Australia: Another cop gets away with it

A cop drinks three 15 oz. glasses of beer in an hour -- which would put him well over the .05 limit -- and it is the guy who told of that who gets punished! The fact that the cop's friends in the force declared him under the limit would convince no-one. In Queensland, a "schooner" is three quarters of a pint



A QUEENSLAND barman has lost his job after he dobbed in a police officer for downing three heavy beers in an hour then driving home with his three children in the car. Craig Tomsett of Gladstone was sacked by his boss at the Gladstone Golf Club when the police officer in question made a written complaint about his behaviour on February 13.

In the letter, the police officer admitted to drinking three schooners of Toohey's Extra Dry in an hour then driving home with his children. He said when he was breath-tested at home by police he was "well under 0.05" despite having consumed the equivalent of 4.5 standard drinks.

"If Tomsett alleges I was intoxicated to such an extent that he was concerned about me driving a motor vehicle, the question begs asking as to why he continued serving me alcohol which is in clear breach of the Liquor Act 1992 and Liquor Regulations 2002," the officer wrote in the letter sent from Gladstone Police Station. "An offence which, if proved to be accurate, would lead to a substantial monetary fine for the Gladstone Golf Club."

He also claimed Mr Tomsett, 39, had a personal vendetta against him as a police officer and suggested the single father would be "well advised to look after his own back yard".

Mr Tomsett was sacked the day after his employer received the letter, which he has passed on to the Crime and Misconduct Commission. Police this week confirmed the Ethical Standards Command was investigating Mr Tomsett's complaint with the CMC overviewing.

Mr Tomsett admitted he and the police officer were former neighbours who had a falling out last year over the officer's dogs but he denied the drink-driving allegation was a payback. "I have an obligation of care to notify police. His statement in itself is evident that he was drink-driving," Mr Tomsett said.

Since making the complaint to the CMC, Mr Tomsett said he had been followed by the police officer in question and on Thursday his house was raided by police and the dog squad. Gladstone police said the raid was related to a separate matter but Mr Tomsett claimed he was the victim of intimidation. "I had an officer intimidate me and threaten to put my four-year-old son into child services. It just beggars belief. They found nothing," Mr Tomsett, who has previously been fined for possessing a small amount of marijuana, said.

Gladstone Golf Club manager Ivan Carr said Mr Tomsett was sacked because of his "inappropriate behaviour" towards the police officer but declined to comment further.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)




(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Have the eyes had it? Is our eyewitness identification system sending innocents to jail?

We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison. —Marcel Proust

Describe the last person who served you a coffee. What if I helped refresh your memory? Showed you some photos of local baristas? Pulled together a helpful lineup? Cheered exuberantly when you picked the "right" one? Now imagine that instead of identifying the person who made your venti latte last week, we had just worked together to nail a robber or a rapist. Imagine how good we would feel. Now imagine what would happen if we were wrong.

Last month, a Texas judge cleared Timothy Cole of the aggravated sexual assault conviction that sent him to prison in 1986. Although his victim positively identified him three times—twice in police lineups and again at trial—Cole was ultimately exonerated by DNA testing. The real rapist, Jerry Wayne Johnson, had been confessing to the crime since 1995. Unfortunately, Cole died in prison in 1999, long before his name was cleared.

Our eyes deceive us. Social scientists have insisted for decades that our eyewitness identification process is unreliable at best and can be the cause of grievous injustice. A study published last month by Gary Wells and Deah Quinlivan in Law and Human Behavior, the journal of the American Psychology-Law Society, reveals just how often those injustices occur: Of the more than 230 people in the United States who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated by DNA evidence, approximately 77 percent involved cases of mistaken eyewitness identification, more than any other single factor.

Wells has been studying mistaken identifications for decades, and his objection to the eyewitness identification system is not that people make mistakes. In an interview he explains that eyewitness evidence is important but should be treated—like blood, fingerprints, and fiber evidence—as trace evidence, subject to contamination, deterioration, and corruption. Our current criminal justice system—blessed by a 30-year-old Supreme Court precedent—allows juries to hear eyewitness identification evidence shaped by suggestive police procedures. In a 1977 case, Manson v. Brathwaite, the Supreme Court held that evidence that was a product of suggestive identification procedures need not be excluded if the identification was nevertheless deemed "reliable." Five criteria for determining whether that identification could be reliable were laid out—including how much opportunity the witness had to view the perpetrator and how certain she was of her identification. In the intervening years, social scientists have called into question much of the science underlying these five factors. Today we know, for instance, that you can have a good long look, be certain you have the right guy, and also be wrong. But Manson is still considered good law.

Jennifer Thompson was 22 the night she was raped in 1984. Throughout the ordeal, she scrupulously studied her attacker, determined to memorize every detail of his face and voice so that, if she survived, she could help the police catch him. Thompson soon identified Ronald Cotton in a photo lineup. When she—after some hesitation—again picked Cotton out of a physical lineup a few days later, a detective told her she'd picked the same person in the photo lineup. As Thompson told Leslie Stahl on CBS last weekend, that assurance led her to think: "Bingo. I did it right. I did it right."

But in this case Thompson got it wrong, although Cotton served 10 and a half years before DNA evidence exonerated him and decisively implicated another man, Bobby Poole. The curious part of the story is that despite Thompson's determination to memorize every detail, when she first saw Bobby Poole in court she was certain she had never seen him before. Indeed, according to Wells and Quinlivan, "Even after DNA had exonerated Cotton and Thompson herself had accepted the fact that Poole was her attacker, she had no memory of Poole's face and, when thinking back to the attack she says, 'I still see Ronald Cotton.' "

How did our eyewitness identification system manage to paint a detailed picture of the wrong face in Jennifer Thompson's mind while somehow completely erasing the right one? Wells and Quinlivan's paper suggests a host of tricks the mind can play, ranging from incorporating innocent "feedback" from police investigators, to increasing certainty in one's shaky memories that become reinforced over time.

Add to that Thompson's determination to regain control over her life, and her need to believe that the justice system was just, and it would have been doubly hard for her to look at a police lineup that, as it happened, did not include an image of the real rapist and walk away. To hear Thompson and other victims tell it, being part of a system that identified and ultimately convicted the wrong man became another form of victimization, and for that reason alone the system needs to be reformed.

The problems with the eyewitness identification system cannot be laid at the feet of crime victims any more than they can be blamed on police investigators. Wells' argument for reforming our eyewitness identification system is that the incentive for the police to subtly nudge our memories goes not only uncorrected by the justice system, but sometimes is rewarded by it. Wells wants the Supreme Court to revisit the scientific assumptions underpinning Manson v. Brathwaite, which allows such identifications to come into a courtroom as long as the identification is "reliable."

Whether or not the John Roberts court wishes to take up the issue of innocent prisoners—there is, for instance, a case now percolating through the New Jersey courts testing the scientific premises of Manson—a few states and cities have used innocent exoneration scandals to rethink their eyewitness identification practices in ways that would begin to restore the credibility of such evidence. Proposed changes include showing victims photos sequentially, explaining to the victim that the perpetrator may not be included in the lineup, and ensuring that whoever conducts the lineup has no knowledge of which person is the actual suspect.

This is not an issue that tracks the usual pro-prosecution, pro-defense divide. Mostly, police departments don't change their eyewitness identification procedures simply because there is no big loud constituency demanding that guys in lineups be treated more fairly. But some of the most zealous reformers of the current eyewitness identification process are lifelong conservatives who recognize that the credibility of the whole justice system is on the line each time an innocent man goes to jail. That's because when that happens, a guilty man often walks free.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

A conviction based on suspicion only!

It was sweet relief for Chris Szitovszky when his lawyer called him to tell him he was a free man. Mr Szitovszky, who was imprisoned for almost two years for a crime he swears he did not commit -- murdering his father with an axe - says he never lost hope his conviction would be quashed.

About 3.30pm yesterday, his mother, Helen, flanked by family friends, embraced him as he walked out of Fulham Prison gates near Sale, putting behind them two years of frustration and hell. "I'm ecstatic. I'm over the moon," he said. "I can't wait to get home. It's been a long time but I never gave up hope. It's been pretty hard. "It's just been difficult to deal with being in prison for something I didn't do. I couldn't have done it without the support of my family, friends and, of course, my lawyers."

Christopher Leslie Szitovszky, 26, was freed by Victoria's Court of Appeal. He had always maintained his innocence after his father Peter, 58, was found dead outside the family's Wheelers Hill home.

Peter Szitovszky died after being struck with an axe about 14 times to the neck, face and torso in the early hours of July 1, 2004.

Christopher Szitovszky told police he had been woken about 3.30am by arguing and dogs barking, but did not go to investigate until three hours later when he found his father's body.

Two witnesses described seeing a man in his 20s yelling outside the Szitovszky home but neither saw his face.

