reporter Zane Jackson, published earlier today begins, under the heading, "Stafford may face murder retrial."

"After spending 15 years in jail for the shocking murder, Stafford had his conviction quashed by the Queensland Court of Appeal in December last year," the story continues.

"The court did not acquit him of the charge and today the 46-year-old is scheduled to face Brisbane Magistrates Court to find out if prosecutors intend to retry him over the case.

The Queensland Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) office is remaining tight-lipped, but Stafford told The Queensland Times a decision on a retrial would be made public today.

“The DPP was given until this date to come up with a decision or not, so I will find out if they want to retrial me,” he said.

“After my conviction was quashed last year, that was the big one for me – whatever decision they make now is just another tick off the checklist.”

In 1992 Stafford was convicted of the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Goodna schoolgirl Leanne Holland, whose body was found in bush near Redbank Plains in September 1991.

He maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment and launched two failed appeals in the Queensland Court of Appeal and two appeals in the High Court before being released in 2007.

It was only on December 24 last year when the now Mooloolaba resident’s conviction was quashed.

He said should the DPP ask for a retrial, he would be concerned for his elderly parent’s well-being more than anything else.

“I really don’t know how they would cope if this was to go to trial again, it would be even more devastating for them,” he said.

“But after the three appeals, judges quashed my conviction last year – including one judge who said I should be acquitted – I think if there was a retrial, we’d have a bit more confidence.”

Former policeman and private investigator Graeme Crowley, who for years championed Stafford’s innocence after investigating the case, said he believed a retrial would not be called.

“He’s already served a long sentence, all the witnesses and forensic evidence have dispersed all over the place.”

The DPP would not comment on the case."

The story can be found at:

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/03/26/graham-stafford-leanne-holland-retrial-murder/

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

ANTHONY CARAVELLA: JUDGE THROWS OUT RAPE AND MURDER CONVICTIONS AND LIFE SENTENCES - AND APOLOGIZES; FLORIDA PROSECUTORS AGREED TO DNA TESTS;

"PROSECUTOR CAROLYN MCCANN SAID WEDNESDAY THAT A SECOND INDEPENDENT LAB RULED OUT CARAVELLA AS THE SOURCE OF GENETIC EVIDENCE FOUND ON THE VICTIM. MCCANN SAID THE BROWARD STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE DID THE RIGHT THING WHEN IT AGREED TO DEFENSE REQUESTS FOR TWO EARLIER DNA TESTS, ONE DONE BY THE BROWARD SHERIFF'S OFFICE LAB IN 2001 THAT DID NOT IMPLICATE OR CLEAR HIM, AND A SECOND SET OF TESTS BY A CALIFORNIA LAB LAST YEAR THAT APPEARED TO CLEAR HIM. THE THIRD SET OF TESTS — BY A VIRGINIA LAB — WAS CONDUCTED OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS AT THE PROSECUTION'S REQUEST. "THE EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM WAS PROVIDED BY ANTHONY CARAVELLA HIMSELF, BUT WE CANNOT IGNORE THIS DNA EVIDENCE," MCCANN SAID. "I CANNOT EXPLAIN WHY PEOPLE CONFESS TO POLICE ABOUT CRIMES THEY DID NOT COMMIT."

REPORTER PAULA MCMAHON: THE SUN SENTINEL;

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BACKGROUND: "Anthony Caravella, 41, spent 26 years in prison - more than half of his life - for a rape and slaying. He was 15 and had an IQ of 67, well below normal, when he was charged with the Nov. 5, 1983, murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58, in Miramar, Fla. Mr. Caravella exoneration was due to the perseverance of his lawyers, the attention given to the case by the Sun Sentinel, and the willingness of prosecutors to conduct DNA tests to investigate his guilt or innocence. The attitude of the Florida prosecutors contrasts significantly with the prosecutors in the State of Texas who have fought so hard against allowing the DNA tests which could show that Hank Skinner is innocent - even though he faces execution.

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"A judge apologized to Anthony Caravella in court Thursday morning and threw out his conviction for rape and murder and the life sentence imposed for those crimes," the Sun Sentinel story by reporter Paula McMahon, which appeared earlier today, under the heading, "After 26 years, Anthony Caravella is a free man: Judge throws out rape and murder conviction, apologizes on behalf of state," begins.

"Caravella, 41, served more than half his life — close to 26 years — in prison before being exonerated by DNA testing," the story continues.

"The past couple of years a lot of people have worked very hard for you … on the other hand, there are some people who may owe you an apology," Broward Circuit Judge Thomas M. Lynch IV told Caravella as he tossed out the conviction.

