George Souliotes: California: Original conviction said to be "based on indisputably unreliable fire pattern analysis straight out of the "Todd Willingham playbook." The Arson Project.

STORY: "George Souliotes finds justice but must wait one more night before finding freedom," by Paul Bieber of "The Arson Project," published on July 3, 2013.

GIST:  "What is certain is that Souliotes’ original conviction was based on indisputably unreliable fire pattern analysis straight out of the Todd Willingham playbook.  In an exceptional example of how cognitive bias and poor forensic training can turn an amateurish fire investigation into a full fledged witch hunt, Modesto Fire Department investigators determined the fire to be arson based on “pour patterns”, deep charring and a fire which burned “abnormally hot”.  That the house fire burned beyond flashover for nearly 15 minutes was never acknowledged as a likely cause for any of the burn indicators the fire investigators attributed to an ignitable liquid."

The entire story can be found at:

http://thearsonproject.wordpress.com/about/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.


Sent from my iPad

Bulletin: David Bain: Radio New Zealand reports that the judicial review into Justice Minister Judith Collin's handling of his compensation claim is set to be heard in Auckland on July 31, 2013.

STORY: "Date set for judicial review of handling of Bain application," published by Radio New Zealand on July 4, 2013.

GIST: "A date has been set for a judicial review into the way Justice Minister Judith Collins handled a compensation application by David Bain. .........In a report released late last year, former Canadian Supreme Court judge Ian Binnie concluded Mr Bain was innocent and suggested he should receive compensation. However, a review of that report, commissioned by Ms Collins, criticised those findings as legally flawed. The judicial review is expected to be heard at the High Court in Auckland on 31 July."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/213710/date-set-for-judicial-review-of-handling-of-bain-application

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

Rene Bailey; Greece, New York: "Democrat and Chronicle" wades in on the case of Barbara Hershey - once thought by her lawyers to be "the perfect opportunity to attack the science of shaken baby syndrome." Prosecutor says "what we used to call shaken-baby syndrome...may now be called inflicted head trauma."

STORY: "Watchdog report: Shaken-baby triad still rules in New York courts," by reporter Gary Craig, published by the Democrat  and Chronicle  June 30, 2013. (Thanks to the Wrongful Convictions Blog for drawing our attention to this story. H.L.)

VIDEO  CAPTION:  "The case of Barbara Hershey: Barbara Hershey was 65 when she was convicted and imprisoned in 2007 for causing the death of an infant in her care."

GIST:  "The case of Barbara Hershey — an Ontario County grandmother convicted of killing a 4-month-old boy — seemed to her appellate lawyers to be the perfect opportunity to attack the science of shaken-baby syndrome. Shaken-baby syndrome — a diagnosis of brain trauma triggered by the vigorous shaking of a child — has come under challenge in recent years. Hershey was convicted of causing the fatal injuries inflicted upon her stepgrandson, Ethan Hershey, by shaking him. “I thought this was a good case to challenge the science and we challenged it as thoroughly and persuasively as we could,” said Rochester lawyer William Easton, who represented Hershey in an appeal of her conviction. However, when Barbara Hershey’s case was heard in 2011 by the Rochester region’s appellate division of state Supreme Court, the judges spent little time discussing the science. That lack of discussion about shaken-baby syndrome is illustrative of a medical diagnosis that has yet to see a robust challenge in New York’s appellate courts, where legal precedents are made. And critics of shaken-baby syndrome — ranks that are growing in number — say that courts can be an ill-suited venue for shifting beliefs in science. “The problem is the legal system moves and changes in terms of decades,” said Dr. Peter Stephens, a North Carolina forensic pathologist and prominent critic of shaken-baby syndrome. “The medical system can change in months, literally.” But believers in the syndrome’s science say that the diagnosis is legally entrenched because it is reliable. The “vast majority of qualified doctors in the fields that deal with this issue are convinced of the existence of what we used to call shaken-baby syndrome and what may now be called inflicted head trauma,” said Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo, who prosecuted Hershey.

