Joseph Buffey: West Virginia; The Associated Press covers a hearing in which prosecutors are opposing his release - even though a DNA test points to another suspect.

STORY: "Attorneys continue to fight to clear West Virginia inmate after DNA test points to another suspect," by the Associated Press, published by the Republic on July 10, 2013.

GIST: Attorneys for a West Virginia inmate who has served more than a decade for a rape his lawyers claim DNA proves he didn't commit are headed back to court to try to clear his name. Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Bedell is considering whether to overturn Joseph Buffey's conviction for the 2001 rape and robbery of an 83-year-old Clarksburg woman. Buffey pleaded guilty to the crime, but later said his confession was coerced. A three-day hearing begins Wednesday. Bedell could rule this week or could take additional time. A DNA test conducted on biological evidence left at the scene excluded Buffey as a contributor in 2011. Buffey's attorneys fought for more than a year to have the DNA run through the national criminal database. In November, authorities did so and it hit on another man, Adam Bowers, who is serving time for another assault and previously was convicted of breaking and entering. Prosecutors charged Bowers with the crime, but they are fighting efforts to free Buffey. Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Shaffer told The Associated Press last December that the DNA test didn't prove Buffey's innocence and that further investigation was necessary.
Shaffer argued that Buffey could have been an accomplice. But Buffey's attorneys argue the woman was with her attacker for several hours and suffered multiple attacks, all of which she testified came from one man. The victim will not testify during the hearing, but Bedell will hear from Buffey, police and several other witnesses. Buffey's attorneys say he confessed after eight hours of interrogation, giving facts that were "wildly inconsistent" with the crime. The victim did not pick his photo from a lineup even after his confession. They claim the then-19-year-old was pressured by his lawyer into pleading guilty, which resulted in charges involved in three break-ins being dropped."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/15c7ccf449f7472399ff42a89d5de1a5/WV--Innocence-Claim

See WBOY (12) story: "Harrison County judge hears testimony for Joseph Buffey hearing."......  "Former Clarksburg Police Officer Robert Matheny testified that he was present when Buffey confessed to being inside the woman's home and Buffey never said anyone else was with him."

http://www.wboy.com/story/22808391/harrison-county-judge-hears-testimony-for-joseph-buffey-hearinghttp://www.wboy.com/story/22808391/harrison-county-judge-hears-testimony-for-joseph-buffey-hearing

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.



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Henry Keogh: South Australia; His challenge - the first to be filed under a historic change to South Australian law - rests on statements made by forensic pathologist Colin Mannock after the trial concluded. Adelaide Now.

STORY: "Henry Keogh launches new challenge against conviction for murdering his fiance, Anna-Jane Cheney, by Chief Court Reporter Sean Fewster, published by Adelaide Now  on July 10, 2013.

GIST: In the Supreme Court today, lawyers for Henry Keogh outlined their client's latest challenge to his conviction - the first to be filed under a historic change to South Australian law. Keogh, who has twice been found guilty of the 1994 crime and has lost numerous appeals, wants the Full Court of the Supreme Court to quash his conviction. His challenge arises from new laws allowing the court to hear an appeal, even after all appeal rights have been exhausted, if "fresh and compelling evidence" emerges. During Keogh's second trial, prosecutors alleged he drowned Ms Cheney in her bathtub by grabbing her legs and lifting them up over her head. Jurors were also told Ms Cheney's leg featured a small bruise consistent with such an act. Today, Marie Shaw, QC, for Keogh, said her client would contest those two issues based on statements made by forensic pathologist Colin Manock after the trial concluded. She said there was no pathological evidence supporting the existence of any bruise on Ms Cheney's leg. "This was a prosecution scenario, or hypothesis, as to the cause of death and, since the trial, Dr Manock has acknowledged that," she said. "He has since acknowledged that was an assumption that the prosecution asked him to make, and so that entire scenario has been undermined by admissions Dr Manock has made.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/henry-keogh-launches-new-challenge-against-conviction-for-murdering-his-fiance-annajane-cheney/story-fni6uo1m-1226677049470

See Wikipedia account: "Manock, when photographing the body, saw what he believed to be a four bruises on the calf of Cheney, caused by what he believed to be a grip mark. When a sample was taken of the thumb bruise and examined for bruising, the result was negative.  Despite this, this apparent bruise was used in Manock's proposed theory that Keogh had gripped Cheney's legs to hold her underwater in the bath, drowning her. When asked about the age of the bruises during the trial, he responded: "I could find no evidence of white blood-cell migration into the areas and therefore, I felt they were peri-mortem. In other words, they’d occurred close to the time of death. I felt that was probably within 4 hours."  The Prosecution stated during the trial: "But there are two things, you might think, that are crucial to this case. If those four bruises on her lower left leg were inflicted at the same time, and that time was just before she died in the bath, there is no other explanation for them, other than a grip. If it was a grip, it must have been the grip of the accused. If it was the grip of the accused, it must have been part of the act of murder." Manock has since stated that the bruise could have occurred up to a number of days prior to Cheney's death."

