MS: Retrial ordered in Corey Maye case -- at last

The state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial Tuesday for Cory Maye, convicted of shooting to death a Prentiss police officer who raided his home. "Thank you, Lord. I've prayed and prayed over this every night since this took place, " Maye's mother, Dorothy, said after learning of the decision.

Maye testified he was sleeping Dec. 26, 2001, when police burst into his home. He said he shot officer Ron Jones in self-defense, but a Marion County jury in 2004 concluded he was guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to die by lethal injection.

In 2006, Circuit Judge Michael Eubanks tossed out the death sentence after concluding Maye's former lawyer failed to represent her client adequately during the penalty phase of the trial. The judge sentenced Maye to life in prison without parole.

On Tuesday, the Appeals Court concluded Maye deserves a second trial, contending that his trial should have been held, as he requested, in Jefferson Davis County since that is where the crime took place. "Certainly we disagree," said District Attorney Hal Kittrell, adding that the attorney general's office will seek a rehearing on the matter and will appeal, if necessary, to the state Supreme Court.

If the courts all agree that a new trial is necessary, there will be another trial because prosecutors believe Maye is guilty, he said. "We didn't buy it (his self-defense claim), nor did a jury, so we'll go back."

The Appeals Court found that the judge moved the trial to Marion County at Maye's request because of pretrial publicity. But later, when Maye asked for the trial to be returned to Jefferson Davis County, the judge refused. "Our concern was, 'how do you send a case back to a place you said you couldn't get a fair trial?' " Kittrell asked.

Maye was arrested after the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force received a tip from a confidential informant regarding possible drugs in a duplex occupied by 21-year-old Jamie Smith.

The warrant listed Smith's name but not Maye's. Police testified they knocked on Smith's door, announced themselves and that Smith surrendered to police and was charged with sale of cocaine.

Original report here.

The account of Maye's "crime" above is very poor. See here for more details. Lying police thugs is what it is all about.



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 3:29 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

NOTE:

As blogger.com have closed down the companion site to this one -- Wicked Thoughts -- they could also close this one down any time. They give no reasons for their actions so nobody can tell what will happen next.

In case they DO close this site down, however, make a note of the MIRROR SITE for this blog. The mirror site will start to be updated immediately this present site goes down -- if it does.

Wicked Thoughts is now hosted on Wordpress and the archives (past posts) are on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 2:25 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

Release ordered for wrongfully convicted NYC man

A New York City man imprisoned for nearly 20 years for a now-overturned murder conviction is set to be freed within days after a judge Thursday ordered him released while authorities determine whether he must serve an unrelated drug sentence. A federal judge in suburban White Plains, N.Y., ordered Fernando Bermudez released without bail on the drug case at least until June 30. That gives his lawyers time to try to persuade federal officials to credit his 27-month sentence as served.

Bermudez' release is expected as soon as Friday, according to defense lawyer Barry J. Pollack said. Relatives readied a homecoming celebration for the married father of three at their upper Manhattan apartment. "It's amazing," said his father, Frank Bermudez.

A state judge last week declared Bermudez innocent in a deadly 1991 shooting near a Manhattan nightclub. He was convicted of murder the next year and sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. The judge said a key witness lied and others influenced one other into implicating Bermudez.

Manhattan prosecutors have said they still believe Bermudez is guilty. They continue to weigh a potential appeal and other options.

Despite the overturned conviction, the 40-year-old Bermudez has remained behind bars because of his federal drug-sale case. His February 1991 arrest in a drug sting at a suburban mall predated the killing, but he had been arrested in the murder by the time he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. His federal prison term was put off. His lawyers argue that he has effectively more than served his time in that case.

"Had it not been for this wrongful conviction, Mr. Bermudez would have long ago competed his 27-month federal sentence," his lawyers wrote in court papers. " ... Under the circumstances, Mr. Bermudez should not spend an additional day in prison." Defense lawyers ultimately want the federal Bureau of Prisons to count his sentence as served. The agency's telephone rang unanswered Thursday evening.

Federal prosecutors didn't oppose Bermudez' temporary release. They declined to comment on whether they will oppose his request for relief from his federal sentence.

