DNA Tests Prove Broward Man Innocent

Right here in Broward County.

No easy road to freedom. 26 years in jail. 41 now. He was 15 and a kid when he was locked up. Says the confession was coerced. Complains the police beat him. And a quarter century later he is proven right. Justice failed him. The courts, the cops, the prosecutors, his lawyers. Until Diane Cuddihy, eight years ago, said, 'Let's look at this again.' How do you return a life lost?

One more mistake to compound so many others our courts have made all across this country for so many years. You know, the numbers are becoming so great, the Innocence Projects should be federally funded under a stimulus package by the Federal Government. Instead, people are debating cuts in crime labs. Insane. Cutting? We should be adding.

This past week, DNA results were released in the case of Anthony Caravella, a mentally retarded man, who was convicted at the young age of 15, of raping and murdering Ada Jankowski in Miramar, Broward County, Florida. How many other innocents was in he in jail with? How many are still there never to be freed?

Thank the courageous Diane Cuddihy of the Broward Public Defender's office.

Thank the Innocence Project of Florida.

Diane Cuddihy says the DNA results mean "Anthony is innocent, it exonerates him."

The test, performed by a private lab in Richmond, Calif., eliminated Caravella as a potential source for the sperm found inside the Miramar victim’s body 26 years ago.

The test yielded the DNA profile of an unidentified male that could be checked against genetic databases to see if there’s a match with anyone on file.

The State convicted Caravella of stabbing the victim to death and raping her in the meantime, depositing his semen inside of her during the crime.

Their own lab, in 1983, identified sperm on a swab of material taken from the victim’s vagina. Now, 25 years later, Forensic Science Associates, one of the best private labs in the nation, found some sperm cells on a slide made from the same swab, extracted the DNA from those sperm cells and determined, conclusively, that the sperm could not have come from Anthony Caravella.
It means the defendant is not the perp. It is as simple as that, no matter how much the State may try to confuse the issue.

From a scientific standpoint, what is interesting is that when the local crime lab had a crack at this evidence, they got no DNA result. In fact, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab, didn’t even detect semen, despite the fact that lab analysts did see sperm on the tested vaginal swab in 1983.

Everyone in the local law enforcement community is baffled, but should any of us really be surprised at this point, asks the Innocence Project on its web site:

"Government-run crime labs just are not as good as independent private labs at getting DNA results in these challenging old cases. Maybe it is because the scientist is not as experienced. Or they did not painstakingly search on the slide for microscopically visible sperm cells. Or maybe they just don’t view the importance of the case in the same way as a private lab would. Who knows."

The Innocence Projects knows though that time and time again, private labs succeed where government-run crime labs have failed.

"What we do know," the Project has said, "is that when the prosecutor Carolyn McCann says that they need to review the methods of the private lab because the result doesn’t comport with what her lab found, while certainly necessary, she is really only trying to intimate that something is amiss in an attempt to delegitimize the perfectly legit results. The only thing that is amiss, is that we now know a guy has spent 25 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and no one, except his attorney, is trying to rip down the prison walls to free him."

Another important point about this case will be the focus of ongoing conversations about this case, is Mr. Caravella’s mental retardation (IQ of 67) and how that, combined with coercive and suggestive interrogation methods by law enforcement, led to what DNA results show was a false confession. False confessions contributed to a wrongful conviction in about 25% of the DNA exoneration cases nationwide.

One of those cases, that of Jerry Frank Townsend, makes this case more troubling because both are Broward cases, both involve law enforcement suggestively interrogating a mentally retarded person until they confess and using that false confession to close cases, and both cases may even involve at least one of the same law enforcement officers.

When Caravella is exonerated, he will be the 243rd DNA exoneree nationwide, the 11th in Florida, and the 4th in Broward County alone. 243 wrongful convictions so far. And more to come. How could we have been so wrong so often in so many places?

JAABLOG has covered this at this link http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2007/09/04/pardon-our-appearance.aspx

So has the Herald- http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/fred-grimm/story/1220123.html

and the Sentinel http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-dna-caravella-b090309,0,258915.story

Times Editorial Urges DNA Testing

DNA Testing makes so much sense and is so fair how can anyone be against it? The Supreme Court should affirm a federal court of appeals ruling to give prisoners access to DNA evidence that could establish their innocence.

You would almost think it was mandatory with the number of innocent men our society has discovered that have wrongly been put in jail.

You would almost think.

A New York Times editorial calls out Alaska and asks for DNA testing, one day after an article by Robert Morgenthau, the retiring NY District Attorney suggests the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/opinion/02mon2.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

High Court to Hear DNA Testing Case

Justices to Debate Whether Convicts Should Be Guaranteed Access to Latest Techniques

Sunday's Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/21/AR2009022101704.html

A MUST READ FOR CRIMINAL LAWYERS:

Highlights:

--More than 200 people nationwide have been freed because DNA tests performed after their convictions showed they could not have committed the crimes. This on the heels of the Forensics report last Friday.

