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Tentative settlement reached in portion of Ryan Ferguson’s lawsuit against police

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http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/20170526/tentative-settlement-reached-in-portion-of-ryan-fergusons-lawsuit-against-police

A tentative settlement has been reached in a portion of a federal civil rights suit Ryan Ferguson filed against local officials after his conviction in a 2001 killing was thrown out.

Parties in the case held a telephone conference May 19 in which U.S. District Judge Judge Nanette Laughrey was told of the pending settlement on the liability portion of the case. A bench trial is scheduled for June 26 in Jefferson City on damages. According to the docket entry in online court records, the bench trial is expected to begin at noon and last no more than four hours.

Details of the settlement have not been made public. A settlement typically does not include any admission of guilt or liability.

The suit was filed in early 2014 and originally included the city of Columbia; Boone County; circuit Judge Kevin Crane, who prosecuted Ferguson; several police officers; and other investigators who worked on the case. All defendants except for retired Columbia Police Department officers Bryan Liebhart, Jeff Nichols, Jeff Westbrook, John Short and Lloyd Simons and current Officer Latisha Stroer have since been dismissed. Read more >>

Court Junkie Podcast: Charles Erickson and The Murder of Kent Heitholt

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Ep 23: Charles Erickson and The Murder of Kent Heitholt

It’s a story that has been told numerous times before – On Halloween night in 2001, Kent Heitholt, a 48-year-old sports editor, was brutally murdered in the Columbia Tribune parking lot as he was leaving work.

Ryan Ferguson and Charles Erickson were arrested years later and charged with murder, although none of the forensic evidence at the scene matched either of the men. The case would slowly fall apart, amid witness recantations, and accusations of corruption. Read more >>

Op-Ed Amanda Knox: Donald Trump supported me when I was wrongly accused of murder. What do I owe him?

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http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-knox-trump-loyalty-20170504-story.html

Donald Trump supported me during the worst crisis and most vulnerable moment in my life, defending my innocence when I was on trial in Italy for murder. He is now the president of the United States and reportedly “very upset” with me because I didn’t vote for him.

Do I owe him my loyalty?

Trump’s remarks were reported by the New York Times in a profile of his neighbor George Guido Lombardi. Yet I received negative backlash from his supporters even before Lombardi’s comments were published. They felt that I owed Trump my allegiance and were outraged at columns I wrote in which I criticized his policies and explained my reasons for endorsing Hillary Clinton. One person commented:

“I’m sorry I ever supported you. You have turned into a left wing lunatic. I see your experience in Italy has left you completely ungrateful to be an American. … Donald Trump stood by you, but now you turn around and indirectly attack him? You should be ashamed of yourself.” Read more >>

Jamie Snow’s federal appeal given new life

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Jamie Snow

http://blog.freejamiesnow.com/jamie-snows-federal-appeal-given-new-life/

When a Northern Illinois District Court judge denied Snow’s federal habeas petition right before Christmas, she also summarily denied his request to appeal the decision to a higher court by issuing a denial of Snow’s Certificate of Appealability (COA) at the same time.

The Exoneration Project immediately appealed the denial of the COA, and was granted the right to appeal to the Seventh Circuit on February 18th. Read more >>

The 2017 Injustice Anywhere Newsletter is now online

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The 2017 Injustice Anywhere Newsletter is now online

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, courts in the United States overturned 165 wrongful convictions in 2016, which broke 2015’s record of 149 corrected wrongful convictions. It is promising to see that the numbers continue to be on the rise. If you look at data over the past 25 years, we are now seeing substantial progress.

Over the past quarter-century, America has incarcerated more people than any civilized nation on earth. A disturbing number of those incarcerations have been wrongful convictions. Hundreds of exonerations can be credited to advanced DNA technology. But research on topics like, bite mark evidence, fire investigation technology, and shaken baby syndrome, have all played a significant role as well. The ability to distribute information via the internet has also proven to be an invaluable resource when fighting wrongful convictions.

