Criminal Justice Reform

[The Sisko]

 

On 12/2/2021 at 2:18 PM, Cooked Crack said:

 

I wonder if they'd see it the same way when it's Tя☭mp pleading the fifth a bazillion times?

 

On 8/30/2022 at 7:06 PM, tshile said:

A topic I don’t think gets enough (any?) discussion is how they’ve deployed the license reading systems in the cars. They don’t just read your license and look you up - they store where and when you were seen. 
 

Cool use of it - when the smith mountain lake shooter (the one that did it while local news was interviewing someone) was caught because when they entered the information of the vehicle he was fleeing in, a state troopers computer system went nuts telling her that the car passed her several minutes ago. It’s how they knew he got off 81 north onto 66 east she was at the intersection on the 66 side. 
 

but… it’s basically local government tracking…

But god forbid you should record a cop arresting someone.🙄

[China]

Man who helped pass DC criminal code overhaul shot, killed in southeast

 

A man who helped pass D.C.'s historic criminal code overhaul was shot and killed hours before council passed the bill last week.

 

Kelvin Blowe, 32, worked with DC Justice Lab, a group that advocates for criminal justice reform in the city.

 

Family said he also did security work, and early Tuesday morning, Blowe had just finished a late night security guard job and was driving some co-workers home.

 

He was on Southern Ave. near Suitland Parkway in SE when police say there was a crash after a driver crossed the line to try to pass Blowe's car.

 

Family said Blowe got out of his vehicle and then was shot and killed.

 

...

 

He said Blowe was always drawn to helping others, even as a child, and it's what led him to join the Marines. Johnson said Blowe had PTSD after his military service, then issues with substance abuse and Blowe ended up in prison. But since getting out, he's been dedicated to helping others get services they need after being incarcerated.

 

"We have to learn to love each other and bring the city together-that's what my nephew was trying to do," Johnson said.

 

Blowe used his experiences behind bars at DC Justice Lab where he was a policy and advocacy fellow.

 

He was among those who testified before DC Council about the historic reform of the city's criminal code. The bill finally passed on Tuesday, hours after he was killed.

 

"It's kind of hard to put into words what it feels like to see his work come to fruition without being able to share in that celebration with him," said Patrice Sulton, Executive Director DC

Justice Lab. "In some ways the timing of it is an added injury on top of the loss. And I think we lost a really powerful voice in a really important movement and that's not something that we'll be able to replace."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

Oregon probably wasn't going to execute anyone anytime soon

 

[skinsmarydu]

Don't know if anyone is interested, but thought I'd post it...

Ran across a brand new "Dateline"...Lester Holt is inside Louisiana State Pen, largest in the country, some 26 acres.   He's documenting a couple of days inside, housed next to Death Row.  It's on Oxygen Channel. 

[China]

Over a third of all US executions in 2022 were botched - report

 

Over a third of all executions in the US in 2022 were botched, according to a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

 

The report, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the lethal injection method of execution, revealed that different executions carried out in several states were all botched due to a number of reasons, and other states had executions put on hold due to being unable to follow protocols.

 

All of these failed executions were carried out with a lethal injection.

 

The US is infamous for carrying out executions as part of capital punishment for certain criminal offenses. 

 

There are several methods of execution available in the US, though they vary between states.

 

These methods include:

• Electrocution
• Lethal gas
• Lethal injection
• Hanging
• Firing squad

Of these, lethal injection is by far the most widely used, with close to 1,400 lethal injection executions having been carried out throughout the US since 1976.

 

According to the DPIC, the states that notably botched lethal injections in 2022 were Alabama, Arizona and Texas, caused by being unable to set IV lines.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Sad:

 

Sheriff: Man attempts to break back into Calcasieu Correctional five hours after being released

 

A Lake Charles man said he threw a rock through the main entrance of Calcasieu Correctional Center so he could go back to jail, according to the sheriff.