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Keogh} 

     

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.

 

Henry Keogh; "Body in bath" case: His landmark bid for freedom is first to be launched under new South Australian law. Forensic pathology in case to come under attack as legal team sets out to prove that no murder occurred. The Australian.

STORY: 'Body in bath' killer's new bid for freedom," by reporter Mark Schliebs, published bythe Australian on July 9, 2013.

GIST:  "A man convicted of murdering his fiance before exhausting his rights of appeal has launched a landmark bid to have his case heard again before a South Australian court. In an Australian first, Henry Keogh, jailed for 25 years over the 1994 murder of Anna-Jane Cheney at the couple's Adelaide home, has applied directly to the full bench of the Supreme Court in a bid to have his conviction quashed. A high-profile legal team that includes former magistrate Marie Shaw QC and barrister Sam Abbott lodged the application on behalf of the so-called "body in the bath killer". They are using new laws that allow the court to hear an appeal if "fresh and compelling evidence" emerges after a person has been convicted. South Australia's Labor government earlier this year became the first jurisdiction in the nation to introduce such a law. Previously, a convicted criminal who had exhausted their rights to appeal could petition the state governor for mercy only if they wanted their conviction quashed.........Legal academic Bob Moles, who has been campaigning for Keogh for a decade, said he was confident that the Full Court -- if it decided to hear the new appeal -- would quash the conviction."This will be an absolute landmark case, not just for South Australia but for the whole of Australia," Dr Moles said. He said Keogh's case was "one of the worst cases, from a legal point of view, in all of our 10 years of research". "We have fundamental concerns about forensic pathology in the case. I'm now confident in saying that no murder occurred, and no criminal event occurred."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/body-in-bath-killers-new-bid-for-freedom/story-e6frg6nf-1226676198169http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/body-in-bath-killers-new-bid-for-freedom/story-e6frg6nf-1226676198169

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.

Jonathon Salvador: Crime lab debacles; "Bad Chemistry" graphic compares crime lab debacles in Massachussets, Colorado and Texas. Grits for Breakfast.

STORY: "Cool graphic from Bad Chemistry comparing crime lab scandals in Massachusetts, Colorado, and the DPS crime lab scandal in Houston involving Jonathon Salvador," published by Grits for Breakfast on June 30, 2003.

GIST:  "Nice comparison, and for the most part a good summary, though I'd have said nearly 5,000 tests and "at least" 700 convictions were compromised in Texas - it could be many more."

The entire post can be found at: 

http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.ca/2013/06/judicial-lawmaking-tx-cca-to-hold-oral.html

 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

Thomas Smart. UK. Crime scene exhibit mixup led to him being wrongly convicted of possessing a live round; Appeal justice cites "interference with the exhibit number" and says forensic scientist, if called, will have to explain and justify the handling of the exhibits. Wrongful Convictions Blog.

STORY: "Forensic staff investigated following wrongful conviction," by Jasmin McDermott,  (Public Oracle UK) published by the Wrongful Convictions Blog on July 5, 2013. (Thanks to the Wrongful Convictions Blog for drawing this story to our attention.)

