HANK SKINNER: BBC ASKS IF DEATH PENALTY IS ON DEATH ROW IN TEXAS. CHANGE OF HEART? (OR DO OLD HABITS DIE HARD?)

"TO THE SOUTH OF HUNTSVILLE, HARRIS COUNTY, WHICH INCLUDES THE SPRAWLING METROPOLIS OF HOUSTON, USED TO BE KNOWN AS THE NATION'S DEATH PENALTY CAPITAL. BUT AFTER SENDING ABOUT A DOZEN MURDERERS TO DEATH ROW EACH YEAR FOR A DECADE, IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE IT SENT A SINGLE ONE. THE COUNTY'S DISTRICT ATTORNEY, PAT LYCOS, REJECTS THE NOTION THAT HOUSTON HAS BECOME A DEATH PENALTY-FREE ZONE. IN AN OFFICE ADORNED WITH PHOTOS OF MARGARET THATCHER, BARRY GOLDWATER AND JOHN WAYNE, SHE ADMITS THAT SOME THINGS ARE DIFFERENT. "WHAT HAS CHANGED IS THE AVAILABILITY OF LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE," SHE SAYS, HIGHLIGHTING A LAW THAT CAME INTO EFFECT IN 2005. BEFORE THIS, THE SYSTEM OFFERED TWO OPTIONS FOR CAPITAL CRIMES: THE DEATH PENALTY AND LIFE IN PRISON WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE AFTER 40 YEARS."

REPORTER PAUL ADAMS; BBC NEWS; HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS;

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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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"The scene outside the Huntsville unit of the Texas state penitentiary last Wednesday evening was a familiar one," BBC reporter Paul Adam's story, published on March 30, 2010, under the heading 'Is the death penalty on death row?,' begins.

"Police officers stood casually outside the imposing red-brick walls as a small group of passionate opponents of the death penalty railed against a punishment they say has no place in modern America," the story continues.

"Inside, a death row inmate, Hank Skinner, was due to be executed by lethal injection.

But with half an hour to go, word emerged that the Supreme Court in Washington had issued a last-minute stay of execution.

Skinner, convicted of the 1993 killing of his girlfriend and her two adult sons in Pampa, has always protested his innocence.

His French wife, Sandrine, expressed relief, but spoke of her anger at a process that could still result in her husband's execution.

"This system has got to stop," she told the BBC. "We are not going to stop until it's over."

The death chamber at Huntsville, which carries out all Texas death penalties, is still the busiest in the nation. Twenty-four prisoners were executed last year.

But across Texas, there has been a steep decline in the number of new death sentences handed down. There were just nine last year. In the late 1990s, as many as 48 people a year were sent to death row.

The statistics have led some campaigners to hope that the death penalty may itself be on death row.

Costly

To the south of Huntsville, Harris County, which includes the sprawling metropolis of Houston, used to be known as the nation's death penalty capital.

But after sending about a dozen murderers to death row each year for a decade, it has been two years since it sent a single one.

The county's district attorney, Pat Lycos, rejects the notion that Houston has become a death penalty-free zone.

In an office adorned with photos of Margaret Thatcher, Barry Goldwater and John Wayne, she admits that some things are different.

"What has changed is the availability of life without parole," she says, highlighting a law that came into effect in 2005. Before this, the system offered two options for capital crimes: the death penalty and life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

But there are other factors at work here too. Take cost.

In the countryside west of Houston sits quiet, rural Austin County. Its district attorney, Travis Koehn, is busy enough at the best of times.

But Austin County saw two gruesome murders in four months last year. Mr Koehn and his small team have two hugely expensive capital murder cases to prosecute. Seeking the death penalty is the costliest option. The impact on the community could be huge.

"This is just like if a hurricane or tornado came through our community or if a 747 crashed outside our town," he says.

It's a zero-tolerance state. They'll just kill you in the state of Texas if you mess up
Harley Thomason, Bellville

Koehn says the current economic crisis will not dictate how he pursues the two cases, but he has yet to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

"We're still going as best we can. We're seeking justice and we're going to do that with what we have."

As he weighs up the pros and cons, he could do worse than heed the words of one former county judge.

"We're all looking at things more closely than we did 40 years ago," says Gene Terry, executive director of the Texas Association of Counties.

Mr Terry says lawyers are better trained and juries harder to please. He puts some of this down to what he calls "the CSI effect", by which jurors make unfavourable comparisons between what they see in the courtroom and the sort of forensics they watch on popular TV shows.

The dramatised version may be highly unrealistic, but "it makes juries more demanding", Mr Terry says.

Religious opposition

Better training. Smarter juries. Life without parole. And economic difficulties. But is there perhaps one more reason why the death penalty is on the wane?

Texas itself is changing. Its huge and growing Latino population opposes the death penalty on religious grounds. Americans of all stripes have moved here from other parts of the country too.

In this less homogenous environment, the old certainties are being more widely questioned.