A Supreme Court jury was told the son and father's relationship had become strained years earlier when the family had financial difficulties. Mr Szitovszky's mother worked two full-time jobs because her husband had depression and often stayed at home in bed.

A jury found Mr Szitovszky guilty of murder in April 2007 and he was sentenced to 18 years' jail with a minimum of 13.

He is free now but his family still want justice - to find his father's killer. Helen Szitovszky said her husband's killer was still to be found. "It is up to the police to find him," she said.

Mr Szitovszky said he had not only the support of his mother, Helen, and brother, Simon, but his father's family in Hungary. "Nobody ever doubted me," he said.

Mr Szitovszky's appeal focused on the verdict being "unsafe and unsatisfactory" to which Court of Appeal justices Frank Vincent, Geoffrey Nettle and Peter Vickery unanimously agreed.

They found there was no forensic evidence linking Mr Szitovszky to the murder and the evidence of the two witnesses was insufficient to identity him as the killer.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Complacent South Australian prosecutors refuse to arrest a dangerous nut -- with appalling consequences

They refused to act even after urgent approaches from the Parole Board

Parole Board chief Frances Nelson, QC, has blamed weak laws for Monday's tragic attack that left a man and a boy dead and a newborn baby injured. Angry and distressed, Ms Nelson told The Advertiser yesterday that she had asked the Director of Public Prosecutions at least four times to have mentally ill drug addict David James Wyatt locked up because he was a danger to the community. Ms Nelson also lashed out at laws governing mentally ill offenders subject to supervision orders, saying she had warned Attorney-General Michael Atkinson of a looming "disaster".

Wyatt, 24, killed his son, 2, and stabbed his partner, 21, and baby daughter before fatally stabbing himself in the family's Charlson St home at Davoren Park at 2am on Monday.

"I was just horrified because I think they are two deaths that needn't have happened and one of them is a child and I think that is appalling," Ms Nelson said. "His partner is critically ill and the 15-day-old baby was stabbed and it distresses me that I knew there was a potential for serious violence and I was impotent to do anything about it."

Wyatt was placed on a four-year mental health supervision licence for robbing a woman at knifepoint at Parafield Gardens in February, 2005. He was suffering a drug-induced psychosis and was found not guilty of aggravated robbery by reason of mental incompetence, meaning he could not be jailed, but could be detained in a mental institution. Under state laws, the Parole Board is given responsibility for monitoring offenders, such as Wyatt, released into the community on mental-health licences.

Ms Nelson, however, said the board was powerless to detain mentally-ill patients. "It gives us the statutory responsibility to supervise these people but doesn't give us the power to do it properly," she said. "Unfortunately, I have to say that I spoke to the Attorney, I think at the end of February, about (mental-health supervision laws) and I said to him `there will be a disaster if something isn't done'."

She said the Director of Public Prosecutions was reluctant to ask courts to revoke mental-health orders because of a shortage of beds in such facilities as James Nash House.

Ms Nelson said if her board had the power to revoke licences, Monday's tragedy most likely would have been avoided. "If he were an ordinary parolee, we would have brought him in on a warrant until he sorted himself out. That's the tragedy," Ms Nelson said.

Despite repeated warnings from the Parole Board, Wyatt was allowed to remain in the community. In court last year, Wyatt claimed he was not getting help for "voices" in his head.

Despite what she described as "classic warning signs," Ms Nelson said the weakness of laws to detain mentally-ill offenders had allowed Wyatt to remain in the community. "I have been telling government for years that this is a serious defect in the legislation and I had concerns that community safety is compromised as a result . . . (but) no one has been prepared to do anything about it," Ms Nelson said.

She said she and other Parole Board officials had interviewed Wyatt several times. They warned him his continued breaches of his conditions could land him back in custody. "He certainly had a history of drug-induced psychosis . . . he may well have had some mental illness but, it seems to me, that his basic problem was drug and alcohol use," Ms Nelson said of Wyatt. "The last date that we requested the DPP do something was on the 12th of February.

"The DPP wrote back and told us that notwithstanding that he wasn't reporting and he was non compliant, they were not going to act on the breach of licence that we reported."

More here. (Via Australian Politics)





(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Another disgrace for British "justice"

Innocent man freed after 27 years in prison

A British man who spent 27 years in jail for a murder he did not commit finally had his conviction overturned today after DNA tests destroyed the prosecution case against him. But even as Sean Hodgson, a frail 57-year-old, celebrated his freedom on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, it emerged that the DNA tests which freed him should have been carried out 11 years ago.

Lawyers for Mr Hodgson will try to sue the Forensic Science Service after the Court of Appeal heard that its errors kept him in prison for more than a decade when his innocence could have been proved. Mr Hodgson was found guilty in 1982 of killing Teresa De Simone, 22, who had been found strangled in her Ford Escort three years earlier in a car park below the Southampton pub where she was a part-time barmaid.

He had long pleaded his innocence after retracting a confession initially given to a Roman Catholic prison chaplain – one of hundreds of crimes to which he confessed because, as he told his original trial, he was a "pathological liar" – and lost an appeal in 1983. Last March, after many years of mental health problems, he decided to mount one final bid for freedom and contacted a London solicitors firm whose advert he saw in a prison newspaper. That firm managed to organise the DNA tests which proved his innocence.

With close-cropped hair and sunken cheeks , Mr Hodgson was in the Court of Appeal today to court today to hear the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other senior judges rule that his conviction was "unsafe" and should be quashed. Afterwards, supported physically by his brother Peter, he emerged blinking into the early spring sunshine as journalists and television reporters crowded the steps of the court. "How do you feel, Mr Hodgson?" one shouted. "Ecstatic," he replied. "It's great to be free again." Had he ever expected this day to come? "No," came the reply, without hesitation.

Mr Hodgson's case was urgently referred to the court last week by the Criminal Cases Review Commission after DNA tests – not yet developed at the time of the 1982 trial – proved that he was not the killer. The commission wants dozens of other murder cases reviewed in light of the findings.

It emerged today that Mr Hodgson should have been freed more than a decade ago. Sarah Whitehouse, for the prosecution, told the court that his then lawyers had asked in 1998 for DNA tests but had been told by the Forensic Science Service (FSS) that no DNA material had been kept. "This was plainly erroneous information," she told the court. Ms Whitehouse said that an internal investigation had been launched by the FSS - which had no record of the 1998 request - and the matter referred to the Forensic Regulator.

Today's decision means that Mr Hodgson is recognised as one of the longest-serving victims of a miscarriage of justice in British history. The only comparable case is that of Stephen Downing, who also spent 27 years in jail for beating typist Wendy Sewell to death in Bakewell, Derbyshire, but was released in 2002.

De Simone, a gas board clerk and part-time barmaid, had been sexually assaulted before being choked to death with the chain of a gold crucifix that she wore around her neck. Mr Hodgson, of no fixed abode, confessed to Father Frank Moran that he had killed de Simone when she found him sleeping in her car and began screaming. He said he put his hand over her mouth to try to keep her quiet and ended up killing her. The confession was made on the first anniversary of de Simone’s death, and Mr Hodgson told the priest that the image of her face was haunting him. The prosecution case was aided by scientific evidence that showed that Hodgson was of the same blood type as the attacker.

At his trial, at Winchester Crown Court in 1982, Mr Hodgson withdrew his confession and pleaded not guilty. It emerged that he had confessed to hundreds of other crimes, including burglaries that had never been committed, and that the killer’s blood type was common. Mr Hodgson, who is also known by the first name Robert, did not give evidence. According to The Times of February 2, 1982, he told the court: "I would like to tell members of the jury I cannot go into the witness box itself because I am a pathological liar."

At the end of a 15-day trial, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict having deliberated for only 3½ hours. Mr Justice Sheldon, the trial judge, told Mr Hodgson: "It is a verdict with which I entirely agree. I have no doubt whatsoever that you were guilty of this appalling, horrible crime of killing that girl."

Mr Hodgson was refused leave to appeal against his conviction the next year and has continued to protest his innocence. Last year his case was taken over by a new legal team and his solicitor asked Hampshire Police to review the evidence and specifically to carry out DNA testing – which had not been developed at the time of the trial.

The Forensic Science Service had stored material from the case in its archives and DNA tests were carried out on body fluids from the crime scene. When compared with Hodgson’s DNA profile, they showed that he was not Miss de Simone’s attacker.

Hampshire Police have now reopened their files and the force is conducting a new murder investigation to find the real killer, using the new DNA profile to rule out other potential suspects.

In his ruling, Lord Judge said that it was in the broad public interest for the court to set out the facts so that the community at large could understand how the conviction came about, why it was quashed and how it was that these "disturbing events" took place. He emphasised that unlike many other miscarriages of justice, the conviction was not being quashed because some unacceptable feature of police misconduct during the investigation had now emerged, or that any witness who gave evidence was untruthful, or that anything done by anyone at the trial was open to criticism.

