Est Anima Legis (The Spirit of the Law)

2 Year Old Explains the Bush Tax Cuts

2010-11-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

Tom Tomorrow Post Election Recap

2010-11-09T14:24:00.000-05:00

Andrew Shirvell Loses Job as Assistant Attorney General

2010-11-09T14:21:00.000-05:00

I wrote about this idiot a few days ago. Here is the update.

Andrew Shirvell has been fired from his job as a Michigan assistant state attorney general, his attorney said this afternoon.

Shirvell was fired for using state resources for his campaign against University of Michigan student body President Chris Armstrong and for lying to investigators during his disciplinary hearing, Attorney General Mike Cox said in a statement.

Shirvell was called before the attorney general’s staff at 1:30 p.m. today, said Philip Thomas, Shirvell’s attorney.

“The only reason they gave was the fact that they felt his actions had made it impossible for him to continue in his role,” Thomas said.

Shirvell has been under fire for weeks for comments he made about Armstrong, who is openly gay. Shirvell has shown up at public events to condemn Armstrong’s “radical homosexual agenda.”

In a written statement, Cox said Shirvell was fired for "conduct unbecoming a state employee, especially that of an assistant attorney general."

"To be clear, I refuse to fire anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights, regardless of how popular or unpopular their positions might be," Cox said in the statement. "However, Mr. Shirvell repeatedly violated office policies, engaged in borderline stalking behavior, and inappropriately used state resources, our investigation showed.

Cox's investigation into Shirvell showed he:

Showed up at Armstrong's home three separate times, including once at 1:30 a.m. "That incident is especially telling because it clearly was about harassing Mr. Armstrong, not engaging in free speech," the statement said.
"Engaged in behavior that, while not perhaps sufficient to charge criminal stalking, was harassing, uninvited and showed a pattern that was in the everyday sense, stalking."
Harassed Armstrong's friends as they were socializing in Ann Arbor.
Called Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, Armstrong's employer, in an attempt to "slander Armstrong and ultimately attempting to cause Pelosi to fire Armstrong.
Attempted to "out" Armstrong's friends as homosexual — several of whom aren't gay.

The investigation found Shirvell engaged in his campaign on company time, Cox said. Shirvell called Pelosi's office while at work, during working hours, and sometimes posted online attacks about Armstrong while at work, the statement said.

In addition, Cox's statement said, Shirvell lied to investigating assistant attorneys general on several occasions during his disciplinary hearing.

"The cumulative effects of his use of state resources, harassing conduct that is not protected by the First Amendment, and his lies during the disciplinary conference all demonstrate adequate evidence of conduct unbecoming a state employee," the statement said. "Ultimately, Mr. Shirvell's conduct has brought his termination from state service."

Shirvell met for four hours on Friday with a panel made up of officials from the Attorney General’s Office. Shirvell has claimed his actions were both protected by Constitutional rights of free speech and were conducted away from his work on off-hours.

“I think it’s most unfortunate,” Thomas said. “This whole thing has a political aroma to me. I think my client is a victim of the liberal media piling on. In the first stories about this, (Attorney General Mike Cox) was quoted as saying that my client was doing this on his own time. What’s changed since then?”

The panel that conducted the hearing gave a summary to Cox, who decided to fire Shirvell, Cox’s spokesman, John Sellek, said in an e-mail.

"I think it's great that he was finally fired," said U-M third-year student Martell Lyons. "He really was abusing his position and I think he was stalking (Armstrong). I wish this would have happened sooner."

After Friday’s hearing, Thomas said he and Shirvell were expecting to come back before the panel on Tuesday or Wednesday. However, Thomas said he had a message on his office’s answering machine on Saturday, moving the time of the hearing up to today.

“I’m not sure what happened between Friday afternoon and Saturday,” Thomas said, adding he'll be consulting with his client on the next steps.

Shirvell has successfully appealed a University of Michigan order that barred him from any U-M owned property. The U-M Department of Public Safety modified the order last week.

But Shirvell stills faces complaints before the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission. Armstrong and his attorney, Deborah Gordon, have asked the commission to disbar Shirvell.

Gordon issued a statement today praising the firing. She also said she and Armstrong are pushing forward with their request to have Shirvell disbarred on the basis that he is not fit to be licensed to practice law, and said they continue to consider additional legal options.

"This clearly is the correct decision by the Attorney General's Office," Gordon said in her statement. "The next step must be a complete retraction of all the malicious lies and fabrications by Mr. Shirvell, and a public apology to Chris Armstrong, his family and the others Mr. Shirvell has slandered.

"It is past time for Shirvell to realize that there are consequences for his reckless, outrageous statements and actions and that he is solely responsible for those consequences."

David Jesse covers higher education for AnnnArbor.com. He can be reached atdavidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.

Another case for banning the death penalty

2010-11-09T14:18:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, Anthony Graves called his mother and asked what she was cooking for dinner. She asked why he wanted to know. He said, "Because I'm coming home."

Maybe it sounds like an unremarkable exchange. But Anthony Graves had spent 18 years behind bars, 12 of them on death row, for the 1992 murder of an entire family, including four young children, in the Texas town of Somerville. It wasn't until that day, Oct. 27, that the district attorney's office finally accepted what he'd been saying for almost two decades: He is innocent.

So the news that Graves would be home for dinner was the very antithesis of unremarkable. His mother, he told a news conference the next day, couldn't believe it. "I couldn't believe I was saying it," he added.

Graves' release came after his story appeared in Texas Monthly magazine. The article by Pamela Colloff detailed how he was convicted even though no physical evidence tied him to the crime, even though he had no motive to kill six strangers, even though three witnesses testified he was home at the time of the slaughter.

The case against Graves rested entirely on jailhouse denizens who claimed they'd heard him confess and on Robert Carter, who admitted committing the crime, but initially blamed Graves. Carter, executed in 2000, recanted that claim repeatedly, most notably to District Attorney Charles Sebesta the day before Sebesta put him on the stand to testify against Graves. Defense attorneys say Sebesta never shared that exculpatory tidbit with them, even though he was required to do so.

Colloff's story drew outraged media attention, including from yours truly. But the attention that mattered was that of the current DA, Bill Parham, who undertook his own investigation. He was unequivocal in explaining his decision to drop the charges. "There's not a single thing that says Anthony Graves was involved in this case," he said. "There is nothing."

One hopes people who love the death penalty are taking note. So often, their arguments in favor of that barbarous frontier relic seem to take place in some alternate universe where cops never fabricate evidence and judges never make mistakes, where lawyers are never inept and witnesses never commit perjury. So often, they behave as if in this one critical endeavor, unlike in every other endeavor they undertake, human beings somehow get it right every time.

I would not have convicted Anthony Graves of a traffic violation on the sort of evidence Sebesta offered. Yet somehow, a jury in Texas convicted him of murder and sent him off to die.

When you pin them on it, people who love the death penalty often retreat into sophistic nonsense. Don't end the death penalty, someone once told me, just enact safeguards to ensure the innocent are never sentenced to die.

Yeah, right. Show me the safeguard that guarantees perfection.

Those who propose to tinker with the death penalty until it is foolproof remind me of the addict attempting to negotiate with his addiction, desperately proffering minor concessions that will allow him to continue indulging in this thing that is killing him.

But there comes a day when you simply have to kick the habit.

As a nation, we are stubbornly addicted to the death penalty, strung out on exacting retribution and calling it justice. Even though we know innocent men and women have surely died as a result.

Or, like Anthony Graves, been robbed of irreplaceable years. He was 26 when he was arrested. He is 45 now. When he made that call home to his mother, he borrowed his lawyer's cell phone.

The lawyer had to show him how to use it.

LEONARD PITTS JR. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Write to him at lpitts@miamiherald.com .

Look Who's Stalking

2010-11-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Look Who's Stalking

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

Makes me proud to be from Michigan NOT. Lots of shots of downtown Lansing just blocks from my office.

this guy is an idiot.

STUNNING - 'I REMEMBER, SO I'M VOTING, AND NOT REPUBLICAN.'

2010-11-02T12:13:00.000-04:00

Student Loans are a pain but this pleading is probably over the top (Language Warning!!)

2010-10-28T17:43:00.001-04:00

Ass Clown Petition

Letter from Bishop Jerry Lamb and the Standing Committee of The Diocese of San Joaquin to all Bishops and Standing Committees regarding the consent for Bishop-elect Dan Martins

2010-10-28T17:32:00.000-04:00

The continuing Diocese of San Joaquin has many concerns about the proposed bishop of Springfield and rightly so in my opinion.

the Episcopal
Diocese of San Joaquin
The Central Third of California
The Rt. Rev. Jerry A. Lamb, Bishop
The Rev. Canon Mark H. Hall, Canon to the Ordinary
October 16, 2010
Sent via E-mail and US Mail
Dear Bishops and Standing Committee Members,
The Standing Committee of the Diocese of San Joaquin joins me in sending you this
letter that outlines our grave concerns about the election of the Rev. Daniel Martins as
the Bishop Diocesan of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois. Our concern is not about the
electing process, but about the suitability of Daniel Martins to be ordained a bishop in
the Episcopal Church. We write to you now before the consent process is in full swing,
so you will know of our concerns and have a chance to review pertinent information
about Daniel Martins and his involvement in the attempted separation of the Episcopal
Diocese of San Joaquin from the Episcopal Church. We also request that you visit
Daniel Martins’ website (http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/) and review his comments
about the startup of the Continuing Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. All of the
material concerning Daniel Martins’ relationship to the Diocese of San Joaquin can be
found on our diocesan website (www.diosanjoaquin.org) under “Updates” on the right
sidebar or by direct link at http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/dioceseofspringfieldconsent.html .
Daniel Martins came to the Diocese of San Joaquin in 1994 when he was called to be
the rector of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Stockton. He remained at St.
John’s until August 2007 when he accepted a call to St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in
Warsaw, Diocese of Northern Indiana. St. John’s is the oldest Episcopal Church in
Stockton (and was one of the leading parishes in the diocese.) Only months after
Martins left St. John’s, the parish chose to follow John-David Schofield in the attempt to
leave the Episcopal Church. It is our contention that Daniel Martins did not prepare this
congregation to remain in the Episcopal Church, but did just the opposite. St. John’s,
Stockton is one of the few incorporated parishes in the diocese, and we were forced to
file suit to recover this property for the Episcopal Church.
While residing in the Diocese of San Joaquin, Daniel Martins was very active in
diocesan affairs. He was elected a deputy to General Convention multiple times, the
last time in 2006. The Diocesan Council meeting minutes on April 8, 2006 report on a
discussion of the upcoming Diocesan Convention resolution regarding disassociation
from the Episcopal Church. In response to a question as to why deputies to General
Convention 2006 had questions about the timing of the resolution, the Rev James Snell
is referenced: “Read e-mail from Dan Martins. Endorse substance of proposal but
Diocesan Office: 1528 Oakdale road • Modesto • CA • 95355
Ph. 209-576-0104 • FAX 209-576-0114
October 16, 2010
Page 2
concerned that (1) language provocative, (2) timing is ill-advised (prior to GC 2006) -
diverts attention, (3) resolution will be spun by Bps adversaries, (4) robs GC deputations
of effectiveness and credibility at GC. If GC rejects Windsor Report, then it will be time
to act and Dan will lead the charge.” (See http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/CouncilMinutesApr2006)
In John-David Schofield’s address to convention in December 2006, when the first
reading of the proposed change to the Constitution was made, he made the following
statement, “Working independently of this Virginia meeting, three of our rural deans:
Frs. Dan Martins, Jim Snell, and Richard James came up with a substitute for the
original proposed changes to our diocesan constitution.” This substitute amendment
became the very amendment that the disaffiliating parties attempted to use as their
vehicle to leave the Church. (See http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/SchofieldAddr2006)
When former Bishop Schofield called for a vote in 2006 on this constitutional change
removing the accession clause (after rejecting the motion for a secret ballot) and called
for a vote by delegates standing in favor, reliable witnesses noted that Daniel Martins
voted in the affirmative.
The Standing Committee and I contend Daniel Martins was instrumental to the process
that led to first and second votes by the diocese to change the Constitutions and
Canons that resulted in the failed attempt to unilaterally leave the Episcopal Church.
Further excerpts from Diocesan documents are available at our diocesan website.
(See for example, email dated June17, 2007 from Martins to Standing Committee
http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/Email6172007 , Standing Committee minutes from June 2007
http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/SCMinutesJun2007 , and email from Dan Martins in December
2006 http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/Email12182006)
We also urge you to read excerpts from Daniel Martins’ blog entitled “Confessions of a
Carioca.” (See http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/DanMartinsBlogExcerpts ) The following are
examples from his blog.
3-5-2008: There's a new group of Non-Jurors in the process of formation even
as I write. They are former clergy and laity of the Diocese of San Joaquin. Their
principled stand places them between the "rock" of their former bishop, whom
they have loved and served loyally, but whom they cannot in good conscience
follow to the Province of the Southern Cone, and the "hard place" of the noncanonical
rump "remaining" Diocese of San Joaquin, which they cannot in good
conscience join because it represents the raw exercise of naked illicit power by
the Presiding Bishop, and because to do so would compromise their oath of
loyalty to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
7-13-2008: Now, aside from the ... what shall we say? ... ungenerous ... tone of
the missive, it raises some curious issues. It comes as no news that, for a
Diocesan Office: 1528 Oakdale road • Modesto • CA • 95355
Ph. 209-576-0104 • FAX 209-576-0114
October 16, 2010
Page 3
number of substantive technical reasons, I recognize neither the constitutional
foundation of the "Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin" nor the authority of Bishop
Jerry Lamb. By any rational reading of the Constitution & Canons of the
Episcopal Church, we're talking about a bogus diocese with a bogus bishop,
though they have some impressive-looking stationery. That they exist at all, and
are able to maintain the chimera of legitimacy is a result only of the raw exercise
of naked political power on the part of the Presiding Bishop. She is manifestly
guilty of presentable offenses but it will never happen because the political
calculus just isn't there.
Out of concern for the Episcopal Church, we urge you to review the information in this
letter, on our website (http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/dioceseofspringfieldconsent.html), and in
Daniel Martins’ own blog.
Upon reviewing the materials, we believe that it is clear that Daniel Martins not only
actively supported and voted to attempt to remove the Diocese from the Episcopal
Church. Furthermore, it is implicit in his writings and actions that he clearly holds the
belief that a Diocese may leave this Church unilaterally, which is contrary to our
understanding of Anglicanism and the polity of the Episcopal Church.
In closing, the consent process, as mandated by our canons, is the only way the wider
Church can respond to the election of a person to be a bishop. Accordingly, we would
ask you to join us in withholding consent for Daniel Martins to become the Bishop of
Springfield.
Peace,
+Jerry A. Lamb
Bishop of San Joaquin
Members of the Standing Committee
of the Diocese of San Joaquin

