Broward Crime lab: Kelli McDonald. Miami New Times reports that the current scandal "could taint many cases" and that it "could shake South Florida law enforcement to its core."

STORY: "New Broward crime lab scandal could taint many cases," by reporter Kyle Swenson, published by Miami New Times on August 7, 2014.

GIST: "Roberts' bust was only one piece of a scandal that could shake South Florida law enforcement to its core. Though the broad outlines of the scandal at the Broward crime lab have been made public — two top staff members have resigned, and an internal affairs investigation is underway — New Times has learned it is likely more far-reaching than previously thought. An audit expected later this year is likely to show that drugs are missing in many more cases.
After reviewing hundreds of pages of court documents and police reports, the newspaper has found problems in everything from street-level drug busts to large-scale probes of heavy movers.".........The common factor: All the drugs landed on the desk of forensic chemist Kelli McDonald. She is still employed at the Broward Sheriff's Office but was recently transferred and could not be reached for comment. Her last known annual salary was $85,800 in 2012. "There seem to be multiple manners in which she has engaged in misconduct," says Gordon Weekes, a chief assistant with the Broward Public Defender's Office. "It creates an issue because it erodes the confidence of the entire criminal justice system.".........Prosecutor Jeff Marcus says his office has retested drugs in cases as they go to trial. "We haven't been dismissing cases," he says. "[But] the crime lab is down a chemist, and they've been swamped with all their work." At the Public Defender's Office, however, attorneys continue to comb through cases McDonald worked. Says chief assistant Weekes: "When you have a chemist that is engaging in chronic misconduct, it becomes an issue of confidence in a fair trial.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2014-08-07/news/broward-crime-lab-scandal-could-taint-many-cases/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 

Douglas Hales: Saskatchewan; Instead of hearing judgment pronounced on August 29, lawyers will be making submissions at a special hearing to determine whether the case has been affected by a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision on Mr. Big stings. CBC News.

STORY: "Lawyers in Doug Hales trial to debate Mr. Big on Aug. 29," published by CBC News on August 11 2014.

SUB-HEADING: "Supreme Court ruling casts into doubt righteousness of investigative technique."

GIST:  "Lawyers in the Douglas Hales murder trial will be back arguing Mr. Big stings on August 29. Originally, that was the day Justice Gerald Allbright was to give his judgment in the trial. Instead, he'll hear submissions from Crown and defence. The role played by a Mr. Big sting in the Hales case will be the subject of the special hearing. This follows a Supreme Court ruling that casts into doubt the propriety of the police investigative technique.........During his trial, prosecutors said Hales killed the university student out of rage when she mocked his sexual impotence. But the defence said Bosse died of alcohol poisoning and that Hales panicked and burned her body. Allbright said "a significant ruling by the Supreme Court" triggered his decision to postpone his judgment."

The entire decision can be found at:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/lawyers-in-doug-hales-trial-to-debate-mr-big-on-aug-29-1.2733043

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;  

Wrongful Conviction Day. October 2, 2014; Update: List of participants around the world is generating quite a buzz, says AIDWYC. Participants from eight countries have signed up so far.

WRONGFUL CONVICTION DAY:  OCTOBER 2, 2014.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am advised by AIDWYC  (The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted) that participation  is creating quite a buzz - and now  encompasses participants in eight  nations: The USA, Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand,  the U.K,  Japan and Ireland. AIDWYC's Win Wahrer tells me that new organizations and individuals are signing on daily.  The list to date includes:

USA: 

Centurion Ministries

Ohio Innocence Project

New York Innocence Project

Arizona Justice Project

Justice for Illinois Wrongfully Convicted

Free Jamie Snow

Griffith University Innocence Project

North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence

 Michigan Innocence Clinic

Northern California Innocence Project

Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation  

International Network for Innocent Arson Defendants
BonPasse Exoneration Services

CANADA:

