Ed Graf; Texas; Day 8 of testimony; Defence fire expert Doug Carpenter says shed fire was not only accidental - but the doors were open. Carpenter contradicts testimony from several firefighters who testified that the shed doors were closed and locked. KXXV;

STORY: "Fire expert: Shed fire was accidental, contradicts previous testimony," by reporter Adam Hammons, published by KXXV on October 16, 2014.

GIST: A fire investigator says the shed fire in 1986 was not only accidental but the doors were open. The defense brought in Thursday Doug Carpenter from Maryland who is a fire investigator and studies the behavior of fires. This is the eighth day of testimony in the capital murder retrial of Ed Graf Jr. Carpenter says he looked at all the evidence from the 1986 fire including pictures and witness statements. He also explained fire science topics to the jury to help them understand how he came to his conclusions. That includes flashover, which is the point when smoke from a singular fire builds smoke and enough heat for it to burn the entire room without the immediate transfer of the first fire. Carpenter also explained how fires can be limited by how much oxygen they receive. He also explained how certain objects burn at different temperatures, meaning a couch can catch fire at a lower temperature than possibly a metal material.

Carpenter said he examined the materials and assumed the fire could not have gotten hot enough without the air flow of the doors being open. He says there was a sky light made out of fiber glass, but with the doors closed the fire could not have gotten hot enough to melt it. So he says he believes the doors to the shed were open. This contradicts what several firemen testified about the doors being closed and locked......... Later the defense called on Katie Britt, a local clinical psychologist. She looked at previous testimony and overheard most of the witnesses testify in this trial. She said Graf's actions after the funeral where people said he was unemotional were consistent with someone in shock. The state, though, asked Britt if those actions were those of a sociopath and she could not rule that out. The defense expects to continue to call witnesses Friday and expect to have closing arguments Monday. "

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.kxxv.com/story/26808285/fire-expert-shed-fire-was-accidental-contradicts-previous-testimony

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;

Hillsborough sporting disaster: Mother tells inquests that testing her 15-year-old son for alcohol was 'unforgivable'. Liverpool Echo reports that the jury has already heard that all 96 victims had blood alcohol levels taken on the instruction of the coroner at the initial 1991 inquests, Dr Stefan Popper."

  
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am dipping into this massive set of inquests from time to time - when the evidence relates to the roles of pathologists and the Coroner's Inquest system in backing up  the police cover-up  that the fans were at fault for the tragic events which took 96 lives and injured so many more.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

STORY: "Hillsborough mum tells inquests testing her 15-year-old son for alcohol was 'unforgivable', by reporter Dan Kay, published by The Liverpool Echo on October 14, 2014.

SUB-HEADING: Dolores Steele's late husband Les told her after being 'grilled' by police: "They're going to say the fans were all drunk."

GIST: "A mum whose 15-year-old son died at Hillsborough has told the new inquests the decision to test his body afterwards for alcohol was 'unforgiveable'.
The jury has already heard  that all 96 victims had blood alcohol levels taken on the instruction of the coroner at the initial 1991 inquests, Dr Stefan Popper.........
They waited to see his body for over an hour but Philip had been taken back to Hillsborough stadium. There Mr Steele, who has since passed away, identified his son at 9.30pm in the gym. Mrs Steele said: "Les was just a zombie when he walked out of that room. And his words to me were, 'they have grilled me in there for over an hour and I know what they're going to say. "They're going to say the fans were all drunk." Some time later Mrs Steele discovered through the press that blood samples had been taken from her son, which she now knows was to look for alcohol. She told the jury: "That makes me very angry. It makes me very angry. Because I know if Philip needed, if there had been something wrong with him and he needed an operation, someone would have to come to me and ask for my permission, either me or to his father and that didn't happen. "They took a blood sample from a minor. That's unforgivable to me.

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/hillsborough-mum-tells-inquests-testing-7934674

See previous post published at the outset of the Inquests:

STORY: "Hillsborough inquest: Questions and answers: The new Hillsborough inquests begin today in Warrington, almost 25 years after Britain's worst sporting disaster and 18 months after the verdicts in the original inquests were quashed," by Ben Rumsby, published by the Telegraph on March 31, 2014;

GIST: "Why were fresh inquests ordered? Twenty years after the Hillsborough disaster, following repeated attempts to force a re-examination of what went wrong and whether the truth had been covered up, the Government finally instituted the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Its report, published in September 2012, absolved Liverpool fans of any responsibility, found the police were mainly to blame and demonstrated that witness statements had been deliberately altered. It also determined up to 41 of those who died may have been saved had the emergency services response been improved. None of this had emerged during the original inquests, which controversially returned verdicts of accidental death."

 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2014/03/hillsborough-inquest-1-telegraph-offers.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 McCallum; The New York Daily News story is indeed true. "The convictions of David McCallum and the late Willie Stuckey were thrown out Wednesday at the request of Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, who said their convictions hinged on made-up confessions peppered with details seemingly supplied by police." CBS News.

"STORY: "Man wrongfully convicted in 1985  New York City kidnapping, killing freed after nearly 30 years in prison," by reporter Al Jones, published by CBS News on October 15, 2014.