"The conviction will be quashed for the simple reason that advances in the science of DNA, long after the end of the trial, have proved a fact which, if it had been known at the time would, notwithstanding the remaining evidence in the case, have resulted in quite a different investigation and a completely different trial," he said. He said that swabs taken from the dead girl had been examined and there were sufficient remnants of sperm on them for proper DNA analysis, resulting in the conclusion that the sample on the swabs did not come from the appellant.

"Whoever raped her - on these findings, it can’t be the appellant," Lord Judge said. "The Crown’s case was that whoever raped her also killed her, so the new DNA evidence has demolished the case for the prosecution."

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

British police rape "experts" were expert only at bungling

So the guilty party goes free

A specialist unit set up by Scotland Yard to investigate sexual assaults has been severely criticised for failing to properly manage a rape allegation by a 15-year-old girl. In a damning report the Independent Police Complaints Commission has found that there were “significant errors” made during the inquiry by the much-vaunted Sapphire unit in Southwark. Although someone was charged in connection with the serious sexual assault, he was acquitted after a trial. The report says that during the court case “it became clear that a number of errors had been made by the police”.

The criticism comes just days after John Worboys, a London taxi driver, was found guilty of a series of sex attacks on 12 women. The Times revealed that 12 women went to the Metropolitan police to complain about a taxi driver but their allegations were never linked by Sapphire teams. They also missed an opportunity to stop Worboys in July 2007 when he was arrested and then set free. Control of the Sapphire units, launched in 2001 to set the standard in rape investigations, has now been taken from borough level and placed under the control of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command at Scotland Yard.

In the current inquiry a police constable was allocated to the case even though the investigation should have been headed, at the very least, by a detective constable. Three officers will be given written warnings and a fourth will receive words of advice for their part in the rape investigation failures. [Big deal!]

The IPCC found that forensic opportunities at the scene were never explored, there was a failure to identify and arrest the suspect at the earliest opportunity and there was also a failure to properly and effectively supervise the investigation after the teenager reported the matter to police in February 2005. The police also failed to properly examine the girl’s mobile telephone, only looking at the numbers stored in her phone rather than requesting the full billing list to see who had called her. By the time they did the records were no longer available.

Amerdeep Somal, the IPCC commissioner, said: “The report into this investigation highlights that significant errors were made that compromised the quality of the investigation into a very serious offence. “It paints a troubling picture of an inexperienced, overburdened police officer with inadequate supervision working in an under-resourced unit. This was not a complex investigation but basic lines of inquiry were not pursued. “It is imperative that victims of crimes, particularly of serious sexual offences of this nature, have absolute confidence that the police will properly investigate and allegation that a crime has been committed. Sadly the police investigation into this matter fell far short of what the victim had a basic right to expect. “It is important to maintain the confidence of victims within the criminal justice system, that matters of this nature are investigated thoroughly and that action will be taken when officers don’t do the job that they should.”

After the trial of the alleged rapist, the Metropolitan Police Service carried out a number of internal reviews that culminated in an admission of errors. It apologised to the girl and her mother but decided that no disciplinary action should be taken against any individual officers.

The teenager then submitted a formal complaint about the way she was treated and the investigation which was then referred to the IPCC. The girl, who is now 19, had trouble reading the report because she was so upset. Her alleged attacker, whom she is said to have met on a date, still lives near her. She said: "I expected the police to get me some justice. When I heard about the verdict I just felt crushed. The police and the Government are meant to protect you - if they can't do it, who can?"

Her solicitor, Debaleena Dasgupta, from Fisher Meredith, said: “My client thought the investigation was normal and it was not until she got to trial that she realised how bad an investigation it was. “I have never seen a report that so explicitly sets out the failures from beginning to end. It is disgraceful.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Officers from the MPS's directorate of professional standards carried out an investigation into a number of officers from Southwark's Sapphire unit, following a complaint from a member of the public. "The investigation was managed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. "Following the investigation, it was concluded that disciplinary proceedings should be taken against four officers. The MPS and the IPCC are working together to finalise the exact details of these disciplinary outcomes. "As the investigation has not yet concluded it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage."

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

147 cases in police lab mess called 'tip of iceberg'

State Police must reanalyze Detroit's mishandled evidence

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says her office has identified 147 cases of convicted and imprisoned people that will require the retesting of evidence as part of the investigation into the now-closed Detroit police crime lab -- unveiling the first of potentially thousands of cases that are at risk of unraveling because of mishandled evidence.

"This is the tip of the iceberg," Worthy told the Free Press on Thursday, noting that in addition to the 147 cases identified by her office, defense attorneys have notified her office of 30 others that they believe relied on mishandled evidence.

Those cases, and thousands of others, are taxing the Michigan State Police's capacity, which could translate into guilty people walking the streets, innocent people stuck behind bars and law-enforcement agencies hamstrung in fighting crime. Added to the caseload is the budgetary constraints under which the Prosecutor's Office and State Police must function.

"I really feel baffled at how many people might be in jail because of botched evidence, or how many people aren't in jail because of botched evidence," said LaDarrell Howard, 40, of Harrison Township, who was acquitted on a second-degree murder charge last spring after Detroit police wrongly included a bullet from an unrelated suicide with evidence in Howard's case.

Defense attorney David Steingold, who tries murder cases in Wayne County, calls the crime lab problems scary. "To a defense lawyer, the scientific evidence in court is the hardest evidence to contest in court, whether it's a blood test in a drunk driving case or a ballistic test in a murder case," he said. "You are at the mercy of a piece of paper."

Michael Thomas, director of the State Police's forensic science division, said he expects the state's labs to handle at least 20,000 Detroit cases this year. That's on top of the 10,000 cases a year the State Police lab handles of its own and about 650 other police departments, which makes for a six- to eight-month backlog. Added to the crush, at the State Police's crime lab in Sterling Heights -- which handles most of Detroit's cases -- some 3,000 firearms cases have piled up since April and await testing, Thomas said.

Still, even with the bungled crime lab results, Williams' mother, Valarie Washington, remains skeptical. "I hope the truth will come out," she said. "But my family doesn't trust the system. We believed in Mr. Barnett and all he's done, but the state has a way of always winning." Williams' new trial is expected to begin March 30.

Another homicide case in question -- that against Edward Hill, who was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison about two years ago -- is being sent back to a circuit court judge, who could order a new trial.

Hill's lawyer, Gerald M. Lorence, said a ballistics expert falsely testified that a bullet found in the victim came from a handgun seized from the home of one of Hill's relatives. Lorence said Hill's family is ecstatic that he may get a new trial. "It's true that someone was shot, but no one saw my client shoot anyone. Witnesses testified that he walked out of the store with a black gun, but the video shows it's a silver gun. I said, 'Wait a minute.' "

The Detroit lab wasn't the only one in the country with problems, according to the independent National Research Council. A review by West Virginia State Police found more than 100 convictions were in doubt because an employee had repeatedly falsified evidence. At least 10 people had convictions overturned.

In Oregon, a man won a $2-million settlement after fingerprints mistakenly linked him to the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain. Fingerprint evidence also was tossed out of a death penalty case in Maryland by a judge who declared it untested and unverifiable.

Among the 20,000 cases are some that need DNA analysis. Of those, about 20% might be contracted out to independent labs, though there are only three such licensed labs in the country.

And with Worthy's latest announcement that dozens of homicide cases need swift re-evaluation, Thomas said the state's labs are going to slip even further behind. Meanwhile, Worthy said her office is understaffed and doing the work "on a part-time basis on the county's dime." Worthy said her office has submitted a budget to Cockrel's office, which conservatively calls for $871,000 per year to take on such tasks. Worthy said more than 10% of the money budgeted for the investigation has already been spent.

Meanwhile, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano is asking all departments to cut their spending by 20%.

Last month, the state approved $5 million for the hiring of 45 forensic scientists to add to the State Police's current staff of 36 across seven labs. That will help, Thomas said, but not for two years -- the average time it takes to train each scientist. "We're working in an environment where the acceptable failure rate is zero," he said. "You can't make a mistake, so obviously, we have very rigorous training programs."

To help with the backlog, Michigan State Police will continue to ship DNA testing to nationally accredited third-party labs, but those labs aren't able to help with the thousands of cases that involve other types of forensic testing, such as the firearms analysis that landed Detroit in trouble.

The Detroit audit found that access to the firearms unit was unrestricted and evidence could have been contaminated because it was allowed to overflow into office and work areas.

Washington, the mother of Williams, said the crime lab problems are terrifying. "It makes you wonder how many other people might be going through the same thing and it makes you wonder how many times the police lied or got it wrong," she said. "I want my son home and I also hope that this is going to help some other people."