 

Sheriff Tony Mancuso said in a statement that Kenneth Hunt, 39, told deputies he wanted a place to sleep and a meal.

 

“We quickly made those arrangements for him,” Mancuso said. “I guess we can now say we literally have people beating down the door to stay with us.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Former Arkansas judge arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from defendant's girlfriend

 

A former Monroe County, Arkansas, judge was charged Thursday with soliciting sex from a defendant's girlfriend in order to make the charges against her boyfriend move quicker through the judicial system, according to the Department of Justice.

 

In April 2022, Thomas Carruth "allegedly solicited sex from the girlfriend of a defendant in exchange for expediting that defendant's trial date," a press release from the Justice Department read. The 63-year-old elected county judge allegedly then lied to the FBI when questioned about it.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

SCOTUS Unanimously Sides With Death Row Inmate Over an Extreme Texas Court

 

The Supreme Court confronted an astounding violation of due process on Monday in a case that never should have reached it in the first place. With no dissents, the justices vacated a Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that upheld Areli Escobar’s death sentence—even though prosecutors admitted that Escobar’s conviction relied on false and unreliable DNA evidence. Prosecutors requested a new trial, yet the Texas court refused to grant one. So SCOTUS had to step in to demand a do-over.

 

It’s really no surprise that the all-Republican justices of the Texas court thought they could get away with this abdication of their most basic duties. After all, SCOTUS’ conservative supermajority has consistently upheld capital sentences in the face of shocking, unrefuted evidence that they violated the Constitution. So long as this bloc takes a rigidly hostile position toward defendants in every capital case, lower courts will continue to push the limits, greenlighting executions that are both unconstitutional and unconscionable.

 

The facts of Escobar’s case offer a disturbing glimpse into how prosecutors’ relentless drive for a conviction overrides the search for truth. It began with the gruesome, tragic sexual assault and murder of a 17-year-old in 2009. The victim was found alone, stabbed to death and covered in blood, with no signs of forced entry; there were no eyewitnesses. Police identified Escobar as a person of interest after his ex-girlfriend claimed that she had called him repeatedly around the time of the crime and heard sexual noises followed by screaming. The morning of the murder, Escobar arrived at his mother’s house injured, with blood on his clothes, saying he had gotten into a fight.

 

Prosecutors indicted Escobar and sent evidence to the Austin Police Department’s DNA laboratory. The lawyers later told the jury that this evidence strongly implicated Escobar. The suspect “could not be excluded” as a match to DNA found on the victim’s doorknob lock, the state attorneys declared. Moreover, the victim “could not be excluded” as a match to DNA found on Escobar’s shoes, jeans, and shirt. Finally, a forensic examiner testified that a low-quality print on a lotion bottle next to the victim’s body was “identical” to Escobar’s left ring-finger joint. This evidence had a powerful effect; one juror later admitted that he was “on the fence” about the defendant’s guilt until prosecutors introduced the DNA samples. The jury found Escobar guilty, and the judge sentenced him to death.

 

Then the state’s case fell apart. In 2016 the Texas Forensic Science Commission found that APD’s DNA lab had engaged in egregious, systemic misconduct. Inadequate training and oversight of analysts led to continual cross-contamination of evidence and misinterpretation of results. The analysts constantly violated scientific best practices and twisted their work to implicate a particular suspect. A court found that no DNA evidence connected to the lab was reliable, and Texas soon shuttered it.

 

These errors infected every aspect of Escobar’s case. The analyst who tested his shoes and shirt was involved in at least nine cross-contamination incidents that affected more than 30 cases; she routinely forgot to wear gloves during testing. The analyst who swabbed the victim’s doorknob lock and studied blood at the crime scene had a similar record of contamination, as well as a history of using unscientific methods to interpret results. These analysts also failed to seal evidence (causing it to spill out of bags in transit) and intermingled crime scene samples with Escobar’s belongings. These mistakes exponentially heightened the risk of DNA cross-contamination.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Baltimore state’s attorney drops Keith Davis Jr.’s criminal cases

 

The criminal charges against Keith Davis Jr., who was tried in Baltimore four times for the same murder, are no more.

