July 22
TEXAS:
THE TEXAS 500
In case you didn't notice, with all the recent fanfare involving
ground-breaking Supreme Court decisions, government spying, or the demise of a
Southern cooking empire, Texas - where they do everything on a grand scale -
carried out its 500th "modern execution." Modern, that is to say, since 1982,
when the death penalty was resumed in that state.
500 executions in 31 years! Unpardonable. The size of a small town. What a
dreadful waste of human life. The life sentence alternative at least exonerates
vengeance. Yet, is there no other humane possibility?
In the late 1960's, shortly after the UK abolished the death penalty, I was
invited to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Scottish Prison & Borstal
Govenors' meeting where their main concern was what to do with prisoners
serving life sentences, especially those who were young? The only suggestion
that had been put to them was transferring such prisoners to another prison for
a month each year as a kind of "busman's holiday!"
I proposed an alternative which not only spares human life, but allows
prisoners another opportunity to pay their debt to society by helping us better
understand the criminal mind. After all, every man or woman on death row was
once a child - what went wrong? And who could better tell us than that person?
No Pie-in-the-sky
What I proposed, & have been advocating for the past 45 years, was several
"crime labs" whereby prisons would operate in collaboration with university
criminal justice schools - much like the arrangements medical schools have with
hospitals - combining teaching and research with treatment. Only this idea
would include prisoners collaborating with the professors as teachers & as
researchers. If they also became better human beings, well that would be a
spin-off.
Could prisoners be interested in self-study? Years ago psychologists at
California's hard-boiled San Quentin Prison studied the records of its most
violent prisoners, and then asked a number of them if they would be interested
in working on a project to study violence of their most notorious. Indeed, they
were interested. The psychologists taught them how to interview the other
prisoners & then they formed a study group where they scrutinized their
results. Remarkable. Their important book, Violent Men (Aldine 1969) tells what
they found out - not only what but how they got their information: From & by
their most violent.
A Crime Lab would give criminology professors a living laboratory for study and
research in criminal behavior; a place where they could conduct various kinds
of treatment & study its effectiveness, while offering students a place for an
internship in preparation for their life's work. It would give the prison new
life as well as a new humanizing purpose - not merely custodians, but
contributors to understanding and dealing with one of our most serious social
problems.
Executing 500 potential criminology teachers & researchers is an incalculable
loss to our nation???s treasure at a time when their know-how is so sorely
needed.
(source: dagblog.com)
CONNECTICUT:
TV review | The Cheshire Murders: Chilling documentary can???t fill all
gapsTelevision News
Conventional wisdom suggests that a strong documentary answers questions.
In some cases, as with The Cheshire Murders, the answers to fundamental issues
are unknowable.
The powerful movie, premiering tonight on HBO, details the horrific 2007
murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters - Michaela, 11; and Hayley,
17 - during an invasion of their home in the idyllic town of Cheshire, Conn.
Dr. William Petit was also brutalized during the attack but escaped before 2
sociopathic invaders strangled his wife, raped her post-mortem, raped the
younger daughter, poured gasoline on the 2 girls, and set them and the house on
fire.
One aspect of the case that should be known but isn???t: Why did the Cheshire
police apparently get to the house only moments after being alerted by a Bank
of America manager that the Petit family was being held hostage in their home -
yet remain outside for nearly 1/2 an hour while heinous incidents played out
inside?
In the film by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, police say only that it is
department policy to avoid detailing officers' work at a crime scene.
There is much more to the story, though, than the graphic details of the
invasion and whether the police could have intervened earlier. The case became
a pivotal issue in the debate over the death penalty in Connecticut - which
represents a big part of the film.
Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky were arrested while fleeing the burning
Petit house on the morning of July 23, 2007. Two years later, the Connecticut
General Assembly voted to repeal the death penalty, which had been reinstated
in 1973. The repeal was vetoed by Gov. Jodi Rell, in part because Hayes and
Komisarjevsky had yet to be tried.
Many in the state - including those who had previously opposed capital
punishment - wanted these two dead. The state eventually repealed capital
punishment in 2012. (Both men remain in prison.)
Dr. Petit has been a vocal and visible advocate for justice for his family.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky each offered to plead guilty to the crimes in return
for a life sentence, but their offer was rejected by prosecutors, who wanted
them to face the death penalty.