But old habits die hard in Texas and the death penalty will not be disappearing any time soon. Back in a cafe in rural Bellville, Harley Thomason puts me straight.

"It's a zero-tolerance state," he says. "They'll just kill you in the state of Texas if you mess up.""

The story can be found at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8594451.stm

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com

BRENDA WAUDBY; LAWYER ACCUSES ONTARIO GOVERNMENT OF ABANDONING THE FAMILIES DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY DISGRACED PATHOLOGIST DR. CHARLES SMITH;

"THE DENIAL OF COMPENSATION BY THE CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION BOARD IS, UNFORTUNATELY, CONSISTENT WITH A LONG PATTERN OF GOVERNMENT INACTION AND FAILURE. WHILE MS. WAUDBY IS UNABLE TO WORK, AND SUBSISTS BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL, THE GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED SIGNIFICANT FUNDING AND RESOURCES FOR A NEW BUILDING FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CORONER AND THE FORENSIC PATHOLOGY UNIT. AND YET, TWO YEARS AFTER CLOSING SUBMISSIONS WERE MADE TO THE GOUDGE INQUIRY ON BEHALF OF THE AFFECTED FAMILIES, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAS CHANGED FOR THOSE MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE SIGNIFICANT SYSTEMIC FAILURES IDENTIFIED BY JUSTICE GOUDGE."

LETTER FROM LAWYER JULIE KIRKPATRICK TO ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRIS BENTLEY;

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BACKGROUND: Brenda Waudby is the mother of Baby Jenna who was born in Peterborough, Ontario and died on January 22, 1997, at the age of 21 months. On January 21, 1997, at approximately 5 p.m., Ms. Waudby left Jenna in the care of a babysitter, J.D., who was 14 years old at the time. That night, Jenna was taken to a local hospital, where she died. Dr. Charles Smith performed the autopsy, concluded that Jenna had died of blunt abdominal trauma, and came up with a time of death that gave Ms. Waudby exclusive access to Baby Jenna at the time the fatal injuries were inflicted. Smith seized a dark, curly, male-type pubic hair from Baby Jenna's vulva-area, concealed it from the police officer who attended the autopsy, failed to submit it for testing, and had it in his possession when testifying at Ms. Waudby's preliminary hearing that he didn't know anything about it. He also failed to conduct a standard rape test which would likely have shown that Baby Jenna had been sexually assaulted. The Peterborough police force sent an undercover officer into Ms. Waudby's Narcotic's Anonymous group in an effort to get incriminating evidence against her. On September 18, 1997, the police charged Ms. Waudby with second-degree murder based on Smith's opinion. In October 1998, following a preliminary hearing, the court committed Ms. Waudby to stand trial on the charge, placing her one step closer to a sentence of life imprisonment for murdering her daughter if convicted. On June 15, 1999, the Crown withdrew the charge after receiving the unanimous opinions of several experts appointed by both the prosecution and the defence which utterly contradicted Smith's opinion and stated that Ms. Waudby could not possibly have been present when Jenna suffered her fatal injuries. (As a result of Smith's terribly flawed opinion, Ms. Waudby, who had lost her daughter through a horrific crime, found herself locked into a brutal battle with the local Children's Aid Society, to recover an older daughter from the authorities and to keep a newly born son. In July, 2001, (two years later), the police began a reinvestigation of Jenna’s death. JD confessed to the police that he had sexually assaulted the two and a half years old baby and killed her. In December 2006, J.D. was permitted to plead guilty to manslaughter and the two counts of sexual assault were dropped. He was sentenced as a youth to 22 months in custody, followed by 11 months of community supervision. Smith has yet to face any criminal charges in relation to his conduct in the Waudby case. Like Dr. Smith's many other victims, Ms. Waudby has yet to receive a single cent of compensation for the utterly hellish ordeal she experienced at the hands of Dr. Charles Smith, the police and the prosecutors.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The following is the verbatim letter sent by Brenda Waudby's lawyer Julie Kirkpatrick to Attorney General Chris Bentley following Ms. Waudby's denial of compensation by the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. I am extremely disturbed that two years after the closing submissions were made to the Goudge Inquiry, not a single one of Dr. Charles Smith's victims has received a cent in compensation. (There's money for new buildings but not for the human beings involved); There has not even been any announcement of the establishment of a compensation process, or a sensitivity on the part of the Ontario Government to the need to make interim compensation to Dr. Smith's victims, many of whom were left destitute because of the ordeal they were put through at the Government's hands. Premier Dalton McGuinty got the ball rolling by ordering the Independent Inquiry which looked into a large number of Smith's cases and conveyed the enormous harm which his victims had suffered to the government. It's high time for Premier McGuinty to follow through and satisfy the public that genuine, generous compensation will be made - and to publicly announce a specific timetable for its completion.

Harold Levy.

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"I represent Brenda Waudby and Justine Traynor in an application to the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. I also acted for Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor before the Goudge Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology," the letter from Brenda Waudby's lawyer Julie Kirkpatrick to Attorney General Chris Bentley, begins.

