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RELATED CASES AND WEBSITES
0. New Media and Social Media 1. Websites dedicated to Kassidy Bortner 2. Cases where defendants innocent, or exonerated of assault/murder 3. Orgs Supporting claims of Wrongful convictions: 4. Websites and cases related to Shaken Baby Syndrome. 5. Databases and info sources on wrongful convictions. 6. Websites claiming wrongful convictions in State Courts 7. Websites of those who have been exonerated (or equivalent) in State Courts. 8. Law Enforcement Misconduct/Wrongful Conviction 9. Time of Death and other forensic information 10. Websites/Articles related to retrials 11. Law Enforcement Orgs Dedicated to Truth/Justice 12. States and the Wrongly Convicted. 13. States and their mistakes and efforts to remedy. 14. Organizations dedicated to justice 15. Cases involving disparate sentences
0. New Media and Social Media a. Facebook: Chad's SUPPORT GROUP FACEBOOK PAGEb. Twitter: Two Accts: ChadEvans2 and ChristineGagne1 c. YouTube: "Justice for Chad and Kassidy"
1. Websites dedicated to Kassidy Bortner "21-month-old Kassidy Caitlyn 'Kassie' Bortner" - a page dedicated to Kassidy at the website, "God Bless our Fallen Angels - of the End Child Abuse Now Project." There are excerpts from news articles and photographs. "Online Memorial to Kassidy - at www.findagrave.com" - Established by her grandmother, Jacqueline Conley, this site is about Kassidy's life and her gravesite. 2. Cases where defendants found innocent or exonerated of assault and/or murder or otherwise released. 2004. California. Ken Marsh Marsh was convicted in 1983 of murdering the 2 year old son of his girlfriend. She knew that Ken was innocent and worked for 19 years to exonerate him. Her son actually died from injuries sustained in a fall from a couch into the fireplace. See article in Justice Denied magazine. 2011. Minnesota. Michael Hansen. Released from prison after six years, for murder of his daughter. See assorted MEDIA ARTICLES. 2011. Pennsylvania. Eric Hopkins Found not guilty in death of 4 month old in his care. See assorted MEDIA ARTICLES. 2011. New Hampshire. Elizabeth Torrey Found not guilty of harming child in her care. See assorted Harold Levy commented at the CHARLES SMITH BLOG, "...I am therefore always am gratified when, in these cases (as I am seeing more and more) a jury shows a willingness to consider non-criminal explanations for the child's death." 2011. New York. Joseph McElheny. Found not guilty in death of his infant daughter. The parallels of this case to the case of Chad Evans are extraordinary. See assorted 2011 Arizona. Armando Castillo. Convicted in 1998 of second degree murder and abuse of his girfriend's two year old son, Armando was released on bail in 2011, pending a new trial. The boy's tragic death was not likely a homicide. See Arizona Justice Project SUMMARY. See two Phoenix articles: Feb 9, 2011, and Feb 16, 2011. Faced with possible conviction for something he did not do, and a very long sentence, Castillo pled guilty to manslaughter with a sentence of time-served. 3. Organizations Supporting claims of Wrongful convictions:
America's Wrongfully Convicted - "This site is dedicated to those individuals, who, because of the selfish reasons of others who conspired for their false imprisonment resulting in malicious prosecution, judicial injustice and impropriety, prosecution for the sake of prosecution, lack of funds for legal aid to prove their innocence and/or other errors of one kind or another, have been wrongfully accused and wrongfully convicted of a crime which they did not commit and have been left to languish resulting in loss of liberty, civil rights, productive lifestyle, financial and personal ruin, mental anguish, social condemnation and personal and family embarrassment for the remainder of their lives." Center for the Global Study of Wrongful Conviction - at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. The Center aims to to facilitate and enhance awareness and activism surrounding the problem of wrongful conviction of the innocent around the world. Centurion Ministries - a New Jersey, but nationwide, organization which investigates claims of wrongful conviction, and secures exoneration. Innocence Project -Chad Evans has applied for assistance from the New England Innocence Project. TruthInJustice - dedicated to the claims of the wrongfully convicted. See the Wrongfully Imprisoned section for this summary of Chad's case: Chad Evans in Concord, New Hampshire. He was convicted of murder in the death of 21-month-old Kassidy Bortner, who died in November, 2000. But he said new material, including DNA evidence, has come to light in his case.
Forejustice - about injustice around the world, with some history.
Injustice Busters, Canada's premier website about wrongful convictions. Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern Univ, This organization exposed many Illinois cases of wrongful convictions, and is also a national center. Center for Wrongful Convictions of Youth at Northwestern University
Justice Denied which bills itself as the "Magazine for the Wrongly Convicted" but which also has links to many individual cases. This organization publishes an important book for the Campaign for Chad Evans, "Freeing the Innocent - How We Did It - A Handbook for the Wrongly Convicted." A copy has been sent to Chad Evans.
