Thursday, October 17, 2013

Susan May: Convicted of murder 20 years ago on basis of a "blood-stained handprint" at the scene, a fingerprint expert now says there is "overwhelming evidence" that the marks were not made in blood. Her conviction is being examined by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. (CCRC);


STORY: "Susan May 1993 murder case print 'was not blood',  reported by BBC News on October 14, 2013.
GIST:  "A woman convicted of murder 20 years ago believes new evidence being examined by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will clear her name. Susan May, 68, served 12 years in prison for the murder of her aunt, Hilda Marchbank, at her home in Royton, Greater Manchester, in 1993. The prosecution's case hinged on a "blood-stained handprint" at the scene. But a fingerprint expert has said there is "overwhelming evidence" the marks were not made in blood. Ms May, who was the first person in the UK to be released at her earliest parole date without admitting guilt, has had two failed appeals. Her campaign to clear her name is backed by 100 MPs and peers. Now the CCRC, set up to review possible miscarriages of justice, has agreed to investigate whether her case should be referred back to the Court of Appeal for a rare third time. 'Almost invisible' It is looking into a report - commissioned by campaigners - by fingerprint analyst Arie Zeelenberg, former head of the Dutch national police fingerprint service. He examined high resolution photographs - which were not seen by the jury - of the marks on the wall. His report concludes: "There is no evidence that the finger marks... attributed to Susan May were placed in blood. "In fact there is overwhelming evidence that they were not comprised of blood but instead of sweat and a minor residue of another unknown substance.""
The entire story can be found at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-24473836

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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

I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com;

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