Wrongful Conviction Day: October 2, 2014: Update: Exonerees amongst individuals signing up to support this important day:

 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In an interesting development,  a growing number of individuals, including exonerees,  are coming forward with official messages of support for this important day which will ultimately be published on a website which is about to be launched. 

William-Mullins-Johnson,  one of the tragic Charles Smith cases says, "My own wrongful conviction in 1994 has affected 20 years of my life so far. Many of my hardships occurred after being released in 2005 and cleared in 2007; and in ways I am only now becoming aware in 2014. Wrongful Conviction Day is important because we cannot allow these experiences to fade into history. If we forget, we risk allowing Wrongful Convictions in all its forms.  A Wrongful Conviction in any form destroys lives, families, relationships, and personal growth." 

Sunny  Jacobs and Peter Pringle have also waded in. Sunny Jacobs spent 18 years on California's death row. Peter Pringle spent 18 years on death row in Ireland.  “We support Wrongful Convictions Day because both of us were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. It robbed us of years of our lives, As well as the endless possibilities that will never happen, and caused our families unimaginable heartache and harm - destroying some relationships and preventing others from ever coming to be," they write.   "It is human nature to make mistakes. When it comes to wrongful convictions, we can put into place sufficient checks and balances to prevent, and afterwards to correct, the majority. But we can never be perfect. Therefore, constant vigilance and integrity must be exercised. We must always question and be open to questions. The society we get is the society we make.

 “Greg Godin,  of Calgary, Alberta, one of the lawyers who represented David Milgaard in his civil suit, writes: "“No justice system is perfect and all too often we see people  convicted and sentenced for crimes they did not commit.  Wrongful Conviction Day focuses our attention as a nation and as individuals on the need to safeguard against wrongful convictions, on  the need to ensure processes are in place to identify the wrongfully convicted, and on the need to fairly compensate victims of wrongful conviction for all that they have endured.” 

In her comments, Joan  McEwan, author of  "Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry" says that in the course of writing the book on this disturbing Canadian case, " I learned much about the fallibility of our criminal justice system--in particular, in the area of those claiming "actual innocence." There is room for improvement on every level.  At the pre-conviction stage, police must resist the urge to rush to judgment; prosecutors must seek a fair outcome, not a "win"; and judges must consider the appointment of amicus curiae in the face of self-represented accused.  At the post-conviction stage, our correctional system should look for ways to identify potentially "innocent" inmates, and to direct them to innocence projects, pro bono lawyers, etc; similarly, the parole system should not punish those who refuse to acknowledge guilt on the basis that they are factually innocent.  And, finally, the system should support wrongly convicted persons regarding their re-integration back into society. As it now stands, a guilty parolee is offered more support--e.g., halfway house, employment and financial assistance, group camaraderie--than they are.  Good luck with this day--I'll be doing special on October 2 for sure!" 

 Bob Moles, who has almost single-handedly been responsible for the establishment of an independent review process in South Australia - and publishes the extraordinary criminal justice website "Networked knowledge" says in his message that:  “The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales described the possibility of a person being wrongfully convicted as a ‘catastrophic failure’ of the legal system.” Nobody should ever stand idly by in the face of a catastrophe and do nothing about it. The correction of wrongful convictions should not be an adversarial process. Prosecutors, defence lawyers, forensic experts and judges should all work collaboratively to ensure that errors are corrected as speedily as possible." 

Lastly, Tamara Levy, director of the University of British Columbia Innocence Project,  says  “I hope that Wrongful Conviction Day will raise awareness about the growing number of wrongful convictions being identified in Canada and worldwide. There is no question that there are innocent people who are still incarcerated in this country, and other innocent people who are no longer in prison but who were wrongfully convicted and incarcerated in the past. While we have an excellent criminal justice system in Canada, it is not foolproof. It is based on testimony, analyses and opinion offered by individuals who are, for the most part, trying to help bring a just result. However, our system is subject to human error and people do make mistakes. Wrongful Conviction Day will bring recognition to mistakes that have been made in the past. Once made, these mistakes can never be truly compensated--there is no price for the loss of one's liberty. But Wrongful Conviction Day will remind us of the need to ensure that mistakes are identified and corrected and the need to provide a model system of conviction review to carry out those tasks.”

 In another development,  The Ontario Legal Aid Plan, the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association are among other organizations who have formally signed on.  I am trying to do my bit by using this blog to help Wrongful Conviction day get off to a good start,  and I urge our readers to participate.

