COUNTDOWN: 16 days to Wrongful Conviction Day: (Thursday October 6, 2016);
POST: "Many wrongfully convicted Harris County drug defendants never notified of innocence claims," published by 'Grits for Breakfast' on September 13, 2016.
GIST: "The
Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission continues to trundle along
months after your correspondent left its ranks and is scheduled to meet
Thursday, September 15th at 1:00 p.m. in the House Appropriations
Committee Room, Texas Capitol Extension Room #E1.030.........Among other documents, the "meeting book" this time contains a joint
power-point presentation from the Harris County DA and Public Defender
on the rash of drug exonerations in that county stemming from a
combination of over-aggressive drug enforcement and faulty field tests.
Their update included a reminder that quite a few falsely convicted
people in this episode served out their full sentences without ever
being notified they were entitled to relief. Just to try out something
new, here are a few screenshot-highlights from that presentation
collected into a brief slideshow. The difficulties faced in notifying defendants eligible for relief, much
less equipping them with counsel if they have a viable claim, are
neither new nor unique to this episode. Rather, it's a problem the state
confronts in multiple situations where
large-scale forensic and/or other errors
potentially taint large classes of cases instead of one or two
convictions. These are not problems with obviously great solutions, but
identifying them and talking about ways to improve on past failings is a
good place to start."........."The difficulties faced in notifying defendants eligible for relief, much
less equipping them with counsel if they have a viable claim, are
neither new nor unique to this episode. Rather, it's a problem the state
confronts in multiple situations where
large-scale forensic and/or other errors
potentially taint large classes of cases instead of one or two
convictions. These are not problems with obviously great solutions, but
identifying them and talking about ways to improve on past failings is a
good place to start."
The entire post can be found at:
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.ca/2016/09/hcdao-many-wrongfully-convicted-drug.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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.