In the murder case, Supreme Court Justice John Cataldo not only threw out Bermudez' conviction but dismissed the charges, rather than calling for a retrial. Cataldo said Bermudez had proven his innocence in the Aug. 4, 1991, shooting of 16-year-old Raymond Blount. He was killed after a fight with another teen inside a nightspot.

The other teen said Bermudez was the gunman, and four bystander eyewitnesses identified him from police photograph files and then a lineup. But the eyewitnesses — who recanted — had improperly consulted among themselves before picking him from police photos, instead of identifying him separately, Cataldo found. And the teen involved in the fight lied as he testified under an agreement sparing him criminal charges, the judge said.

No forensic evidence linked Bermudez to the crime.

Bermudez has completed most of a college degree in prison, his lawyers said.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 2:24 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

Injured woman tracks down attacker herself after British police fail to help

And it only took her a few hours

When police drew a blank in the hunt for the woman thug who nearly blinded her in a vicious nightclub attack, Jennifer Wilson did not let the matter rest. Instead, the 20-year-old turned detective herself, and used Facebook to trace the stranger who had rammed a glass into her face. She recognised an acquaintance who was in the yob's group before the unprovoked attack, and trawled through his list of 200 friends on the social networking website.

After several hours, Miss Wilson found a photograph of her attacker, hairdresser Ashleigh Holliman. She even tracked down Holliman's address and workplace through a mutual friend on Facebook and gave them to Hertfordshire Police, who were then able to arrest her. Holliman, 22, of Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, admitted actual bodily harm at St Albans Crown Court and was sentenced to 120 hours' unpaid work. Recorder Nigel Peters, QC, also ordered her to pay Miss Wilson £2,400 compensation for the attack at Walkabout Bar in Watford in March this year.

David Chrimes, prosecuting, told the court: 'Miss Wilson was dancing on the stage when the defendant and a friend of hers were staring in a hostile way towards the victim. 'Miss Wilson leans forward to ask what they are talking about and then she is grabbed by the defendant and struck with the glass that connected below the left eye.'

Barry Forward, defending, said Holliman had since stopped drinking and was full of remorse.

Miss Wilson, who has been left with an inch-long scar, said yesterday: 'I honestly thought I was going to lose my eye. She came up to me and just slammed the glass into my face with all her might. Blood was squirting out of the hole on my face. 'My hair and face were covered and my cream top turned red.'

She added: 'I spent hours searching Facebook as I knew I'd seen her friend before. When I finally found her I couldn't believe it. I saw her smiling in the pictures like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth and felt sick inside.' Police had told her the CCTV from the club was blurry and staff had cleared away evidence from the dance floor, hindering inquiries. 'I'm just a receptionist in a tanning salon but I ended up doing the detective work for them,' said Miss Wilson. 'Maybe I'm in the wrong job.'

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 2:42 PM 1 comments links to this post

 

He would have been better off shooting first

Most of us would probably think that a man who found himself being followed down a dark street by two people at midnight and turned to ask, "why are you following me?" while holding a folding pocket knife pointed down along his leg was just being careful. His actions seem especially reasonable when you know that he put the knife away upon hearing that his apparent stalkers actually meant no harm. But in New Hampshire, Dustin Almon was convicted of a misdemeanor because the two fellow pedestrians were plainclothes police officers. According to SeacoastOnline:

Officer Anthony Cattabriga, said he was walking behind Almon on Chapel Street on Nov. 8, 2008, when Almon turned around three times to look at him and a new officer he was training. It was dark and Almon was twenty feet away when he displayed a knife with a two-inch blade the third time he turned around, said Cattabriga.

"He pointed it down by his side," the liquor officer testified, while demonstrating with Almon's seized pocket knife.

When he responded by yelling "police," Almon folded the knife, clipped it to his belt and complied with all subsequent police orders, Cattabriga testified.

The two state liquor enforcement officers were "in plain clothes without any indicators that they were members of law enforcement." They both carried concealed handguns and Tasers.

So neither Almon nor anybody else who might have happened along had any easy way to distinguish these two from the sort of common criminals who frequent dark, late-night streets. And Almon quickly dropped his challenge once the police did identify themselves.