We also gain insight into the troubled lives of the defendants, both of whom
had been abused as children. To the filmmakers' credit, the often-dismal facts
of the men's lives are in no way presented as an explanation or apology for
their actions.
Perhaps the greatest unknowable aspect of the case is specifically what
prompted the 2 to do what they did. Psychological details, memories of former
girlfriends - all contribute to a generalized knowledge, but, because the minds
of Hayes and Komisarjevsky are clearly so far outside the norm of human
existence, no plausible explanation can be offered.
The Cheshire Murders is a tragic story in every way. The reality that it can
happen in a place such as Cheshire, Conn., should remind us that no town is
immune to such horror.
(source: Columbus Dispatch)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Montco assistant D.A. to receive a Washington award
Tall and thin with short salt-and-pepper hair, Kevin Steele looks like he could
have jumped off the set of a television legal drama.
There is something earnestly imposing about the Montgomery County first
assistant district attorney, maybe because he looks so serious and moves about
courtrooms so filled with quiet confidence that he is doing the people's work.
Next week, Steele will be 1 of 6 prosecutors nationwide to receive the
2012-2013 Award for Outstanding Trial Advocacy in Capital Litigation, given by
the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation's annual
conference in Washington
He earned it for helping Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner, also an
award recipient, get a guilty verdict and the death penalty last year against
the man who killed Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation Officer David Grove in
2010.
Steele's job can be nerve-racking, especially when it comes to death-penalty
cases. But he just might be the right person for it, say family, colleagues,
and friends.
"Integrity is everything," said his wife, Tracy Steele. "He's a
do-the-right-thing kind of guy."
District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, Steele's boss, pointed to a recent case
that Steele was working with a particular county detective.
"The detective was also working a serious, violent-crime investigation at night
which was taking a toll on his family. The detective had a teenager who was
having a very difficult time with the father's constant absence, and Kevin knew
it.
"At the end of the case, Kevin called the detective when he knew the teen was
with him. Kevin asked to speak with the child and proudly reported what an
exceptional job dad had done protecting our community. Kevin told the teen to
be proud of the father's accomplishments.
"The detective saw the smile on his child's face and knew how much that small
gesture meant."
Steele, 46, has been a prosecutor since graduating from Pennsylvania State
University's Dickinson School of Law in 1992.
His 1st job was with the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office. He joined
the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office in 1995.
Ed Marsico, now the Dauphin County district attorney, was an assistant district
attorney in Montgomery County and Steele's former supervisor.
Even though he was good, he always wanted to get better, Marsico said.
Marsico remembers pegging Steele as a talented lawyer who would thoroughly
prepare for a trial and was not afraid to use new technology to help make his
case.
He shows the same competitiveness outside the courtroom, participating in
triathlons and charity bike rides. He's on numerous nonprofit organization
boards and is vice president of the Penn State Alumni Association.
He has coached his children's basketball and softball teams, though work
calling him away unexpectedly during vacations or holidays has become part of
the family's routine.
Ferman made him her 1st assistant district attorney when she rose to the top
spot in 2008. The 1st assistant is the office's 2nd-in-command and runs
day-to-day operations.
She was impressed by his attention to detail, which she knew would serve him
well in trials and in overseeing daily functions and the office's 145
employees. Ferman likens the district attorney to the chief executive officer
of a company, and the 1st assistant district attorney to the chief operating
officer.
Another of Steele's characteristics was apparent from the beginning. Like a
clergyman tending his flock, Steele helps shepherd crime victims through legal
proceedings.
During a sentencing hearing last month, Steele was extremely protective of
parents who had lost their children in a car crash caused by a driver high on
synthetic marijuana.
The parents were in the courtroom to make tearful impact statements.
During the capital case in Adams County, Steele grew close to the victim's
family, Wagner said.
In November 2010, Grove stopped 2 men in a car near Gettysburg for poaching
deer. One of the men, Christopher L. Johnson, was illegally armed since he was
a convicted felon barred from owning guns. When Grove pulled the car over,
Johnson told his friend that he was not going to go back to jail.
Johnson fired his handgun 15 times, reloading it once, killing Grove.
It was the 1st time in 95 years that a wildlife officer had been killed in the
line of duty and the 1st time in more than 100 years that any law-enforcement
officer had been killed in Adams County.
Steele began working on the case in 2011, after he and Ferman, who knew Wagner,
offered to help. Ferman told Steele to go to Adams County on work time. Steele
insisted on using vacation.