U. of Ottawa Innocence Project (Innocence Ottawa)

Canadian Families & Corrections Network

Ontario Justice Education Network

Pro Bono Students Canada

Aboriginal Legal Services Toronto

Guelph Humber

Humber College

Mount Royal University

Ontario Poetry Society

Creative Vocalization Studio

Toronto Poet Laureate Prof. George Elliot Clarke

Bill Bissett

Joyce Milgaard

Concrete Wave Magazine

Criminal Lawyers Association (CLA)

The Bridge (Prison Ministry)

The Charles Smith Blog

The Church Council on Justice and Corrections

F.E.A.T. (For Children of Incarcerated parents)

THE NETHERLANDS:

Knoops Innocence Project

AUSTRALIA: 
Networked Knowledge;

NEW ZEALAND:

Innocence Project New Zealand

UNITED KINGDOM:

Solicitors International Human Rights Group

JAPAN:

Worldwide Women’s Criminal Justice Network

Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center.

IRELAND:
Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle (exonerees and death row survivors);
By signing on, participants  around the world agree to commemorate the day with a program of their own choosing.

Details can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2014/06/wrongful-convictions-day-aidwyc.html

Interested participants may sign up by contacting Win Wahrer at winwahrer@aidwyc.org.

Harold Levy;
Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

Oscar Pistorius: South Africa: Murder Trial: Defense alleges police tampering during final arguments; Associated Press. (Published by the Huffington Post);

STORY: "Oscar Pistorius murder trial: Defence alleges police tampering during final arguments," published by the Associated Press on August 8, 2014.

 GIST: "On Friday, Nel sat and listened as Roux alleged that items in Pistorius' bedroom, near the bathroom where he killed Steenkamp, may have been moved around by investigating officers. "There was no respect for the scene," Roux said of the police investigation. He also noted that the former chief investigator, Hilton Botha, who later resigned from the force, was not called as a witness by the state. The positioning of bedroom items, including a fan, a bedcover and a pair of Steenkamp's jeans, are important because, in police photographs, they were not in the places where Pistorius said they were before the shooting, leading prosecutors to argue that Pistorius is lying in his version of events. The prosecution has argued that a fan was found standing directly in front of doors leading to the balcony, and therefore Pistorius' story that he ran to the doors, opened them and screamed for help after realizing he shot Steenkamp by mistake is not true. Prosecutors say Pistorius never went out to retrieve two fans before the shooting and move them inside, which the athlete says is the reason why he did not see Steenkamp get out of bed and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The bedcover was shown crumpled on the floor in a police photograph. Pistorius had claimed it was on the bed, leading him to believe Steenkamp was underneath it in the bed when he went to the bathroom with his gun.........Masipa was expected to adjourn the trial at the end of proceedings Friday to deliberate on a verdict with the help of two legal assistants. South Africa does not have a jury system."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/08/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-final-arguments_n_5661130.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;  

Ben Geen. UK. Major development: New evidence has been presented to the CCRC (The British Criminal Cases Review Commission) that his supporters claim proves the statistical evidence used in court regarding the rarity of respiratory arrest was flawed and inaccurate - and that it should never have been relied upon in court. (The case is presented in the context of "an international epidemic of falsely accused health care serial killers." HL);

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: On April 28, 2010, I ran a post on Ben Geen, the UK nurse convicted of killing 2 patients and harming 15 others. As usual, I undertook to readers that I would follow and report on developments in the case. I have recently learned that  new evidence has been presented to the CCRC  (The British Criminal Cases Review Commission) that   his supporters claim proves that the statistical evidence used in court regarding the rarity of respiratory arrest was flawed and inaccurate and that it should never of been relied upon in court.  Other new developments include the news that the campaign team that fought for and secured the release of dutch nurse Lucia de Berk have been recalled and are campaigning to overturn Ben's conviction as they believe that this is another miscarriage of justice that has alarming similarities to the wrongful conviction of Lucia de Berk case.  It is good to hear that such positive developments have occurred. I will be following future developments with keen interest on behalf of the readers of this blog.