GIST: "Forensic Science Service (FSS) staff involved in a crime scene exhibit mix up that resulted in a man being wrongfully convicted of possessing a live round will have to answer for their actions following claims they were aware the exhibit was a dummy.  Officers from Merseyside Police carried out a search of Thomas Smart’s property in Liverpool in January 2008 and discovered what appeared to be a live round.  He was arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing ammunition.  Mr Smart told officers that he bought the round as an ornament and assumed it was not live. However, forensic scientist Philip Rydeard, employed by the FSS, said in a report that it was a bulleted cartridge.  Mr Smart was charged and pleaded guilty. He was given a four-month suspended sentenced and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.  However, following an internal review a a year later in January 2009, staff discovered that there had been a mix up and that the exhibit numbers had been altered.  They apologised for the “quality failure” and admitted that there was the potential for a miscarriage of justice. But they denied that they owed any duty of care and said that Mr Rydeard was immune from any civil proceedings......... Lord Justice Moses sitting in the Court of Appeal ordered a full hearing into the case. He said: “Witnesses, if called by the FSS, will have to explain and justify the handling of the exhibits in this case.  “They cannot be protected from being questioned or from accounting for their actions.”  He added: “It must be recognised that, as a result of interference with the exhibit number, the real bullet was falsely attributed to Mr Smart.  “The effect of interference with exhibit numbers, whether it was designed originally to conceal confusion or ‘mix up’ or not, was the same as planting the real bullet in Mr Smart’s premises. “It is alarming that the course of justice appears to have been perverted by the alteration of exhibit numbers and the failure to disclose that that had occurred or any reason why it occurred.”"

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2013/07/06/forensic-staff-investigated-following-wrongful-conviction/

The entire story can be found at:

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

Ed Graf: Douglas Boyington: (Quarter-century-old arson cases): Texas Fire Review Panel finds both investigations "failed to meet the present-day scientific standards of care." Fire Marshall says "they should have been concerned back then." The Associated Press.

STORY: "Texas fire review panel flags work in 2 cases," by reporter Nomaan Merchant, published by the Associated Press on June 26, 2013.

GIST:  "A Texas fire review panel flagged two quarter-century-old arson cases on Wednesday, saying investigators were mistaken in finding that the defendants set intentional fires. The Texas State Fire Marshal's Office convened the panel of fire experts earlier this year to review cases for potential problems, in a rare collaboration with criminal justice advocates who say a significant number of arson-related convictions rest on faulty conclusions. The Innocence Project of Texas conducted a survey of arson cases and referred several to the panel. The two cases identified Wednesday are the murder conviction of Ed Graf, a Waco-area man found guilty of setting a 1986 fire that killed his two stepsons, and the arson conviction of Douglas Victor Boyington for a 1988 fire at a Houston-area apartment building. Both men are behind bars, though an appeal in Graf's case led to the conviction and life sentence being set aside. Prosecutors in McLennan County have acknowledged the original fire investigation is no longer valid, but say they intend to retry him based on other evidence. Graf remains jailed on $1.5 million bond. Boyington is serving a 75-year prison sentence for arson, along with sentences for other charges, according to state records. In both cases, letters sent by Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said the original investigators "failed to meet the present-day scientific standards of care." The panel said the fire investigation did meet today's standards in a third case it reviewed, the 2002 murder conviction of Sadie Proffitt in Brazoria County, in southeast Texas. The panel expects to issue findings on another case in the near future and to review five more cases later this year, Connealy said. "These are older cases and the times were different, but nevertheless, their findings can't be supported by the standards of today and quite frankly, they should have been concerned back then," he said about the two flagged cases."

The entire story can be found at:

 http://bigstory.ap.org/article/texas-fire-review-panel-flags-work-2-cases

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.

George Souliotes: California; antiquated arson "science" case: Modesto Bee calls it an "unsatisfactory conclusion" for several reasons, let alone that a man now free served 16 years for crimes that he no longer stands convicted of.

EDITORIAL:  "Our view: Unsatisfactory conclusion of Souliotes saga," published by the Modest o Bee on July 4, 2013.

GIST:  "After a winding legal battle, including appeals that upheld his original arson and murder convictions, a federal judge changed the narrative entirely this spring. The judge ruled that tactical errors in Souliotes' defense prevented his client from being adequately represented in the second of two trials in 2000 (the first ended in mistrial the year before). To garner his freedom, Souliotes pleaded no contest to three counts of involuntary manslaughter for not having smoke detectors in his rental home. This plea agreement reflects a dramatic reduction from the original charges of murder and arson. Cited by his defense attorney as a key in this victory, and as the factor that the district attorney's office said "gutted" its case, a Stanislaus County judge excluded the testimony of an eyewitness in the planned trial, as well as excluding the fire science introduced at the original trial 13 years ago. This is not an outcome to celebrate. Souliotes, while now free, served 16 years for crimes that he no longer stands convicted of. The people of Stanislaus County never got the definitive answer they might have gotten from a new trial, whether it resulted in conviction or acquittal. And Michelle Jones and her children, Daniel and Amanda, are still gone, their lives taken in an inferno on that cold January morning. "

The entire editorial:

http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/04/2793603/unsatisfactory-conclusion-ofsouliotes.html

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