Sometimes I forget what is really like for my Gay and Lesbian friends

2010-10-27T18:18:00.002-04:00

Ark. school official accused of anti-gay screed

Ark. school board member accused of writing he'd wear purple only if gays 'commit suicide'

A member of a northern Arkansas school board, commenting on campaign to get people to wear purple to show support for bullied gay and lesbian youth, purportedly posted on Facebook that the only way he would wear purple is "if they all commit suicide."

The Arkansas Department of Education on Wednesday condemned the alleged posting by Midland School Board member Clint McCance.

The Advocate, a magazine that reports about gay issues, first reported about the posting on its website. The Facebook page has been disabled, but The Advocate posted a screen grab of the purported postings that it says someone forwarded to it.

McCance's alleged posting was in response to a Facebook campaign that asked supporters to wear purple last Wednesday to show solidarity after several gay and lesbian youths killed themselves, reportedly because of bullying.

"Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves," McCance allegedly wrote. "The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin."

McCance didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday left on his voicemail. But he told the Arkansas Times that the issue had been "blown out of proportion" and he planned to issue a statement later Wednesday. Officials at the Midland School District said Superintendent Dean Stanley was out of the office and not available for comment.

The Human Rights Campaign, which seeks equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, has called for McCance's resignation. A Facebook group, "Fire Clint McCance," had more than 15,000 members by midday Wednesday.

The state Education Department said in a statement Wednesday that it had no jurisdiction over elected school officials but that it would investigate any reports of bullying that arise because of the incident.

"The Arkansas Department of Education strongly condemns remarks or attitudes of this kind and is dismayed to see that a school board official would post something of this insensitive nature on a public forum like Facebook," the department said.

Source: AP News

Ex-inmate's name cleared in rape. He now can pursue $2 million from the state

2010-10-27T09:38:00.000-04:00

Nearly three months out of prison, Michael Anthony Green on Wednesday received news he's long been waiting for — that the state of Texas said he was actually innocent for the crime that kept him behind bars for 27 years.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' unanimous ruling is an enormous weight lifted off of the Houston man's shoulders.

"I almost feel like crying from the joy," Green, 45, said. "It's great for the state to acknowledge something I tried to tell them from the get-go."

The court's decision clears the way for Green to work toward a settlement of more than $2 million from the state, his attorney, Bob Wicoff said.

Green is expected to be taxed on the money, which he may get by the end of the year, Wicoff said.

He said legislators may change that law in the next session, which could be retroactive and make Green's money tax-free.

Wicoff said Wednesday's ruling was not a surprise because no one objected to the trial court's finding that Green was actually innocent.

Wicoff said he also expects to ask for an official pardon for Green.

Wrongly identified

Faulty eyewitness identification in 1983 sent Green to prison for 75 years for the rape of a Houston woman.

Prosecutors working on the case found the victim's jeans to be tested.

He was freed July 30 after DNA evidence cleared him from any involvement in the case.

Green was walking in the early morning hours of April 18, 1983, when he was picked up by police searching for four men involved in the sexual assault.

Police took Green to the scene of the crime, where the victim was waiting with police. She told officers Green was not one of three men who raped her.

A week later, Green was arrested for stealing a car and pleaded guilty to evading arrest.

Police put him in another lineup, in which the victim identified him. She identified him again at trial where he was convicted.

After DNA from the victim's jeans was tested last year, Assistant District Attorney Alicia O'Neill and investigator J.J. Freeze identified all four men suspected in the crime.

The men cannot be convicted because the statute of limitations has passed, but three have gone to prison for other crimes.

Speedy action

Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos said she was pleased that the state's highest court for criminal law moved quickly to declare Green innocent.

Since his release from prison, Green went to work for Wicoff, doing legal research.

Three weeks ago, he learned he's going to be a father. On Sunday, he got engaged to a different woman.

Green seemed grateful for the recent developments in his life.

"Life is beautiful," he said. "After so long, it's great."

brian.rogers@chron.com

This week's Tom Tomorrow

2010-10-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

We can only hope

2010-10-26T12:12:00.002-04:00

Tom Tommorow

2010-10-26T11:51:00.002-04:00

The Tea Party Rant " I hate the federal government" except the parts that benefit me. By Tom Tomorrow.

2010-10-21T13:37:00.000-04:00

Thank you Supreme Court

2010-10-20T14:26:00.000-04:00

Tom Tommorow

2010-10-06T12:33:00.000-04:00

Tom Tommorow

2010-10-05T15:49:00.003-04:00

John Paul Stevens's One Regret: Upholding The Death Penalty

2010-10-04T16:19:00.000-04:00

Over an almost 35 year Supreme Court career, now retired Justice John Paul Stevens said recently that the lone vote he regrets is one that he cast to restore the death penalty in 1976.

Less than a year into his Supreme Court judgeship, Stevens sided with the majority decision in Gregg v. Georgia a case that served to overrule a temporary stay in capital punishment enacted by Furman v. Georgia in 1972.

Three and a half decades later, Stevens spoke with NPR about that particular vote and the misgivings he had about his opinion in the case.

From NPR's report:

"I thought at the time ... that if the universe of defendants eligible for the death penalty is sufficiently narrow so that you can be confident that the defendant really merits that severe punishment, that the death penalty was appropriate," he says. But, over the years, "the court constantly expanded the cases eligible for the death penalty, so that the underlying premise for my vote has disappeared, in a sense."

According to NPR, Stevens described the bending of the court toward capital punishment as a function of an increasing number of "hard-line conservative justices" who broadened the applicability of the death penalty.

"Not only is it a larger universe, but the procedures have become more prosecution-friendly," Stevens told NPR.

Practices such as allowing prosecutors to screen jurors who could potentially be opposed to giving the death penalty, as well as the approval of emotionally-charged testimony from the families of victims during the sentencing phase of trials have all "load[ed] the dice in favor of the prosecution and against the defendant," Stevens told NPR.

Though Stevens did also vote with the majority in Baze v. Reese, a Kentucky decision that upheld the death penalty by lethal injection in 2008, he called his vote in Gregg "the one vote I would change." According to NPR, Stevens described his vote as "incorrect," and claimed the 1976 court "did not foresee how it would be interpreted."

"I really think that the death penalty today is vastly different from the death penalty that we thought we were authorizing," Stevens said. "And I think if the procedures had been followed that we expected to be in place, I think I probably would've still had the same views."

Federal Legislation to Help States with Public Defense Problems Introduced

2010-09-29T14:40:00.002-04:00

By virtually all accounts, Michigan's public defense problem's are bigger than everyone else's. So it's a cause for hope, at least, that Sen. Patricky Leahy has introduced the Justice for All Reauthorization Act of 2010 to provide assistance to states to carry out their responsibility to provide counsel to indigent criminal defendants in compliance with the 6th Amendment. On the "stick" side of the equation, the proposed legislation gives the Department of Justice authority to sue states that do not properly meet 6th Amendment requirements.

Here's the bill (PDF).

Don't Be a False Friend, Especially in New York

2010-09-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

Okay, in New York, according to a new New York State Bar Association ethics opinion, you can gather information on adverse parties in litigation from their publicly accessible social media pages. Just don't try "friending" them (or friending them by proxy) to do it. Here's the opinion (PDF). By the way, the Philadelphia Bar, which should really know the meaning of Friends, agrees.

Can A Cheerleader Refuse to Cheer on 1st Amendment Grounds?

2010-09-29T14:34:00.003-04:00

The 5th circuit says no. A Texas high school cheerleader who refused to cheer for a player she accused of sexually assaulting her (he later pled guilty to a misdemeanor) lost her suit against the school district and officials who dismissed her from the squad. The court recited as fact that the plaintiff as a cheerleader was "contractually required to cheer for the team," including her attacker. Her complaint alleged that her determination not to cheer for her attacker was an exercise of symbolic expression of her disapproval of her attacker, protected by the First Amendment. The court rejected the argument:

In her capacity as cheerleader, H.S. served as a mouthpiece through which SISD could disseminate speech -- namely, support for its athletic teams. Insofar as the First Amendment does not require schools to promote particular student speech, SISD had no duty to promote H.S.’s message by allowing her to cheer or not cheer, as she saw fit. Moreover, this act constituted substantial interference with the work of the school because, as a cheerleader, H.S. was at the basketball game for the purpose of cheering, a position she undertook voluntarily.

Judges Cancels California Execution

2010-09-29T14:32:00.002-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO — Facing sharp questions from a federal appellate panel and concerns about a drug used in lethal injections, a federal judge in California has canceled what would have been California’s first execution in more than four years.

Albert G. Brown Jr., 56, was convicted in 1982 of raping and strangling a 15-year-old girl in Riverside, Calif., two years before and had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday night.

But late Tuesday, Judge Jeremy D. Fogel of Federal District Court in San Jose issued a stay after a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered him to again consider the case.

The stay came a day after California officials announced that the state’s supply of sodium thiopental, a barbiturate used in executions, was good only until Friday, a revelation that seemed to shock the appellate panel. “It is incredible to think that the deliberative process might be driven by the expiration date of the execution drug,” the panel wrote.

In his stay, Judge Fogel seemed to agree, and indicated that he had been blindsided by the state’s admission about the drug’s expiration, calling it a “fact that the defendants did not disclose to this court.”

Mr. Brown’s execution would have been the first in California since 2006, when Judge Fogel effectively halted executions in the state after finding various deficiencies in the state’s methods. Since then, the state says it has addressed those problems by revamping regulations surrounding executions and building a new death chamber at San Quentin State Prison.

Judge Fogel ruled last week that Mr. Brown was ineligible for a stay, but legal questions and challenges continued to percolate. On Monday night, Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggergave Mr. Brown a brief reprieve, pushing the execution to Thursday from Wednesday. The appellate panel weighed in later that night, raising questions about the constitutionality of the state’s new protocol for lethal injection using a three-drug cocktail.

Truth in Advertising

2010-09-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

These are the Tea Party Candidates

2010-09-23T14:28:00.000-04:00

Funniest Thing heard in a long time

2010-09-21T14:32:00.005-04:00

From The Daily Show. If you draw Mitch McConnell you can get into art school.

Top Ten is back

2010-09-21T13:44:00.002-04:00

Top Ten Conservative Idiots is back. It will be run between now and the election here at democratic underground. I gotta believe the writer couldn't resist the chance to post about the tea party candidates. Each Monday there is a new list. Not to be missed. ** Caution language is PG 13 at least ** but you'd expect that if you have to follow all of the antics of crazy tea party candidates.

Virginia to execute first woman in almost 100 years

2010-09-21T10:47:00.002-04:00

Despite IQ of 70-72, grandmother expected to die by lethal injection on Thursday

Barring a last-minute reprieve from the US Supreme Court, 41-year-old Teresa Lewis will on Thursday become the first woman to be executed by the state of Virginia in almost 100 years.

Abolitionists paint Lewis as a classic example of why capital punishment is flawed, saying the mother and grandmother has diminished mental faculties and was taken advantage of by smarter accomplices.

But with an IQ hovering at 70 or above, Lewis is considered fit for trial in Virginia and she pleaded guilty to hiring two men to murder her husband and stepson to pocket their 350,000-dollar life insurance policy.

Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, she will die by lethal injection on Thursday, the first woman to be put to death in Virginia since Virginia Christian, a black 17-year-old who died in the electric chair in 1912.