"I am writing to you pursuant to section 25 of the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act to ask that you apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to request that it vary its March 10, 2010 Orders denying compensation to Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor in the context of the murder of Jenna Mellor. A copy of both Orders are enclosed," the letter continues.

"Background: Ms. Waudby’s 21-month-old daughter, Jenna Mellor, was murdered in January, 1997. Ms. Waudby was prosecuted criminally for her daughter’s death, which prosecution was primarily based upon the opinion evidence of pathologist Dr. Charles Smith. The murder charge against Ms. Waudby was eventually withdrawn In December 2006 a young person was found guilty of manslaughter in causing Jenna’s death.

Ms. Waudby has been a fierce advocate for herself and her family for over twelve years, beginning with her call for a Public Inquiry in 1999 through her family law lawyer at the time, Laird Meneley. A copy of Mr. Meneley’s letter to the then Premier Michael D. Harris, the then Attorney General James Flaherty, and others, is attached for your reference. The purpose of Ms. Waudby’s continuous public action has been to ensure that no family in the future has to endure what her family has.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Board

Ms. Waudby commenced her application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board before commencement of the Goudge Inquiry. The application was revived at the conclusion of the Inquiry, at which time Ms. Traynor brought her application as well. Both matters proceeded to a hearing on February 4th, 2010 and decisions were rendered on March 10th, 2010. The Board denied both claims.

With respect, the Board’s decisions are shockingly dismissive of the genuine, extreme and on-going pain and suffering experienced by Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor as a result of Jenna Mellor’s murder, the lengthy criminal prosecution of Ms. Waudby which immediately followed, and the unwarranted removal of Justine from the care of her mother for a period of over two years as a young child. The decisions are in direct contravention of the extensive evidence of nervous shock and pain and suffering that was before the Board.

Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor therefore request that you exercise your discretion under section 25 of the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act to apply to the Board to request that it vary its Orders in such manner as you see fit.

In addition, Ms. Waudby is aware that an unnamed individual made a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board in connection with Jenna’s murder shortly after her death. Ms. Waudby believes that this claim was successful and compensation was awarded in that case. I would ask that you make inquiries in this regard and confirm.

Government Inaction

The denial of compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board is, unfortunately, consistent with a long pattern of government inaction and failure. While Ms. Waudby is unable to work, and subsists below the poverty level, the government has announced significant funding and resources for a new building for the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Forensic Pathology Unit. And yet, two years after closing submissions were made to the Goudge Inquiry on behalf of the Affected Families, absolutely nothing has changed for those most directly affected by the significant systemic failures identified by Justice Goudge. In the case of Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor, the only government action since the Goudge Inquiry has been:

1. Orders from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board that their losses are not compensable;

2. The apparent loss of critical evidence to ongoing proceedings, including the transcripts and videotapes of Ms. Waudby’s statements made to the police in the context of her criminal prosecution for murder. These missing transcripts and videotapes are required for the purpose of advising Ms. Waudby with respect to an intended Application to set aside the plea of guilty under the Child and Family Services Act entered into by Ms. Waudby at the time that the murder charge was withdrawn; and,

3. The recent shocking and disturbing revelation by the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Hospital for Sick Children that partial remains of Jenna Mellor, including her entire rib cage, remains in their possession. This information was not previously disclosed to Ms. Waudby or, to the best of her knowledge, to the Goudge Inquiry.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. I look forward to receiving your response at the earliest opportunity."

Julie Kirkpatrick;

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

BRENDA WAUDBY; VICTIM OF DISGRACED PATHOLOGIST DR. CHARLES SMITH DENIED COMPENSATION; BOARD RULES SHE DID NOT EXPERIENCE ENOUGH "NERVOUS SHOCK";

"MS. WAUDBY SAID THAT SHE CONTINUES TO SUSTAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL BLOWS, INCLUDING A RECENT REVELATION THAT PORTIONS OF JENNA’S REMAINS – INCLUDING HER ENTIRE RIB CAGE – ARE STILL BEING KEPT AT THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CORONER.

“THE FACT THAT JENNA’S RIB CAGE WAS NOT BURIED WITH HER BODY IS INFORMATION THAT HAD NEVER BEEN DISCLOSED AT ANY TIME SINCE HER DEATH,” MS. WAUDBY SAID. “I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS HAD HAPPENED AND DID NOT KNOW THAT HER BODY WAS NOT BURIED INTACT. THIS HAS BEEN DEVASTATING TO ME AND MY FAMILY. NOW I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE FACT THAT MY BABY’S BODY ISN’T WHOLE. SHE CANNOT BE RESTING AS SHE SHOULD BE.”......

MS. WAUDBY RECALLED THAT, SHORTLY BEFORE A PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO PATHOLOGY ERRORS COMMENCED IN 2007, SHE WAS TOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT THE BABYSITTER HAD SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER BABY.