Point Park University Innocence Institute which approaches wrongful convictions from a journalism perspective. Among the many college- based Inocence Projects in the U.S., this one is unique. Citizens United against the Death Penalty This site focuses on wrongful convictions and the death penalty. New Hampshire is featured as it has a death penalty statute and one man on death row. 4. Websites and cases related to Shaken Baby Syndrome The death of Kassidy Bortner appears to have several aspects which are similar to deaths thought to be caused by Shaken Baby Syndrome. Shaken Baby Syndrome Defense Website Maintained by Toni Blake, this website is a treasure trove of information about causes of deaths of children by what may appear to be Shaken Baby Syndrome. Nicole Belonga New Hampshire Supreme Court issued its ruling on March 16, 2012 upholding the manslaughter verdict for her daughter's death. See also, annotated copy of opinion with Chad Evans's comments about justice and how the Belonga case relates to his own. Also, newspaper articles about case: "Defense says mom didn’t kill girl" Nashua Telegraph, Oct. 22, 2008 "Belonga guilty of manslaughter, innocent of 2nd-degree murder" Nashua Telegraph, Nov. 13, 2008. "Baby killer of 21-month-old gets 15 to 30 in prison" Nashua Telegraph, Jan. 27, 2009 Cecilia Cortes, California Cortes was accused of killing her 4-month old daughter, but the Medical Examiner ruled that she died as a result of an accidental fall. Audrey Edmonds, Wisconsin Edmonds, a babysitter of a 7-month old girl, was convicted in 1995 of shaking the girl to death. In 2008 the conviction was overturned A three-judge appellate panel unaminously stated, " case "shows that there has been a shift in mainstream medical opinion since Edmunds' trial as to the cause of the types of injuries Natalie (Beard) suffered." Debra Grater, Pennsylvania In December 2000, Debra Grater was babysitting for a 4-month old girl who died in her care. She was arrested and was forced to plead no-contest, with a penalty of probation, instead of facing trial and a potential 15-year sentence. She believes the cause of death was a bad reaction to a vaccine. Keran Henderson, United Kingdom. Henderson was convicted in 2007 of the manslaughter of 11 month-old Maeve Sheppard for whom she was babysitting. She was released in 2009 after serving half her sentence, pending a new trial. Said the family upon her release, in a statement which Chad Evans might echo when he is released, "We will never forget that through our ordeal that we are not alone in suffering because of course all this started with the tragic loss of little Maeve, a tragedy that eclipses a wrongful conviction." Quentin Louis, Wisconsin. Louis was home alone in 1995 with his 4-month old daughter when she died. He was convicted of shaking the baby to death and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 2009, a new trial was ordered by a judge who stated that jurors did not hear enough debate about shaken-baby syndrome or other possible causes of death. Ken Marsh, California. Marsh was convicted in 1983 of killing a 33 month old boy. After 21 years, he was finally exonerated in 2004. His website observed, "Any Mother, Father or other care giver who has the ill-fortune of a child being accidentally injured while in their care could be faced with the same fallacious charge. A child who turns over their tri-cycle, falls from a skate board, or simply slips in a bath tub and suffers a severe injury or death, provided fodder far zealots to claim that it must have been child abuse." Fatima Miah, United Kingdom In 2007, Ms. Miah's 8 month old son died and she was accused of shaking him to death. She was absolved. Reported a newspaper article, " Although most medical experts still stand firmly behind Shaken Baby Syndrome, a minority of sceptical scientists fear that it is wrong, mistaking symptoms found in innocent accidents with deliberate killing." People vs. Frank Pickert (New York) Pickert's girlfriend's daughter was knocked over by a dog in 1991 and her head hit a concrete slab and she died. Nine years later Pickert was accused and tried for murder, but was acquitted. Jose Salazar, California. In 1996 Salazar volunteer to help babysit an infant girl who died. He was sentenced to 15 years to life. The case bears a close relationship to the Chad Evans case. Stated a newspaper article, "He volunteered to watch her while the babysitter went shopping. He was the boyfriend of the sitter’s daughter and lived with them. Witnesses testified that the child had two visible head bruises when her mother dropped her off, but otherwise appeared to be healthy. The toddler then hit her head on a coffee table while Salazar’s girlfriend was with her. " After the death of her grandson, Shirley Smith was convicted in 1997 of felony child endangerment" which was the California equivalent of second degree manslaughter. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, but the U.S. Supreme Court REVERSED the 9th Circuit. With a widespread public knowledge that the conviction was unjust, Governor Brown commuted on April 6, 2012 Smith's sentence to time served.
