STORY: "Tireless advocacy in appeal for justice," by Charles Gent and Vincent Ciccarello, published by "Encounters" - the alumni magazine of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia - in December 2012.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (A): The intensive efforts of Robert Moles and Bibi Sangha to persuade South Australia to establish a new statutory right of appeal have rightfully been recognized by Flinders University. Much of their tireless campaign has been inspired by the need to rectify disturbing miscarriages of justice - sometimes decades old - which have been caused by flawed forensic evidence. I am delighted to announce that I have chosen Bob Moles and Bibi Sangha as recipients of the Charles Smith Blog award for excellence in exposing and remedying miscarriages
of justice caused anywhere in the world by flawed pathology, flawed
pathologists, junk science, pseudo-experts or a combination of any of
the above. (See information on the Charles Smith Blog award in Publisher's Note "B" below):
GIST: "‘Activism’ is a loaded word, conjuring images of noisy protesters, angry placards and street demonstrations. But Ms Bibi Sangha, a Flinders law academic, and her colleague Dr Bob Moles have proved how fighting for a cause through quiet, persistent and rigorous effort – using our democratic processes and institutions – can have far-reaching consequences. South Australia’s Attorney-General John Rau has recently nstructed his department to draft a new statutory right of appeal that will enable prisoners with evidence of a wrongful conviction to directly approach the courts. It is the culmination of years of advocacy and research by Ms Sangha and Dr Moles, who have argued in books, international journals and a variety of public forums that legal limitations that restrict the right to fair trial put South Australia – and Australia – at odds with international rights and obligations.........It was their 2010 book on unjust convictions stemming from flawed forensic evidence that first prompted Ann Bressington MLC to propose the establishment of a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), along UK lines, which was then referred to the Committee. While the Committee did not back the setting up of a broadly
based CCRC, it recommended the formation of a Forensic Review Panel that will have the capacity to recommend appeals in the light of doubt over forensic issues. The committee also recommended a review of expert evidence and the way it is received in courts in criminal matters. “We highlighted in our book and in our submission to the inquiry that a common cause of wrongful convictions is the admission of unreliable forensic evidence,” Ms Sangha said. “It can have a seriously prejudicial effect on the minds of jurors – and is frequently not sufficiently scrutinised by judges or probed or tested by defence lawyers,” she said."
The PDF of the entire article can be found at:
http://netk.net.au/CrimJustice/Encounter2012.pdf
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (B):
Origin of the Charles Smith Blog Award: I
launched the award in 2009 as a forum in which I
could honour these individuals who help expose and remedy miscarriages
of justice caused anywhere in the world by flawed pathology, flawed
pathologists, junk science, pseudo-experts or a combination of any of
the above.
UNUSUAL NATURE: This award is entirely virtual. There is no no ceremony;
There is no prize; There is no certificate. It is a pure and
unadulterated honour bestowed by myself as publisher in recognition of
contributions by others to this important facet of criminal justice.
RECIPIENTS TO DATE;
0: Kevin Morgan (AUSTRALIA): author of "Gun Alley: Murder, Lies and
Failure of Justice, who single-handedly fought for and obtained the
forensic materials which led to Colin Ross's pardon almost ninety years
after he was executed.
0: Michael Hall (U.S.A.): For his excellent work in Texas Monthly
exposing the miscarriages of justice that have occurred as a result of
scent-lineups and the "experts" who conduct them, and
0: Sun-Sentinel reporter Paula McMahon (U.S.A.) for her ground-breaking
reporting over a nine year period which led to the freeing and
exoneration of Anthony Caravella.
O: Journalist Stewart Cockburn (AUSTRALIA) for his ground-breaking work
in "The Advertiser" which exposed the miscarriage of justice suffered by
Ted Splatt and triggered the Royal Commission which led to Splatt's
exoneration.
0: Australian scientist Tom Mann (AUSTRALIA) for his sterling efforts to
publicize the injustice perpetrated on Ted Splatt in the courts
including the publication of "Flawed Forensics: The Ted Splatt case and
Stewart Cockburn," a monumental book which demonstrates the tragic
consequences which can unfold when science gets twisted out of
proportion in the courts and those entrusted with the task of protecting
our criminal justice system abdicate their responsibilities.
0: New Yorker staff writer David Grann (U.S.A.)for his awesome exposee
of the faulty arson "science" that resulted in the wrongful conviction
and execution in Texas of Cameron Todd Willingham. (Photo: David Grann);
0: Pamela Colloff (U.S.A) for her Texas Monthly stories which resulted
in the freeing of Anthony Graves within 30 days of the appearance of
her first story. Anthony Graves was convicted and sentenced to die in
1994 for six horrific murders in the Central Texas town of Somerville.
0: Spencer Hsu (U.S.A) for his revelations in the Washington Post that for years, the U.S. Department of Justice
has known that flawed forensic work by FBI experts may have led to the
convictions of innocent people, but prosecutors rarely told
defendants or their attorneys. Hsu discovered that Justice Department
officials began reviewing cases after defense attorneys pointed out
problems with evidence coming out of FBI labs. But the review was
limited. "As a result," Hsu wrote, "hundreds of defendants nationwide
remain in prison or on parole for crimes that might merit exoneration, a
retrial or a retesting of evidence using DNA because FBI hair and
fiber experts may have misidentified them as suspects."
O: Robert Moles and Bibi Sangha.
(AUSTRALIA).
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (C);
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.