Lewis met Rodney Fuller and Matthew Shallenberger in a Walmart superstore. Soon she began an affair with the 22-year-old Shallenberger and encouraged her 16-year-old daughter to get together with Fuller, who was 19.

Lewis admits she left the door of the family trailer in rural Pittsylvania County open in 2002 so the two young accomplices could enter and shoot her husband and his 25-year-old son, who was in the military.

All three pleaded guilty. The triggermen got life in prison, but Lewis, who was deemed fit to stand trial, was sentenced to death as the mastermind of the killings, or in the words of the judge "the head of this serpent."

His summation is far from the portrayal that Lewis supporters offer -- that of a borderline mentally disabled woman, who struggled with a behavioral dependency disorder and was addicted to prescription drugs.

Regardless, why is she to be executed when she should have been handed life without parole like the two men who actually carried out the murder, they ask.

"The issue in the case is not that Teresa Lewis is a woman and should be treated differently," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty information center, told AFP.

"But it would be grossly unfair if the one person among those involved who is probably the least danger to society, who is certainly no more guilty than those who carried out the murders and whose disabilities call out for mercy, is the only person scheduled to die for this crime."

The Supreme Court has ruled against the execution of the mentally impaired under the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

But both the Virginia Supreme Court and a federal appeals court have ruled that Lewis could function normally in society.

Lewis's lawyers argue that new evidence, including her low IQ, has appeared since her trial that should prevent her execution.

The key piece of evidence they want considered is a letter from Shallenberger, who killed himself in jail in 2006, in which he claims full responsibility for the murder plot and suggests he pushed Lewis into it.

"From the moment I met her I knew she was someone who could be easily manipulated," he allegedly wrote. "Killing Julian and Charles Lewis was entirely my idea. I needed money, and Teresa was an easy target."

But Virginia governor Robert McDonnell on Friday denied clemency, saying he could "find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was imposed by the Circuit Court."

His statement said Lewis had admitted "heinous" crimes and noted that no doctors had concluded she was mentally disabled under Virginia law, which sets the bar at exactly 70 on the IQ scale.

With three nights to go before she is escorted to the death chamber, Lewis's lawyer James Rocap told AFP she was sad but resigned to her fate.

"She is very disappointed... she wants to live, but she has a remarkable, spiritual peace about her and she has said that whatever happens she would be a winner. She's relying I think very strongly right now on her faith to help her go through this."

If Lewis is executed on Thursday, she will become only the 12th woman to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reintroduced in 1976. In that time 1,215 people have been executed.

The United States is among the countries that execute the most people each year, along with China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

Update:

Was emailed this video on the case

MAGGIE WANTS INTO HEAVEN

2010-09-07T09:51:00.000-04:00

American Bar Association Recalls 230,000 Defective Lawyers

2010-08-30T14:17:00.000-04:00

Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be

2010-08-30T14:16:00.001-04:00

ESCONDIDO, CA—Spurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head.

Enlarge ImageKyle Mortensen would gladly give his life to protect what he says is the Constitution's very clear stance against birth control.

"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. "It's time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are."

According to Mortensen—an otherwise mild-mannered husband, father, and small-business owner—the most serious threat to his fanciful version of the 222-year-old Constitution is the attempt by far-left "traitors" to strip it of its religious foundation.

"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."

"Men like Madison and Jefferson were moved by the ideals of Christianity, and wanted the United States to reflect those values as a Christian nation," continued Mortensen, referring to the "Father of the Constitution," James Madison, considered by many historians to be an atheist, and Thomas Jefferson, an Enlightenment-era thinker who rejected the divinity of Christ and was in France at the time the document was written. "The words on the page speak for themselves."

According to sources who have read the nation's charter, the U.S. Constitution and its 27 amendments do not contain the word "God" or "Christ."

Mortensen said his admiration for the loose assemblage of vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time. He believes that each detail he has pulled from thin air—from prohibitions on sodomy and flag-burning, to mandatory crackdowns on immigrants, to the right of citizens not to have their hard-earned income confiscated in the form of taxes—has contributed to making it the best framework for governance "since the Ten Commandments."

"And let's not forget that when the Constitution was ratified it brought freedom to every single American," Mortensen said.

Mortensen's passion for safeguarding the elaborate fantasy world in which his conception of the Constitution resides is greatly respected by his likeminded friends and relatives, many of whom have been known to repeat his unfounded assertions verbatim when angered. Still, some friends and family members remain critical.

"Dad's great, but listening to all that talk radio has put some weird ideas into his head," said daughter Samantha, a freshman at Reed College in Portland, OR. "He believes the Constitution allows the government to torture people and ban gay marriage, yet he doesn't even know that it guarantees universal health care."

Mortensen told reporters that he'll fight until the bitter end for what he roughly supposes the Constitution to be. He acknowledged, however, that it might already be too late to win the battle.

"The freedoms our Founding Fathers spilled their blood for are vanishing before our eyes," Mortensen said. "In under a year, a fascist, socialist regime has turned a proud democracy into a totalitarian state that will soon control every facet of American life."

"Don't just take my word for it," Mortensen added. "Try reading a newspaper or watching the news sometime."

THINK CRAZY: Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, John Boehner

2010-07-27T15:42:00.000-04:00

Senator Franken Talks about Judicial activism and T. Marshall

2010-07-02T14:02:00.003-04:00

Thurgood Marshall is a hero of mine. Al Franken gets it right on the Republican's slams on him.

This week's Tom Tomorrow

2010-07-02T13:50:00.001-04:00

Click on Image to enlarge

238 presidential scholars: Bush worst president of modern era, fifth worst in US history

2010-07-02T13:30:00.002-04:00

I and others have been saying this for a while. Now it is official.

It's one thing for a coterie of liberals at a late-night Washington soirée to say that George W. Bush was the worst president in their lifetimes.

It's another thing when the same is said by the nation's 238 leading presidential scholars, who have been polled annually for the last 28 years.

President Bush ranked worst among modern presidents -- and the fifth worst in history, according to the poll by the Siena Research Institute. Ranking first? President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who led the country from 1933 until his death in 1945.

President Roosevelt served four terms, the longest of any president in history. US presidents became limited to two terms after US states ratified the 22nd Amendment to the US constitution in 1951.

President Barack Obama, who hasn't yet served a full term, rated 15th.

Notes Think Progress:

Since 1982, the Siena Research Institute has polled presidential scholars on whom they view to be best and worst presidents in American history, based on a variety of issues from “integrity” to economic stewardship. This year’s poll of 238 scholars found that President Franklin Roosevelt was once again ranked on top, joined by Presidents Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, and Teddy Roosevelt to complete the top five. However, President George W. Bush did not fare well since the last poll was conducted in 2002. He dropped 16 places to 39th, making him the worst president since Warren Harding died in office in 1923, and one of the bottom five of all time, according to the experts:
"Today, just one year after leaving office, the former president has found himself in the bottom five at 39th rated especially poorly in handling the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence. Rounding out the bottom five are four presidents that have held that dubious distinction each time the survey has been conducted: Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce."
Bush was rated second from the bottom on “intelligence,” “foreign policy accomplishments,” and “handling of U.S. economy.” This despite promises from Bush supporters that “history will be very kind” to the former president, as his Attorney General John Ashcroft put it. Bush’s father’s legacy “held constant” in this year’s poll, with George H.W. Bush coming in at 22nd. President Reagan “dropped two places from 16th overall in 2002 to 18th today.” President Obama was ranked 15th.

You can read the full PDF of the survey here.

Conservative Judicial Philosophy: That's BullShit

2010-06-29T14:05:00.000-04:00

Catching up with Tom Tomorrow

2010-06-25T15:27:00.002-04:00

Click to enlarge image

Maryland Man Pressed for DNA Test and Made History

2010-06-25T15:22:00.002-04:00

I have met Kirk Bloodsworth many times he is an amazing man with an amazing story.

This week marks the seventeenth anniversary of Maryland fisherman Kirk Bloodsworth’s exoneration. In 1985, Bloodsworth was charged and convicted of the rape and murder of a nine year old girl. A 1992 DNA test proved his innocence after he had incorrectly served eight years in prison, two of which he spent on death row.

In July of 1984, a nine-year old girl was found dead having been brutally raped, strangled, and beaten. The police received an anonymous call; the caller claimed that Bloodsworth was seen with the victim on the day of the crime. A police sketch was constructed based on the descriptions of five eyewitnesses, all of who later testified during the trial that they had each seen Bloodsworth with the victim. He matched the witnesses’ descriptions. Kirk Bloodsworth was convicted and sentenced to death.

In Bloodsworth’s appeals, the bulk of the prosecution’s case was challenged. The appellate court overturned his conviction and he was awarded a retrial. Unfortunately, hewas convicted again, this time receiving two life sentences.

In 1992 DNA testing was no longer the nascent technology it had been at the time of Bloodsworth’s original trial, but it was still uncommon. Bloodsworth pressed for a test of the semen sample on the victim’s underwear that had been recovered at the scene of the crime, contacting Attorney Robert E. Morin about the idea. Morin paid the $10,000 out of his own pocket to have the test conducted. A year later, the results came back. The semen on the victim’s underwear was not Bloodsworth’s. He was innocent.

Bloodsworth was freed in June of 1993, going down in history as the first person sentenced to death and then exonerated through DNA testing. Since his exoneration, 16 more former death row prisoners have been exonerated through DNA testing. It was Bloodsworth, and his attorney Robert E. Morin, who led the way to freedom.

After his exoneration, Bloodsworth joined with author Tim Junkin to write a memoir: “Bloodsworth: The True
Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA. Buy it on Amazon.com here.

More Same Seder Bull S**t Gay is Icky

2010-06-25T15:20:00.001-04:00

Tom Tomorrow

2010-06-24T14:41:00.002-04:00

Click on Image to enlarge.

Last week Ken Wyniemko celebrated 7 years of Freedom

2010-06-24T14:35:00.001-04:00

Ken was release in large part because of the work of the Thomas M. Cooley Innocence Project where I work.

Social Security Broke: That's Bullshit

2010-06-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

Running tally of oil spill adjustable for daily spill rate estimates

2010-06-04T13:53:00.000-04:00

Wisconsin Exoneree is Compensated with Only $25K After Spending Over a Decade Behind Bars, Demonstrating the Need for State Compensation Reforms

2010-05-25T10:19:00.002-04:00

Michigan currently has a bill in the legislature that would provide compensation for innocence people who serve time in prison. This bill should be passed even though the state has NO money. It is a matter of simple justice. The system failed these people in the worst way. Most of those exonerated who do not get compensation have a very hard time picking up the pieces and getter on with their life.

Chaunte Ott served more than 12 years in Wisconsin prisons for a murder he didn’t commit before DNA testing obtained by the Wisconsin Innocence Project proved his innocence and led to his release in early 2009. The post-conviction DNA testing on evidence found on Payne showed that someone else committed the crime.

This week, the state Claims Board has awarded Ott with $25,000 to compensate him for being wrongfully convicted of murdering 16-year-old Jessica Payne – a sum far less than what he is entitled to and an amount wholly inadequate to compensate for his years of suffering.

And Ott is not the only one. Statistics show that 81% of the first 240 DNA exonerees who have been compensated under state laws similar to Wisconsin’s received far less than the federal standard created through the Innocence Protection Act of 2004, which is $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment and $100,000 per year on death row.

Wisconsin law states that a wrongfully convicted person "who did not by his or her act or failure to act contribute to bring about the conviction and imprisonment for which he or she seeks compensation" can receive a maximum of $25,000, including attorneys fees, as long as the claimant did not contribute to or bring about conviction. The Claims Board may petition legislature for additional funds.

Months after Ott was exonerated, investigators matched the same sample along with DNA from eight other murders to Walter Ellis. Ellis was charged with seven of those murders, but has yet to be charged for murdering Payne. Two of the murders were committed after Ott was arrested.

Today's Tom Tomorrow

2010-05-25T10:13:00.002-04:00

Court to hear Texas death row inmate DNA case

2010-05-24T12:29:00.004-04:00

(Reuters) - The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether a Texas death row inmate can use a civil rights law to require that the state test DNA evidence he says could prove his innocence in a triple murder.

U.S.

The justices agreed to hear Henry Skinner's appeal. On March 24, they granted him a stay about an hour before his scheduled execution to give them more time to decide whether to take up his case.

In an order issued Monday, the Supreme Court said it decided to rule on the issue presented by his case. Arguments are expected to be heard in the upcoming term that begins in October.

Skinner's lawyers maintain that his rights under the civil rights law were violated by authorities' refusal to grant DNA testing after his conviction.

In the United States, post-conviction DNA testing has exonerated more than 250 people, including 17 prisoners who served time on death row, according to a group called the Innocence Project.

Skinner was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons on New Year's Eve in 1993 in the small town of Pampa, Texas. He has always maintained his innocence.

Skinner's attorneys are seeking DNA testing of key evidence from the crime scene, including a bloody towel, two knives and a man's windbreaker, and swabs from a rape kit.

Skinner's lawyer at trial did not seek the DNA testing. His attorneys who have been handling his appeals have sought the DNA tests for 10 years, but the state has refused to grant the request.