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Smile, You're on Cop-Car Camera

One night last summer Raymond Bell was pulled over by a Chicago cop and arrested for driving under the influence. Officer Joe D. Parker, a 23-year veteran, reported that upon getting out of his car, Bell was stinking of alcohol, lurching and unable to walk a straight line or stand on one foot.

An officer with his stellar record would normally prevail against a DUI suspect. But in this case, Bell had something on his side: a video camera mounted on the dashboard of Parker's squad car that told a radically different story. Far from revealing a staggering drunk, reported the Chicago Sun-Times, the video "showed Bell appearing to be perfectly balanced," passing the sobriety tests that Parker administered -- and being refused when he asked to take a Breathalyzer. Prosecutors watched the video and promptly dismissed the case. They are now considering charges against Parker.

That episode raises the question: Nine years into the 21st century, why isn't every squad car in America equipped with a dashboard video camera? Why do we persist in relying on the slippery, self-interested, incomplete and unverified accounts of opposing participants when we have the means to see the truth with our own eyes?

In this instance, the innocent man was lucky to be stopped by a cop driving a video-armed vehicle. The odds are against it, since only 11 percent of the CPD's cars have cameras for recording traffic stops. Though the department is planning to use federal stimulus money to double that number and the mayor has said he wants cameras installed in the remaining vehicles "as quickly as possible," no one is radiating a sense of haste.

Why not? The department says the main obstacle is money. Equipping another 300 cars, as the city plans, will require $2.1 million. So making them standard on the rest would cost about $13 million. But that shouldn't be an insurmountable obstacle. The Illinois State Police, with a fleet of nearly 1,100 vehicles, have managed to install cameras in more than 900. Spending $13 million looks extravagant only until you compare it to the cost of losing lawsuits over police misconduct. From 2005 through the middle of 2008, says the Chicago Reader, the city paid out $155 million in police cases. Dashboard cameras don't have to prevent many million-dollar judgments to be a bargain.

The cops -- at least the good ones, who are presumably the majority -- have as much reason to want these recordings as the accused. The best defense against a phony charge of police brutality is a video showing exactly what the officer said and did. A suspect who is visibly inebriated or violent will have a hard time refuting the camera's testimony in court.

Yet Chicago has dragged its feet, and it's not alone. After the 1991 Rodney King beating, a commission recommended that the Los Angeles Police Department mount cameras in its squad cars. It installed some but soon got rid of them. A federal monitor proposed the idea again in 2005, but the police chief, The Los Angeles Times reported, "said he saw it as a long-term project." Last year -- 17 years later -- the LAPD finally decided to equip some vehicles.

Contrast that with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's enthusiasm for other types of video. Chicago now has some 2,250 surveillance cameras to detect criminal conduct in public places. By 2016, Daley promised last month, Chicago will have one on every corner. The city has also installed red-light cameras at some 132 intersections, with another 330 planned.

So what exactly is different about those cameras? Well, they are trained on the citizenry, not on the police. What's sauce for the goose seems to be regarded as a dubious liquid substance when proposed for the gander. The city is less eager to capture video evidence if it may expose wrongdoing by its own law enforcement agents.

But the rest of us might want to keep unsleeping electronic eyes on the people with guns and badges. A city with a good police department can gain a lot from squad-car video cameras. A city with a bad one can gain even more.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Australian jury recognizes excessive use of force by police goons

Australian police goons often hurt others by their reckless use of force (See here and here and here and here, for instance) so it is good to see them getting hurt back. It might help restrain future goonery from them. In view of the systematic corruption at all levels of the Western Australian force revealed by the Mallard case, it is about time something gave them a jolt. Thank goodness for the jury system

A father and his two sons have been found not guilty of assaulting policeman Matthew Butcher, left partly paralysed after he was head-butted in a brawl. A District Court jury yesterday found Robert McLeod, 56, and his two sons Barry McLeod, 29, and Scott James McLeod, 35, not guilty of eight charges laid after the fight at Joondalup's Old Bailey Tavern in February last year. The verdict has sparked concerns from the police union that officers are no longer protected when carrying out their duties.

Barry McLeod faced the most serious count, of doing an act with intent to cause harm, admitting to a ``flying head butt'' in which he struck Constable Butcher, 33, to the head from behind after the policeman shot his father with a Taser gun. Robert McLeod later collapsed from a heart attack - his third in three years.

Defence lawyers argued he and the other two members of his family acted in self defence when confronted by police, who they said acted with excessive force as they attempted to arrest them.

Ushered from court in his wheelchair, supported by uniformed police, Constable Butcher told reporters: ``I'm disgusted.'' His weeping wife Katrina said she was ``utterly disgusted'' by the verdict.

Neither Barry McLeod nor Scott McLeod - who smiled and laughed with supporters as he walked free - commented to waiting media. Their father was not in court as he has been recovering in hospital after suffering blood clots on the brain over the weekend.

Despite acquitting the men of assaulting police, the jury of eight men and four women convicted Scott McLeod of a lesser charge of threatening to kill a member of the public who videotaped the brawl on his mobile phone.

During the six week trial, the court was told the fight began between the McLeods and a group of painters, spilled onto the street and then escalated when police arrived. By their verdict, which was returned after a day and half of deliberations, the jury found prosecutors had failed to prove that Barry McLeod did not act in self defence, or did not come to the defence of his father when he assaulted Constable Butcher.

More here

A pre-trial account of the facts of the matter

A 56-year-old man on trial for assaulting a police officer during a brawl outside a Perth tavern says he punched the officer to protect his son.

Robert Mcleod is on trial in the District Court with his sons Scott Mcleod and Barry Mcleod. He told the court the three men were attempting to break up a fight outside the Joondalup Tavern in February last year when Barry McLeod was attacked by police. He said Constable Matthew Butcher pulled Barry McLeod's t-shirt over his head while another officer struck him.

He said he punched Constable Butcher to the stomach two or three times in order to free his son. Moments later Constable Butcher fired a Taser at Robert McLeod, who then suffered a heart attack.

Mr McLeod has conceded that at the time he was very annoyed at the police, who he claims assaulted his son for no reason.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)





(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

British police repeatedly let serial rapist slip through their fingers

He should have called someone a "coon" or a "faggot". THAT would have awoken their interest

A review of how John Worboys managed to slip through the hands of the police a minimum of 12 times is expected to lead to disciplinary action against at least one officer. A critical incident review was carried out after it emerged that 12 women had told the Metropolitan Police that they had been drugged, sexually assaulted or indecently propositioned by a taxi driver between 2003 and Worboys’ arrest in February last year. But despite similarities between the stories — all but two were given pills or alcohol — the police and their multimillion-pound criminal intelligence system failed to make the link.

Senior officers have now sent the findings of the review to Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner. The women’s allegations would have been considered by officers from the Met’s Sapphire units — teams across London that deal only with rape and sexual assault allegations. But their claims were either not investigated properly, incorrectly entered into the police database or simply not believed.

A senior officer said: “We are really in a lot of trouble over this. Some heads are on the block. Some women were not treated well by police, some were told to ‘f*** off, black cab drivers don’t do that sort of thing’. Others were not taken seriously because they were drunk.”The officer added: “We have been told time and again that drug-assisted rape doesn’t happen. Well, it does. We should have identified this series of attacks earlier.”

The information gathered by the Sapphire teams in different boroughs across London should have been evaluated centrally by the Met’s Intelligence Bureau, which should have noted that a serial sex attacker was at large. That never happened. Now, after a seven-month review, control of Sapphire units is being taken away from borough level and placed under the umbrella of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command at Scotland Yard. The Met claims that the move is coincidental.

Further blunders were made by officers investigating individual attacks. A note that Worboys pushed through one woman’s door thanking her for the night before was corrupted as evidence when an officer left it lying on a desk in a police station and another officer wrote on a piece of paper on top of it, leaving indentations. One victim ran from Worboys’ cab and found an armed police officer who took down the cab number but got one digit wrong.

But perhaps the worst blunder came in July 2007 when Worboys was captured on CCTV dropping off a student who said that she was drugged and sexually assaulted. When police went to Worboys’ house, he was not at home. But instead of obtaining a warrant and breaking in, the officers left a note asking him to contact them, giving him time to dispose of evidence. He later turned up at a police station with his solicitor, where he denied any involvement in the attack, and was freed. He went on attack at least 30 more women.

The student told friends: “This was the first time that I had ever called the police . . . I didn’t have confidence in them and felt they didn’t care.” A source involved in the inquiry said that officers should have got a search warrant: “They could and should have raided the place. They would almost certainly have found a treasure trove of forensic evidence.”