"Let me take the opportunity to apologize to you for the criminal justice system of the state of Florida," Lynch said to Caravella. "Good luck in the future, sir."

The lawyers, defendants and other members of the public who were in court burst into spontaneous applause.

Outside in the hallway, the pretrial release officer who had been monitoring Caravella since he was temporarily released six months ago offered to let him cut off the GPS device he was wearing around his ankle. She handed Caravella the clippers, but had to step in when he couldn't manage.

"I waited a very long time for this — it feels good, man," Caravella said. Without the tracking device, he said he felt about 10 pounds lighter.

He turned to his public defender, Diane Cuddihy, and said, "What do I do now?"

"Now you go home," she said.

His immediate plans, Caravella said, were "just getting my life in order."

On Wednesday, DNA test results exonerated Caravella in the Nov. 5, 1983, rape and murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58, in Miramar. Broward prosecutors agreed then to ask Lynch to throw out his conviction and life sentence.

"I never had any doubt that Anthony was innocent," said Cuddihy, who worked for nine years to free him. "The shocking thing is that an innocent man can be convicted like this."

Caravella was 15 and had an IQ of 67, which experts say is mildly mentally retarded, when he was charged with rape and murder.

Broward prosecutors took the very unusual step of temporarily releasing Caravella on Sept. 10, when earlier tests seemed to clear him. But he had to wear the monitor and obey a curfew while prosecutors did more forensic testing.

"I feel good, man, because I've never been free all this time," Caravella said Wednesday evening when told of the test results. "When they let me walk out that [prison] door, I was free but I wasn't free, because it was all hanging over my head. Now I'll be really free."

Prosecutor Carolyn McCann said Wednesday that a second independent lab ruled out Caravella as the source of genetic evidence found on the victim.

McCann said the Broward State Attorney's Office did the right thing when it agreed to defense requests for two earlier DNA tests, one done by the Broward Sheriff's Office lab in 2001 that did not implicate or clear him, and a second set of tests by a California lab last year that appeared to clear him. The third set of tests — by a Virginia lab — was conducted over the past six months at the prosecution's request.

"The evidence against him was provided by Anthony Caravella himself, but we cannot ignore this DNA evidence," McCann said. "I cannot explain why people confess to police about crimes they did not commit."

Miramar police had few leads or suspects in the murder of Jankowski, who was stabbed 23 times. Caravella became a suspect several weeks after the crime, when police arrested him on an unrelated juvenile case and asked about the slaying.

Caravella confessed in four increasingly incriminating taped statements he gave to police.

In 2009, Cuddihy said new evidence showed that police hit and coerced the mentally challenged teen into confessing, with the promise that a girlfriend would be freed if he helped them. He started talking and she was freed.

Caravella said he thought he was playing "head games" with police and they would look foolish when they wouldn't be able to prove that he did it. Instead, the Broward State Attorney's Office sought the death penalty at his 1984 trial.

Caravella's first appeal was rejected, and he languished in state prison until 2001, when his youngest brother, Larry Dunlap, called the Sun Sentinel. Dunlap asked whether DNA testing, not available when Caravella was convicted, could clear him. The reporter interviewed the family, reviewed the court case file and found some causes for concern, then put Dunlap in touch with the Broward Public Defender's Office.

Both the defense's and the Sun Sentinel's review of Caravella's case in 2001 revealed inconsistencies between evidence in the case and his eventual confession. The taped statements and other records showed that police, perhaps unwittingly, provided him with some details about the crime that he regurgitated in later statements. Officers also had lengthy periods of time alone with him, interactions that were not taped, between the interviews. The defense also said that then-prosecutor Robert Carney and police did not turn over evidence to the defense that might have helped him in 1984.

While Caravella may be entitled to financial compensation, he and his attorney said before Thursday's hearing that they have been devoting all their efforts so far to proving his innocence, not focusing on money."
"
The story can be found at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-caravella-dna-murder-20100324-25,0,5480558.story

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

HANK SKINNER; RUSH TRANSCRIPT OF LARRY KING LIVE THREE HOURS AFTER THE U.S. SUPREME COURT STAYED THE EXECUTION;

"JASON CLARK, PLO, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: YES. WE WERE NOTIFIED THROUGH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE THAT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAD ISSUED A STAY. AND SO WE WENT OVER AND DID SPEAK WITH MR. SKINNER.

KING: HE WAS EATING HIS MEAL, I UNDERSTAND?