U.S. courts rejected Skinner's request for the DNA tests on the grounds it cannot be pursued under the federal civil rights law, but must be brought under what is known as a federal habeas challenge.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that convicted criminals do not have a constitutional right to demand that the state conduct DNA testing of evidence. But that case did not involve a death row inmate seeking to prove his innocence.

Prosecutors at trial presented the results of some DNA tests that showed Skinner's presence at the crime scene, which also was his place of residence.

Wrongly Convicted L.A. Man Is Released From Prison

2010-05-20T13:01:00.002-04:00

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a 1994 murder and attempted robbery in South Los Angeles is a free man today.

Los Angeles based California Innocence Project, which helped get him released, says Reggie Deshawn Cole had been in prison for 14 years.

On March 27, 1994, Felipe Angeles was murdered during a robbery in South Los Angeles. Largely based on the false statement of an alleged eyewitness, Los Angeles police arrested Cole, who was found guilty and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

He maintained his innocence throughout his trial and incarceration, according to the California Innocence Project, based at California Western School of Law in San Diego.

Hit man told police 'wrong guy' caught in 4 deaths

2010-05-20T13:00:00.001-04:00

DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit teenager trying to erase his guilty plea in four killings may get a lift from the testimony of a police officer who talked to a self-described hit man about the case.

Sgt. Gerald Williams testified Thursday in Wayne County court. He says Vincent Smothers told him authorities had the "wrong guy" in four fatal shootings in a Detroit drug den.

Davontae Sanford was 15 when he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2008. A judge is holding hearings on whether the 17-year-old may withdraw the plea.

Sanford's lawyer says he took responsibility for the Runyon Street killings to please adults.

Smothers is awaiting trial in eight homicides. Police say he confessed to the Runyon killings in 2008 but hasn't been charged.

Alaska Enacts DNA Access Law

2010-05-20T12:56:00.001-04:00

On Friday, Alaska became the 48th U.S. state to enact a law granting post-conviction DNA access to prisoners seeking to overturn wrongful convictions. After passing the state’s House and Senate with unanimous support, the measure was signed into law by Gov. Sean Parnell on May 14. Only Massachusetts and Oklahoma now lack DNA access laws.

The new Alaska law is the result of years of work by a coalition of advocates, including the Alaska Innocence Project and the Innocence Project. It allows prisoners to apply for DNA testing in cases where it has the potential to prove innocence, and if testing is granted it will be paid for by the state. The new law also requires the state to preserve biological evidence from crime scenes as long as defendant is in prison (or for 50 years in unsolved crimes).

The full text of the bill is here.

Lawmakers and legal groups are actively seeking post-conviction DNA access legislation in Massachusetts, one of the last two states without such a law. Late last year, the Boston Bar Association released a report calling on the state to pass a law providing DNA access in cases where it can prove innocence.

This week's Tom Tomorrow

2010-05-20T12:48:00.001-04:00

This week's Tom Tomorrow click to enlarge.

Supreme Court rules life sentences for some minors is unconstitutional

2010-05-17T11:23:00.003-04:00

There are over 300 people in prison in Michigan who sentenced to life without parole for a crime they committed before they were 18 years old. Nearly all were convicted of murder. I am not sure of the logic that they may be less culpable for crimes other than murder but it is ok for them to receive life without parole for murder.

The Supreme Court has ruled that teenagers may not be locked up for life without chance of parole if they haven't killed anyone.

By a 5-4 vote Monday, the court says the Constitution requires that young people serving life sentences must at least be considered for release.

The court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17. Graham, now 22, is in prison in Florida, which holds more than 70 percent of juvenile defendants locked up for life for crimes other than homicide.

"The state has denied him any chance to later demonstrate that he is fit to rejoin society based solely on a nonhomicide crime that he committed while he was a child in the eyes of the law," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. "This the Eighth Amendment does not permit."

Chief Justice John Roberts agreed with Kennedy and the court's four liberal justices about Graham. But Roberts said he does not believe the ruling should extend to all young offenders who are locked up for crimes other than murder.

Republicans and Future Justice Kagan

2010-05-14T10:49:00.002-04:00

Edited from http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/ careful of the language he uses.

Man, Republicans are at it again. They attack Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, for lacking experience as a judge. Beyond the fact that John Roberts had only two years of judging under his belt when he became the Grand Poobah Justice of All, there's one reason and one reason only that Kagan hasn't walked across the robed threshold, and that's because Republicans, who, as previously noted, are some republicans, blocked her nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court back in 1999, with Senate Judiciary Chair Orrin Hatch not even allowing a hearing. Why? Because the Republicans could. And because she and others were nominated by Bill Clinton.

On May 9, 2003, on Fox "news," Alan Colmes asked Hatch about the failure to move the nominations forward, to which Hatch said, "Elena Kagan I feel badly about. She was one who didn't make it through." Indeed, he felt bad enough that he voted in favor of her for Solicitor General. And time will tell if he still feels like he treated her unfairly back in the day.

Also, how laughable is it that they're going after her for praising Thurgood Marshall for a speech where he said the Constitution "as originally drafted and conceived" was "defective"? Besides the fact that Marshall was referring to the enshrinement of slavery in the document, umm, even the people who wrote the Constitution found it defective and subject to change. That's why there's a Bill of Rights and an amendment process written into the thing.

Suspect in 1984 murder went on 'reign of terror'

2010-05-14T10:36:00.001-04:00

Innocence Project identified suspect

A man who is now suspected in a 1984 murder - but who remained free at the time after another man was sent to prison - went on a "reign of terror" shortly after the slaying and beat a man to death seven years later, court records show.

The case shows how devastating a wrongful conviction can be, said Byron Lichstein, an attorney with the Wisconsin Innocence Project.

"There's a public safety aspect to these wrongful convictions," Lichstein said Wednesday. "When there's a wrongful conviction, the person wrongly convicted isn't the only one who suffers."

The Innocence Project, saying it has new DNA evidence and a signed confession, has identified Moses Price Jr. as being responsible for the 1984 murder of Ione Cychosz of Milwaukee.

Cychosz, 62, was a neighbor of Robert Lee Stinson, who spent 23 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of her murder.

Stinson was freed last year when the Innocence Project produced evidence showing that DNA and bite marks found on Cychosz could not have come from Stinson.

Now, the University of Wisconsin Law School program says it has evidence showing that the DNA recovered from Cychosz's clothing belongs to Price, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence for the 1991 murder of a Milwaukee man and other crimes.

Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern said his office has a new suspect in Cychosz's murder, but he would not identify the suspect. He said he expects his office will decide before the end of the month whether to file new charges.

It is not known whether police investigated Price as a potential suspect in Cychosz's murder, but it is clear that he went on to rob, assault and kill.

Cychosz's body was found outside of her home on N. 7th St. by a neighbor on the morning of Nov. 3, 1984.

Her clothing and other personal items were scattered around the backyard and, although spermatozoa was found on her body, the number of cells was too few to help identify a suspect, according to court records.

Bite marks on Cychosz became the key evidence. Investigators arrested Stinson and said the marks could have come only from him.

Price remained free.

'Reign of terror'

On Dec. 2, 1984, a month after Cychosz's murder, Price went on a five-hour crime spree that a prosecutor called a "reign of terror."

A woman told police that while she was walking in the 1500 block of W. Hadley St. about 4:30 a.m., she was approached by Price, who pointed a knife at her and threatened to kill her.

Price took $50 from her and raped her on the playground outside of Hopkins Street School, according to a criminal complaint.

Another woman told police that about 9 a.m. that day Price confronted her with a knife at N. Teutonia and W. North avenues and threatened to kill her. He stole two purses, cash, her arthritis medicine and other items, the criminal complaint says.

Authorities said Price also committed four other armed robberies that day. But he was charged only with robbing the two women and with the rape, court records show.

In a plea bargain, the rape charge was dropped, and Price pleaded guilty to the armed two robberies.

At Price's sentencing in January 1985, his attorney said Price gave no explanation for his crimes, but she hoped that, at 24, he would mature, take care of his drinking problem and that "there has to be some light at the end of the tunnel."

Prison sentences

Price was sentenced to eight years in prison.

That same month, a jury found Stinson, then 20, guilty of Cychosz's murder. He was later sentenced to life in prison.

Price didn't speak to the judge, Ralph Gorenstein, during his sentencing.

But court records show that two months later, in March 1985, he wrote Gorenstein, saying "all I was trying to do was have some kind of contact with people and the liquor is what trigger me to have it in such a way, not that I was willfully trying to hurt people or break the law."

After 5 1/2 years in prison, Price was released in the summer of 1990. On Nov. 2, 1991, according to court records, he beat Eddie Hanson to death with a cordless phone and other objects, then set Hanson's north side home on fire, later confessing to the crimes.

At Price's sentencing in March 1992, one of Hanson's sisters, Mary Galway, told Price: "Get Christ in your life, so when you do come out, that you can lean on Christ and you will not have any problems."

This time, Price spoke to the judge, Victor Manian, saying:

"The thing that happened shouldn't have happened, but it wasn't like I'm going there just to kill somebody. We got in an argument, the man threw a phone (at me), we got to fighting. It happened. I'm more sorrier than anybody."

Price is serving a 35-year prison sentence for the Hanson homicide and related crimes.

He is eligible for parole in 2017, according to the state Department of Corrections.

***

Timeline

Nov. 3, 1984: Ione Cychosz is found dead by a neighbor in a backyard area near her Milwaukee home.

Dec. 2, 1984: A woman told police that while she was walking in the 1500 block of W. Hadley St. about 4:30 a.m. she was approached by Moses Price Jr., who pointed a knife at her and threatened to kill her. Price took $50 from her and raped her on the playground outside of Hopkins Street School. Another woman told police that about 9 a.m. Price robbed her with a knife at N. Teutonia and W. North avenues and threatened to kill her.

January 1985: Price is sentenced after pleading guilty to the two armed robbery charges in exchange for the rape charge being dropped.

The same month, Robert Lee Stinson is found guilty by a jury in Cychosz's murder. He is later sentenced to life in prison.

March 24, 1985: In a letter to the judge who sentenced him for the December 1984 crimes, Price said he thinks he committed the crimes because "all I was trying to do was have some kind of contact with people and the liquor is what trigger me to have it in such a way, not that I was willfully trying to hurt people or break the law."

Summer 1990: Price is released from prison.

Nov. 2, 1991: Eddie Hanson, 50, is found dead by a firefighter who was battling a blaze at Hanson's home, on N. 27th St.

March 9, 1992: Having previously pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide, arson and theft, Price is sentenced to 35 years in prison.

January 2009: Stinson is released from prison after the Wisconsin Innocence Project presents DNA and bite-mark evidence excluding him as a suspect in Cychosz's murder.

July: District attorney's office announces it won't put Stinson on trial again in Cychosz's murder.

May: Innocence Project announces that new DNA evidence from Cychosz's clothing matches Price and that Price has signed a confession admitting that he killed her.

Wrongful Convictions Clinic client released from prison

2010-05-11T12:18:00.001-04:00

Duke Law students and faculty welcomed the release of Shawn Giovanni Massey after 12 years of incarceration for crimes he didn’t commit.

Massey, a client of the Law School’s Wrongful Conviction Clinic, was released from the Maury Correctional Institution in Maury, N.C., on Thursday, after Mecklenburg County District Attorney Peter Gilchrist ’65 secured a Superior Court order vacating his conviction on multiple counts of second-degree kidnapping, as well as one count each of felonious breaking and entering and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Incarcerated since his May 1998 arrest for the crimes against a Charlotte woman and her two young children, Massey, 37, had two years left to serve on his sentence.

Clinic co-directors James Coleman and Theresa Newman picked Massey up from prison and took him to Charlotte where he was reunited with his jubilant family. Coleman, Newman, and Kim Kisabeth ’07, a fellow with Duke’s Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility, have worked with numerous other students, alumni, and friends for more than four years to build their argument that Massey was a victim of erroneous eyewitness identification.

Their case turned on the perpetrator’s hair style and weight, two key issues at Massey’s trial. On noting his resemblance to her attacker in a series of photos, the victim told the police that he lacked her attacker’s cornrow braids. She made the same observation on seeing him in person for the first time prior to the start of his trial, and also observed that he had a lighter complexion and weighed less than her attacker. These observations, and photo notations uncovered years later by Duke students investigating the case, were not passed on to Massey’s trial lawyer.

“We believe the evidence is clear that Shawn is innocent and this was an erroneous eyewitness identification,” said Coleman, the John S. Bradway Professor of the Practice of Law. “We think when the victim identified him at trial she did so in good faith, but we think she made a mistake. She confirmed to us that the person who committed the crime had cornrows. We are certain that Shawn did not have cornrows at the time — he couldn’t have had cornrows. And we presented evidence to the district attorney that supports that.” Coleman credits the victim for her willingness to meet with Kisabeth and others to discuss her identification of Massey during their investigation of the case.

For Kisabeth, who first worked on Massey’s case as a student enrolled in the Wrongful Convictions Clinic, it was a joy to call Massey in prison to tell him he would be released within hours. “He was thrilled,” she said. “This has been a long time coming and I think he was speechless. His initial reaction was excitement at getting to reunite with his grandmother and with his aunts and especially to be able to see his son, Dantrez, who is now a junior in high school.” It was equally thrilling to tell his aunt and grandmother to expect him home, she said.

