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Truth in Justice
Newsletter - April, 2004
INNOCENCE AND THE
DEATH PENALTY
Nothing about the double homicide seemed
to
finger Tyrone Noling. Even the former sheriff doesn't believe he should
be on death row.
Nothing about the double homicide seemed
to
finger Tyrone Noling. Even the former sheriff doesn't believe he should
be on death row.
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POLICE/PROSECUTOR
MISCONDUCT
Michigan:
A New Baltimore, MI man wrongly jailed for six months in the 2000
slaying
of a teenage pizzeria worker says a $300,000-plus settlement of his
civil suit against police will help him start a new life -- but it
won't end his family's nightmares or stop the accusing stares that
follow him. And
while the settlement is about to change Jonathon Kaled's
life, legal experts said the suit's outcome won't affect how police
handle interrogations and false confessions. Misconduct as Usual
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New
York: A
Brooklyn gang murder case is in disarray after a federal judge
overturned the conviction of Angel DeAngelo for the killing, saying
prosecutors had relied on "blatant, critical perjury by all of the key
witnesses." "How many other people did they do this to?'' Mr.
DeAngelo asked
yesterday in a telephone interview from Latham, N.Y., near where he now
lives. "They believe anything these people say. It's all about a
collar; It has
Nothing to do with Justice.''
Virginia: Kenneth
Maurice Tinsley raped and murdered Rebecca Williams in 1982 in
Culpeper, VA. Police took advantage of mildly retarded farmhand
Earl
Washington, feeding him details of the crime to win a quick conviction
that put Washington on Death Row for 9 1/2 years. Tinsely was
identified in 2000 through the same DNA tests that exonerated
Washington. But there are no plans to prosecute him. In
fact, the
Commonwealth had to be ordered
by a federal judge to turn over turn over records identifying Tinsley
to Washington's lawyers. And what about Rebecca Williams' husband
and
children? Where
is Justice?
Wisconsin:
The continuing saga of the corrupt former Winnebago County DA, Joe
Paulus
WRONGFULLY
CONVICTED COPS
JOHN MALONEY
John Maloney was
granted a hearing for a writ of habeas
corpus, which can be granted by a judge if they find a
defendant's Constitutional rights were violated or they were unjustly
convicted. The hearing was
held in May, 2003. In July, 2003, Judge Peter Naze -- who
presided at John's trial -- ruled Maloney
got a
fair trial the first time around. That decision is under
appeal before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
But wait . . . as Maloney's appeal inches its way through the appellate
process, his conviction and the conduct of the prosecutors, defense,
local and state investigators is finally coming under objective
scrutiny.
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In March, 2004 the
Wisconsin Department of Justice announced it has launched an
investigation into the John Maloney case. Maloney's
attorney, Lew Wasserman, said the probe "takes the case in a new
direction" and means the attorney general's office believes questions
raised about the case aren't "frivolous."
The
medical examiner in the 1998 murder and arson case against former Green
Bay police officer John Maloney said Sunday he no longer has confidence
in his ruling that Maloney's estranged wife was murdered. Dr.
Gregory Schmunk told the Wisconsin State Journal that key evidence was
withheld from him that could have affected his ruling that Madison
native Sandy Maloney's death was a homicide. He has called for a
re-opening of the investigation into the Feb. 10, 1998, death, which he
ruled was caused by "strangulation/suffocation at the hands of
another."
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JUNK SCIENCE
Audits found the same
problems that shut down crime labs in Houston and McAllen, Texas at
crime labs in
Austin,
El Paso, Garland, Lubbock, Corpus Christi, and Waco. Stanley
Schneider, chairman of
the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association's crime lab strike
force, observed, "If
crime labs were in the private sector, they'd all be shut
down. Business would not tolerate this
kind of functioning." More Flawed Labs
JUNK
SCIENCE AND FALSE CHILD
ABUSE ALLEGATIONS
The Evidence for Shaken
Baby
Syndrome
The
theory of shaken baby syndrome rests on core assumptions:shaking is
always intentional and violent; the injury an infant receives from
shaking is invariably severe; and subdural andretinal bleeding is the
result of criminal abuse, unless provedotherwise. Retinal
haemorrhage is one of the criteria used, and many doctorsconsider
retinal haemorrhage with specific characteristics pathognomonic of
shaking. However, in the March 27, 2004 issue of the British Medical
Journal, Patrick Lantz et al examine that premiseand conclude
that it "cannot be supportedby objective scientific evidence."
Read
the British Medical Journal
Case Report and Editorial (pdf files - use Adobe Acrobat Reader)
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HOW THE SYSTEM
WORKS
Back in the Mother
Country: What
do the Brits give someone who’s
been proved innocent after spending the best part of their life behind
bars, wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn’t commit? An
apology,
maybe? Counselling? Champagne? Compensation? Well, if you’re David
Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary, the choice is simple: you give
them a big, fat bill for the cost of board and lodgings for the time
they spent freeloading at Her Majesty’s Pleasure in British
prisons. Ain't
No Better in Britain
Paul Craig Roberts
Commentary: Martha
Stewart was indicted for lying and obstructing justice.
For these offenses to have any meaning, there must be a crime that she
lied about and obstructed. The prosecutors presented no such crime.
Stewart was indicted and convicted for lying and obstructing a crime
when no crime happened. Judicial
System Casualty
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Unlimited
Police Powers:
NJ Superior Court Judge Andrew P. Napolitano (Ret.) notes the Constitution
prohibits
invasions of privacy by the government by denying it the power to
engage in unreasonable searches and seizures absent a warrant issued
upon probable cause. But in October 2001, the
Patriot Act changed all this. In addition to other violations of the
Constitution which it purports to sanction, the Act authorizes
intelligence agencies to give what they obtain without probable cause
to prosecutors; and it authorizes prosecutors to use the information
thus received in ordinary criminal prosecutions. Even worse, the
custodians of the records are now prohibited from telling you that your
records were sought or surrendered. Repeal
the Patriot Act
LIFE AFTER EXONERATION
Jailed
at 16, Josiah Sutton of Houston, TX served 4 1/2 years of a 25-year
sentence for a 1998 rape. Josiah said he was
innocent from the beginning. He won freedom
March 12, 2003, when a DNA test excluded him as a suspect. A second
test, ordered by the Harris County district attorney's office in June,
also excluded him.
David Dow, director of the Texas Innocence Network, is working to clear
Sutton's name in two ways: a court order to vacate the conviction and a
governor's pardon based on innocence. But Harris County
District Attorney
Chuck Rosenthal refuses to call Sutton "innocent" in documents
needed to clear him. Still Waiting
INNOCENCE PROJECTS
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Innocence
Projects provide representation
and/or investigative assistance to prison inmates who claim to be
innocent
of the crimes for which they were convicted. There is now at least one
innocence project serving each state except Hawaii, North Dakota and
South Dakota. Most of these innocence projects are new and overwhelmed
with applications, so waiting time between application and acceptance
is long. Wrongfully convicted
persons should not be dissuaded from applying to Innocence Projects
because
of this, but should have realistic expectations regarding acceptance
and
time lags. Check the list for the innocence project in your area;
we update it regularly.
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LINKS
The links pages at Truth in Justice are frequently
updated. Be sure to check them for resources, "must" reading,
websites of inmates with compelling innocence claims and more.
Start at http://truthinjustice.org/links.htm
SITE SEARCH ENGINE
There are now over 900 pages at Truth in Justice. The site search
engine on the main page can make it faster and easier to find what you
seek.
And remember, YOU can make a difference!
Sheila and Doug Berry
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