In Adam Gray’s case we see the same flawed and overhauled technology that gave Cameron Todd Willingham a death sentence. Gray’s story has eerie similarities to Kenneth Richey’s case. We are talking about forensic arson detection, of course. From the Chicago Tribune: “Prosecutors in State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s Conviction Integrity Unit concluded in recently filed court papers […]
Wrongful Convictions
Guest blogging for GMA
Guest blogging for GMA was my pleasure and absolute honour. This UK based blog on human rights is from Global Minorities Alliance, a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organisation. They believe that all human beings, regardless of race, colour, religion or belief, faith or no faith, gender, or membership of another particular social group, should be treated […]
Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried
Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried and was set free on International Wrongful Conviction Day! From the Hartford Courant: “A judge on Friday dismissed the notorious, quarter-century-old capital murder case against Richard Lapointe, a mentally impaired dishwasher who was released from prison when the state Supreme Court said he was wrongly convicted in the brutal death […]
International Wrongful Conviction Day
International Wrongful Conviction Day on October 2 is an initiative from the Canadian Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. They launched the initiative in 2014. The AIDWYC is “a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, advocating for, and exonerating individuals convicted of a crime that they did not commit and to preventing such injustices in the future […]
Richard Lapointe free on bail
Richard Lapointe free on bail as reported by CT Now: “On April 10, 2015, Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander ordered that Lapointe be released on $250,000 security bond. Alexander also ordered him not to have contact with any members of the victim’s family and that he be subject to intensive pre-trial supervision. Appeal lawyers at […]
The December Killings
The December Killings always give me pause. During this month, we lost Maria Ridulph, Shawn K. Simmons, Officer Deriek Crouse, Kimberly Ann Thompson went missing, Leo Resk, and Gregory McRoberts was killed in a hit-and-run. Michelle Martinko was murdered, Eric Beasley was killed, and Amber, Karmon, and Kameron Willingham died during the accidental fire that led to their father’s wrongful execution. Patty Vaughan […]
Petition for Cert filed for Zeigler
Petition for Cert filed for Zeigler with the United States Supreme Court by the New York defense team! The State of Florida has to respond this month. Dennis H. Tracey, III and John Houston Pope have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. In plain English: the New York defense team […]
Recap #CrimeChat Dec 6, 2014
Recap #CrimeChat Dec 6, 2014 with Sue Carney about the Alfred Moore case. Sue and I did not follow any chronological order to discuss the case. We went from first impressions to every detail that bothered us. As you can imagine, the hour flew by and … we are left with more questions! Some of […]
Zeigler: Appeal Denied
Zeigler: Appeal Denied by the Florida Supreme Court last Nov 13, 2013. Here is the decision in pdf format: The newly discovered evidence hinged on the false arrest report by Det. Frye. It is discussed here. What are the consequences of the false arrest report and the lies told by Detective Frye under oath? We […]
Sum it Up! #46
Sum it Up! #46 is a life-saver today because I am swamped. My editorial calendar was heavily neglected this week. All kinds of post ideas popped up that were not planned. Hehe, back to blogging free style for me! Great news from Jared Bradley, the Colorado Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is the latest to join […]
False Confessions: why & how?
False Confessions: why & how? This month two extremely important cases are under review. In the USA, the Connecticut Supreme Court heard the State’s appeal in the case of Richard Lapointe. The state is appealing the decision to grant Lapointe a new trial. False confessions (four) and forensic arson detection are key in this […]
Recap #CrimeChat Sept 16, 2013
Recap #CrimeChat Sept 16, 2013. Today’s #CrimeChat was about real CSI. Retrieving DNA from certain surfaces can be done by swabbing and taping but those methods may not work 100% on porous surfaces, brick, concrete or, wet surfaces. The M-Vac is a wet-vacuum sampling system. Jared Bradley, tweeting as mvacsys, said: “think of a medical […]
Recap #crimechat April 4, 2013
Recap #crimechat April 4, 2013: Today we spoke about wrongful convictions with Nancy Petro. A short introduction to wrongful convictions started this crimechat. How do we find out about Wrongful Convictions in general? A: We discover that the victim is alive & well. Examples: India 2003, the Reena Devi case. Reena disappeared, her mother ID-ed her […]
Lapointe: DNA does not match
Who left his DNA behind: Richard A. Lapointe or Frederick Rodney Merrill? We have new developments that could shed a light on the case of Bernice Martin and could once and for all clear up who left his DNA. We already know it wasn’t Lapointe. The Connecticut State Board of Pardons and Paroles decided last week to grant […]
Key evidence lost in Hank Skinner case
Key evidence is lost in the case of Hank Skinner so despite the fact that the state of Texas now backs further DNA testing, we still will not get all the answers we need. There are pictures of the jackets (see here) but the big blood- and sweat-stained tan jacket with snap buttons down the front found near […]
Los Tocayos Carlos
Los Tocayos Carlos … the namesake Carlos … The Guardian has an excellent article about a Texas capital punishment case involving a wrongful conviction, switched identities, an unsolved murder, evidence not tested for DNA, sloppy police procedures and an execution. “Carlos DeLuna was arrested, aged 20, on 4 February 1983 for the brutal murder of […]
The Justice Gap on Wrongful Convictions
Kim Evans wrote an excellent summary for the Justice Gap about the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association (CALA) conference on Wrongful Convictions from last week. I quote: “At our Justice Gap debate, Francis FitzGibbon QC, of Doughty Street Chambers, kicked off proceedings by asking why should anyone care about the wrongly convicted.” Do we still care or do we […]
Zeigler: evil killer or parent-to-be?
Zeigler: evil killer or parent-to-be? Something has been bothering me immensely in the Zeigler case. I know, many things bother me in this case! But this is something I have not blogged about before. It is about the life term insurance policies and Zeigler’s bank accounts. It has been stated over and over again that […]
Zeigler, Part XX: The False Arrest Report
Zeigler, Part XX: The False Arrest Report is based on the documents filed in Mr. Zeigler case as per the previous post. The documents were sent to me by Mr. Zeigler’s lawyers and I thank them for that. On Dec 29, 1975, Detective Frye from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office wrote in his arrest report: […]
Zeigler, Part XIX
Zeigler, Part XIX: There is a new and exciting turn of events in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. As loyal readers know, Mr. Zeigler has been on death row for the 1975 quadruple murders that took place on Christmas Eve inside his family’s furniture store in Wintergarden, Florida. When I started my posts about […]