Harold Levy Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

BACKGROUND: A Wikipedia entry informs us that:  "Benjamin Geen is a former nurse convicted of murdering two patients and causing grievous bodily harm to 15 others while working at Horton General Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire," the Wikipedia entry begins.  "Between December 2003 and February 2004, at least 17 patients suffered respiratory arrests for then-unknown reasons," the entry continues. "While 15 patients recovered soon after, two patients died in January 2004: Anthony Bateman and David Onley. Geen, who was on duty during these incidents, was arrested on February 9, 2004, whereupon a syringe filled with a lethal dose of muscle relaxant was discovered in his pocket. The hospital found 27 cases that Geen could have been involved in, though nine were discounted and Geen was acquitted of one other case. During his trial, the Oxford Crown Court was told that Geen purposely used potentially lethal doses of drugs to cause patients to stop breathing because he enjoyed the thrill of resuscitating them. He was found guilty in April 2006, and given 17 life sentences. The trial judge recommended that he should spend at least 30 years in prison before being considered for parole. This recommendation is likely to keep him behind bars until at least 2035. Geen's case was reviewed by lawyers and volunteers from the London Innocence Project. The review found a number of flaws in the original trial, and lawyers came to the conclusion that Geen was "the victim of a major miscarriage of justice." A leading medical statistician, Prof Jane Hutton, submitted that the Crown's central evidence - that there had been an 'unusual' pattern of illnesses - was of 'no value' because no statistical modelling had been done to show that the pattern was unusual. She found the 'pattern' method to be at grave risk of bias. Dr Mark Heath, a consultant anaesthesiologist who has testified in US supreme court cases, found the pattern of patient collapses to be totally inconsistent with the drugs Geen was said to have injected in seven cases. Rather than passing out, patients injected with muscle relaxants as the crown stated would be paralysed, unable to breath but totally concious and terrified. Other doctors came forward who decided that the cause of death in Mr Onley, a gravely ill patient who Geen was alleged to have killed, was not a heart attack triggered by respiratory arrest but liver failure. Mark McDonald, Geen's barrister, has stated that he believes the case against Geen was the product of a "witch-hunt" in a health service terrified of a repeat of the case of Dr Harold Shipman. A first Appeal failed in November 2009. In February 2010, lawyers submitted Geen's case to the Criminal Case Review Commission and a public campaign was launched."

The Wikipedia entry can be found at:

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

The previous post can be found at:

 http://smithforensic.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/benjamin-geen-uk-former-nurse-convicted.html

A recent  analysis of the statistical issues inherent in the case - which is presented in the context of  "an international epidemic of falsely accused health care serial killers." can be  found at:

http://andrewgelman.com/2014/07/29/naive-statistical-analyses-send-innocent-man-jail-2035/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;  

Douglas Hales: (Saskatchewan): Mr. Big case. Extraordinary situation: The Supreme Court of Caadfa decision severely limiting the admissibiity of "Mr. Big" confessions was released while he is awaiting the verdict in his case. Now he is returning early to court next week for directions from the trial judge. StarPhoenix.

STORY: "Hales returning to court early after Supreme Court's Mr. Big ruling," by reporter Hannah Spray, published by the StarPhoenix on August 6, 2014.

