Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Raymond Jennings: California; Prosecution expert who testified at trial has had a change of mind); A judge has thrown out his murder conviction after prosecutors announced there was new evidence that seemed to “undermine the entire prosecution case and point unerringly to innocence or reduced culpability.”..." The judge also noted that a prosecution expert who testified at trial about the sexual motive — “the cornerstone” of the case, the judge said — had since changed his stance. Without that testimony, Ryan ruled, the prosecution’s case would have been “decidedly different.” In a written statement Monday, Blake, the trial prosecutor, said he’s “aware of additional facts that were not available to me at the time I tried Raymond Lee Jennings.” “As a result,” he said, “I understand why my office has lost confidence in the conviction.” Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said in a statement that the case shows her office is “dedicated to serving justice, even when it means reopening a closed case.” Asking a judge to throw out the conviction in Jennings’ case — one of more than 1,000 that prosecutors have been asked to look into — marked the first big move by the district attorney’s unit dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions."
Monday, January 30, 2017
Rodricus Crawford: Louisiana; Bulletin: Freed from death row by Louisiana's highest court, he must wait until February 22 to learn whether prosecutors will retry him, Nexstar reports..."Publicity surrounding the case, which was spotlighted in a lengthy article in the New Yorker magazine and a subsequent article in the New York Times, drew public scrutiny not only to Crawford’s case, but to the large amount of prisoners on death row from Caddo Parish, most of whom were African American." Reporter Nancy Cook. January 30, 2017;
"Rodricus Crawford, who was freed in November after spending almost three years on death row, was in Caddo District Court today to set a date for arguments and hearings regarding a new trial.
In November, was released on $50,000 bond, after the
Louisiana Supreme Court overturned his first degree murder conviction
and subsequent death penalty and remanded his case back to Caddo
District Court for a new trial. Crawford, who was convicted by a
Caddo Parish Jury in November 2013 for the February 2012 death of his
12-month-old baby, was sentenced to the death penalty in February 2014,
and was sent to death row to await his execution. But in the high
court’s November decision, the majority agreed with Crawford’s attorneys
who claimed the prosecution in Crawford’s trial was racially biased in
striking five African-American prospective jurors. The jury ultimately
consisted of nine white jurors and three African-Americans. Crawford and his attorneys will be back in court on Feb. 22 for arguments and hearings. He remains free on bond. "
http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/local-news/man-released-from-death-row-will-have-to-wait-for-day-in-court/647418827See reporter Domonique Benn's KSLR report on the hearing at the link below. "Crawford learned Monday that he will have to wait until a hearing Feb. 22 for prosecutors to decide whether to move forward with another first-degree murder trial or reduce or drop the charges against him. Crawford told KSLA News 12's Domonique Benn he hopes the case is dropped. He added that he has been all right and working since his release."
http://www.ksla.com/story/34379164/shreveport-man-once-on-death-row-headed-back-to-court?clienttype=generic&utm_content=bufferd12fb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Rodricus Crawford: Louisiana: Bulletin: ; Once on death row, he is due in court today (Monday January 30) to find out if prosecutors are seeking a new trial..."Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. Pathologist Dr. James Traylor's autopsy results concluded that the child died from smothering, but Crawford's team of post-conviction lawyers insist the child had been very sick and died from sepsis. Crawford's appeal claimed that then-Assistant District Attorney Dale Cox eliminated jurors based on their race and pointed to interviews with 9 other doctors suggesting the child died from natural causes." Domonique Benn reports; KSLA; (We are following developments. HL);
"A Shreveport man freed from death row after his conviction for killing his one-year-old son was overturned is due back in court on Monday for the first time since his release." It's been a long road to freedom for Rodricus Crawford, who was released on bond Tuesday evening after spending 3 years on death row for the murder of his toddler son. Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of 1-year-old Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. He was returned to Caddo Parish from Angola on Friday, where his bond was set at $50,000. Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. Pathologist Dr. James Traylor's autopsy results concluded that the child died from smothering, but Crawford's team of post-conviction lawyers insist the child had been very sick and died from sepsis. Crawford's appeal claimed that then-Assistant District Attorney Dale Cox eliminated jurors based on their race and pointed to interviews with 9 other doctors suggesting the child died from natural causes. Back in court in Caddo Parish Monday morning for the first time since his conviction and sentence were overturned, Crawford told KSLA News 12's Domonique Benn he is hoping the case is dropped..........Domonique Benn is at the Caddo Parish Courthouse and will be there for the 1:30 p.m. hearing."