“I HAD TO REVIEW PHOTOGRAPHS OF JENNA’S BODY, AND HER GENITAL AREAS, TO PREPARE ME FOR WHAT OTHERS WOULD SEE,” SHE SAID."

JUSTICE REPORTER KIRK MAKIN: THE GLOBE AND MAIL; (Kirk Makin is one of Canada's outstanding justice reporters. He covered the lengthy Goudge Inquiry - which examined many of Dr. Charles Smith's brutally bungled cases - from beginning to end. He is the author of "Redrum the Innocent," a monumental account of the wrongful prosecution of Guy Paul Morin, first published in 1992 by Viking.) A Globe and Mail photo shows Ms. Waudby, leaving a session of the Goudge Inquiry on Nov.12, 2007.)

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BACKGROUND: Brenda Waudby is the mother of Baby Jenna who was born in Peterborough, Ontario and died on January 22, 1997, at the age of 21 months. On January 21, 1997, at approximately 5 p.m., Ms. Waudby left Jenna in the care of a babysitter, J.D., who was 14 years old at the time. That night, Jenna was taken to a local hospital, where she died. Dr. Charles Smith performed the autopsy, concluded that Jenna had died of blunt abdominal trauma, and came up with a time of death that gave Ms. Waudby exclusive access to Baby Jenna at the time the fatal injuries were inflicted. Smith seized a dark, curly, male-type pubic hair from Baby Jenna's vulva-area, concealed it from the police officer who attended the autopsy, failed to submit it for testing, and had it in his possession when testifying at Ms. Waudby's preliminary hearing that he didn't know anything about it. He also failed to conduct a standard rape test which would likely have shown that Baby Jenna had been sexually assaulted. The Peterborough police force sent an undercover officer into Ms. Waudby's Narcotic's Anonymous group in an effort to get incriminating evidence against her. On September 18, 1997, the police charged Ms. Waudby with second-degree murder based on Smith's opinion. In October 1998, following a preliminary hearing, the court committed Ms. Waudby to stand trial on the charge, placing her one step closer to a sentence of life imprisonment for murdering her daughter if convicted. On June 15, 1999, the Crown withdrew the charge after receiving the unanimous opinions of several experts appointed by both the prosecution and the defence which utterly contradicted Smith's opinion and stated that Ms. Waudby could not possibly have been present when Jenna suffered her fatal injuries. (As a result of Smith's terribly flawed opinion, Ms. Waudby, who had lost her daughter through a horrific crime, found herself locked into a brutal battle with the local Children's Aid Society, to recover an older daughter from the authorities and to keep a newly born son.) In July, 2001, (two years later), the police began a reinvestigation of Jenna’s death. JD confessed to the police that he had sexually assaulted the two and a half years old baby and killed her. In December 2006, J.D. was permitted to plead guilty to manslaughter and the two counts of sexual assault were dropped. He was sentenced as a youth to 22 months in custody, followed by 11 months of community supervision. Smith has yet to face any criminal charges in relation to his conduct in the Waudby case. Like Dr. Smith's many other victims, Ms. Waudby has yet to receive a single cent of compensation for the utterly hellish ordeal she experienced at the hands of Dr. Charles Smith, the police and the prosecutors.

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"For nine years, Brenda Waudby suffered under the shadow of a wrongful prosecution for the 1997 murder of her two-year-old daughter," Justice Reporter Kirk Makin's Globe and Mail story published earlier today begins, under the heading, "Mother wrongfully prosecuted for daughter’s murder denied compensation."

(A sub-heading reads, "Woman fails to meet criteria for nervous shock even though autopsy mistakes led to seizure of another child.")

"Apparently, she didn’t suffer enough. The Peterborough, Ont., woman has been denied up to $25,000 from Ontario’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Board because she did not meet its criteria for suffering nervous shock," the story continues.

"The board has also denied a claim from Ms. Waudby’s other daughter, Justine Traynor, who was seized and placed in a foster home for two years after her mother was charged with murdering Justine’s sister, Jenna Mellor.

“I cannot understand or fathom the reasoning for this decision,” Ms. Waudby said Wednesday. “I cannot move forward until this nightmare, which is being sustained and perpetuated by the government, is over. I believe the government needs to quit dragging their heels and fix this. I am tired of being patient.

“My life has not changed,” she said. “My life is the same. The government has implemented many recommendations but the victims appear to have been forgotten completely.”

In a letter sent Wednesday to Attorney-General Chris Bentley, Ms. Waudby’s lawyer, Julie Kirkpatrick, asked him to intervene and reverse the board’s decision.

“With respect, the Board’s decisions are shockingly dismissive of the genuine, extreme and ongoing pain and suffering experienced by Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor as a result of Jenna Mellor’s murder,” Ms. Kirkpatrick wrote.

She noted that, due to autopsy mistakes made by disgraced pathologist Charles Smith, Ms. Waudby remained a prime suspect until 2006, when Jenna’s former babysitter was convicted in the killing.