---It is the Supreme Court's first case that confronts the dilemma of how to deal with DNA evidence, which former attorney general John D. Ashcroft called the "truth machine of law enforcement."

----"Relying solely on the unfettered discretion of prosecutors to unlock the promise of DNA analysis can sanction injustice," said a brief filed on behalf of current and former prosecutors, including former attorney general Janet Reno.

Is there any doubt that with the number of inmates so wrongly convicted that we should do so much more to fund, research, and review the processes which have created and now perpetuate unconscionable levels of injustice? Any doubt at all?

Hell, it should be part of the stimulus package.

Stories in the News: 'If At First You Don't Succeed'

Above, a home for terror training or an abandoned Miami building? Jurors get to make the call again this week.

A group of Miami men accused of planning to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago as part of an Islamic jihad returned to federal court this week in Miami as prosecutors try for a third time to win convictions.

The government’s first two efforts ended in mistrials. And legal analysts say the prosecutors face an even greater challenge this time because, nearly three years after the men were arrested, the public mind-set has changed.

Some of the stories from the NY Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19liberty.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/us/27liberty.html?fta=y

Another disturbing feature in the news today is the trend that federal Latino prisoners are growing disproportionately to their numbers in the population. Blame it on immigration, drug crimes or discrimination, it is an eye opening article. This is not what Governor Crist had in mind when he started promoting diversity in our community.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19immig.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Here also is the report on forensics we have been previously alerted to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19forensics.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1235051303-V4eG518cRcw1DviVeQz/qw

It is comforting to know that in Bartow, they do not have such stress. You see, they just did a three day prostitution sting and arrested 24 men, one as young as 20 years old, another 72. Not bad. Never give up. Glad they have their priorities in order.

http://www.newschief.com/article/20090218/NEWS/902180295/1021/NEWS01?Title=Sheriff-s-Office-arrests-24-in-anti-prostitution-operation

And just a week ago I blogged about a St. Lucie firefighter who absconded from a crash scene with a severed foot, claiming that she needed it to train her 'cadaver' dog. Always good to have a public purpose behind your pilfering. So these St. Lucie firefighters lead interesting lives. Here are two trying to capture my own heart. Inbetween fire fights, they grow their own pot. See, it's not just Michael Phelps. It's normal to do pot.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29238833/

Speaking of the Innocence Project

Joshua Kezer, free today

On the heels of yesterday's piece about the Innocence Project of Florida challenging an execution in Florida, comes this story:

From today's Associated Press:

"After 17 years behind bars for a murder that a judge says he did not commit, a Missouri inmate, Joshua Kezer, left, walked out of a prison a free man. “This is the kind of stuff you dream about,” said Mr. Kezer, 34, who has been imprisoned since 1992 for the slaying of a 19-year-old nursing student in southeast Missouri. The judge, Richard Callahan of Cole County Circuit Court, ruled Tuesday that Mr. Kezer had been wrongly convicted in the death of the student, Angela M. Lawless. Prosecutors will not seek a new trial. The judge criticized the conduct of a prosecutor, who he said withheld several pieces of evidence."

If you are a juror today, if you assume that everything presented everyday by every prosecutor is without flaw or error, than read these stories...

http://thepostonreport.blogspot.com/2008/01/post-dispatch-story-about-joshua-kezer.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/12/5/205856/093

See also the release of the report on forensic flaws in the NY Times today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19forensics.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1235051303-V4eG518cRcw1DviVeQz/qw

'Killer Porsche' Owner on Probation for Hit/Run

Now let's talk about the killer Porsche. The cops have ID'd the owner, who now has to sweat what forensics is going to do. He apparently has not hired an attorney yet, but referred questions to Keith Seltzer, who has no comments yet. A Sentinel feature yesterday quotes Ken Padowitz and Milton Hirsch, each saying this is going to be one tough case to prove. Maybe so, but let's hope for the sake of our community, it is proven, the murderer is apprehended, and the killer convicted. In light of the fact that so much of this case could turn on forensics, that damning report in yesterday's blog is worth scrutinizing carefully.

This story is all over the papers in Great Britain, but they can't brag too much there either. The headline in the Daily Mail yesterday, an English paper, is about a lorry driver that was caught in a mass collision, rear ended a vehicle with a family of six, and killed them all. He got a year. One year. There is a single episode rule in England, and the driver cannot be cited for each fatality.

Now this morning, surprise of all surprises comes the revelation that the owner of the Porsche, who says he ‘was not driving’, just so happens, totally coincidentally of course, to be on 30 months felony probation for drag racing, fleeing, and assorted, sundry felonies. As a matter of fact, he is allowed to be in Florida to supervise his parents' beach front properties, just down the block from where the murders occurred.

Here is the new report:

"Cook County, Ill., court records show that LeVin was sentenced to 30 months' probation in November 2007 after leading Chicago police on a high-speed chase in a blue Porsche, a 2001 Targa. Police estimated he reached 100 mph during the July 31, 2006, chase, and he struck several vehicles and injured a police officer and two motorists, according to police reports.