http://www.newswest9.com/story/34379164/shreveport-man-once-on-death-row-headed-back-to-court
See Dominique Benn's November 22 story which takes us behind the successful appeal that lead to the hearing scheduled for today at the link below:
http://www.watchfox29.com/story/33776078/ksla-news-12-investigates-behind-the-appeal-that-led-to-new-trial-for-shreveport-father
"Rodricus Crawford was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of 1-year-old Roderius Lott and sentenced to death in November 2013, but the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his sentence on Nov. 16 and ordered a new trial. He was returned to Caddo Parish from Angola on Friday, where his bond was set at $50,000. The 25-year-old Shreveport native, who also has a young daughter, posted that bond and was released from custody just a few hours later. His freedom might only be temporary, as he faces a new trial on first-degree murder in his son's death. It was an appeal from Crawford's defense team pointing out weaknesses in evidence during that first trial that led the Supreme Court to overturn Crawford's conviction and sentence. Among them, a lack of confession or evidence of abuse and the failure of the prosecution to establish a motive. The defense framed the case as weak and circumstantial at best. Prosecutors said Crawford smothered his child, but defense attorneys argued it's a case that boils down to the baby's failing health.........Video entered into evidence during the trial shows Crawford distraught in the back of a police cruiser moments after his lifeless son was taken away in an ambulance. It would be another hour before he would learn his son was dead. That would not be the only shock for this grieving father and family. According to the autopsy conducted by the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office, Roderius Lott died of smothering. However, defense attorneys for the child's father say the Coroner's office ignored critical evidence that the child died of natural causes. "This was not a homicide, this child died of pneumonia and sepsis and Dr. Traylor was dead wrong," Kappel says. Dr. Traylor was the pathologist who ruled the baby's death a homicide. When asked to comment on the autopsy, Traylor would only point to his findings submitted to the court as evidence during the trial. In the autopsy report, Dr. Traylor cited a small cut under the baby's top lip as evidence of smothering. Defense attorneys say the injury came from a fall and was not evidence of a homicide. They say Roderius fell down in the bathroom and cut his lip the day before he died and that the real cause of the child's death was his failing health. It's evidence they say is backed up by tissue and blood samples. "He missed the fact that this child had brain swelling, which indicated he did not die of smothering," says Kappel. "He didn't perform testing on the bruising on the child which could have pinpointed the moment those bruises occurred instead of assuming that Mr. Crawford inflicted those injuries." Kappel adds that Dr. Traylor testified that the little boy had pneumonia, but that it was not serious enough to kill him. When questioned on the stand about the bacteria found during the autopsy, Kappel says Traylor testified that the results would have indicated sepsis if they were accurate but also said that his needle could have been contaminated. "So based on his testimony either this child died of sepsis and this was not a murder or his autopsy was contaminated. Either way, we can't have any confidence in this verdict," concludes Kappel. Nine other doctors around the country agreed that Roderius Lott died from sepsis. It was a game-changer for the defense, giving them the cause for appeal before the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had to consider the questions surrounding the evidence presented at trial to support the conviction that allowed Crawford to be sentenced to death. In their appeal, defense attorneys argued the cards were stacked against their client from the beginning because of his race, the fact that he was unemployed, and still lived at home with this mother. "He is given a presumption that he is a criminal element based on his race and socioeconomic status," says Kappel. "I think the result would have been very different if he were white. I think the result would have been very different if he was middle-class African American. In this case, he was presumed to be a criminal." Crawford's defense team also argued that prosecuting attorney Dale Cox struck people from the jury based on race. The justices ultimately agreed, vacating Crawford's capital conviction and ordering a new trial."
Purvi Patel: Indiana; A symbol of the ever-increasing criminalization of American women by introducing junk reproduction science into the courtroom. Patel is the subject of actress Rose McGowan's film 'Woman's Womb' - a timely film (link to the short film provided) said to reflect McGowan's conviction that Donald Trumps election was a massive war on women that’s been sanctioned and approved by voters. Refinery 29;
POST: "You Need To Watch This Powerful Rose McGowan Film," by Erin Donnelly, published by Refinery 29 on January 17, 2017.