GIST: A man who served nearly 30 years inprison for a New York City murder was ordered freed after prosecutors concluded he falsely confessed when he was 16. The convictions of David McCallum and the late Willie Stuckey were thrown out Wednesday at the request of Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, who said their convictions hinged on made-up confessions peppered with details seemingly supplied by police. Their cause had been championed by ex-boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who became an international symbol of injustice when he got his a triple murder conviction vacated.........McCallum, the subject of a recent documentary film, “David & Me,” has said he felt pressed to confess and implicate Stuckey after hearing Stuckey had done the same to him.
“It’s the system that is clearly broken, in my opinion, but it’s the system that can be fixed,” McCallum said. Recent DNA tests and fingerprint analyses from the stolen car matched other people, fueling questions about the case, Michelen said. No one else has been charged. “We are going to pursue the leads in terms of who abducted, robbed and murdered Nathan Blenner,” Thompson said. The ailing Carter had been working on McCallum’s bid for exoneration for a decade after getting a letter from him. He wrote a Daily News piece in February expressing his “final wish” — a fresh look at McCallum’s conviction. “My aim in helping this fine man is to pay it forward, to give the help that I received as a wrongly convicted man to another who needs such help now,” wrote Carter, who died of prostate cancer two months later."

The entire story can be found at:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/15/brooklyn-da-to-ask-judge-to-throw-out-1985-murder-convictions-of-david-mccallum-willie-stuckey/

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; 

Ed Graf; Texas; KXXV reports: '"Graf's mother testifies there's no way he could have hurt those boys," as the retrial enters the defence case.

STORY: Day 7; "Graf's mother testifies there's no way he could have hurt those boys," by reporter  Adam Hammons, published by KXXV on October 15, 2014.

GIST: "The defense gave testimony from Graf's mother and fellow church members that say Graf was a loving, caring father.  Ed Graf Jr. is being retried for killing his two sons in a backyard shed fire in 1986. The defense brought up several witnesses who all say Graf seemed like he cared for his two step-sons.  In particularly, the defense read previous testimony from his mother Sue Graf. She has past away since the first trial so the defense read her testimony from 1988. She said, "There is no way on God's earth that he could have hurt those babies. No way, no way.".........Coming up at six, you can hear more about several occasions where witnesses say the boys played with cigarettes or matches."

The entire story can be found at: 

http://www.kxxv.com/story/26797785/grafs-mother-testifies-theres-no-way-he-could-have-hurt-those-boys

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 McCallum: Momentous development: Rubin Hurricane Carter's dying wish is about to come true. The New York Daily News reports that the Brooklyn man imprisoned 29 years for murder is set to have his conviction thrown out today following years of lobbying by the famed wrongfully convicted boxer. Reporter Oren Yaniv. (I sure hope this story is true. HL);

STORY: "Man who Hurricane Carter claimed was wrongly convicted set to be released," by reporter Oren Yaniv, published by the New York Daily News on Octber 14, 2014.

SUB-HEADING:  "Exclusive: David McCallum, one of the two men put behind bars in the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Nathan Blenner, has fought for his innocence for decades. Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, who was wrongfully convicted in a triple murder, pleaded McCallum be released in a letter published by The News just months before his death."

 GIST: "Hurricane Carter’s dying wish is about to come true. A Brooklyn man who’s been imprisoned 29 years for murder is set to have his conviction thrown out Wednesday following years of lobbying by the famed former boxer, the Daily News has learned. “My single regret in life is that David McCallum ...  is still in prison,” Rubin (Hurricane) Carter wrote in a Daily News op-ed two months before he died in April, calling for Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson to review the case. “Knowing what I do, I am certain that when the facts are brought to light, Thompson will recommend his immediate release,” Carter wrote.........His appeals exhausted, lawyers approached the DA’s Conviction Review Unit with evidence of another suspect who was questioned without the defense getting notified and of DNA from a car used in the abduction, which matched other men. Thompson told The Associated Press Tuesday night that the confessions were false, “in large part because these 16-year-olds were fed false facts.” He said no other evidence tied the two to the abduction or killing."

The entire story can be  found at:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/man-hurricane-carter-wanted-free-article-1.1974481

See earlier post: "David McCallum: Rubin Hurricane Carter's dying wish."

 http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2014/02/david-mccallum-hurricane-carters-dying.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; 

Michelle Murphy: Oklahoma; Compelling Tulsa World investigation reveals "mistakes and questionable evidence" in the case of a woman ruled "innocent" after 20 years in prison. (Must, Must Read. HL);

 STORY: "Records show mistakes, questionable evidence in woman's overturned murder case," by Cary Aspinwall and Ziva Branstetter, published by the Tulsa World on October 12, 2014.