Exoneration statistics show that we are on the right track, but we have a long way to go. We need to correct the mistakes we have made, all while working to reforming the system which allowed those mistakes to occur in the first place. Sadly, the wrongful conviction problem is far more pervasive than most people realize, and even with increased interest, most cases continue to lack the attention they warrant. Many innocent people remain in prison. They need others to be their voice. They need you. Please join us in the fight to free the innocent.

Click on the image below to download the newsletter.

 

Supporters Asking For Funds To Support Melissa Calusinski’s Family As She Continues To Fight For Her Freedom

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Paul and Cheryl Calusinski

A gofundme account has been set up to help Paul and Cheryl Calusinski, the parents of Melissa Calusinski. Paul and Cheryl have suffered financial hardship as they have fought to free their daughter from prison.

Melissa Calusinski was convicted of murder in 2011 and was sentenced to 31 years in prison in Illinois. Calusinski was accused of throwing a child to the floor, causing fatal injuries, while working as a teacher’s aide at a day care center.

Calusinski has long maintained her innocence, and evidence now shows that she was wrongfully convicted based on false medical testimony and a coerced confession. In 2013, Eupil Choi, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on the child, stated in a sworn affidavit that he had missed an old injury. Choi’s statement was a major breakthrough in the case, because it supported Calusinski’s defense team’s longstanding argument that the child’s death was the result of a pre-existing injury. But the real bombshell came last year, which blew the case wide open. Lake County’s coroner, Dr. Thomas Rudd, reclassified the child’s death from a homicide to undetermined, after a new set of X-rays was discovered by his office. These X-rays show no sign of fresh injuries on the child at the time of death.

Melissa Calusinski

Calusinski is currently being represented by Kathleen Zellner, a high profile defense attorney who is credited with overturning eighteen wrongful convictions to date. Calusinski’s supporters are hopeful that Zellner will soon be adding one more case to her long list of successful exonerations.

Zellner’s involvement has been a blessing for the Calusinski family. Unfortunately, even with the best representation, the wheels of justice turn very slowly. The vast majority of wrongful convictions which are overturned go through multiple appeals over the course of many years before being corrected.

Paul and Cheryl Calusinski will continue to fight for their daughter for as long as it takes. And they have a strong group of supporters who are determined to make sure that they never have to fight the battle alone.

Please visit the Official Justice for Melissa Calusinski Family Page on Facebook to learn more about the Melissa Calusinski case.

If you would like to make a donation to help the Calusinski family, you can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/paulandcherylcalusinski

Jason Flom Interviews Amanda Knox

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Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a podcast about tragedy, triumph, unequal justice and actual innocence.  Based on the files of the lawyers who freed them, Wrongful Conviction features interviews with men and women who have spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit – some of them had even been sentenced to death.  These are their stories.

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/darryl-pinkins-roosevelt-glenn-convicted-in-1989-rape-guilty-until-proven-innocent/

HAMMOND, Ind. — For nearly two decades, Sally Glenn went to prison every other weekend to visit her son, Roosevelt.

“It would hurt me. And when we’d leave there I would cry,” she told “48 Hours” correspondent Maureen Maher.

Roosevelt Glenn’s daughter, Darniese, who was just 7 when her father went to prison, was often by her grandmother’s side on those visits.

“I was nervous for him due to the fact I knew he was a very innocent man behind bars with very bad criminals,” she said.”I had suicide all over me … for a while,” Roosevelt Glenn said in tears.

“And what stopped you?” Maher asked.

“I believe it was the power of God,” Glenn said. “I was a good man before I went to prison, but I wasn’t a man of faith.  Prison changed my way of thinking and it made me a man of faith.”

Darryl Pinkins was also in prison.

“How do you survive in that environment?” Maher asked Pinkins.

“You have to become … colder, as far as emotions,” he said, “because I don’t trust people like I used to.”

