John Maloney

In 1998, John Maloney’s wife under the influence of alcohol, attempted to commit suicide, didn’t succeed, but then died in an accidental fire.

Due to a group of corrupt right-wing investigators and attorneys ( including a defense attorney who threw both the trial and the appeal ) John Maloney was convicted of murder and is in prison, sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years.

More detail at this 2013 blog https://malcontends.blogspot.com/2013/12/wrongfully-convicted-innocent-green-bay.html

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Lindsay Partin

Lindsay Partin was with Hannah Wesche for a matter of seconds or minutes on March 8, 2018, before she collapsed.

The child’s father, Jason Wesche, who dropped her off that morning, could have caused her injury, or it could have been a fall.

In an appeal filed October 2019 Linday’s appellate attorney Neal Schuett said the state should have disclosed to the defense that Jason had a friend staying at his home on March 7, 2018, and that he “lied to investigators that he did not go to Walmart with Hannah to get milk on March 7, 2018, and that he lied to investigators for over a year.

News Report October 2019: https://www.journal-news.com/news/crime–law/linday-partin-appeals-conviction-death-toddler/Qe8Pw3y32hfKQApEDI133I/

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Pamela Lanier

Dorian Lanier died in hospital on 19 November 1997 of chronic and acute arsenic poisoning. His wife Pamela was subsequently convicted of his murder.

According to a 2004 ruling denying an appeal:

“Dorian and defendant had a contract to grow turkeys for Nash Johnson and Son Farms. Dorian used a turkey medication called Nitro-3 on his turkeys, which was administered through the turkeys’ water supply. Dorian had a proportional medication system between his house and his turkey houses, where Nitro-3 was mixed with water in a bucket called a proportioner;  the mixture then ran through a water hose to the turkey house. The hose had a bypass valve that allowed one to draw fresh water, without Nitro-3, out of the hose.  Nitro-3 contains arsenic and stains yellow any object with which it comes in contact.”

and

“Although Dorian knew the turkey medication contained arsenic, several defense witnesses, including defendant’s son, nephew, mother, father and a family friend, testified that they had seen Dorian drink from the hose attached to the turkey medication.   Defendant’s son, defendant’s father and an EMT testified that Dorian told them at the hospital on 19 November “he had done [this] to himself.””

The central question in the case is whether the turkey medication could have been responsible for his death. The case has been featured on “Undisclosed Podcast”. In Episode 4, the conclusion is that it’s very plausible that the turkey medication was the cause, and Dorian ingested the medication. Based on new expert opinions, a new appeal should be filed.

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George Fleshman

Jurors deliberated for three hours before finding George Fleshman, Jr., guilty of 2nd Degree Murder, stemming from the death of his wife in 2015, according to Jackson Co. Attorney Shawnee Miller.

Fleshman, who had been free on bond, was taken to the Jackson Co. Jail and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2018, Miller added.

Fleshman’s wife Elizabeth died on October 21, 2015, the day after her husband called 911 and said he found her unresponsive. Mrs. Fleshman was rushed to a Topeka hospital where she later died.

The Jackson Co. Sheriff’s Office said it opened an investigation because of the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. An autopsy found she died because of a trauma to her spleen.

Source: News Report

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Ronald DiMambro Jr.

Ronald DiMambro Jr. was convicted in 2014 for the murder of Damian Sutton, the two-year-old son of his ex-girlfriend, and sentenced to life in prison.

Damian and his mother were living in the home of Ronald’s parents. Damian was in the care of Ronald at the time of the alleged assault in August 2013 while his mother was at work.  The defense say Damian accidentally fell from a kitchen bar stool 1-3 days earlier, and that likely accounted for his death. Damian was taken to hospital, but was taken off life support and died six days later.

In October 2014 a judge ordered a new trial, ruling that 32 photographs withheld by the prosecution were crucial, stating that “The information provided by these photographs … would likely have materially changed how the jury viewed the relationship between the defendants’ conduct and Damian’s death. The nondisclosure may have been unintentional, but it was no harmless error.”