Steele had much more experience than Wagner in trying capital cases. Steele,
and others from the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, including a
ballistics expert, contributed to preparations and the trial.
Appointed as a special assistant district attorney in Adams County, Steele made
the prosecution's opening statement in the trial phase and the closing argument
in the penalty phase.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court received the appeal in Johnson's case last week,
said Adams County Chief Public Defender Kristin Rice, who was one of Johnson's
attorneys.
Tracy Steele says she was not surprised that her husband would volunteer and
take vacation time to help with a death-penalty case hours away from home.
"He feels very responsible for making sure justice occurs when something
atrocious happens."
(source: Philly.com)
OHIO:
Ohio police warn more bodies may be found in sex deaths case
Police in Ohio warned today that more bodies may be found after a man was
arrested over the deaths of 3 women in the Cleveland area.
Michael Madison, 35, was detained in Cleveland after officers discovered the
body of a woman who had been wrapped in bin bags in a garage.
2 more bodies were found in the garden and a basement of a nearby empty homes,
also wrapped in bin bags, less than 200 metres from each other.
East Cleveland mayor Gary Norton said Madison, a convicted sex offender, will
be charged later today in connection with the deaths.
But searches were continuing for more bodies. Police chief Ralph Spotts told
volunteers checking vacant houses for further victims to be alert for smells of
rotting.
Mr Norton said that investigators believe the victims found at the weekend were
black women who were killed within the last 6 to 10 days.
Cuyahoga County medical examiner's office confirmed the three women were found
"in states of advanced decomposition", making it difficult to determine the
causes of death.
Madison was registered as living at his mother's home several miles away from
where the bodies were found, but he was well known in the area and had
allegedly approached several women, it was reported.
During police interviews, Mr Madison led police to believe he had a fascination
with Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell - a rapist charged with 11 murders
who hid the remains of his victims near his home. He is in prison awaiting the
death penalty.
"[Madison] said some things that led us to believe that in some way, shape, or
form, Sowell might be an influence," Mr Norton said.
The discoveries were made just 10 miles from the house in which 3 women were
imprisoned for 10 years until escaping in May. School bus driver Ariel Castro,
53, is facing nearly 1,000 charges including kidnapping, rape and murder in
that case.
(source: London Evening Standard)
VIRGINIA:
9 homicide trials coming up in Central Virginia
With 5 active homicide cases at various stages in Campbell County courts, it's
a situation unlike any Commonwealth's Attorney Paul McAndrews has faced since
he joined the prosecutor's office in 1997.
All 5 cases involve killings from January 2012 through April of this year.
"I've never seen that many homicides within that span," McAndrews said.
Campbell's 5 cases make up the bulk of 9 area homicide cases, most of which
have various proceedings scheduled within the next few months.
3 cases in Lynchburg and 1 in Amherst County round out the homicide dockets,
and the charges range from manslaughter to capital murder.
2 of Campbell County's cases involve capital charges.
Anthony Witt and Vincent Spinner both face Virginia's highest criminal charge,
as well as one charge each of robbery.
Witt is charged in the death of Barbara Martin at her Springlake Road home in
Concord in late July 2012.
Spinner is charged in the death of his father-in-law James Payne at Payne's
Clarks Road home in early August 2012.
No trial date has been set in either case, but McAndrews said Witt's case is
set for scheduling on Aug. 7, while Spinner's is set to be scheduled on Sept.
9.
Robert Philbrook's case heads to a grand Jury on Sept. 9, McAndrews said.
Philbrook faces 2 counts each of 2nd-degree murder and use of a firearm in
commission of a felony in the February deaths of John and Virginia Philbrook.
McAndrews declined to say whether he will seek a capital murder charge against
Philbrook, though Virginia law allows for that charge due to the killing of
more than 1 person, either in the same transaction or within a period of 3
years.
Joshua Graves faces a preliminary hearing on Sept. 10, on a charge each of
2nd-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony, for the
shooting death of Ryan Travis Daniel at a Concord party in April.
Campbell County's oldest active homicide case currently in the courts was
delayed again last week, as Harold Smith's new defense attorney asked for, and
was granted, a continuance.
McAndrews said Smith, charged with the 2nd-degree murder of Casey Beals - he's
accused of providing the drugs that caused Beals' death - is on his 3rd defense
attorney as the previous 2 have left the case for various reasons, and that
Smith's current counsel has not had adequate time to prepare for the trial.