GIST: This week ushers in a new presidential administration, and with it, a threat to Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act, and the abortion rights granted by Roe v. Wade. Many famous folks are voicing their dismay on Twitter and in award show speeches. Rose McGowan, however, decided to make a film. The former Charmed star is working behind the camera these days. Beginning today, her latest piece, Woman's Womb, will join New York City's Untitled Space Gallery's latest group exhibit, Uprise / Angry Women, an artist reaction to Donald Trump and the current political climate. In a preview for Dazed, McGowan described Trump's election as a "massive war on women that’s been sanctioned and approved by voters." In response, she created Woman's Womb, a short film inspired by the story of Purvi Patel, an Indian woman living in Indiana who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide after using abortion drugs to self-terminate her pregnancy. McGowan used her own menstrual blood to capture Patel's physical experience. "I actually used some of my own blood, put hydrogen peroxide in it, bubbled it up, filmed it, and then had a lovely Indian model in something that looks womb-like work her way out of it," she explained. "The black bars on the side of the frame represent how society squeezes women, squeezes their rights.""
http://www.refinery29.com/2017/01/136405/rose-mcgowan-womans-womb-film-female-anger
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Yet another book shedding light on forensic science: 'Forensic science reform: Protecting the innocent.' Edited by Wendy J. Koen and C. Michael Bowers. (Well, some say we get far more sleep than we need! Read on. HL); .
Big year for publication of books taking an honest, up-to-date, critical approach to forensic science Caitlin Pakosh, 'The Lawyer's Guide to the Forensic Sciences'; John Chipman, 'Death in the Family,' (marked by the presence of former doctor Charles Smith, the notorious namesake of this Blog); Here is a note on what appears to be yet another important and timely goodie for the readers of this Blog. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; ----------------------------------------------------------- POST: 'A new book on forensic science and the law', posted by Christopher Halkides on his Blog 'View From Willmington, in January, 2017. (Christopher Halkides is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in Wilmington, North Carolina. He is biochemist who specializes in the chemical modification of proteins and the synthesis of potential enzyme inhibitors who is interested in the chemistry of phosphorus and sulfur as it can be applied to biochemical problems.)
GIST: I (Christopher Halkides) am pleased
to announce the publication of 'Forensic Science Reform" Protecting the Innocent.'
Besides being one of the editors, Wendy
J. Koen wrote the majority of the case studies which are part of each chapter. Kimberly Lott and I coauthored the chapter on
presumptive and confirmatory blood testing, a recurring subject of this blog. I am very grateful for the illuminating
discussions here and elsewhere on this topic. The Knox/Sollecito
murder trial is the featured case in Chapter 7, and it is briefly discussed in
Chapter 8. The case of Lindy and Michael
Chamberlain is highlighted in the latter chapter. The Cameron Todd Willingham arson investigation is
the featured case in Chapter 3.