CLARK: YES, SIR. HE WAS FINISHING UP HIS -- HIS LAST MEAL. HE HAD EATEN MOST OF THE LAST MEAL. AND HE WAS ON THE PHONE, I BELIEVE WITH HIS DAUGHTER, JUST A FEW MINUTES PRIOR. HE WAS IN CONTACT WITH HIS ATTORNEY. AND THAT ATTORNEY RELAYED TO HIM THAT THE EXECUTION WAS STAYED.

KING: SO YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM, THE ATTORNEY TOLD HIM?

CLARK: YES, SIR.

KING: WHAT WAS HIS FIRST REACTION?

CLARK: YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY, HE WAS ECSTATIC, UNDERSTANDABLY. WHEN -- WHEN WE TALKED WITH HIM, HE SAID THAT HE HAD FELT LIKE THE EXECUTION WAS GOING TO GO THROUGH AND HE WAS PREPARED FOR THAT. HE SAID THAT HE WAS WEAK IN HIS KNEES. AND AT THAT POINT, HE HAD SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, HE FELT LIKE HE HAD WON TODAY AND THAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL DNA TESTING TO -- TO TRY TO PROVE HIS INNOCENCE."

(Joining us are Brandi Grisham (Grissom) (ph), a reporter for "The Texas Tribune," who was scheduled to witness the execution tonight. She's interviewed Henry "Hank" Skinner, by the way. Jason Clark, public information director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner -- she is the wife of Henry "Hank" Skinner. And Curtis McCarty, a former death row inmate. He was exonerated by DNA evidence two years ago after spending 19 years in prison for first degree murder. And he's aided in this case.)

LARRY KING LIVE: CNN; (THREE HOURS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT STAYED THE EXECUTION);

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BACKGROUND: The editor of the Texas Tribune says in a note that "Hank Skinner is set to be executed for a 1993 murder he's always maintained he didn't commit. He wants the state to test whether his DNA matches evidence found at the crime scene, but prosecutors say the time to contest his conviction has come and gone......We told the story of the murders and his conviction and sentencing in the first part of this story." Reporter Brandi Grissom, author of the Tribune series on Hank Skinner, writes: "I interviewed Henry "Hank" Watkins Skinner, 47, at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice — death row — on January 20, 2010. Skinner was convicted in 1995 of murdering his girlfriends and her two sons; the state has scheduled his execution for February 24. Skinner has always maintained that he's innocent and for 15 years has asked the state to release DNA evidence that he says will prove he was not the killer."

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CNN LARRY KING LIVE: Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Death Row Prisoner's Appeal: Aired March 24, 2010 - 21:00 ET.

LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, scared at the 11th hour -- a convicted murderer granted a temporary stay from the Supreme Court less than 60 minutes from his scheduled execution. He almost finished his last meal. He says a DNA test will prove what he's claimed for years -- that he didn't kill his former girlfriend and her two children.

We're live from Texas with the drama that stopped a man from being put to death tonight.

Then, did text messages lead to the brutal attack on a Florida teen now in a coma?

The shocking texts before and after the crime and what they mean to the accused. We'll hear from the mom whose son was deliberately set on fire.

Next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Good evening.

Henry "Hank" Skinner was convicted in 1995 for the murders of his live-in girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two sons. He's maintained his innocence ever since. Now, he's sought DNA evidence -- testing evidence -- hoping it would reveal who he calls the real killer.

Now, as you just heard, a temporary stay was granted less than three hours ago. The Supreme Court ordered the stay as it considers the issue of taking up the broader appeal.

Joining us are Brandi Grisham (ph), a reporter for "The Texas Tribune," who was scheduled to witness the execution tonight. She's interviewed Henry "Hank" Skinner, by the way.

Jason Clark, public information director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner -- she is the wife of Henry "Hank" Skinner.

And Curtis McCarty, a former death row inmate. He was exonerated by DNA evidence two years ago after spending 19 years in prison for first degree murder. And he's aided in this case.

All right, Jason, you're the public information order. You -- officer. You were ready for the execution.

When did you get -- did you get the word from the court to stay it?

JASON CLARK, PLO, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Yes. We were notified through the attorney general's office that the U.S. Supreme Court had issued a stay. And so we went over and did speak with Mr. Skinner.

KING: He was eating his meal, I understand?

CLARK: Yes, sir. He was finishing up his -- his last meal. He had eaten most of the last meal. And he was on the phone, I believe with his daughter, just a few minutes prior. He was in contact with his attorney. And that attorney relayed to him that the execution was stayed.