5. Databases and information sources on wrongful convictions. The National Exoneration Registry by the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan Law School. WRONGFUL CONVICTION READING ROOM, a treasure chest of information and links to other sources. "Trials of Innocents" Essay by Dennis Dechaine of Maine, published in 2000. Dennis was wrongly convicted in 1989 of murdering 12 year- old Sarah Cherry in Bowdoinham, Maine. See his website "Inocence Cases at www.talkleft.com" This blog/webpage (misnamed as an "archive", because it's up to date) provides links to selective articles about wrongful convictions and gives readers the opportunity to make comments. "Talk Left" The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news. The magazine has a section, "Innocence Cases" with a chronological list of articles about wrongful conviction cases. "Famous Wrongful Murder Convictions" with links to several websites about well-known wrongful convictions and some exonerations.
6. Websites of Others claiming wrongful convictions in State Courts (See also the section in this website, "Other Convicted Innocents") Gordon McRae, Rev., New Hampshire. Father McRae was convicted in 1994 of molesting young boys, and was sentenced to between 34 and 67 years in prison. McRae is a friend in prison with Chad Evans. Darlie Routier, convicted of murdering her two young sons in Texas in 1996. West Memphis 3, West Memphis, Arkansas. (Released in September, 2011) Erick Westervelt, convicted in 2005 of murder in New York State. At the time of the killing of Timothy Gray, Erick was at home with his family, watching television. Guy Woolfolk, St. Louis, Missouri. If one still has the capacity for shock after seeing this website, the story of Guy Woolfolk will push the button. He is now serving his 6th year of a 25 year sentence.
7. Websites of those who have been exonerated (or equivalent) in State Courts. Bernard Baran, Massachusetts. This gay day care worker was convicted in 1985 during the day care molestation hysteria which swept the country. In June 2006, a retrial was ordered and Bernard was released on bond. All charges were dismissed in June 2009. Bruce Lisker, California. Convicted of killing his mother in 1983 (See "Links to Articles" for 27 May 2005). There is a detective named Monsue in the case who pursued his hunches and ignored truth. Bruce was released from prison in August 2009. Marty Tankleff, Released in 2009, after many years in prison for murdering parents on Long Island, New York.
8. Law Enforcement Misconduct and Wrongful Conviction cases. See the Boston case of Stephen Cowans, where police misidentified a fingerprint at his trial as belonging to him. See article in "Links to Articles" for 4/28/04, "I was the not the man who did this". The two policemen in the lab were suspended during an investigation of the mistake, but subsequently no misconduct was determined. 9. Time of Death and other forensic information Forensiconline by Dr. Bernard Cohen, New York RelentlessDefense about autopsies and post-death changes, from Kevin Mahoney in Cambridge, Mass. The Charles Smith Blog Harold Levy presents a treasure trove of information about justice and injustice, with particular emphasis on "flawed pathology and flawed pathologists." Other databases are linked, as well as specific cases. 10. Websites/Articles related to retrials Las Vegas, NV, Sun article on retrials in Nevada Outcome depends on reason for retrial, but most end with guilty verdicts. "After 3rd trial, Providence man found guilty of 1998 murder" "Retrial Law and Legal Definition" a short summary.
11. Law Enforcement Organizations Dedicated to Truth and Justice NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSN POLICY POSITION ON DNA TECHNOLOGY AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Standards - "Our duty to free the wrongly convicted" by Suffolk County (Boston) District Attorney, Daniel Conley.
12. States and the Wrongly Convicted, or Wrongly Imprisoned Wrongful Convictions of the Innocent: Kentucky's Recent Experience, Response, and Remaining Reforms
13. States and their mistakes and efforts to remedy Baxter Compensation Authority - in Maine, to compensate former students who were abused at the Baxter School for the Deaf.
14. Organizations dedicated to justice Equal Justice USA - a national, grassroots organization working to build a criminal justice system that is fair, effective, and humane, starting with repeal of the death penalty and increased services to families of homicide victims. www.falseconfessions.org FalseConfessions.org is a public advocacy organization committed to raising awareness of the incidence of false confessions in criminal prosecutions leading to wrongful convictions. We support legal efforts for those wrongfully convicted, as well as reforms in the criminal justice system to prevent the incidence of false confessions. New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, www.nodeathpenalty.nh.org. The New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is made up of a numerous organizations and individuals who are committed to ending the death penalty in the state of New Hampshire. 15. Cases involving disparate sentences Joseph Donovan in Massachusetts. Excessive sentence. See Boston Globe full page, two column editorial, "If sentences vary too widely, courts should make corrections" The editorial begins.... By most reasonable measures, Joseph Donovan has served enough time - 18 years - for his role in the 1992 stabbing murder of Yngve Raustein, an MIT student from Norway. Donovan has had time to evaluate, change, and come to terms with his actions. The question is whether the justice system is capable of similar reflection. It should move to reduce his sentence.
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