Catch-up (3): Paul Hildwin: Florida Supreme Court overturns 30-Year death penalty conviction - orders new trial for Paul Hildwin as a result of new DNA evidence and an FBI expert's flawed testimony: Terry Lenamon's Death Penalty Blog.

POST: "Florida Supreme Court overturns 30-year death penalty conviction orders new trial for Paul Hildwin," by Terry Lenamon and Reba Kennedy, posted on July 10,  2014.

GIST: "Paul Hildwin resides on Florida’s Death Row, having been sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of Vronzettie Cox who had been raped before she was strangled to death and her body left to be found in the trunk of a car. For three decades, Mr. Hildwin has lived behind bars as a man awaiting execution — until now. The Florida Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for Paul Hildwin and it’s not clear if the Florida prosecutor is going to re-try the case, given the language of the High Court’s opinion. DNA evidence and FBI expert's flawed trial testimony:  What’s happened here?  New DNA evidence has been presented that absolutely guts the evidence that was presented by the state’s prosecutors at Hildwin’s criminal trial.  During his 1985 trial, an FBI expert testified that fluids collected at the Hernando County crime scene matched with Mr. Hildwin  — and he also testified that these fluids could not have come from the victim’s boyfriend.   Now, DNA evidence establishes the exact opposite is true.  The fluids could not have originated with Paul Hildwin:  they match the boyfriend, a man already behind bars on two sexual assault convictions. From the opinion:  "In light of the evidence presented at trial, and considering the cumulative effect of all evidence that has been developed through Hildwin’s postconviction proceedings, we conclude that the totality of the evidence is of “such nature that it would probably produce an acquittal on retrial” because the newly discovered DNA evidence “weakens the case against [the defendant] so as to give rise to a reasonable doubt as to his culpability."

The entire post can be found at:

 http://www.deathpenaltyblog.com/florida-supreme-court-overturns-30yr-death-penalty-conviction-orders-new-trial-for-paul-hildwin/

 

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.
 

Jeffrey Havard; Christopher Brandon: Mississippi; Clarion-Ledger story: "Justices raising questions on shaken baby syndrome." (Must Read. HL);

STORY: "Justices raising questions on shaken bay syndrome," by reporter Jerry Mitchell, published by the Clarion-Ledger on August 22, 2014.

GIST: "If the state Supreme Court orders a hearing in the case involving Death Row inmate Jeffrey Havard, it will be the second in a row involving Shaken Baby Syndrome. Others could follow. At least 11 people are behind bars in Mississippi — and two on Death Row — because of testimony involving that syndrome. The syndrome has long been used to convict thousands of parents, caregivers and others, but now questions are being raised about the science behind it.........Last week, justices ordered a hearing in the case involving Christopher Brandon. Pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne attributed the death in Brandon's case to Shaken Baby Syndrome, and he did the same with Jeffrey Havard, now on Death Row. Hayne acknowledged to The Clarion-Ledger there is "growing evidence" such a diagnosis "is probably not correct." Studies show shaking isn't able to generate enough force to cause these kinds of injuries to a child, he said. At the same time, he said, studies are showing that the short falls of children can generate tremendous force when they hit a very hard surface. In Havard's case, sexual assault was the underlying felony charge that enabled authorities to pursue the death penalty against him in the 2002 death of 6-month-old Chloe Britt, whom Havard said he accidentally dropped. "I didn't think there was a sexual assault," Hayne told The Clarion-Ledger. "I didn't see any evidence of sexual assault." Former state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. said he believes the high court will order a hearing for Havard "given the strength of the new evidence, which I think is extremely strong.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/journeytojustice/2014/08/22/mississippi-supreme-court-shaken-baby-syndrome/14435611/

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; Aftermath 1: His one-time lawyer says "flaws with the forensic evidence that damned David Eastman at trial could have been revealed 17 years ago, " Canberra Times.

STORY: "Forensic  flaws from case against David Eastman should have been uncovered 17 years ago," by reporter Christopher Knaus, published by the Camberra Times on August 22, 2014.