A detective constable decided that, despite finding morphine and another sedative in the student’s urine, the Crown Prosecution Service was unlikely to sanction a prosecution so never sent it the case file. His decision, upheld by a senior officer, has now been sent by the Met to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to review. The policy has also been changed so that all serious sexual offences are referred to the CPS.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

DNA clears British ‘killer’ Sean Hodgson after 30 years in jail

It's too easy to put away the mentally ill and let the real killer go free. A similar thing happened in Australia's Mallard case

A convicted murderer who has spent nearly 30 years in prison for the death of a young woman in 1979 could not have been the killer, according to new DNA tests. The case of Sean Hodgson, 58, has been referred to the Court of Appeal as a matter of urgency by the Criminal Cases Review Commission and he is expected to be freed next week. The commission said that the findings raised serious concerns about the safety of many other murder convictions and called for a wideranging review of scores of cases.

A spokesman said: “We have decided to contact the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss the desirability of a project to identify and review similar murder cases arising from the time before DNA testing and where testable forensic evidence still survives, which could confirm or cast doubt on the safety of a conviction, and where the defendant is still alive. A guilty plea or the existence of admissions should not exclude cases.”

Julian Young, Hodgson’s solicitor, said: “Will this open the floodgates? I would say anyone who believes that they’ve been wrongly convicted, and thinks DNA tests would help, should contact a lawyer immediately.”

Hodgson, who is mentally ill and held in the hospital wing of Albany jail, was convicted in 1982 of the murder of Teresa de Simone, 22, whose body was found in her car in Southampton in December 1979.

If the conviction is overturned, Hodgson would be one of the longest-serving victims of a miscarriage of justice. The only comparable case is that of Stephen Downing, who was jailed for 27 years for beating typist Wendy Sewell to death in Bakewell, Derbyshire, but released in 2002. Hodgson has continued to protest his innocence but it was only after his solicitors asked last year for a review and DNA testing, a technique that was not available at the time of his trial, that his case was referred.

Hampshire police have now reopened their files and the force is conducting a new murder investigation to find the real killer. A source said: “It is a live and active inquiry.”

Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, will hear the case next Wednesday and it is understood that arrangements are being made for Hodgson to be released into appropriate care. Prosecutors are not expected to oppose the challenge and the commission said there was “a real possibility that the court will consider the conviction unsafe and quash it”.

Miss de Simone, a gas board clerk and part-time barmaid, had been sexually assaulted before being choked to death with the chain of a gold crucifix that she wore around her neck.

Hodgson, of no fixed abode, confessed to a Roman Catholic prison chaplain, Father Frank Moran, that he had killed Miss de Simone when she found him sleeping in her car and began screaming. He said he put his hand over her mouth to try to keep her quiet and ended up killing her.

The confession was made on the first anniversary of Miss de Simone’s death, and Hodgson told the priest that the image of her face was haunting him. The prosecution case was aided by scientific evidence that showed that Hodgson was of the same blood type as the attacker.

But at his trial, at Winchester Crown Court in 1982, Hodgson withdrew his confession and pleaded not guilty. It emerged that he had confessed to hundreds of other crimes, including burglaries that had never been committed, and that the killer’s blood type was common.

Hodgson, who is also known by the first name Robert, did not give evidence. According toThe Timesof February 2 1982, he told the court: “I would like to tell members of the jury I cannot go into the witness box itself because I am a pathological liar.”

But at the end of a 15-day trial, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict having deliberated for only 3½ hours. Mr Justice Sheldon, the trial judge, told Hodgson: “It is a verdict with which I entirely agree. I have no doubt whatsoever that you were guilty of this appalling, horrible crime of killing that girl.”

Hodgson was refused leave to appeal against his conviction the next year and has continued to protest his innocence. Last year his case was taken over by a new legal team. His solicitor asked Hampshire Police to review the evidence and specifically to carry out DNA testing. The Forensic Science Service had stored material from the case in its archives and DNA tests were carried out on body fluids from the crime scene. When compared with Hodgson’s DNA profile, they showed that he was not Miss de Simone’s attacker. The case was passed to the CCRC, which referred it to the Court of Appeal as a matter of urgency.

Mr Young said last night of Hodgson: “He is obviously pleased the matter is going forward. He is excited because he is going to be seeing the outside world for the first time in a number of years. We hope he will be released on Wednesday and he will have to make a new life for himself.”

Mary Sedotti, Miss de Simone’s mother, said she was upset and distressed that her daughter’s killer had not been caught and that she was having to relive the events of three decades ago. She added: “He should not have confessed at the time.”

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

EU Gestapo defeated in EU court

"Gestapo" is short for "Geheime Staatspolizei" or "Secret State police". And it was precisely official secrecy that was used oppressively but eventually defeated in this case

A tennis player today won his case at the European Court of Justice against airport security staff who believed that his racquets posed a terrorist threat and threw him off a flight. Judges ruled that the unpublished European Union register of hand luggage restrictions could not be enforced because passengers had no way of knowing exactly what was prohibited. The EU list shows that racquets are not specifically banned from the cabin. However, it contains a catch-all prohibition on "any blunt instrument capable of causing injury". An over-eager airport official might still argue that racquets fall into that category.

BAA tonight advised tennis travellers at British airports to play safe and store their racquets in the hold. A spokesman said that even if they escaped a ban as a terrorist weapon, they would most likely exceed the size limits for cabin baggage.

The case was brought by Gottfried Heinrich, Austrian tennis enthusiast. On his way to a tournament he was thrown off a flight at Vienna airport in 2005, having already cleared general security screening. It highlighted what one legal adviser called the "fundamental absurdity" of European anti-terror regulations from 2003 that outlawed a range of possible weapons from the aircraft cabin - but were not made public for security reasons. The EU eventually published the secret list last summer, finally explaining why passengers had found that skateboards, golf clubs and fishing roads were not allowed in the cabin.

Mr Heinrich was so angry that he brought a compensation case against the Austrian authorities for failing to inform him that he was carrying banned items. The Austrian court felt that the matter was of such great importance to all airline passengers in the EU that it referred it up to the ECJ in Luxembourg. After winning his case today, Mr Heinrich is now able to pursue his compensation case at the court in Austria.

Ignasi Guardans, a Spanish MEP who campaigned on behalf of Mr Heinrich, said: "It was utterly illogical to produce a list of banned objects from cabin baggage yet not tell anyone what they were."

A spokesman for BAA said: "Our view is that tennis rackets will clearly contravene the hand baggage size regulations of 56x45x25cm, and therefore we would definitely recommend to passengers that these are placed in their hold luggage. Even if they were smaller than that, it is worth noting that the regulations prohibit "sporting bats, cues and darts" from being taken aboard."

Sarah Ludford, a Liberal Democrat MEP, said: "This categorical judgement is a victory for democracy and openness, and a slap in the face of the European Commission and EU governments who thought Kafkaesque methods acceptable. "The Court has now agreed with our protest that it cannot be right for 500 million EU citizens to be told to obey laws they cannot read for themselves."

Original report here. (Via PC Watch)



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Punish those responsible for wrongful convictions, forum hears

Punishing those responsible for wrongful convictions and skepticism of authorities would help prevent miscarriages of justice, a legal forum heard Saturday. The conference, held just two days after Ontario's top court quashed a man's 37-year-old murder conviction, also heard Canada needs an independent agency to investigate claims that an innocent person is languishing in jail.

The forum at York University, organized by the school's Criminology Society, featured three men who fought lengthy battles to have their murder convictions overturned, and one still fighting to clear his name.

One of them, William Mullins-Johnson, who spent 12 years in prison after being convicted of raping and suffocating his four-year-old niece, said those involved in wrongful convictions need to be held to account. Mullins-Johnson was ultimately exonerated after experts concluded the young girl had died of natural causes and no crime had occurred. "Injustice has been corrected, but there is no justice served here," he said. "Hold the ones that did this to people like us criminally responsible and send them to jail."

Even so, Mullins-Johnson doubted anyone could devise a fool-proof method of preventing wrongful convictions. "They're built into the system," he said.

Rob Baltovich, who was acquitted last year of killing his girlfriend in Toronto after he spent eight years in prison, said people have to "think critically" in cases involving the criminal justice system, he said. "Don't just take the word of a person in authority. Ask questions." Baltovich warned against tunnel vision - when police and prosecutors focus on a suspect to the exclusion of others and often taint witnesses in the process. They then tend to ignore evidence an accused is innocent, he said, because no one wants to admit a mistake might have been made. "Who wants to take responsibility for that?" Baltovich said.

University of Toronto law professor Kent Roach said the main reasons for wrongful convictions are faulty witness identification, witnesses such as paid informants who lie and flawed expert evidence. Roach said Canada needs a publicly funded, independent agency - along the lines of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in Britain - which has the power to delve into possible miscarriages of justice. Such an agency would take the politics out of such probes and ease pressure on groups such as the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted, which lack the manpower and finances to deal with a myriad of cases, he said.

Ottawa has so far refused to set up such a body. "That is just wrong," Roach said.

