Lapointe hearing May 7, 2010
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Categories: Forensics, Lapointe, Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved
Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Forensics, Identification, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Wrongful Convictions
Fascinating case. As a novelist, specializing in legal thrillers, I find these real life cases far more interesting than most of their fictional counterparts. I know that might sound a bit ghoulish – given that it is some one else’s liberty or even life on the line – but murder and rape cases have a natural drama about them that arouses the interest. having said that, it is the justice element (protecting the innocent whilst punishing the guilty) that arouses the passion.
Thank you, David, for visiting DCC and for taking an interest in Richard’s case.
There are far more elements to this case than are mentioned in the hearing coverage. There is more information in the post “Who really killed Mrs. Bernice Martin?” but even that one is like “touching on the subject” instead of going indept. I hope that one day we will find justice in this case. DNA we have now, that was not available in 1987, points to others than Richard and we have not even discussed yet the profile of the attacker.
What concerns me, and I hope others are working on this, is that in the best case scenario, Richard needs a new home. This mentally disabled man had been institutionalized for so long and has so many needs, that I hope his circle of friends are looking into this.
Thanks again for visiting, please do check back. And just in case you need materials for a new book…the Lapointe case has it all! But should that not be what you are looking for, check out the post about the shooting death of Patrol Officer Robert Lawrence Tatman, on DCC.
Cheers, Vidocq
Thanks. I will check out those posts now.
As a matter of fact, I have a book coming out about rape, involving questionable eyewitness testimony and controversial DNA evidence. (NO WAY OUT, published by HarperCollins UK, Avon imprint, on June 10th). The central character is very loosely inspired by Eldridge Cleaver, but the story merely uses his background as a point of departure. It involves the controversial theme of inter-racial rape, which is quite risky for an author because, whatever the ending of the story, one runs the risk of alienating people of one political viewpoint or another. However, I decided to take the bull by the horns and go ahead with the story. All I will say is that it is full of twists and turns and I have tried to handle the subject matter with the seriousness and sensitivity that it deserves.
Thanks, David, and good luck writing!