GIST: "Flaws with the forensic evidence that damned David Eastman at trial could have been revealed 17 years ago, according to his one-time lawyer and former ACT Attorney-General. Eastman mounted a series of appeals following his 1995 conviction for the assassination of the ACT's police chief Colin Stanley Winchester. The first took place in the Federal Court in 1997, which then acted as the ACT's court of criminal appeal. Lawyer Bernard Collaery represented Eastman in that case, and now believes an opportunity to expose flaws with the forensic evidence and achieve justice was lost all those years ago. Mr Collaery and his team were fighting to introduce new evidence during the appeal that would undermine the credibility of the work of the key forensic expert used against Eastman, Robert Collins Barnes. Mr Barnes' evidence was critical in linking Eastman to the murder scene, and was instrumental in damning him before the jury at trial. The Eastman inquiry, which delivered its findings this year, has now uncovered deep flaws with Mr Barnes' work. Mr Barnes' reliability and accuracy were devastated under the scrutiny of a range of other experts, including Dr James Wallace and Dr Hilton Kobus. Yet, way back in 1997, Mr Collaery was fighting to have evidence from those same two forensic experts put before the Federal Court during Eastman's appeal. The two experts were in the middle of conducting tests in Adelaide they believed would seriously challenge Mr Barnes' evidence. Prosecutors opposed that new evidence being put before the court and, in what is now clearly a significant decision, the Federal Court agreed, refusing to accept Dr Wallace's affidavit in 1997. Mr Collaery told Fairfax Media the justice system must learn from that decision, particularly in cases like Eastman's, where an accused is representing himself in a disrupted, chaotic criminal trial.  "The lesson for our Court of Appeal is not to adopt the stilted 'no new evidence' approach when there are clear and compelling grounds to make an exception to the rules," he said.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/forensic-flaws-from-case-against-david-eastman-case-should-have-been-uncovered-17-years-ago-20140822-106zjc.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; 

David Eastman: Australia; Momentous development; Free at last after conviction quashed - but facing prospect of a new trial; Canberra Times story shows how a bungled forensic investigation lay at the heart of this glaring miscarriage of justice.

STORY: "David Eastman released from prison after conviction quashed" by reporters Christopher Knaus and Michael Inman, published by the Canberra Times on August 22, 2014.

PHOTO CAPTION:  "David Eastman has been released on bail after a court ruled he did not get a fair trial on charges he murdered Police Commissioner Colin Winchester. He left court in a maroon sedan, with a blanket over his head."

 

GIST:  'David Eastman is a free man, relased on bail after his conviction for murdering ACT police chief Colin Winchester was quashed......Despite his newfound freedom, the prospect of a retrial for the 1989 murder of Commissioner will hang over Eastman's head.........ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Jon White issued a statement on Friday afternoon saying the new trial was under consideration.........The spotlight is now on the Director of Public Prosecutions, who has the ultimate say over whether Eastman will be hauled back before court for a second trial.........He will return to court on September 11, although a new trial - if it goes ahead - will not happen until at least 2015......... In a judgment published on Friday, the court, comprised of Justices Steven Rares, Michael Wigney and acting Justice Dennis Cowdroy, found Eastman did not receive a trial according to law. The judges said a fair trial was a fundamental right of every person charged with a criminal offence. "It would be an affront to justice to permit the conviction to stand. We have concluded that the conviction be quashed," Justice Rares said.........Victorian-based expert Robert Collins Barnes strongly linked gunshot residue found in Eastman's Mazda boot with the murder scene. Even Eastman's trial judge, Ken Carruthers, paid tribute to the strength of the forensics when sentencing Eastman to life in November 1995."This investigation must surely rank as one of the most skilled, sophisticated and determined forensic investigations in the history of criminal investigation in Australia," he said at the time. That statement was left in tatters by the Eastman inquiry. A covert recording between the supposedly-independent Mr Barnes and a senior detective was played to the inquiry in which he described himself as a "police witness", and attempted to stymy attempts to have his work thoroughly reviewed. Any serious investigation of Mr Barnes would have found he lacked objectivity, overplayed the strength of his evidence, and became emotionally involved in the case, the inquiry found. The provenance of critical evidence was either non-existent or highly doubtful, and fundamental data was not produced by Mr Barnes prior to trial. "In some instances it is apparent that Mr Barnes could not have undertaken the organic analyses upon which he claimed to have based his opinions," Acting Justice Martin found. "In other respects, the contemporaneous accounts strongly suggest that such analyses were not carried out and that Mr Barnes' report was wrong.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/david-eastman-released-from-prison-after-conviction-quashed-20140822-10777y.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 Prade; Ohio; Former police department captain returned to custody - in spite earlier ruling that he had been wrongfully convicted of the 1997 death of his wife. Akron.com

STORY: "Douglas Prade returned to custody," published by Akron.com  on July 31, 2014.

GIST: "On July 25, Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Christine Croce ordered Douglas Prade returned to custody. On July 23, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear the former Akron Police Department captain’s appeal and denied his motion to extend his stay. The Supreme Court had temporarily stayed a Ninth District Court of Appeals ruling that would return Prade to prison. The Ninth District Court of Appeals had released an opinion March 19 overturning former Summit County Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter’s ruling that Prade was wrongfully convicted of the 1997 death of his wife, Dr. Margo Prade. Hunter’s ruling in January was based on new DNA evidence, she said. According to Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh, Prade remains convicted of the murder.........“The Appellate Court and now the Supreme Court both agree with us that Judge Judy Hunter abused her discretion when she overturned Doug Prade’s conviction,” said Prosecutor Walsh. “Doug Prade terrorized his estranged wife Margo before killing her shortly before Thanksgiving in 1997. We intend to return Prade to prison, where he belongs.” The appellate court has not yet decided whether Hunter’s order for a new trial is valid. The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office has asked the court for permission to appeal the order for a new trial, if that order is valid. If the court finds that the order for a new trial is not valid, then Croce will decide whether to order a new trial."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.akron.com/akron-ohio-community-news.asp?aID=23612