Background on  Wrongful Convictions Day  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.

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;  

Henry Lee McCollum; Leon Brown; Dahlia Lithwick writes about "A horrifying miscarriage of justice in North Carolina" - a case marred by, "Police who are incentivized to find any suspect quickly, rather than the right one carefully; false confessions elicited after improper questioning; exculpatory evidence never turned over; the prosecution of vulnerable, mentally ill, or very young suspects in ways that take advantage of their innocence rather than protecting it; prosecutorial zeal that has far more to do with the pursuit of victories than the pursuit of truth; and a death penalty appeals system that treats this entire screwed-up process of investigation and conviction as both conclusive and unreviewable." (Must, Must Read. HL);

 

STORY: "A horrifying miscarriage of justice in North Carolina: How many times was Justice Antonin Scalia wrong about Henry Lee McCollum and the death penalty?" by Dahlia Lithwick, published by Slate on September 4, 2014. (Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate.)

GIST: "The convictions of two mentally disabled half-brothers were vacated and the two men were ordered released by Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser in North Carolina on Tuesday. They were freed from prison Wednesday. Henry Lee McCollum, 50, had been on death row for 30 years, longer than anyone in North Carolina history. He and Leon Brown, 46, who was serving a life sentence, were convicted for the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. DNA evidence implicated another man, a known sex offender the police had not investigated, despite the fact that he lived next to the crime scene. McCollum and Brown were 19 and 15 at the time local police were investigating the murder of Sabrina Buie. Both confessed to the crime after lengthy police interrogations. They recanted shortly after—in fact McCollum has recanted 226 times—but were convicted, largely on the basis of the false confessions, even though no physical evidence connected them to the crime scene. Police also hid exculpatory evidence for years. A cigarette found at the crime scene now implicates a man who lived a block away from the soybean field where the girl’s body was found. He is currently serving a life sentence for a rape and murder that happened less than a month after Buie’s rape and murder..........It wasn’t until 2010, when the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission came into the case, that the evidence was re-examined seriously. In July, the DNA on the cigarette butt found at the crime scene was revealed to match the DNA of the known sex offender. This led to Tuesday’s extraordinary release order.........This case highlights the same well-known and extensively documented problems that can lead to false arrests and convictions: Police who are incentivized to find any suspect quickly, rather than the right one carefully; false confessions elicited after improper questioning; exculpatory evidence never turned over; the prosecution of vulnerable, mentally ill, or very young suspects in ways that take advantage of their innocence rather than protecting it; prosecutorial zeal that has far more to do with the pursuit of victories than the pursuit of truth; and a death penalty appeals system that treats this entire screwed-up process of investigation and conviction as both conclusive and unreviewable..........Of those 40 exonerees who confessed, for instance, 14 were mentally disabled or borderline mentally disabled, and three more (at least) were mentally ill. Thirteen of the 40 were juveniles. All but four were interrogated for more than three hours at a sitting. Seven described their involvement in the crime as coming to them in a “dream” or “vision.” Seven were told they had failed polygraph tests. ... Despite all these hints that their confessions were lengthy and coercive, and despite the fact that they were mostly vulnerable individuals, none had any luck challenging their confessions before trial. The confessions were thought to be such powerful evidence of guilt that eight were convicted despite DNA tests at trial that in fact excluded them as the culprit.........The lack of any physical evidence linking the young men to the crime scene was no bar to their convictions. Fingerprints taken from a beer can at the scene did not match theirs. A local teen told the police she thought McCollum was involved, “because McCollum didn’t act right, riding a bicycle around staring at people, mostly women.” The two other suspects McCollum named were never charged with anything because there was no evidence. Lawyers for McCollum and Brown contend that local police hid boxes of crucial exculpatory evidence from the time of the trial in 1984. They were never turned over to defense lawyers or prosecutors..........As the New York Times notes, as recently as 2010, the North Carolina Republican Party featured McCollum’s booking photo on campaign fliers accusing a local Democrat of being soft on crime. The Times also points out that the defendants were prosecuted by Joe Freeman Britt “the 6-foot-6, Bible-quoting district attorney who was profiled by 60 Minutes as the country’s ‘deadliest D.A.’ ” for seeking and getting the death penalty so often. (Britt told the Raleigh News & Observer last week that he still believed the men were guilty.).........One of the most infuriating things is that North Carolina at several points could have tested evidence known about years ago. We now know that three days before McCollum and Brown went to trial in 1984, local police asked the State Bureau of Investigation to examine a fingerprint on a beer can from the crime scene to see if it matched the man now implicated in the murder. The state didn’t bother. In 2006, Brown’s lawyers filed a motion to test the DNA on the cigarette butt. The results excluded both McCollum and Brown. But it wasn’t until several years later, when the state’s innocence commission got involved, that analysts found DNA on the cigarette butt matched up with the man convicted in the same neighborhood of a similar crime. Sharon Stellato of the commission testified on Tuesday that the man told her several times during interviews that McCollum and Brown were innocent."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/09/henry_lee_mccollum_cleared_by_dna_evidence_in_north_carolina_after_spending.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;  

Michael Alan Parker: North Carolina: Victim of satanic ritual sexual abuse frenzy. Before being freed on numerous grounds including "newly discovered medical evidence" he was kept behind bars for 20 years. Citizen-Times.

STORY: "Judge orders Henderson County man freed after 20 years," by reporter Romando Dixson, published by the Citizen-Times on August 25, 2014.

GIST: "(Defence lawyer) Devereux said Parker, 57, was convicted during the satanic ritual abuse frenzy of the late 1980s and early '90s and not a single accusation of satanic ritual sexual abuse has proven to be true. All of the defendants originally imprisoned have had their convictions overturned, and Parker may be the last one, Devereux said......Devereux made a motion for appropriate belief based on numerous grounds, including: the ineffective assistance of trial counsel; newly discovered medical evidence; new evidence from Parker's former co-defendant; newly discovered evidence regarding child testimony; recantation of one of his children's testimony; the state failed to disclose exculpatory evidence regarding a bomb scare during Parker's trial; ineffective assistance of appellate counsel; and cumulative error. "From the shape-shifting stories of the Parker children — stories encouraged and manipulated by adults with a variety of interests in the outcome — to the inaccurate and unchallenged expert testimony, to the illusory 'bomb scare,' to the evangelistic rantings of the prosecution, the trial of Michael Alan Parker was an affront to everything North Carolinians want to believe about our criminal justice system," Devereux's motion stated. "The outcome remains a stain on that system." (Prosecutor) Newman acknowledged that advancements have been made in the medical profession, specifically in forensic interviewing and medical examination on sexual assault cases.... A year ago, Devereux said Parker was offered a deal that would've vacated the convictions and allowed him to leave prison based on time served if he pleaded guilty to some of the offenses. "He wouldn't do that," Devereux said. "He stayed in another year — and potentially stayed in forever. He's a pretty courageous guy.""

The entire story ca be found at:

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/08/25/judge-orders-henderson-county-man-freed-years/14599149/

See also The Exoneration Registry account: " In November 2013, a motion seeking to vacate Parker’s conviction on two grounds: New medical evidence indicated the children never were sexually molested. Moreover, in 2010 Parker’s youngest daughter signed a sworn affidavit recanting her testimony at the trial and  saying that she lied to protect her mother and to make “sure that our father stayed in jail.” The motion said that even though the very first accusation, by Parker’s son, was not taken seriously, “the successive false accusations that were spun from that tenuous beginning were then tragically reinforced and embellished in repeated interviews by the unskilled techniques and suggestive practices of… social workers and (a Henderson County Sheriff’s Office) investigator, the very adults responsible for protecting children, even from their own mistakes…” The motion claimed that “new scientific and expert evidence now shows that circumstances leading up to the accusations against Mr. Parker, the techniques used to interview the children, and the exclusive focus of medical examiners on interpretations that would support the accusations, indicate that the stories” told by the children were false. The motion said the prosecution pediatricians relied on “unsound theories, unreliable methods, and improper analysis” to conclude that the children had been sexually abused. On August 25, Henderson County Circuit Court Judge Marvin Pope granted Parker’s motion, vacated his convictions and dismissed the charges."

The entire post can be found at:

http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4490 

 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;  

David Koffoed: Evidence-planting scandal said to be "still taking a toll" by Blogger Joe Jordan of 'Nebraska Watchdog" - as former Omaha investigative reporter-turned author John Ferak's book "bloody Lies" sheds light on the dark events.

STORY: "Evidence-planting scandal still taking a toll," by Joe Jordan, published  by Nebraska Watchdog on August 4, 2014.

