George Souliotes: Arson "science." His lawyer says a plea was extorted from an innocent man. The Modesto Bee.

STORY: "McBirney on Souliotes case: Plea extorted from innocent man,"  by Jimmy McBirney, lead counsel in federal court and a member of his most recent state trial team. Published by the Modesto Bee on July 11, 2013.

GIST: "The Bee's July 5 editorial on the long-overdue release of innocent man George Souliotes argues that the end to his terrible ordeal was "unsatisfactory" because it did not conclude with a third trial. With all due respect, the editorial gets both its facts and its conclusion quite wrong.........Your editorial notes that the federal court "ruled that tactical errors in Souliotes' defense prevented his client from being adequately represented" at his trial, but it tellingly ignores the federal court's most important finding: The federal court first considered all of the evidence in Souliotes' case and concluded in a 99-page decision that Souliotes was "actually innocent." That decision had nothing to do with the adequacy of Souliotes' representation at trial, and was only concerned with whether or not Souliotes set the fire. Like advances in DNA testing, new fire science and forensic methods have gutted the case against Souliotes and proven his innocence. The federal court considered this evidence and found Souliotes was innocent, and that no reasonable juror viewing the current evidence would ever conclude he was guilty. It was only because of unusual rules that govern the federal justice system that the court then had to consider whether Souliotes received an inadequate defense before it could throw out his convictions. These same rules allowed the state to force Souliotes to face a third trial, despite the federal court's finding that Souliotes was innocent. After 16 years in prison, the 72-year-old Souliotes understandably chose to end his ordeal now rather than endure further months of incarceration while waiting for a jury to provide the same "definitive result" the federal court already provided. The only thing "unsatisfactory" is the district attorney's attempt to save face by extorting a plea for a failure to maintain working smoke alarms, rather than admitting her mistake of imprisoning an innocent man."

The entire commentary can be found at:

http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/11/2803566/mcbirney-on-souliotes-case.html

See story about pro bono work conducted in his defence: North California Innocence Project. "This case had an extraordinary contribution of pro bono assistance.  The herculean efforts of law firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, and in particular associate Jimmy McBirney, as well as associate Shannon Leung, and former associates Megan Crane, Randy Luskey, and Anne Hawkins resurrected this case from a draconian AEDPA death.  Their work in the federal court was nothing short of miraculous." (Thanks to the Wrongful Convictions Blog for drawing our attention to this post. HL);

 http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2013/07/10/george-souliotes-freed/

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. 

Annie Dookhan: Massachusetts: Crime lab debacle; Beleaguered authorities hit by a '2nd wave' of "longer-reaching issues". Cape Cod Times.

STORY:  '2nd wave' hits DAs in state drug lab scandal," by reporter Heather Wysocki, published by  The Cape Cod  Times on July 9, 2013.

GIST: "But while they wait, other, longer-reaching issues are beginning to come forward. "There could be a whole wave of things we've yet to experience," Glenny said. In cases with a drug conviction, the state Registry of Motor Vehicles is notified, and driver's license suspensions can be levied. Defendants already have come forward asking that if they plead guilty to lesser charges they not receive a second suspension, Lynch said. The district attorney's office is also anticipating complications years down the road, such as when someone with a conviction has difficulty getting a job or wants to have a subsequent, more serious offense based on a Dookhan case re-examined, Lynch said. For some defendants, getting cases dropped or changed to lesser offenses could have "tremendous significance," Galibois said. "It has a great impact on their ability to rehabilitate themselves and get jobs in the future." In addition, the hundreds of samples that must be retested to see if convictions stand are creating a backlog in the state laboratory system, Glenny said. After the state Health Department's Hinton lab was shut down in August, the state police — who run their own crime lab — took over testing of drug samples, but no additional staff has been added. Before the allegations against Dookhan, having a drug tested took about six months. Now, Glenny said, it's "in excess" of nine to 10 months. "It's more volume straining an already strained system," he said."

The entire story can be  found at:

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130708/NEWS/307080320

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

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

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; Supporter Joe Karam produces more fingerprints that clear him; 3 News. (But police, ebarrassed by yet another disclosure revealing that he is an innocent man, continue to follow their "deny, deny, deny policy. Utterly shameful." HL);

STORY: "More fingerprints clear David Bain - Karam," by online reporter Dylan Moran, publshed by  3 News  on July 11, 2013.

GIST: "Police have responded to claims by David Bain supporter Joe Karam police misled the public with evidence supporting the theory Robin Bain shot his family. At a media conference this afternoon, Mr Karam released another set of fingerprints supporting the idea that gunpowder residue was visible on Robin Bain's hand. He said it was "extremely mischievous" of police to allege a "blotchy white area" of fingerprints to be cuts and said if Assistant Police Commissioner Malcolm Burgess is found to have deliberately put up the evidence showing markings instead of those without them, he should lose his job. Police say the fingerprints released today were determined to be of inadequate quality, which is why the second, blotchy, fingerprints were taken by an expert. "That fingerprint expert then took two further sets of prints on 22nd June 1994. These are the quality prints which have always been relied on in this case by fingerprint experts," a police spokesman said in a statement. This afternoon, before the police made the claim, Mr Karam pre-emptively dismissed it.  "It doesn't matter how ineffective or how inexperienced [the detective] is, he can't make perfect ridges appear," he said. "Regardless of their various expertise or experience, anyone looking at this can see that the proposition that those lines in this photo could be cuts or damaged is completely disproven by these fingerprints."" 