“Both of them just started crying as soon as I gave them the news. [His aunt] started praying and thanking God for making this happen — and thanking Duke for making this happen.”

Three teams of Wrongful Convictions Clinic students worked on Massey’s case: Kisabeth and Aleksandra Kopec ’07; Susan Pourciau ’09 and Emily Sauter ’09; and Jessica Neiterman ’09 and Toby Coleman ’10. Last fall, Pourciau joined Kisabeth in Georgia to interview the victim about her identification of Massey as her attacker. As the case neared a resolution, the clinic also enlisted the assistance of Tommy Holderness and Adam Doerr ’06, a partner and associate, respectively, at Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte.

“These cases really do take a village,” said Jim Coleman. “This is an effort that a lot of people worked on. And I think all of them contributed something that was important to the result.”

Kisabeth recalled her first meeting with Massey, during her student days, as being her first lawyer-client interaction — and her first ever visit to a prison. “It was a great learning experience. And having that experience under Jim and Theresa’s leadership was wonderful,” she said. “Having been so invested in this case as a student, I was excited for the opportunity to come back as a fellow and build on the work that the other students had done. They did amazing work on this case.”

Taking in the reaction of Massey’s aunt and grandmother to news of his release offered another lesson, she added.

“I think it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the legal system impacts people, and this is really about people.”

Man freed after nearly 29 years for rape he didn't commit

2010-05-11T12:02:00.000-04:00

The judge who set Ray Towler free tearfully wished him well with an Irish blessing.

His attorneys handed him $1,500 in credit cards to buy whatever he needed.

The media gave him more than ample opportunity to spew venom at a justice system that locked him away for nearly 29 years for a rape he didn't commit.

But all Towler really wanted yesterday, on his first day of freedom, was to eat big slices of gooey pizza and hug a small group of family and friends.

"I know some people might expect me to feel bitter about this, but I feel blessed, truly blessed, to have this chance at life," said the 52-year-old Cleveland native between bites of cheese, pepperoni, sausage and green peppers. "I just wanted the sun to come up this morning, and it did. And it was nice to walk in the sunshine outside the prison walls."

The soft-spoken Towler, who was proved innocent by DNA testing, was declared a free man yesterday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court by Judge Eileen A. Gallagher and officially released from the Grafton Correctional Institution.

Towler, wearing a neat black sweater and slacks instead of his tan prison uniform, didn't stop beaming from the time he entered the courtroom.

At the end of the 10-minute hearing, Gallagher cried as she read the blessing to Towler:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And may God hold you in the palm of His hand now and forever.

She then stepped around the bench to shake Towler's hand and was greeted with nothing but smiles from the wrongly convicted man.

"Mr. Towler, you are free to go," the judge said.

Only a handful of the 253 men who have been exonerated nationally by DNA testing have served more time than Towler. Along with Columbus natives Robert McClendon and Joseph Fears Jr., Towler is the third man to be proved innocent in connection with a Dispatchinvestigation, "Test of Convictions."

The series, published in 2008 and available online at Dispatch.com/dna, exposed holes in the DNA testing system, helped spur testing for inmates such as Towler and led state lawmakers to pass sweeping legislation aimed at preventing more wrongful convictions.

"There have been many attorneys that have spoken up for Mr. Towler, but today, DNA testing spoke the loudest," said Towler's attorney, Carrie Wood, of the Ohio Innocence Project. "It speaks without bias."

Towler was serving 12 years to life for rape, felonious assault and kidnapping for an abduction on May 24, 1981. The victims, a 12-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy, said a man lured them into the woods at the Rocky River Reservation in Cuyahoga County. The victims could not be reached for comment. DNA testing proved that semen found in the girl's underwear didn't match Towler.

It didn't take Towler long to realize that the world has changed since he last walked free. He looked around the restaurant and saw almost everyone on a cell phone. There were no cell phones when Towler went to prison. They were invented in 1983.

There were no fax machines (1988), DVDs (1995), or World Wide Web (1989).

Towler hasn't been eligible to vote since 1980, when Ronald Reagan became the 40th president.

In sports, Gloria James was three years from giving birth to one of Towler's sports heroes, Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James.

He's never been to Cleveland Browns Stadium, which opened in 1999, or the Cavaliers' home, Quicken Loans Arena, or the Indians' Progressive Field, both of which opened in 1994.

"I know I've missed a lot, but that means I have a lot to look forward to," Towler said.

Towler plans to file a civil suit against the state, and he is likely to receive at least $1.4 million for being wrongly convicted. That figure could go much higher when lost wages are factored in.

But yesterday, he wasn't worrying about money.

He picked a casual pizza restaurant for his first meal as a free man because pizza was something his family could share. The store manager's eyes lit up when he saw the large group walk in about 10:30 a.m. Towler's family helped push together five tables and ordered six extra-large pies with the works. The Ohio Innocence Project picked up the tab.

Each person around the table took turns asking Towler questions about his future, not his days in prison. Towler told them that, for now, he plans to focus on his talents with the guitar, keyboard, trumpet and paintbrush. He plans to stay with his brother in Cleveland for a short time but is considering a move to either Cincinnati or New Orleans.

"We are all here for him and will support him no matter what," said Clarence Settles, Towler's brother. "None of us are angry; we just want Ray to enjoy the rest of his life."

Last night, Towler's first day of freedom grew even sweeter.

He had told The Dispatch on Tuesday that it was probably too much to ask to see LeBron James in person at a Cavaliers' playoff game.

But it wasn't. Tad Carper, Cavs vice president of communication, said yesterday that he would invite Towler and three guests to sit courtside for next week's playoff game in Cleveland against the Boston Celtics.

Towler at first thought it was a joke. But as it sunk in, he beamed with more joy than when he learned he was being released. He said he would take his brother, brother-in-law and niece.

"Now, that is what I call a homecoming present," he said.

An amazing moment at the Innocence Network Conference

2010-05-11T11:59:00.000-04:00

The Innocence Network’s annual conference in Atlanta last month was the largest gathering of exonerated men and women in history, with at least 86 people who each served years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. The one-minute video above captures the exonerees’ introduction at the beginning of the conference.

A Backlog of Tom Tomorrow Cartoons

2010-05-11T11:55:00.005-04:00

True Perpetrator on Cooley Innocence Project Case Sentenced

2010-04-20T12:49:00.005-04:00

This is Ken Wyniemko. He was exonerated by the Cooley Innocence Project (where I work) in 2003. This is the often forgotten problem with wrongful convictions. It allows the true criminal to be free and continue to commit crimes. Gonser was not sentenced for the rape that Ken served time for because the statute of limitations had run and he could no longer be charged. If the police and prosecutor had not fabricated evidence to frame Ken they may have kept looking for the true perpetrator and find Gonser years ago.

Man who was wrongly imprisoned faces real rape suspect

Every day of the nine-plus years Kenneth Wyniemko sat behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit, he imagined the real culprit running free — and laughing at him.

“You don’t seem to be laughing now,” said Wyniemko, his voice shaky, as he turned to address for the first time the man who DNA evidence now indicates committed the 1994 assault.

Today, that man — 42-year-old Craig Gonser— was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison for an unrelated sex crime. By the time DNA evidence linked him to the 1994 rape for which Wyniemko had been convicted, the statute of limitations had expired, making it impossible for Macomb County prosecutors to charge him.

But prosecutors described the case in their efforts to have Gonser locked up for longer for being a longtime sexual deviant.

Speaking to the court, Gonser maintained his innocence despite Michigan State Police putting the odds of the DNA match not being correct in the quadrillions to one. He, like Wyniemko, was wrongly convicted, he said.

“All who desire to live godly will suffer,” he said in a prepared statement directed to “fellow Christians worldwide” that acknowledged previous misdeeds but denied the 1994 rape, as well as his most recent indecent exposure convictions.

“I am wrongly accused and wrongfully convicted,” he said. “I ask and plead for leniency.”

Circuit Judge David Viviano gave him none, describing Gonser’s rap sheet of crimes as “bizarre and disgusting” as he sentenced Gonser to more than double the 51-month minimum he faced. The deviation was allowed, in part, because Gonser pleaded no contest to being a sexual deviant, which allows latitude for heftier sentences.

Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Servitto said Gonser had a history of sex-related convictions dating back to 1992 that included masturbating in parking lots in front of women, groping women’s butts and masturbating in front of his 20-month-old daughter.

The most serious incident was the 1994 assault of a 28-year-old Clinton Township woman, who was repeatedly assaulted at razor point by a stranger who broke into her home. Wyniemko, incorrectly identified by the traumatized victim, was convicted and sentenced to 40-60 years in prison.

The victim in the case was prepared to testify to bolster prosecutors’ sexual deviancy case, Viviano said. She did not attend today’s hearing. It’s the policy of the Free Press not to identify victims of sex assaults.

In 1994, she told police that the rapist wore a stocking over his head, so she had only seen the bottom half of his face. After prodding, she identified Wyniemko in a lineup.

“I can only imagine how awful it must be to be physically and sexually violated by another person,” said Viviano, adding that part of the reason he allowed Gonser’s no contest plea was to avoid “making her relive this terrible ordeal again.” She would have had to testify to buttress the sexual deviancy argument.

Wyniemko, 58, won a $3.7-million settlement from Clinton Township. He was released from prison in 2003 with the help of the Innocence Project at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, which pushed for the DNA testing.

He said he waited 16 years to finally speak to the real culprit. His hands and voice quivering, he told Gonser that he believed the stress of his incarceration caused his father’s death while he was imprisoned.

“Each and every day that you’re in prison, I want you to think of my father,” he said.

Gonser’s lawyer, James Simasko, said the DNA evidence had been corrupted in its nine years in storage.

After Gonser was led away in shackles — headed to prison to wear the same uniform Wyniemko had donned for nearly a decade — Wyniemko said he felt “10 pounds lighter.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “I’ll sleep better tonight.”

If real life were more like the Internet - Tom Tomorrow

2010-04-20T12:48:00.002-04:00

Fake Prom, Real Discrimination

2010-04-09T13:26:00.004-04:00

Sadly, the Constance McMillen saga continues. Constance was recently thrust into the national spotlight when she succesfully challenged the Itawamba County School District’s decision to cancel the senior prom because she planned to attend with her girlfriend.

The judge did not force the school district to reinstate the event because a private prom was being organized by parents. All seemed to be well, until last week, when Constance asked another student for the details about the alternate prom. She was told it was being held at a country club.

When Constance and her date showed up at the country club Friday evening, only five other students were in attendance. Meanwhile, another prom for the other students was under way at a secret location.

As ACLU staff, I have the inside scoop on civil liberties violations – atrocities from illegal body cavity searches by police on the streets of Detroit to the eviction of a woman terminally ill with brain cancer from her apartment for using a legally prescribed medicine. One could reasonably assume that I’ve developed a thick skin; that I can’t be shocked by human behavior.

Well, I can. I am stunned by the actions of these parents in Mississippi and can’t decide which is worse – that a group of adults would organize a secret prom or that they would encourage their own children to lie. Most everyone I’ve told about this simply shakes their head and says, ‘Mississippi.’

I remind them that this could have happened right here in Michigan, and they agree.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retiring

2010-04-09T13:15:00.002-04:00

His replacement will be a very big deal. The Court is very right leaning and Stevens is the most liberal Justice left on the Court. An appointment of anyone but a solid liberal will skew the Court even farther to the right.

US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said Friday he will retire this summer, giving President Barack Obama a chance to make his second pick in two years to the key nine-member bench.

A leader of the court's liberal wing, Stevens, who celebrates his 90th birthday this month, is one of the longest serving justices ever, having been a member of the country's top court for 34 years.

Replacing him on the bench after he retires in June is now likely to set up a tough nominating battle in the Senate, where Democrat Obama's allies have a 59-seat majority but could face moves to hold up the appointment.

"I shall retire from regular active service as an associate justice... effective the next day after the court rises for the summer recess this year," Stevens wrote in a letter to Obama.

He said he had made the decision in order for his successor to be appointed before the court's next term starts in early October.

The Supreme Court weighs the thorniest moral and political dilemmas facing the nation. The nine justices are nominated by the president and face a Senate confirmation before taking up their post for life or until they choose to step down.

John Paul Stevens: progressive pillar of US Supreme Court

A Supreme Court representative delivered Stevens's letter to the White House early Friday, and White House counsel Bob Bauer spoke with Obama returning from a trip to Prague aboard Air Force One.

Obama was planning to make remarks about Stevens's retirement later Friday on his return to Washington, a White House official said.

The White House appears to have been quietly planning for a Supreme Court nomination battle for months, as speculation mounted that either Stevens, or one of the other justices, would retire.

"If somebody resigns from the Supreme Court, we of course will be ready," Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday.

Obama will be making his second pick to the top court after naming Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice to the bench last year. She was sworn in at a White House ceremony in August to replace David Souter.

Stevens was nominated by former president Gerald Ford and has sat on the bench since 1975, becoming over the years a progressive pillar of the court.