Alain Olivier, a Quebecer who spent more than eight years in jail in Thailand for drug dealing after initially being sentenced to death, said he was still fighting to clear his name. Olivier maintains he was the victim of an RCMP sting gone wrong - that police knew they had mistaken him for his twin brother but refused to admit it. Public pressure is critical in forcing authorities to take another look at such cases, he said. "They all thought I would die in Thailand," he said. "They try to exhaust everybody until somebody dies."

Also on the panel was Romeo Phillion, who initially confessed to killing an Ottawa firefighter in 1967, then spent 31 years in prison protesting he had nothing to do with the murder. Phillion's murder conviction was quashed on Thursday and a new trial ordered.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

The useless British police again



Guess which of the two above is the thug

Two catastrophic errors by police allowed the convicted knife offender Karl Bishop to be free on the streets to murder Rob Knox, the Harry Potter actor. Bishop, 21, is facing life in jail after being found guilty at the Old Bailey of killing Mr Knox outside a bar in Sidcup, Kent, last May. Two months before the murder, he had been named as a suspect to police twice in two days over an alleged burglary and a knifepoint robbery. Inexplicably, officers investigating the claims failed to speak to Bishop or question him, despite his long and violent criminal record going back to his early teens. The inquiries were still "live" in May last year when Bishop, who had only been recently released from jail for slashing two men across the face, stabbed Mr Knox and four of his friends with two kitchen knives, in a 90-second frenzy.

Mr Knox, 18, who had just finished filming for the new film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, had confronted the killer after he had earlier threatened his younger brother Jamie at knifepoint. Scotland Yard admitted that the blunder would cause "concern" to the public and the victim's family. When police chiefs learned of the mistake, they called in the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate and launched a force wide review of all outstanding knife offences.

Two police officers, a constable and a sergeant, have been given written warnings. They were based at Plumstead, the same station recently revealed to have failed to identify Robert Napper before he killed Rachel Nickell in 1992, despite him being named by his mother as a rape suspect years before.

Bishop, "a habitual knife carrier" was well known in the area and had two previous knife convictions, one of them for slashing two men in the face in 2005. He served two years of the four-year sentence and nine months after his release, he murdered Mr Knox on May 22 last year. The killing followed a series of incidents, including one at the same Sidcup venue, the Metro bar, the previous week in which Bishop made a "chilling'' prediction. After a row with Mr Knox and his friends, which ended with a fight, Bishop said: "I'm going to come back and someone's going to die".

When he did return as promised, he was armed with two kitchen knives, 11 and 12 inches long. On his way back to the bar he ran across Jamie Knox, 17, and his friends, and threatened them with the blades before continuing on to the bar. Rob was alerted to what had happened by a phone call and came out of the bar to confront Bishop just as he arrived. The knifeman was soon surrounded by a semi-circle of youths and Rob had to be held back as Bishop goaded them, shouting: "Who's going to make my ****** day?"

As well as the murder charge Bishop, who refused to leave the cells to hear the proceedings in the dock yesterday afternoon, was found guilty of wounding Rob's friend Dean Saunders, 23. He was found guilty on majority verdicts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Charlie Grimley, 17, and Nicky Jones, 20. He was also found guilty by a majority of wounding Andrew Dormer, 17, but cleared of wounding another friend, Tom Hopkins, 19. Bishop will be sentenced tomorrow

Asked about the blunders, a spokesman for the Met said: "Lessons have been learned from what happened in this case and measures have been taken, including the introduction of a new system to monitor centrally the progress of action to arrest suspects for all violent crime offences, including knife crime".

Original report here (Via PC Watch)



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

36 years of solitude

Suborned testimony again

What's left of Albert Woodfox's life now lies in the hands of a federal appeals court in New Orleans. By the time the court hears his case on Tuesday, the 62-year-old will have spent 36 years, 2 months, and 24 days in a 6-by-9-foot cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. An 18,000-acre complex that still resembles the slave plantation it once was, the notorious prison, immortalized in the film Dead Man Walking, has long been considered one of the most brutal in America, a place where rape, abuse, and violence have been commonplace. With the exception of a few brief months last year, Woodfox has served nearly all of his time there in solitary confinement, out of contact with other prisoners, and locked in his cell 23 hours a day. By most estimates, he and his codefendant, Herman Wallace, have spent more time in solitary than any other inmates in US history.

Woodfox and Wallace are members of a triad known as the "Angola 3"—three prisoners who spent decades in solitary confinement after being accused of prison murders and convicted on questionable evidence. Before they were isolated from other inmates, the trio, which included a prisoner named Robert King, had organized against conditions in what was considered "the bloodiest prison in America." Their supporters believe that their activism, along with their ties to the Black Panther Party, motivated prison officials to scapegoat the inmates.*

Over the years, human rights activists worldwide have rallied around the Angola 3, pointing to them as victims of a flawed and corrupt justice system. Though King managed to win his release in 2001, after his conviction was overturned, Woodfox and Wallace haven't been so lucky. Amnesty International has called their continued isolation "cruel, inhuman, and degrading," charging that their treatment has "breached international treaties which the USA has ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture." Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has taken a keen interest in the case and traveled to Angola last spring to visit with Woodfox and Wallace. "This is the only place in North America that people have been incarcerated like this for 36 years," he told Mother Jones.

Meanwhile, the prevailing powers in Louisiana, from Angola's warden to the state's attorney general, are bent on keeping Woodfox and Wallace right where they are. The state's Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, has thus far steered clear of the controversial case. Conyers, though, who has spoken with Jindal about Woodfox and Wallace, says the governor seemed "open-minded."

For his part, Conyers is optimistic that Woodfox's fortunes, at least, could soon change. On Tuesday, Nick Trenticosta, who is one of Woodfox's lawyers, will have 20 minutes to convince the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the decision of a district court judge in Baton Rouge, who last July overturned Woodfox's conviction for the 1972 murder of an Angola prison guard. The murder, for which Wallace was also charged, occurred while Woodfox was already serving a sentence for armed robbery. Trenticosta, a longtime Louisiana death penalty attorney who heads the New Orleans-based Center for Equal Justice, will argue that his client received inadequate representation from his court-appointed attorneys when he was retried in 1998, as well as during his original trial in 1973. Better lawyers, he'll argue, would have shown that Woodfox's conviction was quite literally bought by the state, which based its case on jailhouse informants who were rewarded for their testimony. The primary eyewitness to the murder received special privileges and the promise of a pardon. One of the corroborating witnesses was legally blind, while another was on the anti-psychotic drug Thorazine; both were subsequently granted furloughs.

Woodfox's lawyers will also make the case that the state failed to provide his previous defense attorneys with crucial information about the witnesses—ensuring that they were unable to cross-examine them effectively—and lost physical evidence, which was inconclusive at best, and possibly favorable to the defendant. (A spokeswoman for the Louisiana State Penitentiary said the prison, as a matter of policy, would not comment on an ongoing case.)

Depending on how the appeals court decides, Woodfox may get a chance at another trial, where this time he'll be represented by a team of highly skilled lawyers. If given that opportunity, Trenticosta told Mother Jones in a recent interview, he and his colleagues will go beyond just refuting the evidence that led to their client's conviction. They intend to reveal the identities of the real murderers of prison guard Brent Miller, who, Trenticosta says, are now dead. He says his team has "numerous witnesses who saw" the murder and others "who have good information." (Asked for the names of the witnesses and others with specific knowledge of the murder, Trenticosta said he would reveal their identities only if there is another trial.) Of Woodfox and Wallace, Trenticosta says, "They were targeted. They were set up." The lawyer believes the state of Louisiana is determined to prevent Woodfox from being retried in order to "cover up a coverup."

The state's case against overturning Woodfox's conviction will be argued by Kyle Duncan, a University of Mississippi law school professor who is an admirer of the jurisprudence of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He will likely take the usual position in these types of cases, arguing that Woodfox's previous defense attorneys, despite what Trenticosta might say, had every opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses, so no new trial is warranted. But Duncan is little more than a mouthpiece; the force behind the state's appeal is Louisiana attorney general James "Buddy" Caldwell Jr. The former prosecutor, who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator, is a politically ambitious Democrat. Since his election in 2007, Caldwell has fought efforts by Woodfox and Wallace to overturn their convictions. After Woodfox's conviction was overturned last year, Caldwell declared, "We will appeal this decision to the 5th Circuit. If the ruling is upheld there I will not stop and we will take this case as high as we have to. I will retry this case myself…I oppose letting him out with every fiber of my being because this is a very dangerous man."

Caldwell shares this position with Angola's warden, Burl Cain, a devout Baptist who has a reputation for proselytizing to the inmates under his watch. Cain, who has likened the Black Panthers to the KKK, is adamant that the aging Woodfox is and always will be a menace to society by virtue of his political beliefs. He has said that Woodfox is "locked in time with that Black Panther revolutionary actions they were doing way back when…And from that, there's been no rehabilitation."