The photographs could have helped the defense, and its expert, Dr. Bader Cassin, because they more clearly show that bleeding on one side of Damian’s brain was caused by surgical incisions, not necessarily blunt-force trauma, the judge said. The information suggests Damian may have suffered only one blow instead of two, raising the possibility of a fall instead of an intentional act.

Source: Judge orders new trial for man in 2-year-old’s death 1 Nov 2015.

In December 2016, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the judge’s decision. The county prosecutor’s office planned to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. In October 2017, the Michigan Supreme Court endorsed the decision.

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Angelika Graswald

Angelika Graswald was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Vincent  Viafore, whose body was recovered from the Hudson River in April 2015. 

Prosecutors said Graswald removed a nickle-sized drain plug on the top of the kayak to allow it to fill with water, however experts say the amount of water entering a small hole on the top of the kayak could be minimal compared to the amount of water splashing into Viafore’s open cockpit.

In a nearly 12-hour taped interrogation by police 10 days after Viafore disappeared, Graswald repeatedly denied killing her fiance and said her desperate calls to 911 were real.

Graswald also said during that interrogation, which she punctuated with yoga and hopscotch, that she was “OK” with Viafore’s death and “wanted him dead.”

Graswald told ABC News’ Elizabeth Vargas in a November 2015 jailhouse interview that she was at her “breaking point” during the taped interrogation.

“Well they kept me asking me the same questions like a hundred times. I knew that I was innocent,” Graswald told Vargas. “I was at my breaking point. I just, I had it so I just gave ’em what they wanted.”

She also denied in the interview that she removed the plug from Viafore’s kayak with the intent to kill him, saying, “No, I did not.”

Graswald’s attorney, Richard Portale, said in a court hearing that Graswald may have miscarried a baby during an interrogation. He also claimed that his client asked investigators who “Miranda” was after she was read her Miranda rights, according to The Associated Press.

Sources:

• New Twist in Case of NY Woman Accused of Fiance’s Kayak Murder June 2016
• Trial for Angelika Graswald, Accused of Kayak Murder of Fiancé, Set for Valentine’s Day December 2016.

Trial is set for February 14, 2017.

See also “Death on the Hudson“, 48 hours, Sep 12, 2015.

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News

July 24, 2017 Plea deal agreed  According to her attorney, Richard Portale, Graswald “will be home in December.”

 

Jessie McKim

Jessie has been in prison since April 1997 for a murder that never happened.  Attorney Jennifer Bukowsky received a letter from Jessie McKim and was so shocked by this obvious injustice that she has been fighting to correct it – pro bono – ever since.

Experts on both sides agree the victim wasn’t suffocated, she overdosed on meth.

Jessie’s case was heard before the Missouri Court of Appeals- Western District. WD77803. Unfortunately, while the Court of Appeals ultimately agreed with Jessie’s attorney on two important legal issues (which can be used to assist other innocent inmates in bringing petitions for a writ of habeas corpus), the Court unfortunately denied Jessie’s petition.

Their grounds for denial were completely different from the Cole County Circuit Court’s grounds for denial because the Cole County Circuit Court found that the victim overdosed on meth but denied Jessie’s release on the theory that perhaps Jessie caused the overdose.

The Western District Court of Appeals found that would be an improper ground to deny the petition as that issue was never before the jury.

Instead, the Western District Court of Appeals found that despite the uncontroverted medical opinions from six pathologists (including one hired by the Attorney General) that unequivocally agree that Dr. Dix’s opinion was incorrect and inconsistent with the practice of forensic pathology, the Court found that because Dr. Dix did not recant his testimony, there was enough evidence to support a conviction. Unfortunately Dr. Dix is deceased so it is impossible to seek a recantation from him.