See Associated Press report on some of the legal issues: "At issue is the interpretation of an appeals court ruling last week in the case against Douglas Prade. Attorneys for Prade say the 9th District Court of Appeals requires Summit County judge Christine Croce to order a new trial, while prosecutors say the court left it up to Croce to decide. Croce scheduled the hearing for next Monday."

 http://www.akronlegalnews.com/editorial/10985

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; 

Jeffrey Havard: Mississippi; He has spent more than a decade on Death Row for a crime the state's pathologist - Dr. Steven Hayne - doesn't believe took place, reports the Clarion-Ledger;

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  See Radley Balko's recent Washington Post post   on developments in the Christopher Brandon case -  a shaken baby syndrome case in which the defence has successfully attacked  the opinion of  Mississippi pathologist Steven Hayne. By contrast, Hayne's opinion in the Jeffrey Havard Death Row  case, the subject of this post,  is one of the pillars of the defence.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/08/20/good-news-from-mississippi/

STORY: "Pathologist: No evidence death row inmate abused child," by reporter Jerry Mitchell, published by the Clarion-Ledger on August 21, 2014.

SUB-HEADING: Jeffrey Havard has spent more than a decade on Death Row for a crime the state's pathologist doesn't believe  took place." GIST:  "Jeffrey Havard has spent more than a decade on death Row for a crime the state's pathologist doesn't believe took place. His lawyers told the state Supreme Court that Havard deserves a court hearing because pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne made statements, first to The Clarion-Ledger and then to the defense, that he told prosecutors before Havard's 2002 trial he found no evidence of sexual abuse of 6-month-old Chloe Britt. The alleged sexual abuse, the underlying felony, qualified the case for the death penalty. "I didn't think there was a sexual assault," Hayne told The Clarion-Ledger. "I didn't see any evidence of sexual assault." But jurors never heard that, and they convicted Havard of capital murder, sentencing him to death. "The prosecution hid this exculpatory evidence," wrote his lawyer, Graham Carner of Jackson. "Whether (defense) trial counsel sought it or not is of no consequence." District Attorney Ronnie Harper told The Clarion-Ledger that Hayne was probably the weakest witness the prosecution had with regard to the sexual assault allegation. But that didn't stop prosecutors from telling jurors in 2002 that Hayne would "come and testify for you about his findings and about how he confirmed the nurses' and doctors' worst fears this child had been abused and the child had been penetrated.".........Havard's claims are too late, wrote lawyers for the attorney general's office. They pointed to the fact the defense had Hayne's autopsy report before the 2002 trial and could have questioned him then about his findings. "Havard's claims are unsupported by facts," they wrote. "Havard is entitled to no relief." Carner responded that time doesn't bar this claim because this is new evidence. "The state cannot fail to disclose evidence and then claim Havard is barred from presenting the claim because he was not aware of the information the state concealed," he wrote. He is seeking an evidentiary hearing — something a three-judge panel for the state Supreme Court granted last week to Christopher Brandon, convicted in 2009 under shaken baby testimony."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/08/20/pathologist-miss-death-row-inmate-wrongly-convicted/14372529/

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;  

Catch-up (2): Michael Beakley: Kamloops; British Columbia; He has been acquitted of causing his baby's brain injury. Shaken baby syndrome case. Vancouver Sun.

  STORY: "Kamloops father acquitted of causing baby's brain injury," by reporter Tim Petruk, pubished by The Vancouver Sun on July 3, 2014.

GIST:  "A Kamloops father was acquitted Thursday on charges he caused brain damage in his baby daughter more than two years ago by violently shaking her.
Michael Beakley showed little emotion as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Hope Hyslop delivered an oral decision, but relatives of the baby’s mother, Cassandra Gunn, became visibly distraught after the verdict was read. “He’ll rot in hell,” Gunn’s mother yelled from the back of the courtroom while hugging her crying daughter. Hunter Beakley was seven months old in February, 2012, when she was taken first to Royal Inland Hospital and then to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver for treatment of a brain injury caused by physical abuse. Hyslop ruled the Crown’s case was too flimsy for a conviction — specifically regarding the timing of the injuries suffered by the child. At trial, court heard a Children’s Hospital doctor testify the injuries could have occurred in a 4.5-hour window on Feb. 14, 2012, during which Hunter was in the sole care of her father. But, the doctor said, they also could have been inflicted as much as a day earlier. Doctors testified Hunter had hemorrhaging in her brain and in her right eye that could only have been caused by physical abuse. In her decision, Hyslop mentioned the “fragile” emotional and mental-health history of Gunn, who admitted to having a hard time with Hunter’s “inconsolable” crying.”"

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.vancouversun.com/Kamloops+father+acquitted+causing+baby+brain+injury/9998737/story.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;