The compensation board heard almost 4,000 cases in 2008-09, the most recent year for which statistics are available, and awarded a total of $43-million to crime victims or their dependants. The average award was $10,085. Approximately 8 per cent of the awards were made to citizens whose suffering was connected to a murder or an attempted murder.

Under board guidelines, nervous shock is assessed based on the degree of violence involved in the incident; the relationship between the applicant and the victim; the applicant’s presence at the scene of the incident and/or how the applicant learned of the occurrence; the degree of the emotional and psychological injuries suffered; and the type of treatment required.

Ms. Waudby said that she continues to sustain psychological blows, including a recent revelation that portions of Jenna’s remains – including her entire rib cage – are still being kept at (The Hospital for Sick Children);

“The fact that Jenna’s rib cage was not buried with her body is information that had never been disclosed at any time since her death,” Ms. Waudby said. “I had no idea that this had happened and did not know that her body was not buried intact. This has been devastating to me and my family. Now I have to live with the fact that my baby’s body isn’t whole. She cannot be resting as she should be.”

The 26-year-old man convicted in Jenna’s murder, who cannot be identified because he was a minor at the time of the crime, eventually confessed that he punched, poked and burned her to the point of death.

Ms. Waudby recalled that, shortly before a public inquiry into pathology errors commenced in 2007, she was told for the first time that the babysitter had sexually assaulted her baby.

“I had to review photographs of Jenna’s body, and her genital areas, to prepare me for what others would see,” she said.

“At the conclusion of the public inquiry, recommendations were made by Justice [Stephen] Goudge,” Ms. Waudby added. “These recommendations included looking into a viable scheme for compensation for the victims. The government has not made any announcements regarding this issue. This is shocking because almost two years have passed since the inquiry was completed.”"

The story can be found at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mother-wrongfully-prosecuted-for-daughters-murder-denied-compensation/article1519261/

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

ANTHONY CARAVELLA: INNOCENT; WENT IN TO PRISON AS "A CHILD". CAME OUT A 41-YEAR OLD MAN: AND THERE'S REALLY A QUESTION WHETHER HE WILL BE COMPENSATED?

CARAVELLA'S PUBLIC DEFENDER, DIANE CUDDIHY SAID HER CLIENT SHOULD BE COMPENSATED FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM. "HE WENT IN AS A CHILD AND HE CAME OUT AS A 41-YEAR-OLD MAN; I THINK SOCIETY OWES HIM A GREAT DEAL," CUDDIHY SAID. MCCANN SAID PROSECUTORS AGREED TO EVERY DEFENSE REQUEST FOR DNA TESTING FOR CARAVELLA AND COOPERATED WITH AND HELPED THE DEFENSE SINCE 2001, WHICH CUDDIHY DOES NOT DISPUTE. "IT'S BEEN AMICABLE," MCCANN SAID. "OUR OFFICES BOTH WANTED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS." WHEN CARAVELLA WAS ARRESTED IN DECEMBER 1983, MIRAMAR POLICE OFFICERS HIT AND COERCED HIM, CAUSING THE MENTALLY CHALLENGED 15-YEAR-OLD TO FALSELY CONFESS TO THE CRIMES, CUDDIHY SAID. CARAVELLA'S GIRLFRIEND AND HER MOTHER GAVE SWORN STATEMENTS LAST YEAR THAT OFFICERS HIT CARAVELLA BEFORE AND AFTER HIS ARREST. MIRAMAR POLICE DENY THE ALLEGATIONS.

REPORTER PAULA MCMAHON: 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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"Now that a judge has tossed Anthony Caravella's conviction for the 1983 rape and murder of Ada Cox Jankowski, attorneys on both sides of the case say they are trying to ensure that justice is done — however late — for the slain woman and the exonerated ma," the Sun-Sentinel story by reporter Paula McMahon, publiched on March 27, 2010, under the heading, "DNA-cleared Broward man might seek money for years spent in prison: Prosecutors resume search for killer of Miramar woman," begins.

"Broward County prosecutors are doing more scientific testing to see whether they can get a DNA profile that would identify the killer. Testing eliminated Caravella as the source of DNA evidence in the slaying," the story continues.

""Ada Jankowski is still dead and we want to know the answer to the question — if it wasn't Anthony Caravella, then who was it?" said Carolyn McCann, the Broward prosecutor handling the case.

At the same time, a Fort Lauderdale civil rights attorney with a track record of winning compensation for wrongfully convicted people is representing Caravella to see if he is entitled to restitution for the nearly 26 years he was locked up.

The lawyer, Barbara Heyer, declined to comment Friday. Among the cases she has won: $4.2 million in settlements from the Broward Sheriff's Office and the city of Miami on behalf of Jerry Frank Townsend, a mentally challenged man who spent 22 years in prison for several murders before DNA exonerated him.