PUBLICATION DETAILS: Protecting the Innocent: Elsevier, 2017; ISBN: 978-0-12-802719-Edited by Wendy J. Koen and C. Michael Bowers. (Mike Bowers is well known to the readers of this Blog for the illuminating posts on his Blog 'CSIDDS: Forensics in Focus.' Many of the authors shown below have appeared on the pages of this Blog. HL);
CHAPTERS:
1. Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis, Max M. Houck
2. Microscopic Hair Comparison, Max M. Houck
3. Arson, John Lentini and Rachel Dioso-Villa
4. Shaken Baby Syndrome, Waney Squier
5. Bite Mark Evidence, C. Michael Bowers and Ray
Krone
6. Firearms Identification, Sarah L. Cooper
7. DNA Evidence, Dan Krane and Simon Ford
8. Presumptive and Confirmatory Blood Testing, Christopher Halkides and Kim
Lott
9. Bloodstain
Pattern Analysis, Barie Goetz
10. Crime Scene Reconstruction, Barie Goetz
11. Fingerprints, Kathleen L. Bright-Birnbaum; The post can be found at the link below: http://viewfromwilmington.blogspot.ca/2017/01/a-new-book-on-forensic-science-and-law.html PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/ | ||
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Mary Han: New Mexico; At last, there could be light at the end of the lengthy tunnel for the family of Mary Han, who have spent years fighting one of the most suspicious classifications of 'suicide' that I have ever seen. The Alburquerque Journal (bombshell) story by reporter Joline Gutierrez Krueger is headed: "Shocking testimony backs kin’s claims in Mary Han case."..."The first officers on the scene from both the Albuquerque Fire Department and the Albuquerque Police Department testified this week that they classified Han’s death as suspicious and a “possible crime scene,” but the APD officers say they were thwarted in their efforts to conduct a proper investigation when dozens of the highest-ranking APD and city officials descended on the house."..."Many things that occurred that day were in violation or simply not done. Former longtime chief medical investigator Dr. Ross Zumwalt testified that neither the state Office of the Medical Investigator nor APD had considered Han’s bank statements, credit card records, medical records, cellphone records, the other prescription medications in her system, such as Ambien, or the contents of her laptop to determine a manner of death. They hadn’t tested the air in the house, the clear liquid in the glass or the plastic bag in the car; nor had they questioned the positioning of her body in the car."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "At last, there could be light at the end of the lengthy tunnel for the family of Mary Han who have spent years fighting one of the most suspicious classifications of suicide that I have ever seen. The late civil rights attorney Mary Han has been described as tenacious and fearless. Her family has demonstrated the same qualities in their years long battle to finally unearth the truth of her death - over the many roadblocks placed in their way by police and public officials. This progress in revealing the truth - as scandalous and disturbing as it appears to be - is most welcome.
Harold Levy: Publisher of The Charles Smith Blog;
-------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Shocking testimony backs kin’s claims in Mary Han case," by Joline Gutierrez Krueger, published by The Albuquerque Journal on February 27, 2017.
GIST: "Two attorneys and their client sat in a restaurant in Santa Fe over guacamole and chips and raised their glasses to the end of long days of testimony and six long years of fighting for answers, accountability, justice and perhaps even an apology for the way prominent civil rights attorney Mary Han was treated in death. They won’t get all that. For the most part, those are remedies no court can grant. But what happened this week in a Santa Fe courtroom was still satisfying, still vindicating, they said, because much of what they have alleged for years finally emerged with the often shocking and disturbing testimony of several key witnesses who, before now, had not been heard publicly. That’s not nothing. This week, state District Judge David Thomson of Santa Fe heard the petition filed on behalf of the Han family by attorneys Rosario Vega Lynn and Diane Garrity seeking an order – called a writ of mandamus – that would compel the state Office of the Medical Investigator to change the manner of Han’s death from suicide to undetermined. Thomson didn’t rule on the petition, giving the parties 45 days to file additional briefs. Han, you may recall, was an Albuquerque attorney you either loved or hated but certainly respected for her tenacity and fearlessness. She was 53, at the peak of health and about to start her own law firm after parting ways with longtime partner Paul Kennedy when she was found dead Nov. 18, 2010, in her car in the garage of her North Valley townhome of carbon monoxide poisoning. The first officers on the scene from both the Albuquerque Fire Department and the Albuquerque Police Department testified this week that they classified Han’s death as suspicious and a “possible crime scene,” but the APD officers say they were thwarted in their efforts to conduct a proper investigation when dozens of the highest-ranking APD and city officials descended on the house. APD officers Tim Lonz and Jacob Welch testified that they arrived at the Han home just after 12:30 p.m. Kennedy was outside and Han was dead in the garage, seated in the driver’s seat of her white BMW, the windows rolled down, her feet propped on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. She was dressed in gym clothes and wearing reading glasses. A clear plastic bag was under one leg. A blue gym bag, a laptop in another bag, a bathrobe and a glass of clear liquid were also in the car, they testified. Both noted an odor of car exhaust throughout the house strong enough