Exonerations in 2014

Please allow me to draw your attention to this article via the Huffington post, entitled, “Exonerations Of The Wrongfully Convicted Hit Record High In The US In 2014”.

This is great news and, as the writer points out,

“Of the total known exonerations in 2014, more than half were obtained at the initiative or with the cooperation of law enforcement - the highest number in a single year, the report found. Most of these were the work of "conviction integrity units" set up by prosecutors to review questionable cases.”

A large percentage of these exonerations were out of Houston, thanks to what appears to be the ongoing fuckwittery of the Houston Crime Lab. Numerous drug cases have been and continue to be overturned. I may post up a letter to Harris County’s Post Conviction Review unit in the coming weeks, although we have heard from them before. http://www.spmaftermath.com/2011/09/post-conviction-writ-review.html

Although these units rely primarily on DNA evidence to overturn cases, there are a few that were decided because of coerced confessions and recanting witnesses. My hope is that by more closely examining the case and the investigative methods, which Harris County refuses to reveal, something like this can shake loose in Coy’s case.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/27/exonerations-record-high-2014_n_6551918.html

Letter to Greg Abbott 1

New tack, ladies and gentlemen. Greg Abbot recently took the governor’s office, and it’s time we approached him about SPM’s case. As always, please feel free to copy this letter, write one of your own, or just send one of the downloadable flyers to your right.

Greg Abbot 

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Sir,

            Congratulations on your recent swearing-in to the office of governor; I hope you are able to accomplish your goals over the next four years. I’m writing to you today about the case of Carlos Coy, #908426. A local celebrity in Houston, he was convicted in 2002 of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and sentenced to 45 years.

            Many people, myself included, do not believe that his trial was just; he was convicted on very shaky evidence, contradicted by the complainant several times during the trial. It seems that this young girl’s family was allowed to change their testimony outside the presence of the jury, and the prosecutor, Denise Oncken, was later found to have committed a Brady Violation against a different defendant.

            I know that none of these things alone are enough to prompt a new trial for Mr. Coy; although I believe that there were several other problems with the case against them, I have no new evidence that would exonerate him. However, I urge you to take a look at his case. Please, put asde the severity of the charge against him for a moment and consider the methods used to convict him. If you do, I think you’ll agree that he did not receive justice.

            Ideally, we would like to see him receive a new trial, but that may not be within your powers as Governor. However, a pardon is. Please, investigate his case and consider it; Coy has a large fan base, in Texas and around the world. We would like very much to see justice done.

My name, my address, etc.

NonUpdate

Alot of y'all have requested updates, but I'm afraid I don't have any. Last I heard SPM had an appointment set for January, but I don't know how that's turned out.

I've also been told that he received a case related to the amount of phone calls received by the prison health service. I don't know what he's being charged with, and I honestly can't even begin to guess. It will be interesting to see if TDCJ is, in fact, willing to charge an inmate for attempting to access medical care.

I wish I had more for y'all, but at the moment that's it. Hang in there, hopefully there will be news soon.

Internet Crimes

Coy’s conviction could not have happened without the strange willingness to believe any accusation of molestation, no matter how little evidence there may be. I found an interesting, six-part series out of Florida about an internet sex-crimes task force that’s been baiting men on adult dating sites in order to get these same types of convictions.

It’s an interesting read, and I feel like it gives an insight into the mindset of those that believe the only way to protect children is to aggressively, sometimes randomly target any stranger they can get ahold of.

“10 Investigates showed how the Central Florida ICAC task force, under the watch of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, started reaching out to men who simply posted legal ads on legal dating sites. And a number of judges had criticized officers' overreach, their "failing to follow procedures" during sting operations, as well as methods to provoke "a law-abiding citizen to commit a crime."

"It's important to put actual sex offenders in jail," Pheneger said. "Law enforcement should be going after those people, not trying to entice people who have shown no disposition to any kind of criminal behavior toward children."

It's an interesting read, and brings into focus why the argument that if you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about simply doesn't cut it.

http://www.corrections.com/news/article/38434-addressing-the-impact-of-wrongful-convictions-on-crime-victims