    
GIST: "As the FBI pours over thousands of crimes across the country where mistakes—pointed out in a Washington Post investigation— may have resulted in the convictions of innocent people, you may be wondering whatever happened to David Kofoed. Well Kofoed, Douglas County’s former top crime scene investigator who spent time in prison following an evidence-planting scandal, is still making headlines and is the subject of a new book......... The ins and outs of the Kofoed case are detailed by former Omaha investigative reporter-turned author, John Ferak. Here are two excerpts from Ferak’s recently released book, “Bloody Lies.” (Kent State University Press) The fallout from Kofoed’s evidence-planting scandal may take many more years to wind through Nebraska’ criminal justice system. Astonishingly, the prospect of any meaningful independent audit probing Kofoed’s casework appears unlikely. It fell beyond the scope of the Nebraska Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to appoint an independent committee to investigate the work of Kofoed and others within the Douglas County CSI unit, the court’s justices ruled in 2012. Theoretically, elected officials in Douglas County could appoint an independent blue-ribbon commission, impanel a grand jury, or hire an outside team of fact-finding forensic experts to conduct a full-scale audit of Kofoed’s work. But that scenario has not occurred and probably never will. There remains a huge political disincentive for Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine or other elected members of the Douglas County Board to reopen the Dave Kofoed can of worms by revisiting his past cases in the hopes of finding other transgressions where he abused his power."

The entire story can be found at:

http://watchdog.org/162674/evidence-planting-scandal/

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;  

Matt Livers: Nebraska: Net Nebraska (Nebraska's NPR and PBS stations) puts CSI on trial - asking "When does solving a crime become a crime? - How did Nebraska's foremost CSI fall under suspicion of faking evidence? - What went wrong in Nebraska? - and "what can we learn from this tragedy?" (Link to informative website on which the entire documentary can be viewed. HL);

RELEASE: "CSI on trial," published on September 2, 2014 (and being screened this week)  by KQED on September 2, 2104. The  entire 58 minute  documentary which premiered on November 22,  2010 can be viewed  by clicking "watch now" on the right hand side of the screen at:

http://netnebraska.org/basic-page/television/csi-trial-0

GIST: "When does solving a crime become a crime? An innocent man confessed to murder and forensic evidence supported his confession. The real killers confessed, but they were ignored by the police. Across the nation, criminal convictions are being overturned due to either incompetence or deliberate misconduct in crime labs. How did Nebraska's foremost CSI fall under suspicion of faking evidence? "CSI on Trial" follows what went wrong in Nebraska and,  What we can learn from this tragedy."

The entire KQED release  can be found at:

 http://www.kqed.org/tv/programs/index.jsp?pgmid=20073

See also the "CSI on trial" web page (on which the entire one hour documentary can be viewed);

False confession. Fake evidence. "It became one of the most controversial crime stories in recent Nebraska history. NET News investigated the case and shares the story in the fascinating documentary CSI On Trial. In 2006 a shotgun-toting killer murdered a respected farm couple in their Murdock, Nebraska home. Before it was over two innocent men spent nearly a year in jail, the real killers were caught on a lucky break, a crime scene investigator was put on trial for planting evidence, and a family was left confused and divided over how it all could have happened. Investigative journalist Bill Kelly of NET News spent a year attending trials, interviewing key participants, and reviewing thousands of pages of documents. His research unveils a case that put police procedure out in public and on trial. It’s also the story of how creative work by a crime scene investigator followed one key piece of evidence…a single gold ring… that revealed the identities of two killers on the verge of getting away with murder. The investigation: Why were two men jailed for a murder they didn’t commit? Learn more about why police arrested the wrong men and how the real killers were caught. The false confession:  Why did Matt Livers, an innocent man, confess to murder? Watch his police interview and find out more about false confessions. The fake evidence:  What led respected CSI David Kofoed to plant evidence? Watch key court testimony and see the evidence. Resources: More information about integrity in crime scene investigation and the people featured in the show. The real confession:  Jessica Reid was convicted of two counts of first degree murder along with Gregory Fester. Reid spoke to NET News while in the Women’s Correctional Center."