GIST: "Prosecutor Tim Harris stood before jurors deciding Michelle Murphy’s fate and told them police found someone’s blood near her slain baby’s body — blood he implied could be hers. “Ladies and gentleman, beyond a reasonable doubt this woman killed her child,” he told them. What Harris didn’t tell jurors is that as the trial started Nov. 14, 1995, he possessed a report from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that said Murphy’s blood type was different than the type found at the scene. That test determined DNA found at the scene was not hers, contradicting Harris’ implication to jurors about what the Tulsa police lab tests showed..........Harris maintains that the OSBI report didn’t exclude Murphy as the source of the unknown blood found at the scene, based on forensic science “at the time.” It wasn’t entered into evidence, and Harris said he showed the report to Murphy’s defense attorneys. Her attorneys dispute this, and there is no record that Harris gave them a copy before Murphy was convicted of first-degree murder in the near-decapitation of her 3-month-old son, Travis Wood. More advanced DNA testing this year proved the 1995 Tulsa police lab tests jurors were told about were inaccurate. This wasn’t the first time DNA tests raised serious questions about the validity of Murphy’s conviction.........Her attorneys maintain her conviction should never have happened, that Harris and Tulsa police prosecuted Murphy at the expense of finding the real killer. They want to know how key pieces of evidence appeared to go missing from Murphy’s case file over the past two decades. Why was an order to test another possible suspect’s blood type never followed?"

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/records-show-mistakes-questionable-evidence-in-woman-s-overturned-murder/article_8be38089-bd87-53e0-8392-40c6d287bf09.html

See companion article on Michelle Murphy's efforts to get her life together after 20 years behind bars; A Tulsa World investigation shows the state of Oklahoma relied upon faulty blood evidence, the dubious testimony of a troubled 14-year-old neighbor and an unrecorded incriminating statement to convict Murphy. All three elements were so problematic they likely should not have been allowed in court — and jurors were prevented from hearing other evidence that might have given them reasonable doubt about convicting Murphy. Attorneys for her trial and initial appeal may also have missed chances to challenge the evidence against her. Her appellate attorneys maintain none of this should have ever happened, that Harris and Tulsa Police prosecuted Murphy at the expense of finding the real killer. In court filings, they claim Harris and other investigators knew they had falsely claimed that unknown blood found at the scene could be Murphy’s, something disproved by several outside lab tests. When police arrived at the crime scene that morning in 1994, they took Murphy’s daughter into protective custody. The crime scene video shows an officer walking away with the toddler in his arms as the sun is beginning to rise. Murphy testified in court that she only made incriminating statements to a Tulsa police detective during questioning because he badgered her and promised she could see her daughter if she confessed. She never saw her little girl again."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/released-after-years-in-prison-michelle-murphy-trying-to-rebuild/article_0dbc825d-734b-5322-8710-02254038268f.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; 

Jeremy Yerger; Tacoma, Washington; Newspaper reports that the jury will decide " if this is a case of shaken baby or "junk science."" Defence expert witness Dr. Patrick Barnes (Stanford Medical Center) testifies that the deceased 4-month-old child was likely injured in the birth process. My Northwest.

STORY: "Defence debunks shaken baby syndrome in Tacoma trial, by reporter  Tim Haeck, published by My Northwest, on October 13,  2014.

SUB-HEADING: "Defense in Pierce County assault trial claims shaken baby syndrome "bogus."

GIST: "Not long after a 4-month-old boy came into the emergency room at a Tacoma hospital, doctors were sure his head injuries were the result of abuse. It happens all the time. The baby wouldn't stop crying. The father was arrested and put on trial. But also on trial is the diagnosis itself. When doctors examined the baby in April 2013, they found a familiar triad of symptoms; retinal hemorrhage (bleeding in the eyes), subdural hematoma (blood on the brain) and cerebral edema (excess fluid on the brain.) When Jeremy Yerger was arrested, police say the father gave a conflicting statement, first admitting then denying he shook his infant son, adding, "I'm sure I did something to hurt him." One doctor told police it was a classic case of "shaken baby syndrome.".........An expert in pediatric neuro-radiology testified for the defense last week in Yerger's assault trial at the Pierce County Courthouse. "It is inconclusive -- whatever research model is used, that shaking can cause any component of the triad without impact unless the weak link is injured," said Dr. Patrick Barnes with Stanford Medical Center. "And the weak link is the baby's neck.".........On the witness stand, Stanford's Barnes testified for the defense that there are what he called "mimics" to injury attributed to abuse. "In other words, other conditions that are not abuse that can look like abuse." Some critics of shaken baby syndrome claim that accidental falls can mimic abuse. "Even the child abuse literature recognizes that many of these conditions can be accidental," added Barnes.........On the witness stand in Tacoma, Dr. Barnes reviewed CT scans and MRIs, revealing possible fractures of the injured baby's skull. "Trying to date these fractures (is) really difficult. Could it be older? Yes. Could it possibly date back to birth? Yes." Dr. Barnes told the Tacoma jury that the child, in this case, was likely injured in the birth process.".........A court order prevents Yerger, 37, from seeing his son. The military veteran is charged with first degree child assault. A jury will decide if this is a case of shaken baby or "junk science."

The entire story can be found at:

http://mynorthwest.com/11/2621506/Defense-debunks-shaken-baby-syndrome-in-Tacoma-trial

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; 

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