Source: http://www.lawbuk.com/free-jessie-mckim/

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Todd Kendhammer

Todd Kendhammer was accused of murdering  his wife Barbara, who died on 17 September 2016. The previous day deputies responded to a crash on County Road M near Bergum Coulee Road around 8:10 a.m. where they found Kendhammer and his wife Barbara. Todd Kendhammer told investigators they were headed north when a pipe fell from a southbound truck and went through the windshield striking Barbara.

Todd was arrested nearly three months later on 6 December, on what appears to be very weak circumstantial evidence. Authorities suggested that Barbara’s injuries were inconsistent with the pipe coming through the windscreen, citing healing abrasions and contusions on bilateral hands and irregular torn fingernail margins on two fingers, that the windscreen had been struck more than once, and some confusion over Todd’s statements that he was on his way to pick up a truck that he was going to repair.

For this apparent accident to be murder, Todd would have to have first rendered his wife unconscious, then carried out an elaborate staging to make it appear to be an accident, but without causing immediate death – which makes very little sense.

According to a report, the family does not believe he is responsible for his wife’s death.

News Report

News

December 17, 2016 Released from jail after posting $250,000 bond

Re the windscreen damage, it’s interesting to compare a report dated 17 December by Anne Jungen which stated :

“A crime lab analyst also found at least four impact points to two areas of the windshield: two inflicted from the inside and one from the outside that damaged the glass before the pipe penetrated the windshield, according to the complaint.”

with complaint ( see this report by Molly Prescott, wxow.com ) where there is no mention of “two inflicted from the inside and one from the outside”, although it does state that the windscreen bulged outward.

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Rhonda Orr

Rhonda Orr was convicted of first-degree arson resulting in the death of her husband, James Orr.

The fire marshal that investigated the case has been fired for wrongdoing.

The police sergeant that charged Rhonda has been fired for wrongdoing.

Featured case #155 | Proposal Post

 

Rodricus Crawford

Rodricus Crawford was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death.

On February 16, 2012, something truly terrible happened that could only be described as any parent’s worst nightmare. Rodricus Crawford, a young father in Caddo Parish, Louisiana woke up and noticed that his son, Roderius, who had just turned one a week earlier, was lifeless.

Rodricus, who was sleeping on the pullout couch, immediately yelled out for help. An uncle called 911. Various family members took turns performing CPR and it seemed like nothing they were doing was making one bit of difference.

When the EMTs showed up, they refused to allow Rodricus to get in the ambulance with the baby and were slow to leave. It had already taken far too long for them to get there. They were so disrespectful to the family that it caused a stir there in the community. Within minutes, police arrived. Thinking they might take Rodricus to the hospital, they instead arrested him and took him to the jail. His only son had died and instead of comforting him as the grieving father that he was, he was interrogated and harassed.

Not a single soul in his family believed Rodricus Crawford killed his son. When police called in the boy’s mother, who lived a few doors down, for questioning, she didn’t believe it either. Rodricus loved the boy with his whole heart — everybody in the community knew that. No motive existed.

Over the next year, what unfolded in Louisiana, under the leadership of its then-Acting District Attorney Dale Cox, was like a bad movie. With no motive and no witnesses, Rodricus Crawford was charged and convicted of murdering his son. Black jurors were routinely struck from the jury pool. Even though an expert testified that the young boy likely died of complications to undiagnosed sepsis and pneumonia, which the family thought was just a small cold, Cox was convinced, in part due to a pathologist’s report, that Rodricus had deliberately smothered him to death.

A cut on the boy’s lip, which multiple family members testified was caused by a recent fall in the bathroom, was used as the justification of the smothering claim. Anybody who has ever had children knows far too well how often kids fall and hurt themselves, but it was completely ignored.