That case, which was initially to be heard this Wednesday, has not had a new
trial date set.
McAndrews said the capital cases in particular are much more difficult to
prepare for, and require much more intense work loads for prosecutors.
"Capital cases, by their very nature ... are in and of themselves much more
complicated cases, requiring a lot more time and a lot more effort (than other
cases)," McAndrews said.
His office has filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty in Witt's case,
but has not filed such notice in Spinner's case, though McAndrews did not
comment on whether he intends to seek the death sentence.
He called the load of homicide cases "incredibly unfortunate."
"These people have families, and (it's) just a horrible situation all around."
In Amherst County, Matthew Gardner faces a charge each of involuntary
manslaughter and reckless driving for the U.S. 29 wreck that killed Alfred
Perutelli and injured Virginia State Trooper D.T. Wilson.
His case is set for trial on Aug. 27.
Gardner was arrested almost 7 months after the wreck on the 29 bypass, after
prosecutors brought a direct indictment against him.
In Lynchburg, 3 jury trials are set to be heard between now and October.
In late August, Shawn Johnson's 1st-degree murder case is set for trial.
Johnson is charged with 1st-degree murder in the strangulation death of Thomas
Belford near the Elks Lodge in August of last year.
Jose Maldonado, also charged with 1st-degree murder in the stabbing death of
Mark Rowley from September of last year, faces a jury trial in September.
The case of Scott Miles is set for a jury trial in October, just over 10 months
after his mother-in-law Lynda Slocum was found dead in her Ravenwood Drive
home.
Miles faces a charge of 1st-degree murder.
Lynchburg Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Felmlee said it's unusual to
have this many cases coming to trial in such a short period of time.
"In the early 2000s we were averaging about 6 homicides a year," Felmlee said.
"Now it's about 1 to 3 a year, but to have 3 separate trials within a 3-month
period is not the norm for us."
Felmlee said it is about average timing to have cases coming to trial within
about a year of the initial offense date, as Maldonado and Johnson's cases are
set to do.
He said in Lynchburg 2 prosecutors are assigned to each homicide case.
Johnson and Maldonado's trials are set for 2 days apiece, while Felmlee
estimated Miles' trial would likely take 3 days.
(source: News Advance)
FLORIDA:
Pinellas deputies: Man jailed on murder charge strangles cellmate; Scott
Alexander Greenberg, 28, is accused of strangling a cellmate at the Pinellas
County Jail. He was in jail on charges of killing his girlfriend last year.
A man in jail on murder charges is accused of killing again.
Scott Alexander Greenberg, 28, is accused of strangling a cellmate at the
Pinellas County Jail. Greenberg was in jail on charges of killing his
girlfriend last year.
The victim has been identified as Kelly Damon Harding, 48, who was in jail on a
trespassing conviction.
Investigators say Greenberg shoved 2 3-ounce rolls of toilet paper down
Harding's throat and strangled him. Greenburg, who reportedly yelled out he did
it after the murder, allegedly told another inmate he didn't want life in
prison and that he wanted the death penalty.
According to officials, Greenberg was arrested in August 2012 after his
girlfriend was found dead at the Kenwood Inn in St. Petersburg.
"The victim in the homicide was Jennifer Zale, who was Greeberg's girlfriend,"
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said of Greenberg's previous murder
accusation. "And he was charged with second-degree murder because he strangled
her, choked her and stuffed toilet paper down her throat to kill her."
Greenberg is charged with 1st-degree murder in the jail killing.
Gualtieri said this is the 1st murder to happen inside the Pinellas County Jail
in the history of the facility.
(source: Bay9 News)
USA:
Jury selection begins in slaying of Okla. couple
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday for an Arizona inmate who escaped
from prison and is accused of killing a retired couple who was traveling
through New Mexico.
John McCluskey is the last defendant to face federal carjacking and murder
charges in the deaths of Gary and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla. The Haases'
were headed to Colorado for an annual camping trip when they were targeted for
their truck and travel trailer.
McCluskey was one of three prisoners who escaped from a medium-security prison
near Kingman in July 2010 with the help of his cousin and fiance, Casslyn
Welch. One of the inmates was quickly captured after a shootout with
authorities in Colorado, while McCluskey, Welch and inmate Tracy Province
embarked on a crime spree that sparked a three-week nationwide manhunt.