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130630/NEWS01/306300060/Shaken-baby

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. 

Rene Bailey: Greece; New York; "Democrat and Chronicle" uses day care provider's case to visit "shaken-baby syndrome" in a 2-part series - with stress on the growing controversy and growing doubts;

STORY:  "Watchdog report: Shaken-baby science doubts grow: Debate stirs questions about 2001 conviction of Greece woman,"  by reporter Steve Orr, published by ther Democrat and Chronicle on July 1, 2013. (Part one of a two-part series). (Thanks to the Wrongful Convictions Blog" for drawing our attention to this story. HL.)

VIDEO CAPTION:  "Controversy over shaken baby syndrome: In a two-day series, the Democrat and Chronicle explores the growing controversy behind shaken baby syndrome – a diagnosis that shaking caused severe injuries or death with a child – and looks at a conviction now under challenge."

GIST: "Eleven years ago, a Greece day-care provider was convicted of murder after the death of a 2½-year-old child who suffered a grievous head injury in the provider’s home. René Bailey, now 53 years old, remains in state prison. But a pro bono lawyer is out to see her exonerated. The lawyer, Adele Bernhard, has filed a lengthy legal challenge to Bailey’s conviction, hoping to persuade a Monroe County Court judge not just that Bailey is innocent of the crime but that no crime was even committed that fateful day in June 2001. Bernhard says new evidence, including a startling eyewitness account that came to light after Bailey’s trial, proves little Brittney Sheets’ death was accidental.........At the heart of René Bailey’s conviction, and Bernhard’s legal challenge, is shaken-baby syndrome, the popular term used to describe brain damage suffered by an infant or toddler who is violently shaken by an adult. Over the last 30 years, shaken-baby syndrome has come to be considered one of the most heinous forms of child abuse. Dozens of people in the Rochester area, and thousands nationwide, have been prosecuted for harming or killing small children in this way. The scales of justice in these cases often tip on the word of doctors who say they can discern that intentional shaking took place by the nature of the injuries suffered by the young victims. Many physicians and prosecutors remain confident in those judgments, but some critics say those doctors can be wrong. They claim innocent people have been sent to prison. René Bailey is one of them, Bernhard believes."

THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130630/NEWS01/306300031/shaken-baby-syndrome-brittney-sheets

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. 
 

Bulletin: George Souliotes: California; Outmoded arson "science" case; Great News: Modesto Bee reports that a deal has been reached in which he will walk free; His lawyer says "the truth was finally revealed that there was simply nothing linking Mr. Souliotes to the tragic fire;"

STORY: "Update: Plea deal allows accused Modesto landlord to walk free," by reporter J. N. Sbranti, published by the Modesto Bee on July 2, 2013;