The story can be found at:

http://www.3news.co.nz/More-fingerprints-clear-David-Bain---Karam/tabid/423/articleID/304619/Default.aspx

See Wikipedia account:  "Bain maintained his innocence, and thus began a lengthy campaign to have his case reheard, spearheaded by former All Black Joe Karam. According to one of his friends, media commentator Paul Holmes, Karam was appalled at the way the family, the Police and the Fire Service arranged to burn the Bain house down. He felt something was wrong with the case and began to study the evidence presented at the original trial. He went to visit Bain in prison in Christchurch and subsequently visited him over 200 times. Over the next 13 years, Karam wrote four books about David Bain's case and helped him in his numerous appeals against his convictions. The first appeal was made to the New Zealand Court of Appeal in 1995 but the Court refused to even hear it on the grounds that "the Crown case appeared very strong and the defence theory not at all plausible". New Zealand did not have a Supreme Court at that time, so in 1996 Bain made his first appeal to the Privy Council in Britain. However, the Privy Council also declined to hear the case. In June 1998 David Bain petitioned the Governor-General for a pardon. The Governor-General passed the application on to the Ministry of Justice which conducted an investigation into new information presented by the defence team. In 2000, Bain received his first ray of hope when Justice Minister Phil Goff said the investigation had shown that "a number of errors" may have occurred in the Crown's case against him^[ and some aspects of the case were referred back to the Court of Appeal. In September 2003, those hopes were dashed when the Court of Appeal examined the new evidence but decided once again that a retrial was not needed - on the grounds that it would not have changed the jury's verdict. Bain's legal team made a second appeal to the Privy Council and, in March 2007, Karam and the team travelled to London to lay out nine arguments why his convictions should be quashed. One of the nine points concerned Robin Bain's mental state and potential motive. Reliable witnesses said Robin had been depressed, and living alone in squalid conditions in a caravan. Journals in his office at the school where he taught were found to contain stories about the mass murder of a family. The Privy Council wrote: "Many of those facts are highly contentious and the evidence could well have influenced the jury's assessment of them... If the (original) jury found Robin to be already in a state of deep depression and now... facing the public revelation of very serious sex offences against his teenage daughter, they might reasonably (have) concluded that this could have driven him to commit these acts." The Privy Council concluded that: "In the opinion of the board, the fresh evidence adduced in relation to the nine points... taken together, compels the conclusion that a substantial miscarriage of justice has actually occurred in this case." The Privy Council quashed his convictions and ordered a retrial. Bain was released from prison and bailed to live with Joe Karam."

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

 See TV New Zealand story: "Police request original Robin Bain fingerprints following 'new evidence." ..." Multiple sets of fingerprint images taken of Robin Bain's hands are set to be examined by police, following further claims of missed evidence. David Bain supporter Joe Karam today claimed that a comparison of two sets of fingerprint samples taken on consecutive days after the 1994 murders show inconsistencies in police evidence. In response to the claim, Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Burgess slated Mr Karam for approaching the media before the police, and said that police have applied for access to all of the original sets of prints taken of Robin Bain's fingers in the days after the murders.........This evening, Mr Burgess attempted to clarify the apparent discrepancy, saying: "The fingerprints of Robin Bain taken on 21st June 1994 and released by Mr Karam today were taken by a detective. These were examined by a police fingerprint expert at the time who determined they were not of adequate quality. "That fingerprint expert then took two further sets of prints on 22nd June 1994. These are the quality prints which have always been relied on in this case by fingerprint experts." He said police have applied to examine all sets of the original fingerprints taken, but even after being studied by an expert a conclusive answer may not be found. "Police have made it clear there could be several possibilities to explain these marks. Right now any explanation for them remains a theory," he said. "Whilst it is hoped the examination will provide greater clarity, it also remains a real possibility that even after the originals have been examined there will still be no definite conclusion regarding the marks.""

 http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/police-request-original-robin-bain-fingerprints-following-new-evidence-5505957

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. 

Annie Dookhan; Esquire's superb article by Charles Pierce on a scientist once in the public employ: "A brave warrier in the war on drugs named Annie Dookhan." (Great read; HL);

STORY: "The lust for convictions in the war on drugs," by  Charles P. Pierce, published by  Esquire on  July 10, 2013;

GIST: Up here in the Commonwealth (God save it!), we once had in the public employ a brave warrior in the war on drugs named Annie Dookhan. Annie was a chemist in the state drug laboratory. Annie was very good at her job. Prosecutors loved her, some admittedly more than others. Annie loved her work, so much so that, when the war on drugs needed a boost, Annie allegedly gave it one. Annie, the brave warrior in the war on drugs, is currently on trial for faking the results in many of the 34,000 drug cases she handled in the lab. This has resulted in over 150 prisoners already being freed. This has not had universally good results. And, as it turns out, Annie Dookhan was not alone in her personal war on drugs.

The entire article can be found at:

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Drug_War_Eats_Itself

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.

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.



Sent from my iPad

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.