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Almon was charged -- first with that catch-all offense, "disorderly conduct," and later with the harsher "criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon" -- because he caused these two well-armed officers to stain their pants. Despite his gun and Taser, Cattabriga insists, "I feared for my safety."

Perhaps concerned about appearing too solicitous of excitable law-enforcement officers, Judge Sawako Gardner insists that the officers' government-employed status isn't a factor -- Almon would have been sentenced to 30 days in jail (suspended pending a year of good behavior) and a $500 fine (half suspended) no matter who he confronted.

Really? But New Hampshire law explicitly allows for the use of actual force in self-defense -- deadly or non-deadly depending on the circumstances, "a degree of such force which he reasonably believes to be necessary for such purpose." New Hampshire law also allows people to engage in otherwise illegal conduct if it's necessary to prevent a greater harm. The law states:

Conduct which the actor believes to be necessary to avoid harm to himself or another is justifiable if the desirability and urgency of avoiding such harm outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the statute defining the offense charged.

So even if holding a knife by your side could, by any stretch of the imagination, be defined as "criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon," it's hard to see how doing so would not meet "ordinary standards of reasonableness" when you're alone, at night, and concerned that two people following you intend to mug and, maybe, kill you.

Dustin Almon's actions seem perfectly justifiable according to existing law, without having to reach further afield for moral justifications for deterring potential assailants. Judge Gardner would apparently strip the people of New Hampshire of rights they possess under current law rather than allow the occasional law enforcement officer to suffer from a moment of inconvenience.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 7:01 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

British childcare watchdog deliberately hid evidence in court case

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

The childcare watchdog has admitted withholding crucial evidence that could potentially hand Sharon Shoesmith, the former head of children’s services at Haringey Council, hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation. Ms Shoesmith was sacked after a damning Ofsted report into how her department was run in the aftermath of the Baby P case. A High Court judge has taken the extraordinary step of reopening her case so dozens of pages of handwritten notes, e-mails and draft reports can be examined. Mr Justice Foskett also ordered Ofsted to pay for all extra legal costs incurred at the penal “indemnity” rate — a bill that could cost taxpayers £50,000.

Ofsted issued a humiliating apology for its handling of Ms Shoesmith’s legal challenge, admitting a “serious and deeply regrettable error”.

The latest unexpected twist in the case of Baby Peter, the 17-month-old boy who died from repeated abuse, has placed in doubt Ofsted’s competence to oversee child protection.

Last month Ms Shoesmith launched judicial review proceedings against Ofsted, Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary, and Haringey Council over her dismissal from the £130,000 a year job after the Baby Peter tragedy. She accused Mr Balls of putting pressure on Haringey to sack her with no compensation after a media campaign. Her lawyers have argued that a devastating Ofsted report used by Mr Balls and Haringey to justify their actions was deeply flawed and failed to follow proper procedures. That hearing ended a month ago and all parties were expecting the judge to make his ruling this week.

Ms Shoesmith’s lawyers had repeatedly tried to get hold of handwritten notes and various early drafts of the devastating Ofsted report into Haringey children’s services that cost her her job. Ms Shoesmith was told first the notes were not relevant, then that they “did not exist”. However, they were found several weeks ago by a lawyer new to Ofsted’s legal department who was following up a freedom of information request. Of the five key witnesses in Ofsted’s defence, three have produced new material. The judge was alerted on November 6.

Last night the Conservatives said that the court case had called into question Ofsted’s competence. “Ofsted has come out very badly from this tragic affair. An inspection in 2007 gave Haringey three stars, just days after Baby P has died. Their second inspection completely reversed that judgment. Now someone’s incompetence means we’re faced with the risible prospect of the taxpayer shelling out for Sharon Shoesmith’s legal costs,” Tim Loughton, the Shadow Children’s Minister, said. “Ofsted has to get its act together. Inspectors of children’s services need to be spending much more time talking to professionals and less time checking ticked boxes.”

Ofsted has been given two weeks to produce any other documents that could be relevant to the case.