KING: So you didn't tell him, the attorney told him?

CLARK: Yes, sir.

KING: What was his first reaction?

CLARK: You know, certainly, he was ecstatic, understandably. When -- when we talked with him, he said that he had felt like the execution was going to go through and he was prepared for that. He said that he was weak in his knees. And at that point, he had said that, you know, he felt like he had won today and that he was looking for additional DNA testing to -- to try to prove his innocence.

KING: Brandi, a reporter for "The Texas Tribune," this stay is only whether the court will consider it, right?

I mean they could, technically, in two days, vote as a group to not consider it, right?

BRANDI GRISSOM, REPORTER, "THE TEXAS TRIBUNE": That's right. It's an indefinite stay. So what the court is considering right now is whether or not they -- they feel there is a need for them to take up and intervene in this case.

KING: The technical question is DNA was not around at the time he was convicted and he wanted to introduce it later and that the lower courts denied that, is that right?

GRISSOM: Actually, the DNA was available at the time of his original trial in 1995. What happened was that, at that time, his original trial attorney decided not to have that DNA evidence tested. And I've spoken with that original trial attorney. His name is Harold Comer. He's still practicing in Pampa, Texas. And what he said was he was worried that having additional DNA tested at that time would further implicate Skinner in this case. And so he didn't ask for the testing on the evidence that Skinner is now asking to be tested.

KING: Well, then that's the crux of the case, right?

Why didn't Skinner...

GRISSOM: That's correct.

KING: -- since he's the client, why didn't he tell his lawyer, I want the DNA introduced?

GRISSOM: There's some dispute there about whether or not he did ask for the testing at the time. Skinner says that he did. His attorneys have a different answer. And they say that they -- that he agreed with them at the time that that testing shouldn't be done. So there's some dispute there about whether or not that testing was asked for at the time of the trial.

KING: Jason, this is probably a simpleton question, but why didn't they just let him introduce it and see what happens?

CLARK: You know, we're not -- as TDCJ, we don't get into the specifics of the case. That's handled through the attorney general's office. And so I really couldn't answer that question.

KING: Is it public -- well, is it puzzling to you, Brandi?

Why don't -- why didn't the lower courts, in essence, say, all right, we have a dispute here. The DNA has let other people -- across the United States, over 200 have been gotten off death row through DNA, why not just see what it says?

GRISSOM: Well, what the state has argued and the prosecutors in this case have argued is that Hank had his chance at the time of the trial to have that evidence tested and that he didn't do so at the time, that the courts have agreed with him that that time passed. And, you know, now it's time to sort of go through with what that 1995 jury decided.

So that's why there hasn't been any testing at this time.

KING: And he was -- he was convicted, Jason, of killing his girlfriend and her two sons.

They were grown boys, right?

CLARK: That's right.

KING: Do they know what the motive was at the time, what convicted him?

CLARK: I'm not sure that they do. There was some different speculation on what exactly the motive was. But I don't know if that was clear or not.

KING: You interviewed him, Brandi.

What did he say to you?

GRISSOM: He said that he -- he felt like Twila Busby was his soul mate. And that on the night of the murders, he was so intoxicated from this sort of cocktail of -- of vodka and codeine that he had taken that he would have been physically unable to commit those murders.

So he's never denied that he was in the house at the time of the murders and that blood that investigators found on his clothing was that of the victims. But he says that he was so comatose -- and toxicology tests prove that he was extremely intoxicated -- so much so that he was unconscious, or nearly unconscious, at the time of the murders. So he says he wouldn't have been able to do the crime that he's been convicted of. And he says that...

KING: Yes.

GRISSOM: -- that the DNA testing will show, he thinks, that someone else actually did the murders.

KING: Thank you, Brandi.

Thank you, Jason.

Obviously, we're going to hear more on this.

We'll be back with Sandrine, the widow, and another former inmate released through DNA.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us now, we introduced them earlier, Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, the wife of "Hank" Skinner. I said widow. I apologize, of course, she is the wife.

And Curtis McCarty, the former death row inmate, who was exonerated by new DNA evidence -- evidence in his case two years ago.

You're a French national, Sandrine, and you -- you met your husband while he was on death row.

How did that happen?

SANDRINE AGEORGES-SKINNER, SKINNER'S WIFE: Yes, that's correct. We met on -- when he was on death row. I -- I started getting involved with a very unique organization that was set up by death row inmates in Texas. And it was run from death row at a time when they were not in isolation. It was called The Lamp of Hope. And I started translating their newsletter. And a friend of mine said to me, well, you know, if you want to correspond, I think there's two or three people you would get on with. And Hank was one of them. And that was in 1996.