 

Shot by police in 2015, Davis, 31, has spent the past seven years locked behind bars on murder charges in the shooting of Pimlico Race Course security guard Kevin Jones. He has always maintained his innocence.

 

Newly elected Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates dropped all charges against Davis on Friday morning — ending a case that Bates describes as a tainted prosecution led by his predecessor, Marilyn Mosby, and fulfilling a promise he made to Davis’ wife and supporters over his two campaigns to be the city’s top prosecutor.

 

“We recognize at this moment with what has happened, the personal animus toward Mr. Davis Jr., his supporters, his family, there’s no way that you can say there would actually be justice with this case,” Bates told The Baltimore Sun in an exclusive interview.

 

Baltimore Circuit Judge John Nugent ruled in June that one of Mosby’s prosecutions against Davis, an attempted murder charge stemming from a fight he had while incarcerated, had the makings of vindictive prosecution. Nugent also issued a gag order in the case, prohibiting all parties from discussing it. Mosby violated the order and was found in contempt of court last summer.

 

While Nugent stopped short of dismissing all the charges, as Davis’ attorneys requested, or finding vindictiveness in the murder case, Bates told The Sun he believes it was also a wrongful prosecution.

 

Deputy State’s Attorney Thomas Donnelly said the case’s prosecutorial history shows “blatant disregard” for the law and for the rules of professional conduct, and that there would be serious questions about the integrity and legitimacy of any future prosecution of Davis.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

A Detective’s Affair with an Eyewitness Landed an Innocent Man in Prison

 

A man was exonerated after spending six years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. A few alarming factors contributed to the false conviction, one of which included a scandalous romance between the lead homicide detective and a key witness, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 

Lamont Cambell, 28, was found guilty in the 2011 murder of Lenny J. Gregory III, the son of a retired St. Louis police officer. The conviction didn’t come until a second trial because the jury failed to reach an unanimous verdict the first time in 2013. When the prosecutors came back to try Cambell in 2016 - with no physical evidence nor any motive for the killing - he was sentenced to life in prison. Cambell continued to fight for his freedom, filing an appeal on ineffective counsel and violation of due process in 2019.

 

St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy J. Boyer ruled in favor of Cambell’s appeal, finding his attorneys didn’t do enough and the investigators were doing far too much.

 

Read the flaws in Cambell’s case from St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

 

Quote

Last spring, experts, witnesses, Cambell and Mary Fox, who represented Cambell in his trial and now leads the state public defender’s office, gathered for a hearing on the evidence.

 

Experts testified that the witness identifications were likely unreliable and, at the time of the second trial, the wife of the married couple had begun an affair with the lead homicide detective in the case — a fact that was not disclosed to the defense.

 

Evidence of another perpetrator also was not presented at trial, court documents said: A neighbor saw multiple people fighting with Gregory on the night he died and identified a man who was a person of interest in another killing nearby. An analysis from the state crime lab matched two palm prints found at the scene to that person as well.

 

They messed up so bad that the prosecutors went from pursuing a “new” investigation into the case to just dropping the charges altogether. Cambell walked out of the City Justice Center within the next hour.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Alabama Supreme Court Eliminates Critical Safeguard Against Wrongful Convictions in Death Penalty Cases

 

When appellate lawyers read the transcript of Samuel Ivery’s capital murder trial in Mobile, Alabama, they were stunned to read that the prosecutor, in his closing argument, rebutted evidence that Mr. Ivery, who is Black, suffered from mental illness by telling jurors “this is not another case of niggeritous.” They were even more stunned that Mr. Ivery’s lawyer did not object.

 

At Judy Haney’s capital murder trial, appellate lawyers discovered that her attorney at trial was so intoxicated during the proceedings that the trial judge stopped the trial midway through and ordered the lawyer to be incarcerated in the city jail overnight.  The next day, the trial resumed with no objections and Ms. Haney was sentenced to death.