“I don’t know if they realize you’ve pretty much taken the most valuable thing people have… time,” Pinkins’ son, Dameon, said. “I feel like I’ve lost the most important time of my life, where — a son bonds with his father and becomes a man.” Read more >>

Incredibly, prosecutors are still defending bite mark evidence

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2017/01/30/incredibly-prosecutors-are-still-defending-bite-mark-evidence/?utm_term=.bb52cd7018fa

As of today, bite mark evidence has led to more than two dozen wrongful arrests or convictions. Two men sentenced to death on bite mark evidence were later exonerated by DNA testing. Multiple proficiency tests have shown that bite mark analysts can’t even agree on whether marks on human skin were made by human teeth or teeth at all, much less agreement on which set of teeth made them. There are two underlying assumptions that need to be true in order for bite mark evidence to be valid — that the marks we make when we bite are unique to us and that human skin is capable of recording those marks in a way that allows analysts to distinguish them. So far, there is no scientific research to support either assumption, and the research that has been done suggests both claims are false. Bite mark evidence has been strongly criticized by several scientific bodies, including the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and, most recently, by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The Texas Forensic Science Commission, a body convened specifically to review the validity of questionable fields of forensics, recommended a moratorium on the use of bite mark analysis in court. Read more >>

Closed Case: Hank Skinner (Requires Additional Testing)

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Closed Case: Hank Skinner (Requires Additional Testing)
Hank Skinner

Henry “Hank” Skinner, died Thursday, February 16, 2023, at a hospital in Galveston, Texas, as he continued to fight for his freedom. Hank was 60 years old at the time of his death. This case is listed in “Closed Cases Resulting in Release” because Hank is no longer incarcerated. 

Updates

February 16, 2023: Texas death row inmate dies after December surgery for tumor

July 9, 2012: Witness Implicates Alternative Suspect in Texas Death Penalty Case

June 13, 2012: Evidence Missing in Skinner Case

June 2, 2012: Update: State Backs DNA Testing for Hank Skinner

Case Overview

By Bruce Fischer

Hank Skinner was convicted on March 18, 1995, for the murder of his girlfriend and her two sons in Pampa, Texas on New Year’s Eve, 1993. Skinner was given the death sentence for his alleged crimes.

Skinner has maintained his innocence from day one. At the time of the murders, Skinner was living with the victims, Twila Busby and her two sons, Randy Busby, and Elwin “Scooter” Caler. He admitted being in the house at the time of the murders but claims he was passed out on a couch in a comatose condition from a near-lethal dose of alcohol and codeine.

According to Skinner, he was awoken by Elwin Caler after Caler had already suffered mortal wounds. Caler then left the house and died on a neighbor’s porch, apparently trying to get help. Skinner left the house as well, going four blocks away to the home of Andrea Joyce Reed, an ex-girlfriend of Skinner’s. Skinner was arrested hours later in Reed’s home wearing blood-spattered clothing that tested positive for two of the victims.

This was an easy case for the authorities. The blood-spattered clothes put Skinner at the scene and Reed testified that Skinner threatened her and told her not to call the police. Why would anyone believe Skinner’s steadfast pleas of innocence?

Let’s take a closer look at the case as it has unfolded over the past 17 years. Then you can decide if Hank Skinner should be put to death.

Was Hank Skinner in any condition to commit the horrendous crime? The defense’s toxicology expert at trial indicated that Skinner was nearly comatose at the time of the murders from a near-lethal mixture of codeine and vodka. Skinner had a blood alcohol level of .2 (more than twice the legal limit), and .44 grams of codeine per 100 ml. of blood.

Dr. Harold Kalant, professor emeritus of Toxicology and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto, reviewed the case in 2010 and had this to say: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the heavy drinker would be able to move about somewhat, but he would be very confused and badly impaired and would have difficulty standing or walking in a coordinated manner”

Hank Skinner is 5’9″ tall and weighed 140 pounds at the time of the murders. Skinner’s right hand is severely handicapped due to an accident causing nerve damage. When looking at Skinner’s physical stature along with his impaired condition, one has to ask if it was even remotely possible that he committed the crime. Keep in mind that Elwin Caler was 6’6″ tall and weighed 265 pounds.

Skinner was convicted based on the clothing he was wearing along with the testimony of Andrea Joyce Reed. If we look at the case today, we see that Reed has recanted her testimony and that numerous pieces of evidence were never properly analyzed.