Seth Miller, of the Innocence Project of Florida, which advocates on behalf of exonerated people, said Caravella has three options but none of them guarantee he will receive any money. He could file a civil suit against law enforcement or he could ask the state Legislature to give him restitution. Or he may qualify, under the state's Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act, for $50,000 per year that he was locked up – about $1.3 million.

Caravella's public defender, Diane Cuddihy said her client should be compensated for what happened to him. "He went in as a child and he came out as a 41-year-old man; I think society owes him a great deal," Cuddihy said.

McCann said prosecutors agreed to every defense request for DNA testing for Caravella and cooperated with and helped the defense since 2001, which Cuddihy does not dispute.

"It's been amicable," McCann said. "Our offices both wanted to get to the bottom of this."

When Caravella was arrested in December 1983, Miramar police officers hit and coerced him, causing the mentally challenged 15-year-old to falsely confess to the crimes, Cuddihy said. Caravella's girlfriend and her mother gave sworn statements last year that officers hit Caravella before and after his arrest. Miramar police deny the allegations.

There are many troubling issues in Caravella's case, said Cuddihy and her boss, Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein.

The problems include the alleged mishandling of the case by Miramar police officers, now retired, and the key role played by a former Broward Sheriff's Deputy Tony Fantigrassi, who was involved in other cases that resulted in exonerations, according to court records.

Fantigrassi testified that Caravella made his first self-incriminating statement during an unrecorded interview when the two were alone. The interview was the second of five statements Caravella gave. The other four were taped by Miramar police detectives and include several inconsistencies between what Caravella said and what the physical evidence showed.

Fantigrassi also was a key player in Townsend's conviction in the 1970s. He testified that Townsend led detectives to the murder scenes and provided details that only the killer would know. DNA later proved that another man committed those crimes.

A federal judge ruled that Fantigrassi's testimony and theories were "implausible" in 2002 when he testified to try to uphold Tim Brown's conviction for the 1990 murder of Deputy Patrick Behan. The judge ruled, on several grounds, that Brown was "actually innocent" of the crime and threw out the conviction.

Fantigrassi, who retired as a major in 2005 during the faked crime statistics scandal at the Sheriff's Office, did not respond to messages left at his business Friday.

Cuddihy said she is "very concerned about what went on in that interview room between a 15-year-old mentally challenged child [Caravella] and Fantigrassi."

"I think the statement [to Fantigrassi] is suspect, I think all the statements are suspect. I think the fact that he [Fantigrassi] was involved in these cases that resulted in exonerations is cause for concern," Cuddihy said.

"We can't talk for Fantigrassi, he's gone," said Jim Leljedal, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. "All I can tell you is we're doing things differently now."

Cuddihy also said she and Caravella do not understand why DNA testing by the Broward Sheriff's crime lab in 2001 failed to exonerate him. Workers at an independent California lab said they used methods in August 2009 that were available to BSO in 2001 and rapidly found the DNA evidence that eliminated Caravella as a suspect. Another independent lab in Virginia confirmed those results Wednesday.

"I think they mishandled the case; they missed it," Cuddihy said of the Sheriff's Office lab workers.

Leljedal said most of the people involved in the 2001 testing no longer work at the Sheriff's Office. "I can't at this point tell you exactly what happened in 2001," Leljedal said.

Prosecutors said they believe that the recent testing was more sophisticated than what was available to the Sheriff's Office in 2001."

The story can be found at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/crime/fl-caravella-dna-murder-what-next-20100326,0,5447493.story

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

waudby temp

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Brenda Waudby is the mother of Baby Jenna who was born in Peterborough, Ontario and died on January 22, 1997, at the age of 21 months. On January 21, 1997, at approximately 5 p.m., Ms. Waudby left Jenna in the care of a babysitter, J.D., who was 14 years old at the time. That night, Jenna was taken to a local hospital, where she died. Dr. Charles Smith performed the autopsy, concluded that Jenna had died of blunt abdominal trauma, and came up with a time of death that gave Ms. Waudby exclusive access to Baby Jenna at the time the fatal injuries were inflicted. Smith seized a dark, curly, male-type pubic hair from Baby Jenna's vulva-area, concealed it from the police officer who attended the autopsy, failed to submit it for testing, and had it in his possession when testifying at Ms. Waudby's preliminary hearing that he didn't know anything about it. He also failed to conduct a standard rape test which would likely have shown that Baby Jenna had been sexually assaulted. The Peterborough police force sent an undercover officer into Ms. Waudby's Narcotic's Anonymous group in an effort to get incriminating evidence against her. On September 18, 1997, the police charged Ms. Waudby with second-degree murder based on Smith's opinion. In October 1998, following a preliminary hearing, the court committed Ms. Waudby to stand trial on the charge, placing her one step closer to a sentence of life imprisonment for murdering her daughter if convicted. On June 15, 1999, the Crown withdrew the charge after receiving the unanimous opinions of several experts appointed by both the prosecution and the defence which utterly contradicted Smith's opinion and stated that Ms. Waudby could not possibly have been present when Jenna suffered her fatal injuries. (As a result of Smith's terribly flawed opinion, Ms. Waudby, who had lost her daughter through a horrific crime, found herself locked into a brutal battle with the local Children's Aid Society, to recover an older daughter from the authorities and to keep a newly born son. In July, 2001, (two years later), the police began a reinvestigation of Jenna’s death. JD confessed to the police that he had sexually assaulted the two and a half years old baby and killed her. In December 2006, J.D. was permitted to plead guilty to manslaughter and the two counts of sexual assault were dropped. He was sentenced as a youth to 22 months in custody, followed by 11 months of community supervision. Smith has yet to face any criminal charges in relation to his conduct in the Waudby case. Like Dr. Smith's many other victims, Ms. Waudby has yet to receive a single cent of compensation for the utterly hellish ordeal she experienced at the hands of Dr. Charles Smith, the police and the prosecutors.