 

Under Alabama Rule of Appellate Procedure 45A, known as the “plain error” rule, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is required to review on appeal whether incidents like these necessitate a new trial, even if there were no objections at trial.

 

Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court announced, without input from the Alabama Appellate Rules Committee, that it is eliminating mandatory plain error review, effective immediately. The decision will have a profound impact on death penalty litigation and the reliability and fairness of capital convictions and sentences in Alabama.

 

In most criminal cases, Alabama appellate courts will address errors or issues on appeal only if the defense lawyer objected at trial. Rule 45A provided that, because death penalty cases require the highest possible level of reliability and scrutiny, the Alabama Court of Criminals is required to address errors or issues raised for the first time on appeal. It applied a higher standard to claims that were not preserved at trial, but it could not refuse to consider those claims.

 

As the Court of Criminal Appeals described Rule 45A in Ms. Haney’s case:

 

Quote

This rule requires that we notice any plain error or defect in the proceedings under review, whether or not brought to the attention of the trial court, and take appropriate action whenever such error has or probably has adversely affected the substantial rights of the appellant.

 

Rule 45A allowed appellate attorneys to identify and correct unconstitutional conduct that has occurred in capital trials throughout the state. As a result, many wrongful convictions and illegal sentences have been brought to light.

 

In a state with no statewide public defender system where, for decades, appointed defense lawyers were paid less than minimum wage for representing defendants in capital trials, the plain error rule has been critical in addressing and identifying wrongful convictions and illegal sentences in death penalty cases. Eliminating the rule raises serious questions about the reliability of Alabama’s capital system moving forward.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

Minnesota is putting in so much work in such little time. Shows what a Democratic trifecta can do.

[Simmsy]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:19 AM, Cooked Crack said:

Minnesota is putting in so much work in such little time. Shows what a Democratic trifecta can do.

 

Hopefully, this will keep it blue for a while.

[The Sisko]

On 12/14/2022 at 8:27 PM, skinsmarydu said:

Don't know if anyone is interested, but thought I'd post it...

Ran across a brand new "Dateline"...Lester Holt is inside Louisiana State Pen, largest in the country, some 26 acres.   He's documenting a couple of days inside, housed next to Death Row.  It's on Oxygen Channel. 

I remember that. I’d bet money Lester now has the same nightmare as Tom Dubois in The Health Inspector episode of The Boondocks. 
 

On 1/22/2023 at 7:01 PM, China said:

Alabama Supreme Court Eliminates Critical Safeguard Against Wrongful Convictions in Death Penalty Cases

 

When appellate lawyers read the transcript of Samuel Ivery’s capital murder trial in Mobile, Alabama, they were stunned to read that the prosecutor, in his closing argument, rebutted evidence that Mr. Ivery, who is Black, suffered from mental illness by telling jurors “this is not another case of niggeritous.” They were even more stunned that Mr. Ivery’s lawyer did not object.

 

At Judy Haney’s capital murder trial, appellate lawyers discovered that her attorney at trial was so intoxicated during the proceedings that the trial judge stopped the trial midway through and ordered the lawyer to be incarcerated in the city jail overnight.  The next day, the trial resumed with no objections and Ms. Haney was sentenced to death.

 

Under Alabama Rule of Appellate Procedure 45A, known as the “plain error” rule, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is required to review on appeal whether incidents like these necessitate a new trial, even if there were no objections at trial.

 

Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court announced, without input from the Alabama Appellate Rules Committee, that it is eliminating mandatory plain error review, effective immediately. The decision will have a profound impact on death penalty litigation and the reliability and fairness of capital convictions and sentences in Alabama.

 

In most criminal cases, Alabama appellate courts will address errors or issues on appeal only if the defense lawyer objected at trial. Rule 45A provided that, because death penalty cases require the highest possible level of reliability and scrutiny, the Alabama Court of Criminals is required to address errors or issues raised for the first time on appeal. It applied a higher standard to claims that were not preserved at trial, but it could not refuse to consider those claims.