KING: Why would you marry someone on death row?

AGEORGES-SKINNER: It's a very long story. The marriage is really part of our personal life. I've been a long time abolitionist, long before I met Hank. And I will be long after, if he has -- if he is to be executed.

The reason we did marry, first of all, is because we love each other. And it's because I wanted to carry his name. We felt that if he was going to be executed, I would fight to get the DNA testing done, to preserve the evidence, to clear his name, to get to the truth, which, at the moment, we are nowhere near.

KING: We're going to hear from Hank in a minute.

But, Curtis, how did you get involved in this?

CURTIS MCCARTY, ON DEATH ROW FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS, EXONERATED BY DNA EVIDENCE: Well, principally because I myself was on death row. And it wasn't until the advent of DNA testing that I had begun to have any hope that I was going to obtain my own freedom. It took many more years, but it did happen. And that's why I'm here, is to represent to that principle that law enforcement has a continuing obligation at all times, even post-conviction, to do DNA testing if there is exculpatory evidence available in -- and let the chips fall where they may.

KING: So you're not judging Hank, whether innocent or guilty, you just want the DNA to be at least entered?

MCCARTY: That's correct. I -- I think Hank has a compelling case of innocence. And again, the State of Texas has an obligation, when they come before the public and say that this crime was so atrocious that the man who committed it is -- were -- is -- should be subjected to execution -- he should lose his life for that. I believe that they have an obligation to test every piece of avail -- available evidence to make sure they've got the right guy.

KING: Hank's guest -- says he's an innocent man.

Let's listen to him in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY "HANK" SKINNER: I don't want to die for something I didn't do. As far as how I feel about it, I think about it all day everyday.

I mean you -- how can you reconcile yourself to die for something you didn't do?

You know, I mean it's impossible. If I were guilty, then I would at least have the luxury of saying well, hell, I done it so this is what I get, you know what I mean?

But I don't even have that luxury because I didn't do it. I'm innocent. That's all I need to say, you know. You're about to kill an innocent man.

Do you even care?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: All right. Sandrine, you weren't there. How -- how can you be so convinced he didn't do it?

AGEORGES-SKINNER: Well, I think, unfortunately, a number of media have totally misrepresented his case. It's not what he is saying or what I'm saying. The facts of the case exist to prove that the little that was tested prior to trial excluded him. The little that was tested, thanks to David Protess, during the evidence -- the first conviction appeals, exclude him. And that it is just mind- boggling that evidence preserved from the crime scene, 15 years later, including the murder weapons, a rape kit, nail clippings from the vic -- one of the victims, a male jacket that doesn't fit his size at all with sweat, hair, DNA, to this day, is not tested.

I mean it's just -- I'm convinced of his innocence not because I love him and he's my husband, I'm convinced of his innocence also because beside the DNA issue, there is scientific forensic evidence to prove that he was not even in a state to stand up at the time of the crime, let alone murder three people that he loved.

There is absolutely no motive. At the trial, the only thing...

KING: All right...

AGEORGES-SKINNER: -- that got him sentenced to death was a state witness that -- who was threatened very seriously and recanted two years later and explained how she was threatened and, you know, withdrew her testimony at trial. That was the only thing that got him sentenced to death.

KING: We'll -- we'll discuss some other evidence. Other guests are going to join us.

For the record, by the way, the district attorney's office involved in this case, and the governor's office, is not commenting. No one wants to see an innocent man convicted, of course.

AGEORGES-SKINNER: Of course.

KING: We hope that this is resolved.

More of "Hank" Skinner, in his own words, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining Sandrine and Curtis in Huntsville, Texas is the Reverend Albert Maggard. He is a friend of "Hank" Skinner.

And in New York, Nina Morrison, senior attorney with The Innocence Project. She's worked with "Hank" Skinner's legal team trying to get this DNA test. And, by the way, she just told me that The Innocence Project has gotten 251 inmates out of prison with DNA testing. That means they were incorrectly convicted.

But based on some of the evidence here, Texas authorities say that he was found close by wearing heavily bloodstained jeans and socks, bearing a gash on his right hand. Authorities also say blood on the shirt he was wearing at the time of the arrest was Twila's and her sons.

Nina, frankly, isn't that pretty incriminating?