In the emergency High Court hearing yesterday, Mr Justice Foskett also ordered it to give “a full explanation” of how it was that a series of requests from Ms Shoesmith’s lawyers for information on draft reports “was dealt with in the way it was”. He said that they were at first “batted away”, then turned down on the basis that the draft reports did not exist, “and now they do”. “I want chapter and verse on that,” he said.

Among the material are copies of drafts of transcripts of the Ofsted report into Haringey. There had been allegations that earlier drafts of the Ofsted report had been altered, or the assessments that they contained were altered in some way, he said. The reopening of the case means that a judgment is now unlikely until the new year.

Ofsted admitted that it had made a “serious and deeply regrettable error” in failing to disclose potential evidence. “We very much regret that this has happened. We have apologised unreservedly to the court and other parties. Unfortunately, mistakes sometimes happen and, while this is a serious one and deeply regrettable, we have nothing to hide,” it said in a statement.

Ms Shoesmith, 56, was dismissed in December.

During the judicial review it emerged that there were two key phone calls made to Haringey Council from a senior minister and senior official at the Department for Children, Schools and Families after a bruising Prime Minister’s Questions. It also emerged that Christine Gilbert, the Chief Inspector, made special arrangements for Mr Balls to have the Ofsted report before Haringey and gave him a personal briefing on the morning when Ms Shoesmith was suspended.

Original report here. (Via POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 1:37 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

Australia: Honest cop back at work after beating corrupt police bosses -- for now



A OFFICER who exposed cronyism and corruption in the police force has returned to duty after 18 months of being forced to see psychiatrists despite being fit. Sergeant Robbie Munn said he was greeted by "a lot of smiles, handshakes and pats on the back" by other officers at the Maroochydore police station after battling against police bureaucracy.

Sgt Munn, who rebelled against a culture he said deterred whistleblowers from reporting "dirty little secrets" in the service, credited an October story in The Courier-Mail with restoring his career. Only days before the story ran, Sgt Munn was barred from duty but within hours of the story's publication his doctor received a report clearing him for service. "The story was the only reason I was allowed back," he said. "I still think they want me out and will try to medically retire me."

Sgt Munn is working three days a week on a rehabilitation program recommended for him last year but only offered to him after the story appeared. Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said he would meet with Sgt Munn to discuss his concerns, but the meeting has yet to occur.

Sgt Munn was supported by Queensland Police Union general secretary Mick Barnes, Maroochydore's Sgt John Saez, a 37-year veteran, and dozens of Dayboro residents impressed with his services as officer-in-charge in the town.

Sgt Munn, who was in charge of 70 police officers at Maroochydore, said he was smeared in the bureaucracy after exposing that police cheated on promotion exams by plagiarising and paying others to complete their work. He also unsuccessfully tried to reform rosters at the Maroochydore watchhouse after becoming concerned at some work practices. A year later, two officers were charged and eventually jailed for taking advantage of female prisoners.

When he was overlooked for promotion in Dayboro, he appealed to the CMC and won, embarrassing his managers. After having a heart attack, Sgt Munn said he was not allowed to return to duty despite his GP and two psychiatrists saying he was fit. The police service was accused of doctor-shopping for a negative report to keep Sgt Munn from returning.

He was embarrassed to be paid more than $100,000 from a fund for ill police officers while he was on enforced leave. "At least now I have direction. For 18 months I had no direction," he said.

Police bureaucrats sat on a favourable report on his mental condition until after the newspaper article appeared.

Evie, his wife, said her husband had been "honest to his own detriment". Union secretary Mr Barnes said Sgt Munn was a victim of "bastardisation" in the force. "It highlights the mindset within many senior QPS officers who are unable to agree to disagree," he said.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 9:01 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

Crooked Australian Federal Police suppressed exculpatory rape evidence

An Australian wrongly spent more than two years in jail for child rape after the Australian Federal Police and the federal prosecutor denied the existence of crucial documents that would have exonerated him. Pilot Frederic Arthur Martens, 60, is threatening to sue the two agencies for millions of dollars after his conviction was quashed and his 5 1/2-year jail sentence was set aside by Queensland's Court of Appeal yesterday.