After the Chicago chase, police found cocaine in LeVin's car, according to court records. He initially was charged with seven felonies and ultimately pleaded guilty to one — aggravated fleeing."

Here is the full link:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/fort_lauderdale/sfl-flbhitandrun0219sbfeb19,0,5416748.story

His next address: the Broward County Jail. Here truly though, is the reason defense attorneys exist. So much of the circumstantial evidence points so transparently to this guy LeVin that he absolutely positively unquestionably needs a lawyer to insure that the State of Florida does not jump on the bandwagon of the obvious, but is instead held to the demanding standards of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Damning Forensics Report is Released

AN URGENT REPORT

BY

JOHN WESLEY HALL

I am writing to alert NACDL membership to an important development that may have a significant impact on criminal defense practice. The National Research Council today released a sweeping critique of current forensic science methods presented by police and prosecutors in courtrooms across the country.

The report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, found that too many “crime” labs evince a prosecutorial bias more oriented toward convicting suspects rather than scientific truth. It found that many currently accepted fields are based on outmoded or untested theories propounded by non-scientists or technicians with insufficient or no background in biological or physical sciences, statistics or mathematics, and that many of those self-styled experts exaggerate their conclusions and/or testify beyond their expertise.

The report, which was ordered by Congress in 2005 and cost $1.5 million, was released at 1 p.m. Eastern time and may be downloaded from the National Academies’ web site. More information and a direct link to the report will be posted on NACDL’s Web site later today. See also---
http://browardlawblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Forensics

The National Research Council is the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. NACDL member Marvin Schechter of New York was on the NRC committee and contributed to the report.

John Wesley Hall, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)1660 L St., NW 12th Fl.

Washington, DC 20036(202)

872-8600FAX: (202) 872-8690

Science Report Exposes Fatal Flaws in Forensics

Here is an article for the criminal justice community. This piece is entirely the work of a talented Houston, Texas, lawyer by the name of Paul Kennedy, who has a blog of his own, entitled 'The Defense Rests.' Not to mention he coaches youth soccer. Again, surfing the Internet and seeking out information for this blog, I come across a wealth of legal bloggers whose insights are worth sharing. I am happy to present them here on the Broward Law Blog. Here is Paul's piece based on the Times article. N.K.

According to the New York Times, a report to be issued this month by the National Academy of Sciences will be a "sweeping critique" of many forensic methods, such as fingerprint analysis, firearms identification, bite mark and blood spatter analysis, used in crime labs across the country.

According to a draft copy of the report, these analyses often are conducted by poorly trained lab workers who then testify to exaggerated accuracy of their methods. The report will call on Congress to establish a federal agency to ensure the independence of forensic analysis, most of which is conducted in labs under the control or authority of law enforcement agencies.

I'm sure that every defense attorney in the country is waiting for this report to come out. There are going to be challenges to fingerprints and firearms evidence and the general lack of empirical grounding. It's going to be big.

The F.B.I. had to shutter its bullet identification program after the pseudo-science behind the analysis was discredited. The F.B.I. was forced to notify hundreds of citizens who may have been convicted wrongfully as a result of the "evidence."

The Innocence Project turned over the results of a study performed on the trial transcripts of 137 convictions that were later overturned. In 60% of those cases, false or misleading statements were made regarding blood, hair, bite mark, shoe print, fiber and fingerprint analysis.

According to Stanford University scientist Donald Kennedy, who helped choose the authors of the report, the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Department of "Justice," refused to finance the study -- because they knew what it would conclude. Congress later voted to provide $1.5 million to fund the project.

"My hope is that this report will provide an objective and unbiased perspective of the critical needs of our crime labs." -- Sen. Richard Shelby (R. Alabama)Here are a few examples of the sad state of forensic scientific analysis:
The H.P.D. Crime Lab was shuttered due to a series of scandals. An independent auditor authored a report in 2007 severely criticizing the practices and procedures followed by the lab.

Dee Wallace, a contractor with the Texas D.P.S., who testified in support of the state's breath test program falsified documents regarding maintenance work she never performed on the machines under her control.

The Galveston County District Attorney's Office recently had to mail out notices to over 2,000 citizens whose DWI convictions may have been tainted by Ms. Wallace's criminal acts.

Concludes Kennedy on this blog:
"As long as forensic analysis is conducted at "crime labs" operated by law enforcement agencies, there will be pressure on analysts to make their findings and conclusions fit the "facts" as determined by the police. Until these labs are divorced from law enforcement, their findings and conclusions will be under suspicion."

Just as attorney Joel Beck here in Fort Lauderdale uncovered some questionable practices with Ice Cold Air in their certification of the speed of police cars, so too have a wealth of prominent law firms locally exposed faulty Intoxilyzers or defects in different equipment used as methodologies to prosecute and convict defendants. We all must be alert for these all the time. Good job here by Mr. Kennedy.