Saturday, March 27, 2021

Sue Neill-Fraser: Australia: The aftermath interview: (Part Two): Andrew L. Urban, author of an authoritative book on the Neill-Fraser case provides more reasons for his view that, "Sue Neill-Fraser’s is arguably the most famous but least trusted murder conviction in Tasmanian legal history."..."I have argued that the trial of Sue Neil-Fraser should never have gone ahead under the circumstances, until the DNA evidence at the crime scene had been properly dealt with. Threatening to derail the prosecution’s case against Sue Neill-Fraser, it was left on the shelf."… "The focus on Sue Neill-Fraser as the murderer resulted in what is – in the opinion of legal academic Dr Bob Moles of Flinders University, eminent barristers of the stature of the recently deceased Chester Porter QC (March 15, 1926 – March 15, 2021) among others – a grave and fermenting miscarriage of justice."

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B ACKGROUND:  Sue Neill-Fraser was convicted of murdering her partner Bob Chappell on Australia Day 2009, on board their yacht, Four Winds. ...

Justin Volk: San Francisco: Alleged crime lab theft: (Here we go again? HL): The former forensic analyst with the San Francisco medical examiner’s office has been charged in connection with stealing methamphetamine, Courthouse News (Reporter Mario Dinzeo) reports. Significance? "Volk’s actions jeopardize thousands of law enforcement investigations. Last November, Boudin said Volk, who worked in the forensic lab for more than 13 years, had a hand in more than 2,500 investigations; including 500 deaths, 1,200 sexual-assaults, and 800 DUIs. Boudin’s office has published a list of cases that could possibly be affected."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: " Volk is accused of stealing evidence from the lab between June 14, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2020, conduct that came to l...
Friday, March 26, 2021

Sue Neill-Fraser: Australia: Major Development: Meaghan Vass explains, in a dramatic interview with author/blogger Andrew L. Urban, why, under withering cross-examination, she backed away from her testimony that she was on board the 'Four Winds', as her DNA showed, where and when Sue Neill-Fraser was alleged to have murdered Bob Chappell..."The entire subject makes me upset. I was upset because I was hounded and had words put in my mouth….he (Mr Coates) was trying to confuse me and butt in with what he thought and cutting me off. I didn’t want the names out in public. I panicked and was so scared. It was all I could think of to do."

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B ACKGROUND:  Sue Neill-Fraser was convicted of murdering her partner Bob Chappell on Australia Day 2009, on board their yacht, Four Winds. ...

Flawed Fire investigation: Antiquated investigative techniques in urban settings grounded in now disproven science have led to widespread wrongful arson convictions. (Many of them reported on the pages of this Blog.) Now the spotlight could be shifting to 'wildfires'' as Worcester Polytechnic Institute announces that Researcher Albert Simeoni has been awarded $519,893, to evaluate the reliability of burn pattern indicators used by investigators to determine the starting point of wildfires...“Investigations are based on burn pattern indicators that have not been scientifically verified, and those investigations have consequences for the people who are impacted by fire, for government agencies, and for companies,” said Simeoni, who is principal investigator of the three-year project. “We want to be sure that investigations are done with the best tools available. We’re not reinventing tools with this study, but we’re looking at the reliability of the tools currently used.”

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Understanding where a wildfire starts can help determine how it started and who, if anyone, may be criminally or financia...
Thursday, March 25, 2021

Kathleen Folbigg: Australia. (Aftermath): She looks to a 'pardon' now that her appeal has been dismissed..."Australia’s worst female serial killer, convicted child murderer Kathleen Folbigg, has spent the last 14 years fighting to clear her name through the courts, using every avenue open to her. On Wednesday, it took less than a minute for the NSW (New South Wales) Court of Appeal to dash her hopes once more. Folbigg, appearing briefly by video link, sat in stunned silence as her appeal was dismissed and she was ordered to pay the NSW Attorney-General’s costs. Her last hopes are now pinned on the same Attorney-General advising the NSW Governor to pardon her."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "There is just one final slice of hope left for the woman once dubbed “Australia’s most hated” and her growing army...
Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Abolition: Major (Very Welcome) Development). Governor signs..."Virginia, the state that has executed more people than any other in the nation, has abolished the death penalty," 'The Appeal' (Senior Reporter Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg) reports..."The legislation abolishing the death penalty, which passed the House and Senate in February, was signed this afternoon by Governor Ralph Northam. “It is the moral thing to do,” he said during the signing ceremony. “The death penalty is fundamentally flawed.” Virginia becomes the first formerly Confederate state to abolish capital punishment."...(All too many flawed Virginia death penalty cases with significant forensic issues have been featured in posts on this Blog. HL);

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Even those who once defended executions have embraced abolition. State Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, a Demo...