Reed recanted her testimony in a 1997 affidavit. Reed states in the affidavit that her testimony was false. She admits that Skinner was unable to stand when he arrived at her home and that she had to practically carry him wherever he went.

Why did Reed Lie? Reed claimed that she feared that she was being looked at as a suspect. She said that comments were made to her at the police station that she could be arrested and charged with being an accessory to capital murder after the fact, and for harboring a fugitive. Here are a couple of excerpts from her affidavit:

“Officers were constantly questioning me as I was giving my statement, which resulted in amelioration of the facts of what actually occurred that night. Things were suggested to me and I complied, out of fear of arrest and the police taking my children away, which was mentioned several times.”

“At trial, I stated that, in my opinion, he was capable of committing the crime with which he was charged. The truth is that, in my opinion, and as a matter of fact, he was incapable of committing any physical action against any person. He could not even use the bathroom facilities on his own. I had to hold him up and help him.”

The evidence that has been left untested or completely ignored is shocking. It was never revealed at trial that two of the murder weapons could not be traced to Skinner. Bloody fingerprints found on a pickax handle and knife did not belong to Skinner, yet they were not discussed at trial. A second knife was also recovered from the scene, along with a bloody towel and jacket. None of these items have been tested.

Blood and skin were found under the fingernails of Busby indicating that she put up a fight. Tests were never conducted on Busby’s fingernail clippings. The hair found in Busby’s hands along with vaginal swabs taken at the time of her autopsy has also never been tested.

Why did Skinner’s attorney allow this evidence to be ignored at trial? Harold Lee Comer was Skinner’s appointed counsel. Comer was a former district attorney that had lost his job after pleading guilty to embezzling seized drug money. On top of losing his job, Comer was hit with a $90,000 bill from the IRS for unpaid income taxes. Times were tough for Comer. Thankfully he had a good friend in Judge M. Kent Sims, the judge presiding over Skinner’s murder trial. Judge Sims appointed Comer to represent Skinner, awarding him with an $86,000 payday. This was the largest paycheck given to a court-appointed attorney in Texas history.

It gets better. Comer had twice tried to convict Skinner for non-violent felonies while he was district attorney. This caused an obvious conflict of interest. Judge Sims knew of the conflict and by law should have given Skinner an opportunity to request new counsel but Sims never did so.

Whether the details of Comer’s arrival had anything to do with his poor performance in court is anyone’s guess. He failed miserably when it came to presenting the evidence. He didn’t even request for additional DNA testing and left out crucial details when suggesting another possible suspect, Twila Busby’s uncle, Robert Donnell (Donnell died in an automobile accident in 1997). According to eyewitness reports, Busby had been harassed at a New Year’s eve party by Donnell shortly before she was murdered. Critical information regarding Donnell was never heard at trial. One witness’s affidavit wasn’t collected until 2 1/2 years after the trial concluded. You can read more about Robert Donnell at TheSkepticalJuror.com.

Hank Skinner is now represented by Rob Owen, co-director of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law’s Capital Punishment Clinic. All DNA that Skinner’s defense team seeks to have analyzed, was available for testing at Skinner’s first trial. Skinner’s attorney, Harold Comer, chose not to have it analyzed believing it could further incriminate his client. Skinner contends that he never agreed with the decision made by Comer.

All requests for additional DNA testing have been denied on the grounds that Skinner’s trial attorney, Harold Comer, did not seek the analysis during the first trial. Should Hank Skinner be put to death because he was given inadequate counsel?

Skinner’s life is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. Do defendants have the right to request DNA testing? When the sentence is death, should we not take extra precautions?

Do I believe that Hank Skinner is innocent? Much like the Troy Davis case, I cannot say that I know the answer. What I do know is that there are too many unanswered questions in both cases to put either of the two to death. Unfortunately, it is too late for Troy Davis. We cannot allow this to happen again. Test the DNA! Answer the Questions!

Like Hank Skinner Says: “all the District Attorney’s gotta do is turn over the evidence, test it, and let the chips fall where they may. If I’m innocent, I go home, if I’m guilty I die…”

Resources

The Skeptical Juror: Hank Skinner 10-Part Series