The court slammed prosecutors and police over their mishandling of the case. In a scathing judgment, judge Richard Chesterman was critical of the AFP and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for not producing flight records from the Papua New Guinea civil aviation authority that proved Mr Martens was 1000km away from Port Moresby on the night he was accused of raping the girl. The documents were eventually discovered by Mr Martens's partner and were instrumental in the quashing of his conviction.

Mr Martens also blames the AFP for the death of his infant daughter, Stephanie, who he says died from malaria in PNG after his arrest because he was prevented from leaving Australia and his wife could not afford a doctor after police froze his bank accounts.

Mr Martens was the first person convicted under Australia's sex tourism laws, when a Cairns jury found him guilty in October 2006 of raping a 14-year-old PNG girl in Port Moresby in 2001.

Justice Chesterman said that after Mr Martens was arrested, his bail conditions prevented him from travelling to PNG so he had to rely on the federal authorities to find the records. "(The AFP and CDPP) undertook the task and informed the petitioner that the records did not exist," Justice Chesterman wrote. "The records have always existed and have now been produced.

"It is a poor reflection upon the two organisations that one should have failed to find them, and denied their existence, and the other object to their use in the (appeal) on the ground that (Martens) should have obtained them earlier."

Justice Chesterman said Mr Martens had consistently requested the documents since 2004, but the agencies did not produce the records. Justice Chesterman said the records were crucial and critical to quashing Mr Martens' conviction. "The fresh evidence shows the conviction to have been unreasonable, or unsupported by the evidence . . . at the very least it raises a reasonable doubt about (Mr Martens's) guilt," he wrote.

Mr Martens last night said his case was an example of "gross ineptitude on behalf of the AFP, the immigration department and the CDPP. I was defamed with being a child pedophile," he said. "Both the AFP and the CDPP bragged about it in their annual reports, saying I was a predator, a pedophile," he told The Weekend Australian.

Mr Martens's brother Peter Wheatley said Mr Martens and his family had suffered enormously. "I call it our nightmare of reality," Mr Wheatley said. "He's scarred for life. The wounds are not repairable."

Mr Martens's barrister, Michael Sumner-Potts, said his client was considering suing the AFP and CDPP, and called for an inquiry into the handling of the case. "His life has been wrecked, financially, emotionally, psychologically," he said. "His business has crashed."

An AFP spokeswoman declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the office of the CDPP said it had prosecuted the matter in accordance with policy. [Some policy!!]

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 5:16 PM 0 comments links to this post

 

Judge tosses conviction after man spends 18 years in the slammer

A Manhattan judge tossed out a murder case today against a man imprisoned for nearly 20 years, declaring that he was innocent after a witness lied about him being the shooter.

Fernando Bermudez, 40, wept inside a downtown courtroom as Supreme Court Justice John Cataldo took the bizarre step of not only overturning his 1992 conviction, but dismissing the charges altogether. Bermudez has "demonstrated his actual innocence,” Cataldo said. “This court wishes to express its profound regret over the past 18 years. I hope for you a better future.”

He remains behind bars for now because of a seperate federal drug-sale conviction that carried a 27-month sentence. His lawyers plan to ask federal authorities to credit him for the time he has served and release him immediately.

“This is too long, but justice is ours today,” his wife, Crystal, told reporters outside court as she wiped away tears.

The August 1991 shooting involved 16-year-old Raymond Blount, who was gunned down as he left a nightspot near Union Square after getting into a fight with another teen inside the club. Another teen identified Bermudez as the gunman and four bystanders fingered him from police photograph files and then a police lineup.

The judge's ruling bars a retrial. The Manhattan DA's office said it would not pursue one because several witnesses have since recanted and would no longer testify. Prosecutors, however, said they still believe Bermudez is guilty and are examining their options, including filing an appeal. “We strongly disagree with the judge’s decision,” said Chief Assistant DA Mark Dwyer. “We don’t think the defense has shown that there was anything wrong with the verdict.”

Bermudez’ lawyers presented evidence that the witnesses had improperly consulted each other before picking him from the lineup. The judge said that one of the teens involved in the fight, who testified against Bermudez under an agreement sparing him criminal charges, delivered “a total fabrication” on the witness stand

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts on Wicked Thoughts Archive

  ¶ 5:34 PM 0 comments links to this post