"Judge tosses out ’05 murder conviction; Says police did not disclose evidence" by Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | April 29, 2010
The trial judge has thrown out the 2005 conviction....
Jurors had a right to be informed about “exculpatory gang-related evidence known to participating police,’’ Superior Court Judge Sandra L. Hamlin wrote in a 38-page order earlier this month. “The undisclosed evidence would have materially aided 26-year-old Eric Murray’s defense, and as a consequence, he is entitled to a new trial.’’
There is no evidence that Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Sheila M. Calkins, now chief of staff to state Attorney General Martha Coakley, “intentionally failed to disclose information concerning Kendall Street Thugs that Detective Lieutenant Kevin Slattery attests to in his affidavit,’’ Hamlin wrote. Although it was unlikely the prosecutor was aware of the evidence that could have cleared Murray, she wrote, it “was known to police participating in Murray’s case.’’
Ruth Greenberg, the Swampscott criminal lawyer who prepared Murray’s motion for a new trial, said she had no idea who was at fault for failing to turn over the evidence to the defense.
“Nonetheless, the trial was unfair, and that’s what the judge found,’’ she said. She added that she hopes her client, now 31 and serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole at MCI-Shirley, is freed on bail pending a retrial.
Slattery did not return a phone message from the Globe left at the Police Department. Framingham Police Chief Steven B. Carl this week defended him and questioned the judge’s finding.
“If I felt that an officer deliberately withheld something, I’d have a problem with it,’’ Carl said. “I’ve never known [Slattery] to do it. It would be totally out of character for him to deliberately withhold something. The case is prosecuted by the district attorney’s office, and the DA determines what evidence goes in and what doesn’t go in.’’
--more--"Also see: CSI Massachusetts
Massachusetts Justice: Holding Back
Massachusetts Justice: Wrongful Convictions
Massachusetts Justice: Wrongful Imprisonment
MSM Xmas Gifts: To American Convicts
Related:
"DNA tests free man jailed for 30 years" by Associated Press | May 6, 2010
CLEVELAND — An Ohio man tasted freedom for the first time in nearly 30 years Tuesday after DNA evidence showed he did not rape an 11-year-old girl and a judge vacated his conviction.
“It finally happened, I’ve been waiting,’’ Raymond Towler, 52, said as he hugged sobbing family members in the courtroom.
He walked from the courthouse, arms around his family members, amid the smell of freshly cut grass, blooming trees and a brisk wind off Lake Erie. Asked how he would adjust, Towler responded: “Just take a deep breath and just enjoy life right now.’’
He deflected a question about demanding an apology.--more--"
"DNA exonerates man convicted in 1981 rape
"Well, that's gonna make it ALLLLLLLL better now!
Back in the 1990s, when militant feminists hijacked the equity feminist movement and turned it into the male-bash "All men are rapists" so let's ship them off to war hate fest, NOW fought against using DNA tests in rape trials on the theory that such a test was insulting to the victims because it implied they might be mistaken, or worse, lying.
Of course, there were mistakes, and a great deal of lying. The FBI reported that rape was the second most common falsely-reported crime in America. Then as the false charges began to surface, the feminists tried to counter the damage by claiming that a rape charge against a male competitor was a legitimate tool of feminine empowerment. Catherine Commins at Vassar was quoted in TIME magazine as saying that a false rape charge was actually a good thing for a man to have to go through.
The lesson here is that the willingness to throw innocent people under a train for personal gain knows no gender. Far from the much-touted claim that women are the more civilized gender, the actions of the feminist leaders of the 1990s proved they were every bit as ruthless and immoral as their male counterparts!
I wonder how many more innocent men still languish in prison for crimes they did not commit; sacrifices to the wealth and influence of feminist leaders." -- Wake the Flock Up