Province and Welch pleaded guilty last year to charges stemming from the
Haases' deaths and both face life sentences. They are expected to testify
during McCluskey's trial.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty if McCluskey is convicted.
McCluskey has made no secret of his desire to steer clear of a trial and the
death penalty. He agreed to plea negotiations earlier this year, but federal
prosecutors said they were intent on moving toward trial.
The trial was also delayed earlier this year while McCluskey was treated for an
undisclosed medical condition that resulted in weight loss and left him
physically and mentally weak.
The charges stem from a carjacking that took place Aug. 2, 2010, at a rest stop
near the New Mexico-Texas state line. Court documents said the fugitives forced
themselves into the Haases' truck and ordered the couple to drive west on
Interstate 40. They eventually exited onto a lonely two-lane road and stopped.
McCluskey was alone with the couple inside the trailer when gunshots rang out
and the Haases' were killed, according to court documents.
The fugitives drove the trailer to a more remote spot, unhitched it and used
liquor they found inside to set it ablaze. Investigators found the Haases'
remains along with 3 bullet casings among the charred debris. Gone were the
couple's truck, money and guns.
Province was captured days later in Wyoming, and McCluskey and Welch were taken
into custody at a campground in Arizona.
After being questioned by federal agents, McCluskey said he shot Gary Haas once
and Linda Haas 3 times.
McCluskey's attorneys have implied that they plan to present evidence that he
has a mental defect or disease. They have indicated in court filings that they
might call to the stand a forensic neuropsychologist who performed clinical
tests on McCluskey. Some of the tests assess a person's planning ability and
could be used to show lack of intent.
(source: Timesonline)
*****************
McClusky faces possible death penalty
The murder trial against a prison escapee accused of killing an Oklahoma couple
starts today.
Jury selection in John McCluskey's trial begins tomorrow.
McCluskey faces a possible death penalty for the murders of Linda and Gary
Haas.
The couple was found dead in a burned out motorhome near Santa Rosa in 2010.
Officials expect jury selection to last about 3 weeks.
(source: KOB News)
******************
Pirates could get death; life in prison is more likely
Federal prosecutors want 3 Somali pirates put to death.
Armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Ahmed Muse Salad,
Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar hijacked a yacht off the coast
of Africa in 2011 and killed the 4 Americans aboard - Scott Adam, Jean Adam,
Phyllis Patricia Macay and Robert Riggle - after failed negotiations with the
Navy. A U.S. District Court jury this month convicted Salad, Beyle and Abrar of
26 crimes - 22 punishable by death.
However, when the jury returns today to begin determining the pirates' fates, a
death sentence is far from guaranteed.
Jurors rebuff prosecution requests for death 2/3 of the time, according to the
Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project, a 2-decade-old group created by
the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. In the past 25 years -
since the government re-enacted the death penalty and added dozens of death
penalty-eligible crimes to the books - only 3 men have been executed while in
federal custody.
"It's not as automatic as one might think," said Richard Dieter, executive
director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that studies the
application of capital punishment in the United States.
He noted that federal prosecutors tried and failed to get the death penalty for
Terry Nichols, 1 of the men behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and Zacarias
Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker" who was involved in the planning of
the 9/11 attacks.
"Even in these terrible cases, it's sometimes difficult to get the death
penalty," Dieter said.
Historically, capital punishment has been a constant of American jurisprudence.
According to the information center, the 1st recorded execution in the New
World was in 1608 in the Jamestown colony: Capt. George Kendall was killed amid
suspicion he spied for Spain.
In 1972, however, the laws changed. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 5-4
vote that Georgia's death penalty statute was unconstitutional because it could
result in arbitrary sentencing, the center said. The ruling effectively voided
40 state death penalty laws.
Over time, most states and the federal government reworked their laws and
resurrected the sanction. Virginia re-enacted its death penalty in 1975 and
North Carolina in 1977, the center said.
18 states do not have a death penalty. In the past 6 years, 6 states -
including Maryland - voted to abolish it.
It wasn't until 1988 that the federal government re-enacted its own death
penalty. At first, it was only for murders committed during the commission of
drug crimes. In 1994, Congress expanded the law to include dozens of offenses,
including terrorism, murder during a hostage-taking and murder related to a
carjacking.
The U.S. Attorney General must authorize all death penalty prosecutions.
Federal death row inmates are housed primarily at the Federal Correctional
Complex in Terre Haute, Ind. The facility also is home to the federal
government's only death chamber, which uses lethal injection.