Crawford’s first appeal was denied by the Supreme Court of Louisiana on November 14, 2014. In November 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Four medical experts submitted reports indicating that his son had died of pneumonia. The baby’s blood had tested positive for sepsis, which can be fatal for young children. One judge wrote: “No rational trier of fact could have concluded that the State presented sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the specific intent to kill his one-year-old son,”

Sources: New York Daily News, November 18, 2016, The New Yorker, November 23, 2016

Featured case #153 | Proposal Post

April 19, 2017 : charged dropped.

 

Justin Ross Harris

Justin Ross Harris was convicted of murder, after forgetting to drop his son at daycare.

Prosecutors argued that Harris, who was exchanging sexual text messages with women the day Cooper died, intended to kill his son because he wanted to be free of his family responsibilities, however there was no objective evidence to establish that this was true.

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Stephen Newman

On July 23, 2011, fire officers arrived at a garage in Selly Oak, Birmingham, and found two men crouching outside with severe burns, and a burning propane cylinder inside.

Mr Wilding, 41, had suffered fatal burns to half his body. Mr Cotterill, then 34, endured terrible injuries, spent 48 days in intensive care and lost all his fingers.

Stephen Newman, who admitted being present, was convicted in 2012 of deliberately directing  the flame from the cylinder at the two men, and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Mr Wilding and Mr Cotterill had found the disused garage off an alleyway and turned it into a squat. Stephen and others visited the building the day before and the three had been drinking heavily.

Stephen says he did not light the cannister, and it was was activated by Mr Wilding in an attempt to dry damp trousers belonging to another individual. He heard the cannister hiss, and residents near the garage heard the same noise, believed an explosion was imminent and urged those inside to flee. CCTV footage shows him exiting the scene alone.

A local newspaper after  viewing witness statements and conducting interviews has concluded that there are, at the very least, significant questions that remain unanswered.

In January 2013,  Mr Cotterill stated: “I did not see Stephen light that gas cannister. I didn’t see what happened.”

There was no motive or reason for Stephen to attack the men, and his brother has said: “Stephen was placid, really. He would not harm a fly. Even if he tried, he couldn’t. He would not be capable of using a gas bottle to attack these people because that was not his character.”

After losing an appeal against his conviction, Stephen has been on hunger-strike, and has not eaten for three weeks.

Source: Birmingham Mail, April 21, 2016

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Amanda Brumfield

This nightmare began on the evening of October 3, 2008 when Amanda’s goddaughter, whom she was caring for, climbed out of her Pack ‘n Play and fell to the floor in Amanda’s home. She seemed fine after a brief period of fussing then played and had a snack before going to bed for the night. She actually was injured far more than anyone could have suspected and died a few hours later in her sleep. Her death was devastating, but this accidental tragedy turned into the unthinkable when Amanda was arrested the following June and subsequently charged with Capital Murder, Aggravated Child Abuse, and Manslaughter of a Child.

Amanda’s biological father is Billy Bob Thornton. We believe his Hollywood celebrity status had adverse influence on the police and Medical Examiner investigations, which ultimately influenced the filing of charges in the first place and led to inaccurate sensationalized press reporting.

Amanda’s trial began May 23, 2011, the day before and in the same courthouse as Casey Anthony’s trial. We believe the heinous facts associates with the Anthony case and its vast media coverage created a powerful public awareness that impacted the ability for Amanda to have a fair trial. The notoriety of the Anthony case led to a community mindset with far reaching adverse influence that greatly overshadowed Amanda’s innocence.

We believe these wrongful charges were based on medical opinions that have no evidentiary basis and defy common sense. Furthermore,recent acknowledgements within the legal and medical communities support the fact that the theory  behind Shaken Baby Syndrome is junk science.

Amanda was acquitted of Murder and Aggravated Child Abuse, but found guilty of Aggravated Manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. No motive, no eyewitness testimony, no prior record, no physical evidence that Amanda ever harmed her goddaughter in any way, yet Amanda is in in prison.

Amanda is now represented by The Innocence Projects of Florida and Wisconsin. A motion for Post Conviction Relief was filed in January, 2015.

