Saturday, January 29, 2022

Melissa Lucio: Texas: False confession and much more; Veteran criminal justice Texas Observer Reporter Lise Olsen (an outstanding scribe) asks the question of the day about this mother, claiming innocence, who could be executed in April: Was her child's death really a murder?... "Her appeal, now pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, argues that a corrupt district attorney used incriminating statements coerced by a Texas Ranger to wrongfully convict her of beating her child when in fact, the girl’s fatal injuries likely resulted from her fall. It also suggests that her long history as a victim of physical and sexual abuse may have played a role in the statements she made during a late-night interrogation by the Texas Rangers. “This is as clear a case of injustice as you’ll ever see: Melissa Lucio faces imminent execution for a capital murder that never happened,” said Tivon Schardl, a member of her appellate defense team, in a statement emailed to the Texas Observer. “Melissa, an innocent woman, faces execution in less than 100 days because a corrupt prosecutor relied on a statement coerced by an overzealous Texas Ranger who badgered a traumatized woman into making a false confession.”

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and m...
Friday, January 28, 2022

Beleaguered Dr. Barbara Knox: Alaska: Resigned: Major (Welcome) Development: Anchorage Daily News/Wisconsin Watch, (Reporters Michelle Terriault Boots and Brenda Wintrode respectively, reports that she will soon resign her position as medical director of Alaska’s forensic child abuse clinic..."Alaska CARES medical director’s Dr. Barbara Knox “has chosen to pursue other opportunities and will be resigning,” Providence spokesman Mikal Canfield said in a written statement. The final day for Knox, who “asked to resign,” will be April 1, Canfield said."..."Before becoming medical director of Alaska CARES in 2019, Knox left her position leading the Child Protection Program at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, after being placed on paid leave while the university investigated allegations she’d intimidated and bullied colleagues who disagreed with her. Knox’s parting settlement agreement, uncovered by Wisconsin Watch, meant future employers, like Providence, and medical credentialing boards didn’t know the details of why she had left the UW. After Wisconsin Watch told the story of a Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, family wrongly accused by Knox of child abuse in early 2020, numerous families and caregivers came forward to share similar stories. Wisconsin Watch and the Anchorage Daily News found at least a dozen instances in which Knox’s diagnoses of abuse were later rejected by child welfare authorities, the courts, law enforcement or other doctors. Some parents lost custody of their children at least temporarily, and multiple caregivers and parents were criminally charged on the strength of Knox’s testimony. “If her resignation is a cover-up from Providence to allow her to leave quietly like she did in Wisconsin, then they need to be held accountable for allowing the possibility that this will occur to more families in more states in the future,” Emily Acker said in a text message."

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QUOTES OF THE DAY: " Wisconsin Watch’s coverage included the story of Stacy Hartje, who   spent eight years and $250,000 to clear her n...

Beleaguered Dr. Barbara Knox: Alaska: Suspended from 'Alaska CARES' - a statewide child abuse forensic clinic - after a mass exodus of the medical staff and numerous workplace complaints, Wisconsin Watch has published a 'commentary' written by a forensic nurse examiner, Sarah Woods, who worked at the organization,' under the heading, "Opinion: Alaska's children deserve better," and the sub-heading, "A former Alaska CARES employee speaks out against the actions of Dr. Barbara Knox."..."The actions of Dr. Knox are the antithesis of all the hard work it took to build Alaska CARES. My fellow residents, the Alaska CARES staff I admire and trust, would never leave a nursing mother in the cold and tell her to find an Uber and a hotel room. There are a half-dozen ways to devise a safety plan for a hospitalized infant that doesn’t involve removing the infant’s food source or touch of their mother’s skin. But at the same time, I am not surprised by these actions, because I worked on other cases and witnessed both Dr. Knox and the OCS worker’s toxic behaviors."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: " Full disclosure: In 2019, we were all in awe of Dr. Knox’s 72-page CV. And it was with excitement and hope that A...

Clinton Young:Texas; Up-date. Major Development: Bulletin: The former death row inmate has been released on bond after almost 20 years on death row, the Death Penalty Information Center reports...(His two co-defendants pinned the murder on him in return for lenient sentences - and his prosecutor was later disbarred)..."The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Sept. 22 tossed a capital murder conviction and granted a new trial for Young, the death row inmate who was convicted by a Midland County jury in 2003, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article. Young was sentenced to death for killing Doyle Douglas, 41, and Samuel Petrey, 52, for the use of their vehicles during a 48-hour crime spree. Petrey was kidnapped in his hometown of Eastland and killed in an oilfield near Midland. The appeals court overturned Young’s conviction because of a revelation that then-assistant district attorney Ralph Petty, who helped prosecute Young, was also moonlighting as a judicial clerk for the same trial."

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BACKGROUND: "From recent post of this Blog;  (September 26, 2021): Clinton Young: Texas: From our 'When you think you've heard ...
Thursday, January 27, 2022

Keith Carnes: Missouri: Bulletin: Confidential police informant and much more: The Kansas City Missouri man, serving time for a 2003 murder, received support at a rally Wednesday as he waits for the Missouri Supreme Court to rule on whether he should be released outright or have a new trial, FOX News 4 (Reporter Regan Porter) reports... "Carnes has spent 18 years in prison for a murder he’s always said he didn’t commit. Earlier this week, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office filed a motion to fight Carnes’ release."

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: What do police informants have to do with forensic science? (I'm glad you asked). Investigative Colloff give us  a...