NINA MORRISON, SENIOR ATTORNEY, THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: Well, you know, one thing we've learned at The Innocence Project through these 251 cases and counting is that no amount of speculation about a person's guilt can substitute for a DNA test. You know, people said a lot of the same things about Curtis McCarty, one of our former clients who you just saw, who is a free man today -- and innocent.

And really -- and I think that the Supreme Court stay will hopefully allow us to make clear, whether or not "Hank" Skinner is guilty or innocent, everyone agrees he should have an opportunity to prove that innocence through DNA testing before he's executed and the ultimate punishment is carried out.

KING: When does the court take up whether they will hear it?

MORRISON: We don't know. You know, as you alluded to earlier, it could be a matter of days and the stay may be over and we could be right back where we were this afternoon, which is waiting for the governor to issue a reprieve for DNA testing.

But hopefully, the Supreme Court will realize there are very important legal issues in the case and agree to hear the case.

KING: Before we hear from reverend Maggard, here's "Hank" Skinner talking about the night of the crime.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H. SKINNER: The house looked like a bloodbath. There was blood all over the walls everywhere. I remember when I fell, I was laying on the floor and I remember looking sideways across at her. And I saw what was done to her and I knew there was no way she could survives that. I knew she was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Reverend Maggard, how do you come to know Mr. Skinner?

REV. ALBERT MAGGARD, SKINNER'S FRIEND: Shortly after he was arrested, he wrote me a letter and asked me if I would correspond with him, because he needed spiritual counsel and help.

KING: And you liked him and you obviously got to like him.

All right. Do you believe in his innocence?

MAGGARD: Yes, Larry. That's the reason that I'm fighting in his behalf. I don't believe in an innocent person being executed and I do believe in his actual innocence.

KING: And what is that belief based on? MAGGARD: The -- the scientific evidence. He was so drunk and drugged and bombed out of his gourd that he doesn't know what happened. It's like if we were having a surgical operation and we were out of it. But the evidence -- the scientific evidence is so convincing and so compelling that he could not have done it. And there -- there's also evidence that another person did. And I think by following the, you know, the clear indications of the evidence, that you can't reach another conclusion except that he is innocent.

KING: We'll have more right after these words.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: In a moment, we'll find out what the panel thinks the Supreme Court will do.

First, let's meet Tara Bradley, a friend of the victim. She says that "Hank" Skinner was abusive to Twila Busby and her sons.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TARA BRADLEY, TWILA BUSBY'S FRIEND: He would just be so mean and vulgar to her and tell her that, you know, she was worthless, the kids were worthless, that she wasn't worth even living.

He beat her. He beat the kids so badly that she was scared to death that he was going to kill her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now joining us on the phone is Tara Bradley.

What do you make of all of this?

Are you convinced he did it, Tara?

BRADLEY: Yes, I am. I would really like to speak for Twila, because Twila was seeking help to get away from this man. She and her two children were on disability. Her two sons were a little bit slow. And she was getting an SSI check on all three of them. And he would steal her money and go and buy the alcohol and drugs, where she was trying to get help to get away from him.

KING: Tara...

BRADLEY: She had gotten...

KING: Do you think...

BRADLEY: -- up the courage to get away from -- away from him through speaking to me and other women that have been abused...

KING: Tara...

BRADLEY: Because...

KING: Tara, wouldn't you like to see -- objectively, wouldn't you like to see the DNA evidence just so it would finally close matters?

BRADLEY: Well, what he's saying now is that she was having a love affair with her uncle, whom is dead now. And, you know, we had an attorney on TV tonight that said that any evidence that anyone else had been in that house. I know her uncle was trying to get her away from him. And he's dead now and he can't speak for himself. So his DNA could be in the house. But I also know that there was hair and skin under her fingernails. And so if this proves not to be Skinner's, I will be truly shocked, because I have seen him abuse her...

KING: I got you.

BRADLEY: -- and the boys, not only physically, but mentally -- mentally abused her.

KING: All right. In a TV interview, Skinner had some strange things to say about the murder.

Let's listen to that and get the opinions of panel.

Watch.

BRADLEY: OK.

KING: All right. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H. SKINNER: It sounds real sick, but there's been times in my life that -- in here when I've thought to myself, if it had to happen and it had to go that way, I wish I had have done it, because I wouldn't have done them like that, the way they were -- the way it was done, you know what I'm saying?

I would have let them out easy or something, you know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I guess a little weird.

Nina, are you -- is your legal position you want the DNA or is your position with The Innocence Project that he didn't do it?