GIST: "George Souliotes, the Modesto landlord whose murder/arson conviction was overturned by a federal court, agreed to a plea deal this morning that will set him free today. Souliotes essentially agreed to an involuntary manslaughter charge for not having had a working smoke detector in his rental home, which burned down in 1997. Three people died in that middle-of-the-night Modesto blaze: Michelle Jones, 30, and her children, Daniel Jones, 6, and Amanda Jones, 3.  “(As) a result of his negligent maintenance of the 1319 Ronald Avenue property, the three occupants died in the fire,” Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager stated in a press release today. Souliotes, 72, initially was arrested and eventually convicted of murder for setting that deadly fire, and he has spent the past 16 years behind bars. But his conviction was overturned this spring by a federal appellate court, which concluded prosecutors had used faulty science to convince jurors that arson had caused the fire. The judge ordered Souliotes to be retried or set free. Today’s deal allows Souliotes to walk free, based on the time he already has served. It also drops all murder and arson charges......... After years of appeals, two federal judges found Souliotes “actually innocent” and concluded his conviction was based on faulty fire science. In part, that’s because Modesto fire investigators had relied on outdated standards to conclude liquid accelerants were used to fuel the blaze. Supposed evidence linking Souliotes’ shoes to the fire also was invalidated by modern scientific tests. Federal judges this spring ordered Souliotes be given a new trial, which was supposed to start this week. Souliotes’ attorneys see today’s plea as a victory. “Although this plea arrangement is far from the outright dismissal that Mr. Souliotes wanted or deserved, the deal allows him to be released immediately without enduring the burden and delay of another trial while in custody, and the stipulated basis for the plea makes clear that the government is abandoning its claim that Mr. Souliotes set the fire,” said Jimmy McBirney of San Francisco’s Orrick law firm, who was part of his volunteer defense team. Jim Brosnahan, the lead defense attorney, said two recent decisions by the Stanislaus County judge assigned to the retrial were key to winning Souliotes’ freedom. “First, the judge excluded the testimony of a highly unreliable prosecution witness and second, he excluded the outdated and faulty fire science introduced at the original trial. Without this false evidence, the truth was revealed that there was simply nothing linking Mr. Souliotes to this tragic fire,” Brosnahan said. Souliotes’ defense team maintains he is absolutely innocence of arson or murder. (read press release)  “(H)is decision to plead no contest to failure to maintain smoke alarms does not change that,” said Linda Starr, legal director of The Northern California Innocence Project. “He chose to resolve the case ... so that he may return home to his family and friends immediately.”".......Update: Hours after he agreed to a plea deal that would allow him to go free, former Modesto landlord George Souliotes remained behind bars and wasn't expected to be released until Wednesday.  Local law enforcement officials says they are ready to free him. But because he was transferred from a state facility, there is an automatic hold on him. He can't be released until the state gives its approval. We'll have more on this breaking story as information becomes available."" 

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/02/2789996/accused-modesto-landlord-souliotes.html

Press release from his lawyer:  "Under the terms of the agreement announced today Souliotes pled no contest to three counts of involuntary manslaughter for failure to maintain a working smoke alarm as required by the California Health and Safety Code. “Mr. Souliotes and his defense team maintain his absolute innocence and his decision to plead no contest to failure to maintain smoke alarms does not change that,” said Linda Starr, NCIP’s Legal Director. “He chose to resolve the case before the retrial scheduled for next month so that he may return home to his family and friends immediately."

http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2013/07/02/14/13/1rvf6e.So.11.pdf

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. 

David Bain: Publisher's view; Have the police learned anything from this wrongful conviction?

PUBLISHER'S VIEW:  The police rejection of  recent 3 News revelations pointing to David Bain's innocence - the icing on the cake so to speak - is all the more cynical given  Canadian former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Ian Binnie's  finding of a rush to a premature decision  tainted by a failure to keep an open mind - as illustrated by the unjustifiable decision to burn down the house on Every Street - the crime scene - less than three weeks after the crimes were committed. The knee-jerk dismissal of the 3 News revelations sends the troubling message that the force is still approaching the Bain case with a closed mind - and makes one wonder if the force has learned anything at all from its role in this wrongful conviction.

Harold Levy:  Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.
 
Justice Binnie on the rush to a premature decision:

Chapter  XXIII: The police rushed to judgment in deciding to charge David Bain without adequate information and analysis.

575. David Bain was formally charged with five counts of murder at 1.46 pm in the Dunedin Police Station on Friday, 24 June 1994. He protested his innocence.312 He did not emerge from custody again until granted bail on 15 May 2007.

576. It is the Bain submission that following his arrest 4 days after the murders the Police
abandoned any semblance of objectivity and devoted all their efforts to proving him guilty,
regardless of other evidence which he says should have been investigated, and might have led to proof of Robin’s guilt.

577. David Bain’s wrongful conviction was, on this view, due in large part to Police loss of objectivity beginning early in the week of 20 June 1994 and culminating in the wrongful
conviction on 25 May 1995, then continuing to and including the 2009 re‐trial.