to induce headaches. Welch testified that the odor was so pungent that the car must have only recently been shut off. But the engine, he said, was cold. That, he said, was enough to raise his suspicions. Later, he determined that the battery was dead but that the car still had a half-tank of gas. Lonz testified that in the home he saw a folder or notebook on a table with a copy of an email bearing the name of then-Deputy Chief Allen Banks. Lonz said he alerted Banks, a friend, by text. “It was none of my business and no one else’s business either,” Lonz said. Banks showed up along with other high-ranking APD and city officials – an estimated 30 to 50 people who walked through the house, shut the garage door and ordered Lonz and Welch outside. That was frustrating, Lonz testified, because he wanted to call a criminalistics team of investigators and detectives to the scene and he was concerned that the scene itself was being contaminated by so many people traipsing through the house. Welch also testified that before he was sent outside he saw Banks rifling through folders on a table. “He said he was looking for a suicide note,” Welch said. Later, Welch testified that before both he and Banks were scheduled to be deposed for a separate lawsuit in the Han case, Banks told him: “Your testimony better match mine.” “I took that as a threat,” Welch said.........The folder with Banks’ email was never found, according to testimony. Nor was the laptop in the car, which was given to Kennedy, along with Han’s cellphone, in violation of APD protocol. Many things that occurred that day were in violation or simply not done. Former longtime chief medical investigator Dr. Ross Zumwalt testified that neither the state Office of the Medical Investigator nor APD had considered Han’s bank statements, credit card records, medical records, cellphone records, the other prescription medications in her system, such as Ambien, or the contents of her laptop to determine a manner of death. They hadn’t tested the air in the house, the clear liquid in the glass or the plastic bag in the car; nor had they questioned the positioning of her body in the car. And during this week’s hearing, when Zumwalt was provided that additional information by forensic pathology experts and the Attorney General’s Office – after he was told APD had contaminated the death scene and not conducted a full investigation – he testified he was “even more convinced” Han died of suicide, placing his level of certainty at 95 percent. Zumwalt’s testimony was enough to drop jaws and shake heads and bring tears to the eyes of Han’s sister, Elizabeth Wallbro."
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.abqjournal.com/937870/shocking-testimony-in-han-case.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
Annie Dookhan: Massachusetts; White Elephant case: Decision of the State's highest court: There was a dissent that has been largely ignored in news reports; Thanks to the Boston Globe for reporting the dissent which unequivocally orders prosecutors to withdraw all of the Dookhan cases...Associate Justice Geraldine S. Hines wrote the only dissent, arguing that the court should have thrown out all affected convictions. The court had also considered dismissing all the convictions and allowing prosecutors the option to retry those cases, but Hines rejected even that prospect. “The need to adopt a swift and sure remedy for the harm caused by [Dookhan’s] deceit presents itself with palpable urgency. The time has come to close the book on this scandal, once and for all, by adopting a global remedy,” Hines wrote.
 |
"Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury.
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009;
-------------------------------------------
"The state’s highest court on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to drop a large portion of the more than 24,000 drug convictions affected by the misconduct of former state drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan, issuing an urgent call to resolve a scandal that has plagued the legal system since 2012. The Supreme Judicial Court declined to order a wholesale dismissal of the cases potentially tainted by Dookhan’s mishandling of drug evidence, as lawyers for the defendants had sought. But in the ruling, the justices acknowledged that the state’s handling of the cases so far has been inadequate. The court said district attorneys across the state must “exercise their prosecutorial discretion and reduce the number of relevant Dookhan defendants by moving to vacate and dismiss with prejudice all drug cases the district attorneys would not or could not reprosecute if a new trial were ordered.” The cases affected by the ruling include people who pleaded guilty, were convicted, or admitted that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them. By vacating the cases, the convictions would effectively be erased. In the ruling, the court acknowledged the enormity of the task before prosecutors, giving them 90 days to decide which cases to throw out and which are supported by other evidence.........Associate Justice Geraldine S. Hines wrote the only dissent, arguing that the court should have thrown out all affected convictions. The court had also considered dismissing all the convictions and allowing prosecutors the option to retry those cases, but Hines rejected even that prospect. “The need to adopt a swift and sure remedy for the harm caused by [Dookhan’s] deceit presents itself with palpable urgency. The time has come to close the book on this scandal, once and for all, by adopting a global remedy,” Hines wrote."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/18/state-high-court-orders-prosecutors-drop-weak-dookhan-cases/SAvG09FT8lb6Mcv8cMMIKO/story.html?ct=t(DNA_Newsletter_144_28_2015)
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