We believe Amanda was falsely accused, egregiously charged, and wrongfully convicted. Amanda is innocent and did not receive a fair trial.

Copied from website https://freeamandabrumfield.wordpress.com/

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Clayton Mibroda

On January 11,2012 after just four days the jury in Westmoreland County PA, found Clayton guilty of 3rd degree murder in the death of his 20 day old daughter, Natalee.

There was no evidence to convict Clayton. No one at any time had ever witnessed or suspected him of harming either of his children. He and Natalee’s mother had two children together. There were co workers, neighbors, friends and family members willing to testify on Clayton’s behalf as per his relationship with his children and his interaction with them.

The location of the crime scene was the residence in which Clayton, the mother of his children and both children resided, Bolivar, PA. It was a small community in western PA.

Natalee was born on December 7, 2011, six weeks premature and positive for opiates at birth. She was released to her parents at two days of age and no further tests were done. It is our opinion she was experiencing withdrawl symptoms. By mother’s admission she was experiencing post partum depression, she was diagonosed with depression on Dec. 23rd and had a follow up appointment the afternoon of Dec. 27, 2011 at 1pm.

On the morning of Dec. 27,2011 while Clayton was ill and sleeping mother called the doctor’s office and asked for an emergency appointment; at this time she stated { my meds are not working, I need to see the doctor right away}. She was told to come in asap. The location of the clinic where she was seen was three minutes from their home, 0.4 mile. While at the doctors she was adviced to call the mental health crisis hotline, records indicate she did that. At 11:52 am Claytons mother received an emotional phone call. Ms L asked her if she would take both children before she hurt them. When asked if she had hurt them she replied; “not that bad”. Arrangements were made for Clayton’s mother to take both children but before that ever took place she received the phone call from Clayton telling her they were at Indiana Regional Medical Center and that Natalee had died.

If you would like to become better aquainted with Clayton’s story and the events following his arrest and conviction you may visit his website which is under construction. We expect it to be up and running the end of Feb. 2016.

Currently Clayton’s case is being reviewed by the Medill Justice program out of Northwestern University and the PA Innocence Project. Attorney Kate Judson has reveiwed some of the medical documents in Natalee’s case and made the referral to the PA Innocence Project.

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Joseph Thomas

Joseph Thomas Jr. was convicted in December 2011 for strangling his ex-wife Beth Irby-Thomas. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

In January 2015, the Idaho Supreme Court overturned the first-degree murder conviction, after the Idaho Court of Appeals said the lower court erred in excluding some evidence but ruled the error “harmless”.

The key issue at trial is whether Beth accidentally strangled herself. The Supreme court ruled that the lower court erred by excluding evidence that could have corroborated his claim that Beth liked to engage in erotic asphyxiation. The justices cited excluded evidence from friends who said Beth liked to be choked into unconsciousness.

Supporters allege State misconduct and coercive tactics.

In December 2015, the retrial was set for August 8, 2016.

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Justin Boyce

Justin Boyce was convicted of the November 2012 murder of his girlfriend’s three year old daughter.

On November 28th 2012 emergency crews were called about three year old Breanna Perry who was believed to be having a seizure. Breanna was rushed to the hospital but died the next day. Prosecutors claimed Boyce beat Breanna to death with a blunt object.

District attorney Joe Brown said in his opening statement that Breanna’s mother and sister noticed bruises on Breanna. Justin denied the accusations saying that girl had fallen off her mattress and hit her head on a toy causing the bruise.

Two of the first responders on the scene testified Tuesday that they thought it was strange that Justin showed no emotion during the incident, however defense attorneys attributed Justin’s lack of emotion to Aspergers syndrome.

Defense Attorneys said  the Breanna was injured when her older sister accidentally jumped on her head and cracked her skull.

Source:  press report on the first day of the case.