578. The decision to charge a suspect in a critical watershed in any criminal case. There will be an inevitable shift of focus as the Police make every effort to justify their very public accusation – a justification made all the more important for their reputation in a case subject to massive media interest, as was the Bain case.313

579. The Detective Manual contemplates an early arrest if there is a risk of the suspect reoffending, or destroying evidence. Neither of these justifications applied here. Evidence was only destroyed when, with the Police consent, the house at 65 Every Street was burned to the ground less than 3 weeks after the crimes.

580. The Detective Manual states that before a decision to charge is taken the Police should have pursued relevant inquiries and awaited the result of forensic tests. This was not done. To some extent this was the fault of ESR, as Det. Sgt Weir complained: So, and a lot of the information we didn’t – like the ESR examinations that took placeback in Christchurch, for example, we didn’t get it for months ‐ 314.........

Comment: the evidence establishes, in my view, that the Police rushed to a premature decision. There was no urgency to lay the charges and publicly commit themselves to David Bain’s guilt. They decided to announce that the case was solved and all that remained to be done was for them to prove it. This was not consistent with the “open mindedness” required by the Detective Manual at the early stages of a complex investigation.

Previous post on this Blog:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2012/12/david-bain-nz-publishers-view-2-of-7.html. T

Justice Binnie's full report can be found through the following link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10853771

The entire Wikipedia page can be found at: 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bain

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. 

David Bain: New Zealand Herald reports that Justice Minister Judith Collins wanted feedback on Justice Binnie's report from police - but not from Mr. Bain's lawyers and supporters; (Publisher's note: The story could easily have been called "Stacking the deck." HL.)

STORY:"Collins sent 34 'concerns' to reviewer of Bain case," by reporter David Fisher, published by the New Zealand Herald on June 29, 2013.

GIST: "A 34-point list of issues attacking the case for David Bain's innocence was compiled by Justice Minister Judith Collins and sent to the former High Court judge she appointed to "peer review" the case. The list was sent with her letter of instruction to Robert Fisher QC, who prepared a report which dismissed the finding of former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie that Mr Bain was probably innocent. It has prompted Opposition parties to accuse Mrs Collins of bias and attempting to rort Mr Bain's claim for compensation, filed after he was found not guilty in 2009 of murdering his family. It was the second murder trial stemming from the 1994 murders - Mr Bain was convicted of murder at the first and spent 13 years in prison before the original verdict was quashed. In November 2011, the retired Justice Binnie was appointed by former Justice Minister Simon Power to investigate the case. By the time Justice Binnie reported the following August 30, Mrs Collins was Justice Minister. She had the report reviewed and then dismissed Justice Binnie's findings. Her rejection led to Mr Bain putting the compensation bid on hold and filing court proceedings to get a judicial review of the case. The Weekend Herald has learned almost 30 copies of the report were made in the week after Mrs Collins received it, and they were distributed widely - but not to Mr Bain's lawyers or supporters. Police received a copy and prepared two rebuttals to Justice Binnie's findings. It is understood the Crown Law Office also received copies. After having the report for 27 days, Mrs Collins, documents show, asked Mr Fisher to review the findings and "provide advice to me on whether or not you agree with his conclusion" of probable innocence. She attached to the report a bundle of documents including the police critique, and a separately marked "Appendix B" - a list of 34 points marked "confidentially and legally privileged" criticising Justice Binnie. The document is not headed or signed, but is referred to in Mrs Collins' letter: "A synopsis of other concerns that have been conveyed to me is set out in Appendix B to this letter." The top points directly criticise Justice Binnie, saying the language and analysis he used "may give rise to concerns that the judge has 'descended into the arena'." The term describes a judicial officer who has been captured by one side of a case. The remaining 33 points highlight detailed points of argument from the case, likely to be known only by those with an indepth knowledge. Among the points are references to Crown submissions from the case - and claims made by the prosecution dismissed by defence witnesses."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10893699

Comprehensive Wikipedia entry on the Bain case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bain

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site. 

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.