MORRISON: No. We don't know if Mr. Skinner is innocent or guilty. In fact, we never know until we do a DNA test. And you raised a very important point about the victim's interests in all of this and the public's interest, because given the horrible crime that was committed, if "Hank" Skinner didn't do it, that means someone else did.

And why shouldn't we do a simple DNA test that could accomplish two things?

It might confirm that "Hank" Skinner is guilty, in which case it will end the cloud of doubt that surrounds his execution right now. Or it could raise serious questions about his innocence and potentially identify another person, whether it's the victim's uncle, who had a serious record of violent crimes himself, or someone else, as the person who really committed the murder.

KING: Sand...

MORRISON: And all of those are very important things to accomplish before we carry out the ultimate punishment.

KING: Sandra, in your gut, do you think the court will hear it?

AGEORGES-SKINNER: I'm sorry.

Are you talking to me?

KING: Yes. Do you think the court will hear the case and will decide whether DNA could be used?

AGEORGES-SKINNER: Well, actually, the question before the Supreme Court is not whether the DNA should be used in his case. The question as to the Supreme Court at the moment is whether first conviction and first conviction appeal process, you can go through a civil process or the habeas process only. In certain states, you can use the civil process. In other states, you can only use the habeas process.

KING: Oh.

AGEORGES-SKINNER: Hank has been denied DNA testing through the habeas process. His attorneys filed a complaint against the current Gray County D.A. because she's refusing to release the evidence to this current attorney for private testing.

Let's not forget that for 15 years, the defense has asked for DNA testing -- privately funded DNA testing. It's not going to cost the state anything.

KING: All right...

AGEORGES-SKINNER: Why would Hank be searching and asking for DNA testing for so long if he's guilty?

And I would like to add one thing that you said that is absolutely incomplete regarding the bloodstains on his clothes. The police report -- the only police report states clearly that these are contact stains, they are not blood splatter. And they exclude him as the assailant. And it's an important point and I think it needs to be mentioned.

KING: And we will do a lot more on this. And we thank you all.

What a -- what a puzzling, puzzling thing. A re-examination of evidence freed our next guest from prison just last month. You'll meet him, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Ryan Seacrest tomorrow night, Snoop Dogg on Friday. Greg Taylor was 29 in September of 1991. He and an acquaintance were doing drugs on a remote dirty path in North Carolina. As they were about to leave, Greg's truck got stuck. So the two men walked toward a road, where they saw a body. Because they were high, they didn't contact the police. As a result, both became suspects when the body was found with Greg's abandoned truck nearby.

Greg Taylor is with us. He was convicted of murder and exonerated last month after serving 6,149 days. That's nearly two decades. Christine Mumma, Greg's lawyer, is here as well. She's director of the North Carolina Center for Actual Innocence. What freed him, Christine?

CHRISTINE MUMMA, CENTER FOR ACTUAL INNOCENCE: There was lots of evidence that we had to present to free him. We had to actually prove to the judges that he was innocent, not just not guilty, but innocent. We showed that there was some testing that was done in 1991, some evidence that was obtained from his truck that was reported to be blood. In actuality, it was not human blood. There were some witnesses who were very questionable, snitch testimony, that we had to call into question. And we had to basically relive that night with the judges. Go ahead.

KING: Has the killer been found?

MUMMA: Not yet. We're working on it. Raleigh police have reopened the investigation. We have information to share with them. We're hoping to do that next week.

KING: What was it like for you, Greg, to be in prison when you know you didn't do it?

GREG TAYLOR, WRONGLY IMPRISONED FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS: Well, it's kind of left me searching for a purpose, was the main thing. So the purpose that I found was to better myself throughout all those years and to fight my case.

KING: Did you always think you would get free?

TAYLOR: In my darkest moments, sometimes I thought I would spend the rest of my life in prison. But, for the most part, I held out the hope that eventually the truth would prevail.

KING: What do you make of the Skinner situation we've just been talking about?

TAYLOR: Well, I believe if there's evidence to be tested, that -- you know, that hasn't been tested yet, that it should be. I don't think anybody should be afraid of the truth.

KING: Do you believe, Christine, that there are a lot of men like Greg Taylor in prison in the United States?

MUMMA: I believe there are some. And that's certainly enough. So we need to do everything we can to get them out, and get the true perpetrators behind bars.

KING: Do you think, Christine, that the Supreme Court will hear the Skinner matter?

MUMMA: The Supreme Court doesn't have a great track record on these issues. But we can always hope that as they see the science proving innocence for people who are behind bars, that we can have our law follow.