According to Justin’s mother:

There was no physical evidence, no witnesses, and nothing to tie him to the death other than circumstantial evidence of being at the wrong place at the wrong time as well as evidently having the misfortune of being “the boyfriend.” The Assistant DA justified charging Justin because he stated to Justin’s attorney, “It’s always the boyfriend.” It even took the DA’s office TWO grand juries to finally get their indictment they so vigorously sought against him.

The other reason Justin was the focus of the police investigation in this small town is because he has Asperger’s Syndrome (also referred to as high-functioning Autism). The uneducated members of law enforcement in this area thought that automatically meant he was violent, “weird,” and “too calm,” even describing Justin to witnesses “as cool as a Hindu cat.” In spite of being a gentle person, never being in a fight or throwing a punch in his life, and never being arrested before, the police discarded and ignored any evidence to the contrary, focusing on Justin as the main suspect from the very beginning. Justin had nothing to hide and fully co-operated with the police from day one, offering them full access to his cell phone during initial questioning without an attorney present and even offering to let them in his girlfriend’s house to search without a warrant. He voluntarily took and passed a polygraph. In spite of this, he was charged, indicted, arrested and convicted at a very lop-sided and unfair trial where the prosecution presented their case for nine days and the defense for one and a half days.

There is evidence of prosecutorial misconduct that includes witness tampering and coercion, as well as the appearance of impropriety with a juror who never disclosed being friends of the victim’s family. We have just begun the lengthy appeal process and won’t stop until Justin is exonerated and once more home with his loving family who believe in his innocence 100%.

From a news report on the sentencing hearing:

But not everyone believes Boyce is guilty, including Brianna’s mother. Sara Perry spoke with us, off camera.  She and Boyce are still together and have a child. One of Boyce’s former co-workers said she’s never seen Boyce act violent and doesn’t believe he killed Brianna.

“Justin was a good kind person when I worked with him, now a family that has already lost a child, has lost a dad too,” Airel Wastier, who worked with Boyce, said.

“We’re very disappointed in the verdict, we respect it but you know we’re disappointed. We didn’t think that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt that Justin did anything to Brianna,” Bob Jarvis, Boyce’s attorney, said.

Featured case #123 | Proposal Post

Richard Allen Masterson

Richard Masterton was wrongly convicted of the 2001 murder of Darin Honeycutt.

Richard met Honeycutt at a Houston, Texas, bar. The two men went back to Honeycutt’s apartment. Richard is accused of strangling Honeycutt in order to rob him. Richard testified they were having sex, and he did not intend Honeycutt’s death.

The medical examiner was a fraud, and the cause of death was a heart attack and not strangulation. Richard also gave a coerced false confession, and also became severely depressed and suicidal while in jail, which contributed to his wrongful conviction.

Because Richard’s lawyers failed him, the court system will not provide relief to him. His last chance to avoid execution on January 20, 2016 is executive clemency.

Clemency Petition January 5, 2016

Featured case #118 | Proposal Post | Website | Facebook Page | Petition at Change.org

Richard’s appeals were all denied, he was executed on January 20, 2016.

 

 

Jimmie Duncan

Jimmie Duncan was convicted for the 1993 murder of Haley Oliveaux of West Monroe, Louisiana based primarily on the testimony of Hayne and Michael West, a bite mark examiner and at the time coroner of Forrest County, Mississippi. Duncan had admitted to leaving Oliveaux in a bathtub unattended, and was initially charged with negligent homicide. Hayne examined Oliveaux and claimed to have found bite marks on her face that had not been seen by any of the other medical professionals who had previously examined her body, such as EMTs and hospital personnel. After this, a mold was taken of Duncan’s teeth for use in bite mark analysis by Michael West. In performing this analysis, West repeatedly pressed the mold into the cheek of Oliveaux’ corpse, creating bite marks which had not previously existed. This was recorded on videotape which surfaced in 2008. Michael Bowers, deputy medical examiner for Ventura County, California commented with regard to the bite marks that “Dr. West created them. It was intentional. He’s creating artificial abrasions in that video, and he’s tampering with the evidence. It’s criminal, regardless of what excuse he may come up with about his methods.”