There is a current delicate balance on the court of four conservatives, four liberals and Justice Anthony Kennedy who tends to vote either way.

But Stevens's named successor is likely to face a tough confirmation battle in the Senate, amid an acrimonious political atmosphere between Obama's Democratic allies and his Republican opponents.

"Anything that the president proposes will be fought bitterly, that has been the nature of it. There is no way that he is going to find somebody who is agreeable to the Republicans in the Senate," said analyst Stephen Hess, from the Brookings Institution.

Among those mentioned as a possible successor is US Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who represents the US government before the Supreme Court, but has never been a judge.

She previously taught at Harvard University Law School, where both Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama studied.

Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, in a statement, praised Stevens's devotion to the bench even if he said the judge's "liberalism has led to many decisions I oppose."

"Americans can expect Senate Republicans to make a sustained and vigorous case for judicial restraint and the fundamental importance of an even-handed reading of the law," McConnell added.

Obama may get yet another chance to influence the powerful court as another long serving liberal justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is battling cancer.

Only one of two women on the bench, Ginsburg, 77, has repeatedly said she plans to carry on working. There have only ever been three women Supreme Court justices.

Stevens had cagily refused to confirm his resignation in weekend interviews.

"I can tell you that I love the job, and deciding whether to leave is a very difficult decision," Stevens told The Washington Post. "But I want to make it in a way that's best for the court."

Tom Tomorrow and the Connection between violent rhetoric and violent actions

2010-04-09T13:13:00.001-04:00

Today's all Sports edition continues Scottie Pippen elected to Hall of Fame

2010-04-05T11:54:00.002-04:00

Pippen is elected to Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a great player the Bulls would have had a much harder time winning the championships they won without him. I am a big Michael Jordan fan but he couldn't have done it without Scottie.

Summer is Here. The Cubs Open Today

2010-04-05T11:51:00.003-04:00

A new season and all the hope that comes with it. Soon to be dashed by the reality that the Cubs will not once again win a World Series. The World Series this year will be the 102nd anniversary of the last time the Cubs won.

Innocence in Japan

2010-04-01T12:11:00.001-04:00

Japanese man formally acquitted after forced murder confession, 17 years in prison

(AP) — A Japanese court officially declared a man innocent Friday in the murder of a 4-year-old girl and offered a rare apology for a forced confession and wrongful conviction that kept him behind bars for more than 17 years.

Toshikazu Sugaya, 63, was serving a life sentence when new DNA tests last year showed his innocence. He was immediately released from a jail in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Friday's verdict in his retrial, which opened in October, officially cleared Sugaya and confirmed that the flawed earlier DNA tests and a questionable investigation had pressured him into making a false confession.

"I won an immaculate innocent ruling," Sugaya said. He waved to supporters as he walked out of the court and then broke down in tears. "I've been waiting so long for this day."

The case has prompted calls by rights groups and lawyers to speed up the introduction of full recordings of interrogations to prevent forced confessions and other problems. Japanese investigators have long been criticized for questioning suspects for lengthy periods without immediate access to lawyers.

"I feel deeply sorry as a judge that we failed to listen to Mr. Sugaya's true voice and as a result took away your freedom for 17 1/2 long years," presiding Judge Masanobu Sato said in the unusual apology at the end of the ruling. "As I realize the irreversible damage we have caused, I renew my commitment not to repeat the same mistake."

The other judges also stood up and bowed in apology to Sugaya, who later said he accepted their apology.

Local police and prosecutors apologized to Sugaya earlier.

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba told reporters she planned to study the possibility of full recordings of interrogations and improving analysis of DNA tests and other evidence.

Utsunomiya District Court spokesman Masahiko Otake said prosecutors would not appeal Friday's ruling, making it final.

Sugaya, then a kindergarten bus driver, was arrested in late 1991 in the murder of a 4-year-old girl in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, a year earlier. A local court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1993, and Japan's top court rejected his appeal in 2000.

Sugaya was arrested based on the earlier DNA tests, but his lawyers repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the results and demanded new tests. The Tokyo High Court in 2008 approved new DNA tests which were conducted in January 2009.

The new test results did not match Sugaya with dried body fluid on the girl's clothing, contradicting the initial tests. No new suspect has been identified.

"The fog in my heart won't completely clear until the real culprit is caught," Sugaya said.

2 exonerated Conn. inmates held pending appeal

2010-04-01T12:09:00.001-04:00

Prosecutors just can't let go of wrongful convictions. This happens over and over.

VERNON, Conn. — A Connecticut judge has ruled that two prison inmates whose convictions for a 1993 killing were overturned should be released but that the men can be kept in jail while prosecutors decide whether to appeal.

Judge Stanley Fuger ruled last week that 51-year-old Ronald Taylor and 48-year-old George Gould are innocent and threw out their murder convictions. His ruling came after a star witness recanted.

On Wednesday, Fuger said the two men will remain in prison for at least the 10-day period that prosecutors have to appeal the inmates' release.

Gould's lawyer told the judge the two men should be released in the interest of justice.

They've been in prison for 16 years since being convicted of killing New Haven shop owner Eugenio Deleon Vega

Superior Court Judge Stanley Fuger Jr. reversed the convictions of George Gould, left, and Ronald Taylor, the two New Haven men charged with the July 1993 slaying of bodega owner Eugenio DeLeon Vega.

Florida Man is Fully Cleared 252 and Counting

2010-04-01T12:07:00.001-04:00

Anthony Caravella was officially exonerated this morning in south Florida when a state judge tossed out his conviction based on DNA test results that confirmed earlier proof of his innocence. Caravella, who turns 42 on Saturday, spent nearly 26 years in prison before DNA testing led to his release in September.

Since September, Caravella has lived with an ankle bracelet and an 11 p.m. curfew. Today, he was fully cleared and Broward County judge Thomas Lynch offered an apology.

“A lot of people have worked very hard for you,” Lynch told Caravella as he tossed out the conviction. “On the other hand, there are some other people who may owe you an apology.”

“May I take this opportunity to apologize to you on behalf of the state of Florida. I wish you luck.”

Caravella was just 15 when he was arrested for a rape and murder in South Florida. He made admissions of guilt after a lengthy interrogation and his “confession” would serve as the primary evidence against him. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but the jury imposed a life sentence.

“I waited a very long time for this — it feels good, man,” Caravella said today, according to the Sun Sentinel. Without the tracking device, he said he felt about 10 pounds lighter.

Caravella, who has been represented on appeal for eight years by Broward County Public Defender Diane Cuddihy, is the 252nd person exonerated through DNA testing in the United States.

Tom Tomorrow and Health Care Reformageddon

2010-04-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

RIP Pastor Lester Stone Dies at 58

2010-04-01T11:52:00.003-04:00

Pastor Stone has worked with the clinics at Cooley Law School for a couple of years. I have met with him many times including last Thursday when he appeared very well. Last Thursday he was his usual self a strong advocate for his people and parishioners and a man with a great sense of humor. As an Episcopalian I have a lot of sympathy for the struggles he had gone through in his parish. He seemed to me to be an very honorable man who will be missed by many.

LANSING - The Rev. Lester Stone, a fierce advocate for civil rights and pastor of Lansing's Friendship Baptist Church, died Wednesday.

Stone, 58, was pastor of Friendship Baptist since 1982.

His death was a shock, said Michael McFadden, a member of the church's trustee board.

"It's not real," he said. He recalled Stone as intelligent, dedicated and a gifted speaker.

"He had a good sense of humor," McFadden said. "He was a very kind, loving man. Not that he wasn't stubborn. What strong-willed individual isn't stubborn?"

Stone was a founding member of the Black Pastor's Conference and active in the movement to rename Logan Street as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

"His legacy is his belief in fairness, his civil rights advocacy," said Barbara Roberts Mason, founder of the Black Child and Family Institute. "When there was an issue that he thought negatively impacted African Americans - or any other group of people for that matter - he was outspoken on that issue."

She recalled Stone as an outstanding orator.

"He was also an excellent, excellent preacher of the word, and sometimes I would listen to his sermons on the radio before going to my church," said Mason, who attends Trinity AME Church.

Funeral arrangements are pending, said Clyde Carnegie, associate pastor. Scheduled Holy Week services will proceed, including a communion service at 7 p.m. today, a noon Good Friday service and services at 6 a.m., 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sunday.

Supreme Court Blocks Texas Execution

2010-03-25T12:26:00.001-04:00

Minutes before Hank Skinner was scheduled to be executed this afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay, possibly allowing him access to the DNA testing he has been seeking for a decade.

DNA evidence from the crime scene in the case could prove Skinner’s innocence or guilt, and thousands of Innocence Project supporters have emailed Texas Gov. Rick Perry in recent days urging him to grant a stay so testing can proceed.

Skinner’s wife, attorneys and others will discuss the case – and these last-minute developments – tonight on CNN’s Larry King Live.

Read more:

Associated Press: High Court Blocks Texas Execution

Tom Tomorrow takes on those who deny science

2010-03-25T12:24:00.000-04:00

Here is your choice ladies and gentlemen

2010-03-25T12:22:00.000-04:00

My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain ...a letter from Michael Moore

2010-03-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain ...a letter from Michael Moore

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Friends,

I live in Michigan, in one of the 31 counties represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by none other than Mr. Bart Stupak, a Democrat. You've probably never heard of him. He's a pretty quiet guy, a former Michigan State Police trooper who boldly decided to run some 18 years ago as a Democrat in a rural part of Michigan that votes almost exclusively for Republicans (yes, I know -- what am I doing here? I'll save that story for a future letter).

His voting record is pretty conservative for a Democrat, but he's had a few shining moments. In the wake of the Columbine shootings, he voted for some gun control, a not-too-popular position to take here in northern Michigan. The NRA came after him with all they had in 2000.

But the good people of this area knew Bart's story and understood: He's been touched personally by gun violence. In a terrible tragedy, his teenage son, depressed and confused from the medication he'd been prescribed, killed himself with the family's .38 revolver. Despite the NRA's best efforts, Bart was returned to Congress by an overwhelming margin.

Yet, here we are, just days before a weak, simple-minded, but now ultimately necessary health care bill has a chance of making it through Congress -- and Bart Stupak is threatening to derail it because he wants to make sure that no woman WHO BUYS HER OWN INSURANCE with HER OWN MONEY is able to have a medically-insured abortion. We're not talkin' about federally-funded abortions -- those were stupidly outlawed long ago. Bart Stupak doesn't like that the Democrats' bill doesn't prohibit private insurance programs, set up for those whose employers don't provide it, from providing abortion coverage if they get any federal funding -- even to an individual woman paying without any government help. That's it.

A group representing most of America's 59,000 Catholic nuns has written to Congress and said that Obama's health care plan should be passed. Stupak, instead, has chosen to diss the nuns. Last night he went on TV and dug his heels in -- he said he intended to stop this health care bill and he didn't care what anyone had to say.

Now, it would be easy for some to just pass this attitude off on his Catholicism -- he believes what he believes and you have to respect him for that, even if you don't agree with him. But it's not that simple. It turns out that Stupak has been living in a subsidized room in the "C Street House," run by the infamous right-wing Christian cult "The Family." It was in this former convent that GOP Rep. Chip Pickering (according to his former wife) carried on the affair that ended his marriage. It's where South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford sought refuge as his marriage fell apart thanks to HIS affair. And then there's C Street roommate Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who cheated on his wife with the wife of one of his top staffers. (The Justice Department is currently investigating whether Ensign committed a felony while paying off his aide to keep him quiet.)

C Street is where power, money, sex and religion meet. So am I led to believe that Bart Stupak lives in a brothel and belongs to a cult? He says he was just renting a room there. But that just doesn't ring true. Something stinks to the high heavens here, and Stupak sees no irony in taking his holier-than-thou position while living in a house that should be dubbed "Hypocrites' Hideaway."

If Stupak were truly pro-life then he'd vote for this bill. Right now, a mother in the U.S. has a TEN times greater chance of dying in childbirth than a mother does in Ireland. If you really wanted to reduce abortions, you'd have to ask yourself this question: Why does godless France, where abortion is nearly free (it's covered by their universal health insurance), have 20% fewer abortions per capita than we do? What's even more amazing about that statistic is that you can't even get an abortion in America in 87% of our counties because there isn't one single doctor in those counties who will perform one! 87%!! The Right has scared them all to death -- literally -- out of performing an otherwise legal, safe procedure. So, you can say women have "choice" in this country, but the reality is the "choice" doesn't exist in the majority of the nation. "Right to Life" has essentially won this battle. (My personal position: I don't get to have a position -- I don't have a uterus. If a Senate that was 90% female told me I couldn't have a vasectomy or made it a crime to leave the toilet seat up, I guess I might object.)

What is "life"? An egg is life, a sperm is life. Those sperm aren't running on a battery pack. They are living creatures, as is a fertilized egg. But they're not "human beings." A human being is something that can exist outside the womb of a mother. If you think a fertilized egg is a human being, then I respectfully ask you to go down to the DMV today and have them change your birthday on your driver's license to 9 months older than what you've been telling everybody.