 

As the Court of Criminal Appeals described Rule 45A in Ms. Haney’s case:

 

Rule 45A allowed appellate attorneys to identify and correct unconstitutional conduct that has occurred in capital trials throughout the state. As a result, many wrongful convictions and illegal sentences have been brought to light.

 

In a state with no statewide public defender system where, for decades, appointed defense lawyers were paid less than minimum wage for representing defendants in capital trials, the plain error rule has been critical in addressing and identifying wrongful convictions and illegal sentences in death penalty cases. Eliminating the rule raises serious questions about the reliability of Alabama’s capital system moving forward.

 

Click on the link for the full article

This kind of crap is precisely why I call it the “so-called justice system” and another example of why I say the constitution is garbage in that it only really applies to certain people.  If there’s a clearer example of the difference between the “justice” one gets in the system by being rich vs poor, I haven’t seen it. 

[China]

Massachusetts high court does away with infidelity panic defense

 

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Court disavowed its own precedent, which allowed a husband to justify killing his wife when told she has committed adultery or, as in this case, that his baby isn’t his. The rule, which allows sudden oral revelations to support manslaughter charges instead of murder ones, “rests upon a shaky, misogynistic foundation and has no place in our modern jurisprudence.”

 

Read the ruling here.

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

On 7/2/2022 at 6:54 PM, PleaseBlitz said:

This was a moment that will stick with me forever. This is just outside the fence of the Maryland Correctional Institution- Hagerstown. 
 

 

Important follow up. 
 

 

Per his release order, my guy did six months at a halfway house in MD, which ended Feb 1, and is now preparing to leave the state to go start anew elsewhere. He is leaving tomorrow. I had him and his fiance over to my house for a send off meal. I neglected to take pics, but obv I cooked fatty boombatty tomahawks. This concludes my representation, but we’ll be friends forever. I am REALLY looking forward to his wedding. 
 

Important detail:  although this guy is pretty hard up due to being a recently released prisoner with significant moving expenses, he showed up with a pretty awesome birthday present for my son, who turns 3 this weekend. He’s just an amazing human. 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[TheGreatBuzz]

I don't really have a problem with this.  

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

Is killing an insane person “cruel and unusual”

 

https://thegrio.com/2023/02/20/andre-thomas-seeks-clemency/?dicbo=v2-ndtcyh7

 

Now, I don’t exactly know how I ended up on a trash site but the article still stuck me…  I have no doubt this guy is insane and that his actions were ordained by god when he did it, how else could you cut the hearts out of two of you own children.. but even if he is insane, what does society gain by sparing him and what does he gain by being locked in a cage?  

[Captain Wiggles]

13 minutes ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

what does society gain by sparing him 

 

About $750k. 

 

Both options are cruel. Solitary confinement is about as rough as it gets. It's a better option than state sponsored executions imo tho.

[CousinsCowgirl84]

12 minutes ago, Captain Wiggles said:

 

About $750k. 

 

Both options are cruel. Solitary confinement is about as rough as it gets. It's a better option than state sponsored executions imo tho.

We all know you can kill someone for 15 bucks and a pack of smokes. 750k says much more about our system of government than anything about capital punishment.

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

Florida dramatically loosens death penalty requirements after Nikolas Cruz sentencing

 

Florida will soon no longer require unanimous jury recommendations for judges to impose death penalty sentences under a bill the Legislature approved Thursday, a reaction to the life sentence handed to the man who massacred 17 people at a Parkland high school.

 

The House passed the bill on a 80-30 vote. It now goes to Republican Gov Ron DeSantis for final approval. It will allow the death penalty with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution. Mr DeSantis supports the proposal.

 

The bill was filed after the outrage over a divided 9-3 jury sparing Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz from capital punishment for the 2018 massacre. He instead received a life sentence with no parole.

 

Click on the link for the full article