Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Henry James: New Orleans; Innocence Project exoneree profile reveals fortuitous discovery - and failure to pick up on exculpatory forensic evidence

STORY: "Henry James: Exoneree profile," published by the New Orleans Innocence Project;
GIST: "IPNO (Innocence Project of New Orleans) staff went through boxes and boxes of old evidence with Jefferson Parish Crime Lab Director Milton Dureau, all to no avail. Months later, Mr. Dureau was searching for evidence in an unrelated case and just happened to come across the evidence in Mr. James’s case. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s office quickly agreed to DNA testing, and the evidence was sent off to a lab. On September 26, 2011, the lab reported that its DNA testing excluded James as the perpetrator in the rape.........
"Henry James was wrongfully convicted for two reasons: like more than 75% of DNA exonerees, the victim mistakenly identified Mr. James as her attacker, and Mr. James’s lawyer failed to pick up on a vital piece of forensic evidence that might have cleared his client.

THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.ip-no.org/exonoree-profile/henry-james

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 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

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;