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ANTHONY CARAVELLA: DAYTONA NEWS-JOURNAL EDITORIAL: CALLS FOR COMMISSION TO EXAMINE BAD CONVICTIONS; SAYS STATE LEADERS MUST TAKE LEAD;

"THE RAPID SUCCESSION OF OTHER CASES IN WHICH MEN WERE EXONERATED AFTER 20 OR MORE YEARS IN PRISON DROVE THE POINT HOME. THE LEGISLATURE PASSED LAWS EASING ACCESS TO DNA TESTING FOR PEOPLE WITH A LEGITIMATE CLAIM OF INNOCENCE, AND CREATING A COMPENSATION PLAN FOR THOSE WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED. (THAT LAW, UNFORTUNATELY, IS SIGNIFICANTLY FLAWED AND EXCLUDES MOST EXONEREES FROM COMPENSATION.) BUT STATE LEADERS HAVEN'T DONE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. THEY HAVEN'T ASKED WHY. THEY SHOULD. OTHER STATES HAVE ESTABLISHED COMMISSIONS TO STUDY WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS, IDENTIFY COMMON FACTORS AND SEEK WAYS TO ENSURE JUSTICE IN THE FUTURE. FLORIDA -- WITH THE MOST OVERTURNED CASES IN THE NATION -- SHOULD HAVE LED THE WAY. GOING FORWARD, STATE LEADERS CAN DRAW ON THE EXPERIENCES IN OTHER STATES, AND THE WORK BY ACADEMIC GROUPS STUDYING FLORIDA'S OVERTURNED CONVICTIONS."

EDITORIAL: DAYTONA NEWS-JOURNAL

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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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"On Thursday, Anthony Caravella officially became the 11th person exonerated in Florida by DNA evidence after serving 25 years for a rape/murder he did not commit," the News-Journal editorial, published earlier today under the heading, "State should consider where justice went astray," begins.

"And if not for Wilton Dedge, he might never have walked free," it continues.

"Dedge, released from prison in 2004 after serving 22 years on a rape conviction, sparked a minor revolution in Florida's criminal justice system. The questionable actions on the part of prosecutors, and the obstinance of appellate attorneys -- first in opposing DNA tests that compared Dedge's genetic code to evidence from the rape, then in fighting his release after the DNA tests proved he was innocent -- shook the faith of many.

The rapid succession of other cases in which men were exonerated after 20 or more years in prison drove the point home. The Legislature passed laws easing access to DNA testing for people with a legitimate claim of innocence, and creating a compensation plan for those wrongfully imprisoned. (That law, unfortunately, is significantly flawed and excludes most exonerees from compensation.)

But state leaders haven't done the most important thing. They haven't asked why.

They should. Other states have established commissions to study wrongful convictions, identify common factors and seek ways to ensure justice in the future. Florida -- with the most overturned cases in the nation -- should have led the way. Going forward, state leaders can draw on the experiences in other states, and the work by academic groups studying Florida's overturned convictions.

The barrier, as always, is money. Last week, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince wrote to Florida Senate president-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island. Haridopolis -- who represents the same area of Brevard County that Dedge once lived in -- has expressed support for a statewide commission that would examine wrongful convictions. Quince's letter delivered a challenge: Figure out a way to pay for it.

Haridopolis should find the money to create a commission. Quince points out that similar commissions -- formed to study racial, ethnic and gender bias in the court system -- had budgets between $300,000 and $400,000, money that helps pay for research, staff and public hearing time.

It's a lot of money in a tough budget year, and the suggestion comes late, with the two-month annual legislative session half gone. But Haridopolis and other lawmakers should make this happen. There are ways to save money and still do a good job. Drawing on experienced legislative staff is a possibility, and Florida can also borrow from findings in other states.

The most prevalent causes of wrongful convictions -- including mistaken eyewitness identity, dubious forensic evidence, false confessions and unreliable "snitch" testimony -- are well-known in the criminal justice system. The new commission's greatest challenge could be in shaping recommended changes to the law, creating safeguards against bad convictions.