According to the resource counsel project, federal prosecutors have tried 282
defendants on death penalty-eligible charges in the past 25 years. Juries
imposed 73 death sentences and 144 life sentences.
Since 1963, the federal government has executed 3 people:
- Timothy McVeigh, the mastermind who carried out the Oklahoma City bombing
that claimed the lives of 168 people, in June 2001,
- Juan Garza, a marijuana smuggler who murdered 3 people in Texas, in June
2001,
- Louis Jones Jr., a retired Army master sergeant who raped and murdered a
private in Texas, in March 2003
Courts have sentenced 152 people to death in Virginia and 535 in North Carolina
since those states re-enacted their death penalties, the center said. Of those,
110 have been executed in Virginia and 43 in North Carolina.
Dieter said it is hard to compare the federal and state execution rates, since
most murders are tried in state courts, and federal prosecutors are more able
to pick and choose which cases they take to trial. However, he and several
other death penalty experts agreed federal juries rarely impose the ultimate
sanction.
"The numbers are small," he said.
Dieter hypothesized attorney pay might play a role in why federal juries appear
more reluctant to send defendants to their deaths.
Attorneys appointed to defend suspects in federal capital punishment cases are
paid up to $178 per hour. In Virginia, appointed attorneys are paid an "amount
deemed reasonable by the court" - usually between $100 and $150 per hour. In
North Carolina, appointed attorneys make $85 per hour.
"You get what you pay for," Dieter said.
Douglas Ramseur, the chief public defender for capital murder cases in the
state courts of southeast Virginia, said federal judges usually give defense
attorneys more time to prepare a capital case than state judges. He added that
defense attorneys involved in federal death penalty cases - whether public
defenders or court-appointed - also are allowed to spend more money than his
office to hire private investigators, scientific experts and other consultants.
"There certainly are more resources available in the federal system," said
Ramseur, noting capital cases in federal court can spawn million-dollar defense
bills.
"That is rare here," he said, referring to Virginia state courts.
The sentencing phase in the pirate case is expected to last more than a week.
Members of the victims' families and investigators familiar with the
defendants' histories in Somalia will testify.
The jury can recommend the defendants receive either the death penalty or life
in prison. Stephen Jones, who represented McVeigh during his trial in Oklahoma,
declined to guess how the jury might vote. However, he surmised the pirates
probably didn't want to be tried in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Virginians are generally conservative and supportive of the death penalty, he
said.
Plus, this is a Navy town.
"It's not a favorable venue for them," he said.
(source: The Virginian-Pilot)
**************************
FBI hair analysis may have falsely convicted thousands, including some on death
row----Over 2,000 cases up for review in 'unprecedented' internal investigation
The FBI will examine hair sample evidence from more than 2,000 cases dating as
far back as 1985. McClatchy reports that under the initiative the bureau will
investigate cases in which hair samples helped secure convictions, including
some that led to the death penalty. The US Department of Justice will waive its
normal deadlines for appeal in order to give "wrongly convicted people a fair
chance of review."
Free DNA testing will be offered when evidence is in doubt
Thousands of cases between 1985 and 2000 relied on hair samples, and the study
will focus on "whether analysts exaggerated the significance" of the samples,
or in some cases reported the results inaccurately. Free DNA testing will be
offered in any cases where the FBI is found to be in error. Peter Neufeld, a
co-director at the non-profit Innocence Project, tells McClatchy that "the
government's willingness to admit error and accept its duty to correct those
errors in an extraordinarily large number of cases is truly unprecedented."
The FBI could have overstated the significance of hair sample evidence
FBI Special Agent Ann Todd says "there is no reason to believe the FBI
Laboratory employed 'flawed' forensic techniques," adding that microscopic hair
analysis is "a valid forensic technique and one that is still conducted at the
lab" alongside DNA testing. Todd notes "the purpose of the review is to
determine if FBI Laboratory examiner testimony and reports properly reflect the
bounds of the underlying science." Defense attorneys claim that laboratory
analysts "overstated the significance" of the evidence.
It's not clear how many cases could be reversed, but the Innocence Project says
that almost a quarter of individuals exonerated by DNA evidence were originally
convicted in part thanks to microscopic hair analysis. Some had died in
custody.
(source: The Verge)
****************************************************
Interview With an Executioner----see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExS7UxodO1w
(source: You Tube)
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