http://netnebraska.org/basic-page/television/csi-trial-0 

See Northwestern Law release October 28, 2013.  "Matthew Livers: Nebrask officials to pay $1.65 million settlement for fabricating evidence and coercing false confession. Authorities still owe apology to Matthew Livers;   Matthew Livers has settled his civil suit against the Nebraska State Patrol investigators and Cass County, Nebraska, Sheriff’s Deputies for coercing him to confess falsely to the brutal murder of his aunt and uncle and fabricating evidence to make the false charges stick.  Under the settlement, Livers will receive a total of $1.65 million ($1 million will be paid by Cass County; $600,000 by the State of Nebraska; and $50,000 by Douglas County, Nebraska).  The settlement is compensation for Livers’ seven months of pretrial incarceration while the false charges were pending. Livers also sued David Kofoed, the disgraced former head of the Douglas County Crime Scene Investigation Unit.  A judgment of liability has been entered against Kofoed, and the court will determine the amount of damages Kofoed must pay in addition to the settlement amount. “By any measure, the conduct of all of the defendants was morally and legally reprehensible,” said Locke Bowman, Executive Director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center.   Cass County and State Patrol investigators extracted the confession from Livers, who is intellectually limited, by threatening to “piss” on him and to “hang [him] from the highest tree.”  Kofoed planted the victim’s blood in a car in order to further frame Livers, and Kofoed was convicted and served 18 months for felony evidence tampering.  When the identities of the true perpetrators were uncovered, the Cass County and State Patrol deputies manipulated and coerced them into concocting a false story that Livers and they had committed the murders together.  Cass County Attorney Nathan Cox dismissed all criminal charges against Livers in December 2006.  The MacArthur Justice Center filed suit for Livers in early 2008."

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/macarthur/projects/wrongful/livers.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;  

---

Douglas Hales: Saskatchewan; His murder trial could end in a mistrial as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada "Mr. Big" decision. (Confession obtained through sting operation); Global News.

STORY: "Dougas Hale's murder trial could end in mistrial," by reporter Meaghan Craig, published by Global News on August 29, 2014.

SUB-HEADING: "Supreme Court hearing could effect outcome of Hale's trial."

GIST:  "Another delay in the Douglas Hales’ first-degree murder trial that could result in a mistrial. Arguments on the implications of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on so-called “Mr. Big” stings will now be made in September. That exact technique was used in 2008 and led to the arrest of Hales who is accused of killing of Daleen Bosse, a young mother, in May 2004.........The Supreme Court ruled that “Mr. Big” sting operations can continue but confessions through this method are no longer admissible unless the Crown can prove otherwise. In 2008, officers posing as criminals got Hales to confess to Bosse’s murder  and lead them to her remains. He was arrested on Aug. 10, 2008, the day after confessing to “Mr. Big”. “The judge directed us to canvass all options and he has two, one is to re-open the trial which we don’t regard as an appropriate way to resolve this, the second one is to declare a mistrial which in our view is the most just option available to him,” said Hrycan.".........Court is now scheduled to resume Sept. 22. The Crown hopes a verdict in the case will be delivered within the calender year."

The entire story can be found at:


http://globalnews.ca/news/1534864/douglas-hales-murder-trial-could-end-in-a-mistrial/

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;  

David Harold Eastman: Australia; Back in court for the first time since release - but prosecutors have yet to decide if they will push ahead with a new trial. (Destruction of forensic exhibits cited as one of the reasons mitigating against a new trial). The Age.

STORY: "David Eastman case back before the court for first time since his release," by Canberra Times reporter Christopher Knaus, published by The Age on August 31, 2014.

GIST: "David Eastman's murder case will come back before the court on Monday for the first time since he was released after 19 years behind bars. Eastman is facing the prospect of a retrial for the alleged 1989 assassination of ACT police chief Colin Stanley Winchester outside his Deakin home. The Director of Public Prosecutions is deciding whether it can and should try Eastman again over Mr Winchester's murder. That decision was left to the DPP when the ACT Supreme Court decided earlier this month to quash Eastman's conviction but order a retrial. The conviction was found to be unjust, mainly because of glaring flaws in the forensic evidence used against Eastman at his 1995 trial and incomplete disclosure of information to his defence..........If prosecutors do decide to push ahead with a trial, Eastman's lawyers can make an application to stay proceedings. They have previously argued that a fair trial is now impossible, given that witnesses are dead, forensic exhibits have been destroyed and more than 25 years have passed since the crime. Extensive media coverage could also make it difficult to find a jury free from prejudice. Acting Justice Brian Martin, head of the Eastman inquiry, described the prospect of a retrial as "not feasible and would not be fair" when he handed down his report in May. But the full bench of the ACT Supreme Court disagreed in its judgment quashing Eastman's conviction last month. "Weighing all the factors and considerations to which we have referred above, we have concluded that the interests of justice require that we order a retrial," the judges wrote."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.theage.com.au/act-news/david-eastman-case-back-before-the-court-for-first-time-since-his-release-20140831-10ajpn.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;