Source : Wikipedia

The other major piece of evidence against Duncan was testimony from a jailhouse informant who claimed that Duncan confessed to his crime while behind bars. Michael Cruse testified that he shared a jail cell with Duncan for one day in late December 1993. (Cruse also claimed another inmate in the same cell confessed a felony to him, according to the letter he wrote to prosecutors.) Duncan’s current attorneys have since obtained an affidavit from Michael Lucas, another inmate in the cell that day, who says that not only did Duncan not confess, he repeatedly asserted his innocence, despite Cruse’s constant attempts to elicit a confession.

Since then, two other inmates have reported being asked by Ouachita Parish law enforcement officials to lie about hearing Duncan confess. One of them, Charles Parker, who had worked as an informant for the FBI, wrote a letter of complaint to the district attorney’s office about the incident. In a later interview with Duncan’s post-conviction attorneys, he described how an investigator named Jay Via approached him and fed him information about Duncan’s case. “He gave me details of the crime, saying that the child was less than two years [old] and that she had been anally raped,” Parker said “He told me that when I came forward I was to say that Jimmie had confessed to biting the child while he was raping her.”

Source

When I first wrote about Duncan’s case, I thought Steven Hayne and Michael West were the most disturbing aspects of his conviction. And to be sure, between them the two have tainted thousands of cases and sent who knows how many innocent people to prison. But you could say the same thing about Jay Via. Duncan’s case is merely where the two intersect.

Jimmie Duncan is still on death row in Louisiana.

The prosecutor in Duncan’s case was never disciplined for failing to turn over the exculpatory evidence in that case, either.

Source

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Suzanne Johnson

Suzanne was convicted of assault on a child causing death ( shaken baby ), it made no sense but experts thought at the time the only explanation of three symptoms was shaking.

The judge said she was obviously an exemplary, caring, and loving lady, but the medical science established her guilt.

However it is now known that a short fall, like a fall from a high chair, can result in trauma sufficient to cause an infant’s death. Additionally, death from a short fall injury is more probable when an infant has a previous skull injury. In fact, when Jasmine fell from her high chair, she had an existing skull fracture that had occurred months earlier. The preexisting skull fracture was confirmed by Jasmine’s failure to thrive, physical discomfort, feeding problems, constant crying, and by autopsy findings.

Full description is at http://californiainnocenceproject.org/read…/suzanne-johnson/

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Donald Tolliver

Updated case description ( July 2016 ) :

Don Tolliver accused of shooting a girlfriend in 2011 while his children slept upstairs. Family and friends hope to present evidence not shown in court,and clarify why he testified “I was afraid of her” at the 2014 trial. Don, a single father, no domestic violence in his background, worked sixty to seventy hours a week to ensure his four children had a good home. The hardworking dad had a steady job of twelve years, twice divorced granted custody of his children after each one. He lived with this woman three months, charged with attempted murder and shooting with intent to kill.

On December 27th, 2011 Don, shaken at the police station denied shooting her after his arrest. Hospitalized, the “victim” released with non life-threatening injuries walking out with a band-aid , confirmed what he said was true. Promising to tell the District Attorney after she admitted it happened, fearing Don was leaving her. Confiding to our mother, she had no place to go or car to drive, Don’s vehicle, trailer and everything he owned, loaned to her. Mad because we started asking for the car back months later, screaming you shot me after waiting 45 minutes to see Don at the Delaware County jail. The car sold with a forged signature, trailer walls, kicked in, nothing inside. Don spent everyday with his children, bail money not raised. A mental health specialist found Don incompetent. A judge examined the evidence and suggested sending him home after treating him for depression.