So back to my question. Why do we have an abortion rate 20% higher than France's (and more than twice as high as Germany's), especially considering most doctors here won't perform them? The answer is ANY country that has universal health care, where contraception is free, where child care is free or inexpensive, where there is less poverty because people don't become bankrupt over medical bills -- those societies are simply going to have fewer unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

And there the mask gets pulled off the Bart Stupaks and the "Christians." If the statistics show that countries with government-provided universal health care and nearly-free abortions are, in fact, the countries with the fewest abortions, then why on earth wouldn't the Right be the first in line to support universal health care?!!

Because it isn't about "universal health care." It's about controlling women, period. It's about sticking your nose in other people's business. It's about pushing your religious beliefs on everyone else because voices in your head tell you your Jesus is The One -- even though YOUR Jesus never said one single solitary word in any of the four gospels of the Bible about abortion or fertilized eggs being human. You've just gone and made it up about "life beginning at conception." Jesus NEVER said that. The little voice in your head said that, the same little voice that wants your grubby paws on women's uteruses. You need help. Please get some help and leave the rest of us alone, Mr. Stupak and friends.

After all, isn't it enough that women can't get an abortion in any of the 31 Michigan counties you represent in Congress? There is not one single abortion provider here in the north of the state, according to Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan. Hey, Bart -- you've already won! Women's rights have been stamped out in your entire Congressional district! Woo hoo!

So why don't you leave the rest of the country alone, step out of the way, and let them have the minimal health coverage this bill will give them? You wouldn't really crush the sick and infirm because of your own personal agenda, would you? What would Jesus do?

In the meantime, Bart, my neighbors and I are going to make sure a real Democrat runs against you in August's primary here. One of our religious beliefs in these parts is to never impose our religious beliefs on others.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

Call on Gov. Perry to Stay Texas Execution so DNA Testing Can Be Done

2010-03-18T10:47:00.000-04:00

Hank Skinner is set to be executed one week from today in Texas despite untested DNA evidence that could prove his innocence or guilt. Can you spend 30 seconds right now to call on Gov. Rick Perry to stay the execution so DNA testing can be conducted?

The calls for a stay gained urgency today as Texas’ highest criminal court refused to intervene in the case, meaning Perry is among Skinner’s final hopes. Skinner’s attorney Rob Owen issued the following statement today:

"We remain hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court, which has often found it necessary to correct egregious injustices in Texas capital cases, will intervene to protect Mr. Skinner’s right to pursue that DNA testing in federal court. We also trust that Governor Perry, having heard the voices of Texans insisting that the death penalty not be carried out while there are unresolved doubts about a defendant’s guilt, will do the right thing and postpone Mr. Skinner's execution until all the facts are in.

"Time is growing short, and ultimately someone must have the courage and the common sense to step forward and ensure the reliability of this verdict through the best available scientific technology."

Tom Tommorow goes after Obama for not supporting the Public Option

2010-03-18T10:45:00.000-04:00

Congressional Budget Office Review of Health Reform Bill

2010-03-18T10:40:00.002-04:00

It saves money!!

The first set of the much-anticipated CBO numbers are out:

CUTS THE DEFICIT Cuts the deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years (2010 – 2019). Cuts the deficit by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years.
REINS IN WASTEFUL MEDICARE COSTS AND EXTENDS THE SOLVENCY OF MEDICARE; CLOSES THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG DONUT HOLE Reduces annual growth in Medicare expenditures by 1.4 percentage points per year—while improving benefits and lowering costs for seniors. Extends Medicare’s solvency by at least 9 years.
EXPANDS AND IMPROVES HEALTH COVERAGE FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES Expands health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans Helps guarantee that 95 percent of Americans will be covered.
IS FULLY PAID FOR Is fully paid for – costs $940 billion over a decade. (Americans spend nearly $2.5 trillion each year on health care now and nearly two-thirds of the bill’s cost is paid for by reducing health care costs).

DNA exonerates Sterling Heights man when all evidence said guilty

2010-03-18T10:27:00.000-04:00

On paper, Ricky Seggie looked guilty: He was chosen from a photo lineup as an attempted rapist. The victim identified him in court. His vehicle — a red Bronco — was awfully similar to the red Blazer spotted at the scene.

Seggie, 24, was headed to trial, charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct and unlawful imprisonment.

Problem was, he was innocent.

Today the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office asked that charges against Seggie, of Sterling Heights be dropped after DNA testing excluded him as the assailant.

“I was scared and confused,” Seggie said today, just after Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski dismissed his case. “I’d never been in trouble before. I’d never even been inside the police department.”

One legal expert said the case highlights the potentially faulty nature of eyewitness identification — simultaneously the most valuable and dangerous evidence presented in trial.

“Memory is very fragile, very easy to contaminate,” said James Doyle, a consulting director with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and author of “True Witness: Cops, Courts, Science, and the Battle against Misidentification” (2005, Palgrave MacMillan).

“It’s dangerous evidence because it’s hard to tell when it’s correct and when it’s mistaken,” he said. “Once you have it, jurors tend to believe it over other kinds of evidence.”

According to The Innocence Project, which has helped overturn more than 250 convictions through DNA testing, eyewitness identification played a role in more than 75% of the cases.

Seggie’s case began July 16 when he heard a woman scream down the street from his home. He spotted the Blazer, which raced away, rear-ending a tree as it fled.

When police responded to investigate the 19-year-old woman’s claim she had fought off a man attempting to sexually assault her, Seggie stepped forward and described what he saw.

Two weeks later, he was arrested while working cutting some shrubs as a landscaper with his father. The room he kept in his parents’ house was searched, and underwear his mother kept in a dresser in his closet — overflow storage in the small house — were confiscated. Seggie said he was labeled a pervert.

His lawyer, Jerome Sabbota, said the victim was inappropriately shown six photographs at once in a lineup: Many experts, including Doyle, believe photographs should be placed in front of witnesses one at a time to prevent comparison.

“It’s suggestive because it promotes exclusion, process of elimination,” Sabbota said.

Seggie didn’t match the description the woman initially gave police — he has fair skin compared with the alleged assailant’s olive complexion and light hair to the assailant’s dark — but she still fingered him.

Seggie’s vehicle wasn’t an exact match, either, Sabbota said: The woman had described gray interior; Seggie’s was tan. Witnesses saw the Blazer hit a tree, but Seggie’s Bronco bore no damage. The assailant also had turned his lights off as he fled, but Seggie’s Bronco had daytime running lights that couldn’t be turned off.

Sabbota credited prosecutors and the Sterling Heights police for continuing the investigation even after Seggie was bound over to face trial. They moved to have hair tested from a hat the assailant left behind. The mitochondrial DNA pulled didn’t match Seggie, but pointed toward Christian Margosian, 22, who already faces similar charges in a subsequent case.

Seggie said he’s out more than $15,000 in legal fees and the cost he fronted to be released on GPS tether. But today that didn’t matter.

“The sun is shining,” said his father, August Seggie, smiling. “It’s a good day.”

Have you seen this? synchronized flushing to be medal sport in 2014

2010-03-11T10:13:00.003-05:00

Someone charted water use (apparently toilet flushes was not politically correct enough) in a Canadian town during the goal medal game in the Olympics. A nation that flushes together is had to beat. Maybe synchronized flushing will be a medal sport in 2014.

LOS ANGELES: Mary Glasspool receives required number of standing committee consents in unofficial tally

2010-03-10T16:59:00.000-05:00

LOS ANGELES: Mary Glasspool receives required number of standing committee consents in unofficial tally

By ENS staff, March 10, 2010

[Episcopal News Service] Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool has received the required number of consents from diocesan standing committees to her ordination and consecration, pending verification by the presiding bishop's office.

The Diocese of Los Angeles announced March 10 that Glasspool had received 61 standing committee consents, in an unofficial tally. A majority of consents, or 56, were required from standing committees in the Episcopal Church's 109 dioceses.

"I give thanks for the standing commitees' prompt action, and for the consents to the elections of my sisters," Los Angeles Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno said on March 10, referring to both Glasspool and Bishop-elect Diane Jardine Bruce.

"I look forward to the final few consents to come in from the bishops in the next few days, and I give thanks for the fact that we as a church have taken a bold step for just action."

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's office has yet to verify the official number of bishops with jurisdiction who have consented to Glasspool's ordination and consecration.

The Rev. Canon Charles Robertson, canon to the presiding bishop, told ENS that the consent process for a bishop-elect lasts the full 120 days as prescribed by the canons of the church, unless that person receives the required majority of consents before the period is over, at which time an announcement can be made. Until the required number of consents is received, or the 120-day period ends, bishops and standing committees are able to change their vote, he said.

Glasspool, 56, was elected bishop suffragan on Dec. 5. Her ordination and consecration is planned for May 15.

Jefferts Schori is expected to be the chief consecrator for Glasspool, and for Bruce, who was electedbishop suffragan Dec. 4.

The presiding bishop's office on March 8 announced a successful consent process for Bruce.

Glasspool has served as canon to the bishops in the Baltimore-based Diocese of Maryland for the past eight years. During her 28-year ordained ministry, Glasspool has served congregations in Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Glasspool is the second openly gay partnered priest to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church. The first was Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected in 2003.

Under the canons of the Episcopal Church (III.11.4), a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to a bishop-elect's ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election.

The 120-day process for Glasspool lasts until May 8 and the diocese has been updating the process each Wednesday on its website.

As outlined under Canon III.11.4 (a) for every bishop election, the presiding bishop confirms the receipt of consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction, and reviews the evidence of consents from diocesan standing committees sent to her by the standing committee of the electing diocese.

In Canon III.11.4 (b), standing committees, in consenting to ordination and consecration, attest they are "fully sensible of how important it is that the Sacred Order and Office of a Bishop should not be unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our duty to bear testimony on this solemn occasion without partiality, do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify that we know of no impediment on account of which the Reverend A.B. ought not to be ordained to that Holy Office. We do, moreover, jointly and severally declare that we believe the Reverend A.B. to have been duly and lawfully elected and to be of such sufficiency in learning, of such soundness in the Faith, and of such godly character as to be able to exercise the Office of a Bishop to the honor of God and the edifying of the Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ."

The canons do not specify the wording that bishops must use to give their consent, other than to say in Canon III.11.4 (a) that the presiding bishop requests of each bishop with jurisdiction "a statement of consent or withholding of consent."

The consent process begins after post-election procedural matters, including physical and psychological examinations, have been completed and formal notices are sent by the presiding bishop's office to bishops with jurisdiction, with separate notices from the electing diocese to the standing committees of each of the dioceses in the Episcopal Church.

Proposed Resolutions for Rescheduled DioSC Convention

2010-03-10T15:57:00.002-05:00

This resolution will be before the Diocese of South Carolina Convention. The Episcopal Church can't hire a lawyer in South Carolina to protect TEC's interests there? WOW!!

Proposed Resolution R-2 2010 Convention

Offered by: The Standing Committee

Subject: Response to Ecclesiastical Intrusions by the Presiding Bishop

RESOLVED, That this 219th Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina affirms its legal and ecclesiastical authority as a sovereign diocese within the Episcopal Church, and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Convention declares the Presiding Bishop has no authority to retain attorneys in this Diocese that present themselves as the legal counsel for the Episcopal Church in South Carolina, and be it finally

RESOLVED, That the Diocese of South Carolina demands that the Presiding Bishop drop the retainer of all such legal counsel in South Carolina as has been obtained contrary to the express will of this Diocese, which is The Episcopal Church within its borders.

I spoke too soon. Texas judge rescinds anti-death penalty ruling

2010-03-10T15:54:00.001-05:00

By JUAN A. LOZANO (AP) – 21 hours ago

HOUSTON — A Texas judge criticized for declaring the death penalty unconstitutional took back his controversial ruling Tuesday but scheduled a hearing for next month to hear evidence on the issue.

State District Judge Kevin Fine said he wants more information before making a final decision about whether the state's death penalty statute allows for the possible execution of an innocent person. Fine is a judge in Harris County, which sends more inmates to death row than any other county in the nation.

During a court hearing Tuesday, Fine rescinded the ruling he made last week in granting a pretrial motion in the capital murder case of John Edward Green Jr., accused of fatally shooting a Houston woman and wounding her sister during a June 2008 robbery.

Green's attorneys argued Texas' death penalty statute violates their client's right to due process of law under the 5th Amendment because hundreds of innocent people nationwide have been convicted, sent to death row and later exonerated.

Fine took back his ruling but asked Harris County prosecutors and defense attorneys to submit motions on the due process issue by April 12. Fine will then have an evidentiary hearing April 27, when testimony on whether innocent people have been executed in Texas is set to be presented.

Casey Keirnan, one of Green's defense attorneys, said the case is "headed in the exact direction we want it to go."

"This is the very first legal proceeding where a court is going to look into the issue as to whether or not we have executed innocent people in Texas," Keirnan said. "It's now taken on a life I've never dreamed it would. It's so amazing to me."

Keirnan said he and co-counsel Robert Loper still are determining whom they might call to testify at next month's hearing. But he said it might include officials connected to the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, whose 2004 execution for the deaths of his three daughters in a 1991 house fire near Corsicana is now being questioned.

Prosecutor Kari Allen was pleased Fine rescinded his order.

