Defrosting Cold Cases

The Hartford Courant reported what I had feared since last year: Richard Lapointe’s Habeas Petition was denied. “Superior Court Judge John J. Nazzaro, in a 51-page ruling issued late Friday, turned back arguments that prosecutors had withheld material evidence, that Lapointe’s trial and appellate lawyers were incompetent, and that new evidence proved Lapointe was innocent. [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Part 2: The Changing of the Stories by Tiah  ______________________ After the police had spoken to all Laura’s co-workers they all said they didn’t know anything about a meeting except for CW. But even she didn’t have a name for this unknown man. Police had asked them to all come in and give a written [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Alaska, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Kodiak, Laura Henderson-Ibach, Missing Person, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Please welcome guest blogger Tiah! Unlike most guest bloggers on my site, Tiah is not involved in the legal world.  Instead, she is an accountant, a far leap from the world of forensics and law!  Tiah has assisted on appeal cases in the past; she was the lay person who reviewed transcripts of court cases.  [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Alaska, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Kidnapping, Kodiak, Laura Henderson-Ibach, Miscarriage of Justice, Missing Person, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Statesman reports that “a draft report issued today by the Texas Forensic Science Commission on the evidence used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham focuses on training and education initiatives for fire investigators and makes several suggestions for continued improvement for investigations. The report, as expected, takes pains to say that it does [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Zeigler Defense Team has told me that this morning, Judge Whitehead has approved state-funding to engage Mr Paul Kish as blood spatter expert in connection with William Thomas Zeigler‘s requests for new DNA testing. Mr. Kish is a forensic consultant in Corning, New York. He will testify at a future hearing on whether a new round of DNA [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

There is a string of news paper articles about the DNA hearing for William Thomas Zeigler that took place at 8am this morning in Orange County, FL! Some are correct and others are not. According to ABC Action News, Private Investigator Lynn-Marie Carty of Reunite People says the evidence she has uncovered will point the [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Arthur Allen Thomas’ ex-wife and staunch supporter died of cancer. “Harrison filed for divorce after Thomas’ guilty verdict remained in place after the second trial. She changed her name from Vivienne Thomas to Vivien Harrison. She remained a staunch supporter of his innocence, maintaining he was home with her at the time of the murders. In [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Miscarriage of Justice, New Zealand, Police, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

A Republican leader in the Texas Senate is stalling a vote that would oust the head of the state Forensic Science Commission so the controversial chairman can stay in place to rule on the Willingham case questioning whether he was executed based on faulty arson evidence. The forensics panel is set to meet next week to consider its [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Tags: Alaska, Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Laura Henderson-Ibach, mindmaps, Miscarriage of Justice, Missing Person, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Wrongful Convictions

Justice Ginsburg, writing for the majority, said prison inmates may use a federal civil rights law to seek DNA testing that was not performed before their conviction. Lower federal courts had dismissed Skinner’s claims at an early stage, although other federal judges have allowed similar lawsuits to go forward in other parts of the country. [...]

Tags: Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Henry Skinner, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions