Tuesday, May 19, 2015

FBI overstated hair match crisis (23); (The Emperor's clothes); Willie Manning: Wonderful post by Carimah Townes, published by ThinkProgress, on "How the FBI majorly screwed up a death penalty case and admitted it just in time." “His cases present some of the classic hallmarks of innocence: racial overtones, unreliable witnesses, and police or prosecutorial misconduct. His second case includes an additional horrifying dimension – two different types of junk science masquerading as forensic evidence of his guilt.” (Must, Must Read. HL);


POST:  How the FBI majorly screwed up a death penalty case and admitted it just in time," by Carimah Townes, published by ThinkProgress on May 6, 2015.

GIST:  "(Willie Manning) An African American death row inmate was just added to the growing innocence list compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), after he was cleared in the murder of an elderly woman and her daughter — but he’s still sentenced to die for the murders of two college students. The twist? He may be exonerated in that crime as well, since the FBI admitted flawed forensic testimony was used to convict him.........In 2012, the Bureau launched an investigation into the use of flawed hair analysis, the FBI found that hair matches were used in 2,500 cases. As of mid-April, the FBI reviewed 342 of those cases, and found that FBI forensic experts presented flawed evidence 257 trials. Robert Dunham, the executive director of DPIC, says the FBI has discovered 33 capital cases in which hair analysis was used. “It is always stunning when a man is exonerated from death row with evidence of his innocence, but Mr. Manning’s case presents the unimaginable possibility that an innocent man may have been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in two different trials for two different offenses,” Dunham said, in a recent press release. “His cases present some of the classic hallmarks of innocence: racial overtones, unreliable witnesses, and police or prosecutorial misconduct. His second case includes an additional horrifying dimension – two different types of junk science masquerading as forensic evidence of his guilt.”"

The entire post can be found at:

 http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/05/06/3655660/one-inmate-four-death-penalty-sentences-exonerated-twice/

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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;