After a three-judge appelate panel hears arguments on March 3, it will be at least six weeks, and possibly many months, before it rules on the appeal. If it concurs with the district court's decision, Woodfox will be retried or released. If it overrules the lower court, his conviction will remain in place, and his defense team will have to go back to the drawing board.

More here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Another trigger-happy dickless tracy

See a similar case in Australia. Are women too nervous to be frontline police?

San Bernardino County prosecutors have filed 14 felony charges, including murder, against two men accused of starting a shootout with Chino police that resulted in an officer killing a bystander.

Daniel Balandran, 23, of Rubidoux, was slain when an officer mistook him for a suspect in a Jan. 31 robbery of a Papa John's restaurant on Central Avenue.
He was at a neighboring McDonald's, trying to flee the nighttime gun battle that ensued when suspects Joel Anthony Jaquez and Edward Ramon Cisneros encountered police outside the pizzeria, officials have said.

Special allegations for Jaquez include use and discharge of a handgun. Cisneros faces special allegations of using a handgun.

Both men were wounded, as was a Chino police officer. The officer who fired the fatal shot remains on leave. Her name has not been released.

Balandran and a friend had spent the day at a skate park and were eating in a car parked outside the neighboring McDonald's when they saw the shootout. They left the car and ran in the opposite direction, meeting two police officers coming around the back corner of the McDonald's.

According to an attorney for Balandran's family, one of those officers shot Balandran without asking him to show his hands or drop to the ground. Chino police and San Bernardino County sheriff's homicide detectives, who investigated the shooting, have declined to comment on specifics.

"It was reckless conduct," attorney Mark Algorri, of Pasadena, said. "If the person who shot my guy was a civilian, there could definitely be a manslaughter charge filed."

Algorri said he is talking with Chino officials and has not filed a wrongful death claim on behalf of Balandran's family.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Australian police goons again

Cops use Taser on a young girl who was already held down! They must think it is a punishment device and that they are judge and jury

The CMC has blasted the Queensland Police Service after an officer Tasered a teenage girl at South Bank last year. The CMC (Crime and Misconduct Commission) has accused Queensland police of failing to learn from its mistakes after an investigation into the unnecessary Taser use on a girl, 16. CMC chairman Robert Needham said there was a "concerning pattern" in the handling of critical incidents and urged Commissioner Bob Atkinson to rein in his troops.

The CMC spoke out after overseeing an internal police investigation into the use of the Taser on the girl, who failed to obey a police order at South Bank in April last year. The incident came months after The Courier-Mail revealed Police Minister Judy Spence had sidelined the service's top brass and brokered a deal with the police union to give Tasers to every frontline officer. Ms Spence's intervention came barely halfway through a 12-month trial and in the middle of the union election. Yesterday Ms Spence's office said the minister would not comment on the CMC criticism until she had read the report. "I'm not expecting it to happen today," a spokesman said.

However Ms Spence's office reversed its stance and released a statement after The Courier-Mail sought comment from Premier Anna Bligh. "The Commissioner of Police has advised me the Queensland Police Service will completely re-examine every aspect of this entire matter," Ms Spence said.

The South Bank incident was one of at least nine complaints against officers for using Tasers inappropriately. The girl, 16, had defied a move-on order and was being held down by two security guards when an officer used a Taser on her thigh.

A magistrate later ruled the officers did not give adequate directions and threw out a charge of obstructing police against the girl. Mr Needham labelled the actions "very poor policing". "The commission expected the QPS to use the incident as a learning opportunity for the officer involved and for Taser training generally, but there is no evidence to show this has occurred," he said. "My observations of QPS failure to learn from mistakes are not limited to this case." He urged Mr Atkinson to "send a strong message to all police that they must objectively assess and learn from policing incidents".

Solicitor Margaret Brain, of Slater and Gordon, said she was preparing civil action against the police on the girl's behalf. "It was a violent incident that has traumatised her," she said.

Mr Atkinson acknowledged the matter "could have been handled better" and said police would "carefully consider" issues raised by the CMC. "It's probably the most severe criticism the CMC have expressed of the Queensland Police Service for many years, and that concerns me," he said. Police Union president Cameron Pope could not be reached for comment.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)




(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Coroner criticises double standards by British police

Allowing police to collude before giving evidence is unbelievably bad practice

The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian shot dead after being mistaken for a terrorist, has accused police of applying double standards in the wake of the killing. Sir Michael Wright said there was a "stark difference" in how police and the public were treated with officers allowed to confer before writing their witness statements while civilians were not.

He also pointed to confusion over the Scotland Yard command structure in the run-up to the shooting on a train at Stockwell London Underground station on July 22, 2005 and "systematic failures" in how information was handled.

His comments came as he published his recommendations to Scotland Yard and the Home Office on the case following a three-month inquest last year. He said it had become clear that officers had been allowed to work on their accounts together "for a period of many hours". "There was a stark difference between their experience and the treatment of civilians, who were required to give their accounts promptly and independently," he said. "Officers were not cross-examined on the basis that their evidence was the product of independent recollection."

Mr de Menezes was shot dead following a mix-up as police pursued suspects following a failed series of bombings in the capital the previous day. The inquest jury returned an open verdict on the shooting after Sir Michael ruled out the possibility of finding unlawful killing. But they rejected officers' evidence that they shouted "armed police" before opening fire and disputed that the Brazilian had walked towards officers before he was killed.

Sir Michael said that the "unprecedented" situation faced by officers, after the failed bombings the day before, offered some explanation for the shooting. But he said that the verdict nevertheless pointed to "systematic failures" and called for procedures on how information identifying suspects is passed on to be reviewed.

Nick Hardwick, chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, called for "determined and continuing efforts" to prevent a repeat of the failures which led to the tragedy. The Justice4Jean campaign group said a public debate about what it called the "shoot-to kill policy" is long overdue.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Outrage as man who raped girl, 4, walks free

THE Opposition has demanded that the Director of Public Prosecutions urgently appeal against the sentence of a 24-year-old man who escaped jail despite pleading guilty to raping a four-year-girl as she slept at her grandmother's house. The man, who cannot be named, was given a two-year suspended jail term in the District Court in Sydney on February 5 after he pleaded guilty to breaking into a house at Gulmarrad near Yamba in November 2007 and sexually assaulting the girl.

Police were called to the house on November 22 after the girl's grandmother discovered her car had been broken into. When they arrived, the girl told them that a man had been inside the house overnight and had sexually assaulted her. The man was arrested five days after the attack when police matched him to DNA on clothing found at the scene.

He was charged with sexual assault of a person under the age of 10 as well as several other charges including break and enter. The man spent 14 months in prison awaiting his sentence but walked free after his appearance last month. The shadow attorney-general, Greg Smith, said the Director of Public Prosecutions should urgently consider an appeal and described the sentence as "unbelievable". "It seems totally inappropriate for the court to impose such a light sentence where the maximum penalty for such an offence is 25 years. An explanation is required," he said.

Mr Smith said the leniency of the sentence sent a poor message to the community. "The community have a right to expect the punishment to fit the crime. Here the crime was against a four-year-old child," he said. The girl's MP, Steve Cansdell, said he was "angry and disgusted" the man had been released. "I have had a crisis meeting with shadow attorney-general Greg Smith and he has agreed the NSW Opposition will do everything possible to convince the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal this ridiculously lenient sentence. "Crimes against children, particularly those of a sexual nature, deserve the harshest possible punishment, but instead this animal is out on the streets, walking and possibly stalking his next victim."

A spokesman for the DPP refused to comment, saying his office was awaiting a transcript of the judgment.

Original report here

DPP appeals against rape sentence

THE Director of Public Prosecutions lodged an appeal yesterday against the sentence of a man, 24, who pleaded guilty to raping a girl, 4, as she slept in her grandmother's house. The Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, raised concerns about the sentence with the DPP after the Herald revealed that the man, who cannot be named, was given a two-year suspended jail term after pleading guilty. Mr Hatzistergos would not comment on the case but said it was worth remembering that the maximum sentence for sexually assaulting a child under 10 years was 25 years, and the standard minimum sentence was 15 years. "I referred the matter to the director because there were understandable concerns about this particular sentence, and I believed it required further analysis," Mr Hatzistergos said. "It's an abhorrent crime."

Police were called to a house at Gulmarrad on the North Coast on November 22 after the girl's grandmother discovered her car had been broken into. When they arrived it emerged that the young girl had been sexually assaulted. The man was arrested five days after the attack when police matched him to DNA.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)




(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Wonderful! British police officers to be charged over fraudulent conviction case

Fifteen people, including nine retired and three serving police officers, are to be charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury in connection with the murder of a young woman more than 20 years ago. Lynette White, 20, a prostitute, was found stabbed to death in a flat in Cardiff on Valentine's Day, 1988. Three men were sentenced to life for her murder in 1990 but their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1992.

The latest prosecution is believed to involve the biggest number of current and former members of the police force to be summonsed together. A member of police staff and two civilians have also been summonsed.