KING: Greg, what convicted you?

TAYLOR: The main thing was a jail-house informant. That was the reason why I was brought to trial. The charges against my co- defendant were dropped. There was also the issue of that spot that was on my truck that was claimed to be blood, but was later found out to be not blood. There was also some attorney issues, and another witness that was suspect, as far as identification of the victim.

MUMMA: The real issue in his case was tunnel vision. The police -- his truck was there. The body was there. So that was pretty much case closed at that point.

KING: Your daughter was nine at the time. She's now 26. How are you doing with her, Greg?

TAYLOR: She's fantastic. I lived with her now. I'm staying in my grandson's room, really enjoying getting to know her and being a part of her life.

KING: What a terrible thing to picture. I can only imagine what it must be like. Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Christine.

MUMMA: Thank you.

TAYLOR: Thank you, sir.

The transcript can be found at:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/24/lkl.01.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

ANTHONY CARAVELLA; DNA TESTS EXONERATE FLORIDA MAN: TO BE EXONERATED AND FULLY FREED AFTER SPENDING 26 YEARS IN PRISON ;

"REPORTING FROM FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - FINAL DNA TEST RESULTS EXONERATE A FLORIDA MAN WHO HAS SERVED 26 YEARS IN PRISON -- MORE THAN HALF HIS LIFE -- FOR A RAPE AND MURDER, ATTORNEYS SAID WEDNESDAY. BROWARD COUNTY PROSECUTORS WILL ASK A JUDGE THURSDAY TO THROW OUT ANTHONY CARAVELLA'S CONVICTION AND LIFE SENTENCE, FREEING HIM OF RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED SINCE HE WAS TEMPORARILY RELEASED FROM PRISON SEPT. 10. "I NEVER HAD ANY DOUBT THAT ANTHONY WAS INNOCENT," SAID DIANE CUDDIHY, THE PUBLIC DEFENDER WHO WORKED FOR NINE YEARS TO FREE HIM. "THE SHOCKING THING IS THAT AN INNOCENT MAN CAN BE CONVICTED LIKE THIS.""

REPORTER PAULA MCMAHON; LOS ANGELES TIMES

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Talk about irony! While Hank Skinner has been fighting the State of Texas to have crucial DNA tests performed before he is executed, Anthony Caravella is about to be totally freed and exonerated by the State of Florida after serving 26 years behind bars, as a result of DNA tests which prove that he could not have committed a rape and murder. This lesson will hopefully not be lost on Texas Governor Rick Perry. Thank Goodness the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in Skinner's case so that the DNA tests can establish the issue of Skinner's innocence or guilt one way or the other - while he is still alive. Thanks to my good friend (and former Toronto Star associate) Nick van Rijn for bringing this case to my attention,

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"Reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - Final DNA test results exonerate a Florida man who has served 26 years in prison -- more than half his life -- for a rape and murder, attorneys said Wednesday," the Los Angeles story by reporter Paula McMahon, published earlier today under the heading "DNA testing exonerates Florida man convicted of 1983 murder," and the sub-heading, "Anthony Caravella, 41, spent 26 years in prison for a rape and slaying. He was 15 years old when charged."

"Broward County prosecutors will ask a judge Thursday to throw out Anthony Caravella's conviction and life sentence, freeing him of restrictions imposed since he was temporarily released from prison Sept. 10," the story continues.

""I never had any doubt that Anthony was innocent," said Diane Cuddihy, the public defender who worked for nine years to free him.

"The shocking thing is that an innocent man can be convicted like this."

Caravella was 15 and had an IQ of 67, well below normal, when he was charged with the Nov. 5, 1983, murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, 58, in Miramar, Fla.

"It's over," Caravella said in a phone call minutes after he learned of the DNA results. "I'm OK now."

Broward County prosecutors took the unusual step of temporarily releasing Caravella six months ago when earlier tests seemed to clear him. But he had to wear a GPS ankle monitor and obey a curfew while prosecutors did more forensic testing.

"I feel good, man, because I've never been free all this time," Caravella said. "When they let me walk out that [prison] door, I was free but I wasn't free because it was all hanging over my head. Now I'll be really free."

He turns 42 on Saturday, the first birthday he will celebrate in freedom since he was 15.

Prosecutor Carolyn McCann, who handled the new appeal since 2001, said Wednesday that a second independent lab had ruled out Caravella as the source of genetic evidence found on the victim."

The story can be found at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dna-florida25-2010mar25,0,2109933.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation+%28L.A.+Times+-+National+News%29

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;