In the years since I started publishing this Blog I have become
increasingly disturbed by the 'white elephant' in the room: Sheer,
unadulterated, willful misconduct in the criminal justice system -
much of it involving forensic evidence - committed by lab technicians,
pathologists, police officers, prosecutors and others. Think Annie
Dookhan; Think Sonia Farak; Think David Kofoed; Think Charles Smith;
Think Ken Anderson; Think Gene Morrison. I have therefore decided to run this image of a
white elephant at the top of every applicable post henceforth, to draw
our reader's attention to what I see as a major problem in all too
many criminal justice system's - my own included. Harold Levy;
Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
"Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be
independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is
a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing
these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful
convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved
deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury.
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009;
http://www.t-mlaw.com/blog/post/the-elephant-in-the-crime-lab/
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Jury awards $22 million in damages to wrongly convicted ex-El Rukn," by reporters
Jason Meisner and Elyssa Cherney, published by the Chicago Tribune.
GIST: "A federal jury on Thursday awarded a whopping $22 million in damages to a former El Rukn gang member who claimed two
Chicago police detectives framed him for an infamous 1984 double murder that sent him to death row. After
two and half days of deliberation, the jury agreed with Nathson Fields'
claims that Sgt. David O'Callaghan and Lt. Joseph Murphy violated his
civil rights by withholding critical evidence from defense attorneys
that could have pointed away from him as the killer. The jury also found that at the time Fields was arrested
and charged, the city had a pattern and practice of keeping secret
"street files" in homicide investigations even though the practice was
supposedly abolished in 1983. In
what is believed to be one of the largest awards in a wrongful
conviction case in Chicago history, the jury found the city liable for
$22 million in damages and also assessed a combined $40,000 in punitive
damages against the two officers. The Tribune has chronicled the case in
several front-page stories over the past several years detailing how
Fields' street file was found in 2011 buried in an old filing cabinet
with hundreds of other homicide cases in a South Side police station
basement. Fields' first trial ended in a mistrial in
2014. The verdict in the second trial was overturned after the judge
decided jurors should have heard evidence that Earl Hawkins — an El Rukn
hit man who admitted to at least a dozen killings and was a key witness
for the city and police — was expecting to be freed from prison years
early. After
the trial, it was revealed that police detectives and prosecutors
involved in the case had written glowing letters to the parole board
about Hawkins and his cooperation — although lawyers for the city have
presented evidence that prison officials had already granted Hawkins'
release before they read them. Meanwhile, as Fields'
third trial was getting under way last month, the U.S. attorney's office
filed an unusual motion asking a federal judge to reduce the federal
racketeering sentence for another convicted El Rukn killer, Derrick
Kees, from 25 years to 12 years because of his anticipated testimony
against Fields. Earlier this month, Kees testified that his agreement
could mean he'll gain freedom next year."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-el-rukn-trial-verdict-met-20161215-story.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.