"However, it is unfortunate that we will not be able to proceed more quickly with the actual trial of the case," she said.

Tuesday's decision will delay the trial, which had been set to begin with jury selection at the end of this month.

"We believe that the law in this area is well-settled, and we are confident that a review of the state's brief will clarify that the death penalty can be fairly and properly sought in the state of Texas," said Chief Appellate Prosecutor Alan Curry.

Fine, a Democrat who is heavily tattooed and says he's a recovering alcoholic and former cocaine user, declined to comment Tuesday on why he took back his ruling.

But he previously said there was no precedent to guide him in resolving the due process issue raised by Green's defense attorneys.

Fine said in his decision last week that it is safe to assume innocent people have been executed.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last week called Fine's ruling one of "unabashed judicial activism." Gov. Rick Perry also slammed it, saying he supports the death penalty as do the majority of people in Texas.

Fine said he is not legislating from the bench.

Last year, the state executed 24 people, including six cases from Harris County. Three people have been executed so far this year, none from Harris County. A fourth inmate, from Bexar County, is set for execution Thursday.

Improve justice (or at least the system that purports to provide it)

2010-03-10T15:00:00.002-05:00

In July 1976, Freddie Peacock was arrested for raping a woman near her apartment building in Rochester, N.Y.

During the attack, the victim was knocked to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete. She didn't see her attacker before hitting her head. She was dragged to the side of a nearby house and raped. When the perpetrator fled, she went to her apartment building and asked the building superintendent to call the police.

Peacock, who was 27 at the time, lived in the same apartment building as the victim, and the victim identified him as the perpetrator. Peacock initially denied any involvement in the crime, but police claim he ultimately confessed.

Peacock told the detective handling the case that he had severe mental illness and had been hospitalized for it several times. In his alleged confession, Peacock could not tell officers where, when or how the victim was raped.

Nevertheless, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Three weeks ago, 33 years after his conviction, Peacock, who is now 60, was exonerated.

In 2002, Peacock contacted the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with the Cardozo School of Law. Researchers at the project determined through DNA testing of bodily fluids in underwear the victim wore that night that Peacock could not have been the attacker.

Peacock is the 250th person exonerated through DNA testing in the U.S.

According to the Innocence Project:

The top three states for DNA exonerations are Texas with 40, Illinois with 29, and New York with 25.
76 percent of the wrongful convictions involved eyewitness misidentification;
50 percent involved improper forensic science;
27 percent relied on a false confession, admission or guilty plea.
70 percent of the 250 people exonerated are people of color (60 percent are black; nearly 9 percent are Latino; 29 percent are white).

"These DNA exonerations show us how the criminal justice system is flawed and how it can be fixed," said Peter Neufeld, co-director of the Innocence Project. "DNA exonerations have helped transform the criminal justice system, leading to reforms in virtually every state, but there is still a great deal of work to do to make our system of justice more fair, accurate and reliable."

In the last several years, state and federal policy makers have begun using the lessons of DNA exonerations to prevent wrongful convictions.

For example:

Several dozen states and cities have reformed how lineups and other eyewitness identification procedures are conducted to reduce the possibility of errors. Legislation is pending in nine states plus Washington, D.C., to improve eyewitness procedures.
Improper forensic science, which includes everything from forensic disciplines that lack a scientific basis to outright misconduct, was the focus of an unprecedented National Academy of Sciences report in 2009 that called on Congress to create the federal capacity to stimulate scientific research and set national standards.
More than 500 jurisdictions now record interrogations, which can help prevent false confessions or admissions. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., mandate the recording of at least some interrogations, and legislation to require or improve such recording is pending in 13 states.

Since his release from prison, Peacock has relied on the support of his family and church community in the Rochester area. He continues treatment for mental illness.

"I never gave up hope that this day would come," he said on Feb. 4. "When the truth is all you have, you learn to hang onto it. I am grateful to my family and everyone who has supported me over the years. I am looking forward to moving on with my life, now that my name is finally cleared."

(Texas) Governor signs state's first posthumous pardon for man convicted in 1985 Lubbock crime

2010-03-10T14:54:00.001-05:00

BY ELLIOTT BLACKBURN | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Monday, March 01, 2010
Story last updated at 3/1/2010 - 3:59 pm

Gov. Rick Perry on Monday made a former Texas Tech student who died in prison a convicted sex offender the state’s first recipient of a pardon after death.

Tim Cole, who was convicted in 1986 for the kidnapping and rape of a Texas Tech sophomore, was cleared by DNA evidence tested in 2008.

Perry surprised Cole’s mother, Ruby Session, with a phone call Monday afternoon telling her he had signed the pardon, Session said.

She paced her Fort Worth home and watched the rain after the phone call, she said, letting the news sink in.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Session said. “But I know Tim is smiling, and I know the tears of joy that are coming down from heaven.”

Perry’s signature came just more than 10 years after Cole’s death, and almost 25 years after a Texas Tech student was kidnapped from a church parking lot across from the university campus.

Cole came to the attention of Lubbock police in 1985 as they investigated a string of attacks on young white women near the Texas Tech campus.

He was photographed by police after he flirted with an undercover officer. The victim in one of the attacks later identified him as her attacker.

Cole professed his innocence for years, refusing to accept responsibility for the crime in order to receive parole.

He encouraged his younger brothers and sister from behind bars to pursue their own college education, even in Lubbock, until he died from complications from an asthma attack in December 1999, at age 39.

A man convicted around the same time as Cole in similar Lubbock attacks wrote letters to Lubbock court officers confessing to Cole’s crime as early as 1995.

But his claims were not given close attention until 2007. DNA testing in 2008 requested by the Lubbock County District Attorney’s office proved Johnson had told the truth.

An Austin court exonerated Cole in 2009, and legislators recognized his innocence in bills and resolutions passed in the 2009 legislative session.

But Perry had said it was not clear he could legally pardon a dead resident under Texas law.

A Jan. 7 ruling by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott clarified that, yes, he could.

Lubbock District Attorney Matt Powell and Police Chief Dale Holton wrote letters in support of Cole's clemency. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended the pardon on Friday. Perry received and signed the documents Monday.

“I have been looking forward to the day I could tell Tim Cole’s mother that her son’s name has been cleared for a crime he did not commit,” Perry said in a statement. “The State of Texas cannot give back the time he spent in prison away from his loved ones, but today I was finally able to tell her we have cleared his name, and hope this brings a measure of peace to the family.”

Judge declares death penalty unconstitutional

2010-03-10T14:51:00.001-05:00

By BRIAN ROGERS HOUSTON CHRONICLE

March 5, 2010, 12:03AM

Karen Warren Chronicle

Judge Kevin Fine, shown Thursday, was elected to the 177th District Court in 2008.

A Houston judge on Thursday granted a pretrial motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional, saying he believes innocent people have been executed.

“Based on the moratorium (on the death penalty) in Illinois, the Innocence Project and more than 200 people being exonerated nationwide, it can only be concluded that innocent people have been executed,” state District Judge Kevin Fine said. “It's safe to assume we execute innocent people.”

Fine said trial level judges are gatekeepers of society's standard for decency and fairness.

“Are you willing to have your brother, your father, your mother be the sacrificial lamb, to be the innocent person executed so that we can have a death penalty so that we can execute those who are deserving of the death penalty?” he said. “I don't think society's mindset is that way now.”

The motion was one of many submitted by defense attorneys Bob Loper and Casey Keirnan arguing Texas' death penalty was unconstitutional for their client, John Edward Green Jr.

Loper said he and Keirnan were pleased by Fine's ruling, which will be appealed and almost certainly reversed.

“It's pretty traditional in these cases to file as many motions as you can and try to find something the judge finds approaches unconstitutionality,” Loper said.

If Fine's ruling were to be upheld, it effectively would take away the option of the death penalty in Green's case.

In their motion, Loper and Keirnan assert, “The system that determines who should die in Texas is truly ‘broken.' ”

They argued, and Fine agreed, that the law providing for the procedures surrounding instructions to a jury in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure violate the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and guaranteeing the right of due process.

DA: ‘It has no basis in law'

Green, 23, is accused of fatally shooting a Houston woman and wounding her sister on June 16, 2008.

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos issued a statement disagreeing with Fine's ruling.

“Words are inadequate to describe the Office's disappointment and dismay with this ruling; sadly it will delay justice for the victims and their families,” the statement said. “We will pursue all remedies.”

The statement noted that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and other appellate courts consistently have rejected the same arguments.

“We respectfully, but vigorously, disagree with the trial judge's ruling, as it has no basis in law or in fact,” Lykos wrote.

On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office issued a news release calling Fine's ruling “an act of unabashed judicial activism.” Abbott offered to help the Harris County District Attorney's Office appeal the decision. Fine, the statement said, ignored U.S. Supreme Court precedent in granting the motion.

“We regret that the court's legally baseless order unnecessarily delays justice and closure for the victim's family — including her two children, who witnessed their mother's brutal murder,” the statement said.

Fine's decision is unlikely to withstand appellate review, said Sandra Guerra Thompson, professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

“You never know, but I don't see it happening at this time,” Thompson said. “Technically, they're bound by precedent. There are laws on the books that have ruled on this type of question.”

On bench since 2008

Thompson said trial judges sometimes grant rulings that are unlikely to stand up on appeal to start a dialogue in the judicial branch.

“If they feel strongly enough, sometimes they'll grant a motion like this to buck the system, just to stir the waters,” Thompson said.

Fine, a judicial maverick, was elected in the 2008 Democratic near-sweep of Harris County's benches. A recovering cocaine addict, the judge came under fire last year for questioning a victim during the punishment phase of a rape trial.

After a jury found a man guilty of aggravated sexual assault, Fine challenged the victim's version of events, including why she would have been on top during the rape.

Green faces the death penalty in the robbery and shooting death of Huong Thien Nguyen, 34.

Police said she and her sister, My Huong Nguyen, had returned to their home in the 6700 block of Bellaire Gardens about 1:20 a.m. when Green approached them, demanded money and shot them.

Huong Thien Nguyen died at the scene.

Tom Tomorrow Now I am Caught Up

2010-03-10T14:48:00.000-05:00

Catching up with Tom Tomorrow

2010-03-10T14:41:00.000-05:00

Tom Tomorrow ( I am behind sorry faithful viewers)

2010-03-10T14:40:00.002-05:00

UPDATING OUR POLITICAL DICTIONARIES

2010-03-10T14:25:00.002-05:00

UPDATING OUR POLITICAL DICTIONARIES

Josh Marshall and Steve Benen are helping readers understand the new political "lexicon." We should all update our understandings of political terms that had fairly straightforward definitions up until fairly recently.

"Jamming it through": to vote on a bill.

"Obstructionism," for example, only refers to Democratic minorities opposing Republican proposals.

"Tyranny" is found when an elected Democratic majority passes legislation that Republicans don't like.

"Reconciliation" describes a Senate process that Republicans are allowed to use to overcome Democratic "obstructionism."

"Terrorism" refers to acts of political violence committed by people who aren't white guys.

"Bipartisanship" is found when Democrats agree to pass Republican legislation.

"Big government" describes a dangerous phenomenon to be avoided, except in cases relating to reproductive rights or gays.

"Treason" refers to Democrats criticizing a Republican administration during a war.

"Patriotism" refers to Republicans criticizing a Democratic administration during a war.

"Fiscal responsibility" is a national priority related to keeping our deficit in check, which only applies when Republicans are in the minority.

"Parliamentarian" is a seemingly independent official on the Hill who Senate Republicans are allowed to fire when the GOP disapproves of his/her rulings.

Does Sarah Palin Distract us from what we need to be paying attention to?

2010-02-18T10:35:00.001-05:00

Another Exoneration 251 and counting

2010-02-18T10:19:00.001-05:00

Greg Taylor walked out of a North Carolina courtroom today a free man for the first time in 17 years after a three-judge panel declared that he had provided clear and convincing of his innocence.

Taylor is the first person cleared by through the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission process, which offers an official route to review and exoneration for prisoners who proclaim their innocence. The Innocence Inquiry panel heard evidence in the case last year and recommended it to the three-judge panel, which today ruled that Taylor had been wrongfully convicted in 1993.

Taylor was convicted of murdering a prostitute in Raleigh in 1991. Among evidence used to convict him was testimony from a forensic analyst that human blood was found in his truck after the crime. That evidence has since been disproved, revealing troubling practices in the forensic lab conducting the test.

Taylor was represented on appeal by Christine Mumma and other lawyers at the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence. In his closing argument on Taylor’s behalf today, attorney Joseph Cheshire said freeing the innocent can help build a stronger system.

“Out of tragedy and sadness can actually come a better world,” Cheshire said. “Nothing makes our system better than the public acknowledgement that mistakes have been made.”

Read more (WRAL, 2/17/10)

News & Observer (2/17/10)

103 Years and Counting

2010-02-16T11:51:00.002-05:00

Cubs Pitchers and Catchers Report Tomorrow

2010-02-16T11:44:00.002-05:00

For a few weeks at least Cubs fans can be optimistic about the upcoming season. At least until the season starts the Cubs have a chance to break the 100+ years of futility.