In 2003, after new DNA evidence was uncovered, Jeffrey Gafoor pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to murdering Ms White. He said that he committed the murder alone. Then, in December last year, three people who were witnesses in the original murder trial were sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for perjury. Their evidence had helped to convict the three innocent men, Stephen Miller, Tony Paris and Yusuf Abdullahi, who became known as the Cardiff Three. Two others, the cousins Ronald and John Actie, were acquitted.

The flawed conviction of the Cardiff Three revealed police techniques described by then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor, as "almost passing belief". Police had used oppressive and bullying techniques in interviews with the suspects. "It is hard to conceive of a more hostile or intimidating approach by officers to a suspect," Lord Taylor said.

The re-investigation, which was supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, has led to the CPS Special Crime Division announcing the new prosecutions. The former and current officers as well as the member of police staff are to be prosecuted for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The two civilians are to be prosecuted for two counts of perjury in relation to the evidence they gave at the murder trials. They are all due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court next month. The maximum sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice is life imprisoment; the maximum for perjury is seven years.

In 2008 the CPS secured perjury convictions against Mark Grommek, Angela Psaila and Leanne Vilday, civilian witnesses at the original trial. Following these convictions, lawyers reviewed the evidence against police officers suspected of moulding, manipulating and fabricating evidence.

Tom Davies, IPCC Commissioner for Wales, said: “It is important for South Wales Police and the people they serve that this miscarriage of justice was properly dealt with. “In all of this we must not forget that Lynette White died at the hands of Jeffrey Gafoor and my thoughts are with her family and friends. "It is vitally important for public confidence in the police service and the complaints process that the full story of this re-investigation is told in public. The trial of these 15 people will enable that to happen. “The IPCC decided to supervise this investigation over three years ago and I have gone on record numerous times to praise the thoroughness and professionalism of the investigation team. "This has been a long and complex investigation and we and the police have worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to get to [yesterday's] announcement. "I am satisfied that this has been thoroughly investigated and the matter has now passed to the judicial process. It would be inappropriate to comment further."

In a statement released through their lawyer, Mr Paris, Mr Abdullahi, John Actie and the family of his deceased cousin Ronnie said they never regained the lives they had before they were allegedly “fitted up”. “Our lives have been utterly destroyed by being branded brutal murderers,” they said.

Colette Paul, Assistant Chief Constable of South Wales Police, said: “At the forefront of our thoughts today is Lynette White, who was so brutally murdered on 14th February 1988. “These developments will once again bring back painful memories for her family and friends and all who knew her. “The serving of summonses marks another crucial phase in this investigative and prosecution process.”

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Australian police can do no wrong

The usual farce of police investigating one-another. An innocent woman was shot for no good reason by a panicky dickless tracy and the police are going to cover up for their dickless tracy until hell freezes over. She is not fit for police work and should be removed

A woman shot by police has accused investigators of a cover-up after the junior officer involved was cleared without a written report. Susan Bandera, 48, was critically injured when she was shot twice by police responding to a dispute at a North Parramatta unit block on December 21. She is alleged to have lunged at officers with what was initially thought to be a knife but later found to be a fork.

At the time, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner for Operations Denis Clifford said he was satisfied by an initial report from the critical incident team, which said the policewoman "acted appropriately" when she fired her weapon at Ms Bandera. "It is important to note that this interim report centred only on the actions of the police officer in the discharge of her firearm," Mr Clifford said on January 2. "The exact circumstances of the earlier confrontation are still being investigated and will be the subject of a further report."

But, after a freedom of information request to NSW Police, The Sun-Herald has learnt "neither an interim report document nor a final report document" exist. Instead, the junior officer was cleared based on two "verbal briefings" between Mr Clifford and the investigation manager from Gladesville Police in the days following the shooting.

Ms Bandera, who is waiting for her shattered spine to heal around the bullet fragments, which doctors deemed too dangerous to remove, said the police were "a law unto themselves". "It's changed my life," she said. "I want [the officer] to be charged just like everybody else and I don't think she should work for the police force any more. My kids nearly ended up with no mother." Ms Bandera said she had not been contacted by police since early January and her legal team had trouble obtaining documents.

"I want the truth to come out, which is that I was being attacked and police shot me," she said.

Sonni Michael Angelo, 23, who was arguing with Ms Bandera before police arrived - but denies attacking her - said there was no need for the officer to shoot Ms Bandera after the pair were sprayed with capsicum spray.

A police spokesperson said it was common to use "a number of methods, including verbal" to deliver the findings of an interim investigation. No one has yet been charged over the incident. Police said there would be a final report when the investigation was complete.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Shocking pictures of US police goon 'assaulting 15-year-old girl in cell'

US prosecutors have released video footage of a sheriff's deputy kicking a 15-year-old girl, pulling her hair and throwing her onto a cell floor. The surveillance video was released in the assault case against Deputy Paul Schene, who is accused of using excessive force on the girl. Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault on Thursday.

The incident last November began after the girl was brought in for a car theft investigation, according to court documents. The footage shows the attack beginning after the girl enters the cell at suburban SeaTac City Hall and kicks off one of her shoes toward the deputy.

'We believe this case is beyond just police misconduct, it's criminal misconduct,' King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg said. 'This is clearly excessive force.' Schene was investigated previously for shooting two people - killing one - in the line of duty in 2002 and 2006. Both times his actions were found to be justified, said Ian Goodhew, prosecutor's deputy chief of staff.

Calls to Schene's lawyer, Anne Bremner, were not immediately returned Friday. However, she released a statement to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in which she said the video does not tell the whole story. Bremner had asked Judge Catherine Shaffer not to release the video to the media. 'As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy's right to a fair trial,' Bremner said.

In the video, a deputy kicks the girl, pushing her back toward the wall. The deputy then strongly backs the girl against the wall and slams her to the floor by grabbing her hair. A second deputy enters the holding cell, while the first deputy holds the girl face down to the floor. The first deputy appears to hit the girl with his hands. The girl is then lifted up and led out of the cell while the first deputy holds her hair.

The second officer shown in the video was a trainee at the time and is not under investigation. According to court documents, the girl complained of breathing problems after the incident and medics were called to check her. A short time later, she was taken to a youth detention centre and booked for investigation of auto theft and third-degree assault, the latter accusation dealing with her conduct toward the deputy. The girl has pleaded not guilty to taking a motor vehicle without permission, and was never formally charged with assault.

Schene told investigators through an e-mail conversation with his lawyer that once he was assaulted by the girl kicking her shoe at him, he entered the cell to 'prevent another assault,' according to court documents. Schene also said the girl failed to comply with instructions in the holding area. Prosecutors said Schene did not explain why he struck the girl after he had her in a holding position on the floor.

Original report here

Video at link above



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)

Wis. man freed 23 years after wrongful conviction

More bite-mark nonsense

A man sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman in 1984 had his conviction overturned and was released Friday after spending 23 years behind bars. Robert Lee Stinson, 44, walked out of the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in street clothes and hugged his sister and members of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. A judge vacated the sentence after the Project argued that bite-mark analysis and DNA evidence that didn't match evidence from the crime scene, defense attorney Byron Lichstein said.

Stinson was convicted in 1985 of first-degree murder in the death of a 63-year-old Milwaukee woman. Evidence suggested she had been raped, and her body also had eight different bite marks, Lichstein said. At trial, two forensic odontologists testified that Stinson's teeth were a match, even though Stinson was apparently missing a tooth in a place where the bite marks indicated a tooth, Lichstein said.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in a statement Friday that Stinson's conviction was not wrongful, and that he was convicted based on "state-of-the-art scientific evidence available at the time of his trial." "The question today is whether there is newly discovered evidence in this case to warrant a new trial, and we agree that such evidence exists," Chisholm said. The statement did not specify the evidence. Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Norman Gahn said he has six months to decide whether to retry Stinson.

Lichstein, who last spoke to Stinson on Thursday, said his client was happy but in shock. "I don't think it had completely sunk in," Lichstein said. "Personally, I feel a real sense of relief. It's been a long time coming for Mr. Stinson."

Stinson's conviction was based almost exclusively on evidence suggesting that bite marks matched Stinson's teeth, Lichstein said. The lawyer said he did not know why special technology was necessary if the missing tooth could have indicated there was no match. "I wish I could tell you. I wasn't around back then," he said.

DNA taken from saliva on the victim's sweater also did not match Stinson.

For a decade, attorneys and even some forensic experts have ridiculed the bite-mark identification as sham science and glorified guesswork. Critics say human skin changes and distorts imprints until they are nearly unrecognizable. As a result, courtroom experts end up offering competing opinions. But odontologists insist the science is sound if applied properly.

Since 2000, at least eight people in five states who were convicted largely on bite-mark identification have been exonerated, according to the Innocence Project.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)