The public defender revealed at the trial the “victims” ever changing affidavits, prosecutor found putting false information in the case file, confident Don was going home encouraging him to agree, act remorseful minutes before the trial started. During the trial jurors heard rehearsed state’s witnesses, family of the victim,  (examples) Don stole her money planning to flee the country. A loaded gun kept in a kitchen drawer with his two young boys in the house. The District Attorney the only reason why the case went as far as it did, concluded he shot her, ran downstairs, laid the gloves he was wearing side by side neatly on the bed and left. Don argued and said it did not happen that way, the public defender raised few objections, sat there doodling 90% of the time. Calling no one in Don’s defense, closing statement, ” Do the right thing.” Don found guilty, sentence 35 years. Don deserves a fair trial. Our requests for the OSBI to investigate misconduct in the Delaware County Sheriffs office, that did everything in their power to violate Don’s civil rights turned down by the District Attorney.

Original case description:

Don was a single parent of 5 children. He had been married twice before the 1st for 5 years 2nd 8 years. One of these was not his biological but he took her, her mother was doing drugs. Don left his first wife for this. He worked sometimes 6 or 7 days a week. He was a maintenance supervisor. He worked there 12 years.

He started seeing this girl. His home was not big enough so he rented a home for all his children and her and her daughter who was pregnant. Within a few weeks two of his children moved in with our parents because she was pushed off her dad’s lap. The other one had heard this woman making a drug deal in the bathroom of this house. Don started distancing his self from our family. When he would come around my mother would start asking questions about his girlfriend. He told my mom he was going to marry her. We could not believe it. She was twice his size and didn’t like his children.

On December 28th, 2011, Don watched this woman make a drug deal in their front yard. I believe somewhere in the newspapers he said “rat pusher” in court this is the reasoning for that. My brother hates drugs. It ruined his first marriage. After he saw her do this he went downstairs to their bedroom and was getting some clothes out. He was gonna get his children up and bring them to my mom. This happened at 6:30 in the morning. There was a fight. My brother does not fight. He is one of those people that just don’t say anything he will just leave. This women got his gun out of a locked box downstairs and told him “if you leave I will kill myself” there was no clip in the gun but there was a single bullet in it. He didn’t know that. He kept his guns downstairs because he didn’t trust his boys around them.He tried to grab it out her hand. Why? He said she hit him on the top of the head with it. The bullet went through the skin on the back of her neck.

It scared him when she was shot. He left and drove his car a couple of miles and parked trying to think about what he should do. He said he was not thinking clearly. Don had been in bad car wreck a couple of years before this and was life lighted in critical condition because of head trauma we almost lost him. He had a goose egg on the top of his head where she hit him. At this point he couldn’t see really straight so he got a ride into town and tried to get into the courthouse but it was closed for the holidays. He was walking down to my parents home where he was arrested.

The day of the trial she turned it all around. He tied her up. He got the gun out of a kitchen drawer and shot her. He stole all her money. His public defender told Don you will probably be going home the first day of the trial. She changed her affidavits so many times. Everything that came out of the DA’s mouth was a lie. The assistant DA wanted the DA job the position was up for election. Don was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

My brother worked long hours. He made over 20 dollars and hour. I have the rent receipt where he paid the rent and the engagement rings he bought her still. She said he was so jealous he synced their phones. She did this because her daughter was going to have a baby and Don owned the only car that was running, her car was broken down in the yard. We have since learned this girl has had her arm broken and police called to her home before because she was fighting with who ever she was living with at the time, she is a serial abuser. Don did not have one person there for his defence. Not one. The whole trial was awful. We thought he would come home. We also think she got caught with drugs on her and testified against Don because she was gonna get in trouble for the drugs. Our family is sick over this. I have a list of everything that DA lied about. There is not just a few. There are many. Don is in granite prison his job is a teachers assistant. He helps inmates get their GED’s.

Case description supplied by Malissa Orns, Don’s sister.

News report

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