GIST: "Douglas Hales will be back in court ahead of schedule next week so lawyers and the judge in his trial can discuss the implications of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on “Mr. Big” stings like the one that led to his arrest. “We’ll be seeking some direction from the court and offering some suggestions as well,” said Hales’s lawyer, Bob Hrycan. Hales is awaiting Justice Gerald Allbright’s verdict in his first-degree murder trial, after evidence and arguments concluded at the end of June. Hales is accused of killing Daleen Bosse, a 26-year-old married mother and university student, in May 2004. He was charged after he led police to the site of Bosse’s remains during a “Mr. Big” sting, where undercover officers posed as members of a fake criminal organization in order to gain his trust and elicit a confession. That technique was the focus of a landmark ruling last week from the country’s highest court in the case of Nelson Hart, a Newfoundland man who confessed during a Mr. Big sting that he killed his daughters. The Supreme Court not only threw out Hart’s confession, but also addressed Mr. Big stings in general, ruling all such confessions must be presumed inadmissible in court unless a number of tests, also set out in the ruling, are met.........Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga said the situation — the Supreme Court decision on Mr. Big stings coming down after Hales’s trial was over but before there’s a verdict — presents an “unusual set of circumstances.” It’s possible Justice Allbright might want the Crown and defence to make more arguments before he makes his decision, in light of the framework set out by the Supreme Court, Miazga said. “We have to address the case,” he said. “I think the court will expect the Crown and defence to make arguments in light of the Supreme Court decision.” It’s also possible the defence will bring an application forward addressing the Supreme Court ruling, but Hrycan declined to comment on anything specific. Speaking in general terms about Mr. Big cases, the ruling “changes everything,” Hrycan said. “It changes the entire approach to the cases, these types of investigations and how the court looks at them.” Hrycan said he’s been researching, trying to find similar situations of high court rulings coming down in the midst of trials, but this set of circumstances is unique — particularly with the Supreme Court establishing a new “common law rule of evidence” declaring Mr. Big confessions presumptively inadmissible. “There’s no situation that comes close in terms of legal precedent,” Hrycan said."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Hales+returning+court+early+after+Supreme+Court+ruling/10095602/story.html?__federated=1

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; 


Sent from my iPad

Shaken Baby Syndrome: "On SBS" blog uses the National Registry of Exonerations to document the numerous conditions that have been misdiagnosed as abusive head trauma. (Must, Must Read. HL);

STORY: "My visit to the Ivory Tower," by Sue Luttner, posted on her informative blog "On SBS" on Juy 3, 2014.

GIST: "Now I realize I could have saved us all a lot of trouble if I had just gone first to The National Registry of Exonerations, a joint effort of the innocence projects at the Michigan and Northwestern University law schools, a reputable source that offers a sobering list of overturned shaking convictions, with case histories. The registry documents a number of conditions that have been misdiagnosed as abusive head trauma:

• Sickle cell disease, in the case of Melonie Ware (registry entry,  radio treatment)
• Stroke, in the case of Julie Baumer (registry entry, press treatment)
• Seizure disorder, in the case of Drayton Witt (registry entry, press treatment)
• Sepsis infection, in the case of Adrian Thomas (registry entry, film about his first trial)
• Urinary tract infection and hypoxia, in the case of Brandy Briggs (registry entry)
• SIDS, in the cases of Teresa Engberg-Lehmer (registry entry) and Joel Lehmer (registry entry), whose case helped unravel years of misdiagnoses by Dr. Thomas Bennett in Iowa (Los Angeles Times treatment, by reporter Barry Siegel)
• Accidental injury, in the cases of
  • John Peel (whose registry entry includes a second case where charges were dropped when other doctors realized the child had died of pneumonia)
  • Warren Hales (registry entry—this case also featured timing issues)
  • Ken Marsh (registry entry)
  • Michael Hansen (registry entry)

Some cases were overturned because they rested on timing:

• Audrey Edmunds (registry entry, press treatment, book about her ordeal)
• Mary Weaver (registry entry, press treatment, book about her ordeal)
• Abilgail Tiscareno (registry entry)
• Rashawn Greer (registry entry)

The registry now contains 1,388 exonerations, a number that’s likely to change soon, as the last entry seems to have been added yesterday, July 2, which I know because their case browser offers a handy sorting tool that also helped me find the cases above."...What this database doesn’t include are the dropped charges, as in the cases of Tammy Fourman and Kristian Aspelin; the not guilty verdicts, as in the cases of Richard Britts and Russell Van Vleck; or the many innocent people who either remain in prison or have served their terms. Still, it’s a valuable resource and a solid record of shaken baby syndrome in the courtroom, a record that’s respected in academia."

The entire post can be found at:

 http://onsbs.com/tag/national-registry-of-exonerations/

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;