As budget negotiations intensify, lawmakers are likely to consider the possibility of releasing some prisoners a few months early to save money. The prospect will rankle. But there's no better motivation to avoid the expense -- and moral burden -- of imprisoning innocent people. Examining bad convictions and reforming criminal laws could save the state from uncounted expense, and protect those who are innocent from unimaginable horror."

The editorial can be found at:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/opinion/editorials/2010/03/29/state-should-consider-where-justice-went-astray.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

TIMOTHY COLE: PERCEPTIVE KATHY CLAY-LITTLE COLUMN APPLIES TO HANK SKINNER, CAMERON TODD WILLINGHAM AND FAR TOO MANY OTHERS;

"FEW TRAGEDIES ARE GREATER THAN AN INNOCENT PERSON LOCKED UP IN PRISON. IN THE BIBLICAL STORY OF LAZARUS, JESUS ARRIVES AT LAZARUS' HOME AFTER HE HAS DIED. LAZARUS' GRIEF-STRICKEN SISTERS, WHO HAD SENT FOR JESUS, ADMONISHED HIM, “IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE, OUR BROTHER LAZARUS WOULD NOT HAVE DIED.” AS THE COLE-SESSIONS FAMILY CONTINUES TO HEAL WITH THE BALM OF LOVE THAT KEPT THEM FIGHTING FOR TIMOTHY EVEN IN DEATH, A PARALLEL CAN BE DRAWN BETWEEN COLE AND LAZARUS: IF SOMEONE IN POWER TRULY COMMITTED TO JUSTICE HAD BEEN THERE, TIMOTHY COLE NEVER WOULD HAVE DIED IN PRISON."

KATHY CLAY-LITTLE: AND SAN ANTONIO, EXPRESS NEWS;

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BACKGROUND: Timothy Cole, whose cause has been championed by state lawmakers and others, was found guilty in the 1985 rape of a Texas Tech student and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. His conviction was based in part on the victim's identification of him as her attacker and what a judge later called faulty police work and a questionable suspect lineup. The victim later fought to help clear Cole's name. Cole died in prison in 1999, at age 39, after an asthma attack caused him to go into cardiac arrest. Following repeated confessions by another man, Cole was cleared by DNA evidence in 2008, and a state judge exonerated him in 2009. His family pursued a pardon, but Perry had said he did not have the authority to grant one posthumously. That changed after Perry announced that he had received legal advice to the contrary.

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"It had been almost 10 years since Joyce Ann Brown walked out of a Texas prison after serving most of the previous decade for a crime she did not commit," Cathy Clay-Little's San Antonio, Express News column, published on March 26, under the heading, "Justice is about more than conviction rates," begins.

"Yet her tears flowed as freely as if she had been released yesterday; her pain was just as palpable, it seemed, as it was during the years she lived her tragic ordeal," the column continues.

"The man I interviewed on my radio program had been freed by DNA evidence 17 years earlier, but you couldn't tell 17 years had passed by the rivulets of tears coursing down his face. He seemed unaware of them as he talked about the need for a criminal justice system that cared as much about justice as it did conviction rates.

At least he got out alive.

Timothy Cole did not get out alive. Cole, an Army veteran who was enrolled at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, died halfway through a 25-year sentence for a rape that posthumous DNA evidence and the finally heard confession from the real rapist confirmed he did not commit. Ironically, Cole died of a chronic illness — asthma — that should have caused reasonable doubt as to whether he committed the crime of which he was accused.

Cole's asthma was so bad that it manifested itself when he was around smokers; the rape victim told detectives that the man who raped her chain-smoked.

The actual rapist was a shrewd, cunning and evil man. He was in jail the night Cole was convicted. The rapist said nothing until the statute of limitations had expired and he could not be tried, then he started confessing. No one listened until he finally made contact with Cole's mother, Ruby Sessions, and she began working to at least get her deceased son's good name back. On March 1, Gov. Rick Perry officially granted Cole a pardon.

Still, Perry continues to take actions that could allow another such tragedy to occur. Few tragedies are greater than an innocent person locked up in prison. In the biblical story of Lazarus, Jesus arrives at Lazarus' home after he has died. Lazarus' grief-stricken sisters, who had sent for Jesus, admonished him, “If you had been here, our brother Lazarus would not have died.” As the Cole-Sessions family continues to heal with the balm of love that kept them fighting for Timothy even in death, a parallel can be drawn between Cole and Lazarus: If someone in power truly committed to justice had been there, Timothy Cole never would have died in prison.

The knowledge that Texas' justice system so thoroughly failed Cole — and the rape victim, too — should spur people of conscience to commit themselves to building a justice system that not only convicts the guilty but also protects the innocent. It begins with electing governors, lawmakers, judges and district attorneys whose first commitment is to justice for the innocent."

The column can be found at:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/columnists/kathy_clay-little/Justice_is_about_more_than_conviction_rates.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;