[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., DEL., VA., FLA., ALA., MISS.

[Rick Halperin]

May 6



TEXAS:

Execution date set for Bridget Townsend killer


An execution date has been set for a man convicted for a Medina County shooting 
death of an 18-year-old woman.

33-year-old Ramiro Gonzales was given the death penalty in 2006 for the murder 
of Bridget Townsend.

She was reported missing from her Bandera County home in January of 2001 and 
her body was found 2 years later.

Gonzales' lethal injection has been set for August 19th, 2016.

(source: news4sanantonio.com)

*******************

Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----19

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----537

? Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #

20---------June 2-------------------Charles Flores--------538

21---------June 21------------------Robert Roberson-------539

22---------July 14------------------Perry Williams--------540

23---------August 19----------------Ramiro Gonzales-------541

24---------August 23----------------Robert Pruett---------542

25---------August 31----------------Rolando Ruiz----------543

26---------September 14-------------Robert Jennings-------544

27---------October 19---------------Terry Edwards---------545

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)

******************* ----new death sentence

Webb County Sees Rare Death Sentence


A Webb County jury on Thursday sentenced someone to death row for the 1st time 
in almost 25 years. It was the 2nd death sentence of the year in Texas.

Demond Bluntson, 40, received the death penalty in the 2012 shooting death of 
his 21-month-old son and his girlfriend's 6-year-old boy. The jury deliberated 
for about 12 hours over 2 days before handing down the sentence.

"We feel very relieved and very grateful to the work done by the jury to bring 
justice to the families of these children," said Webb County District Attorney 
Isidro Alaniz. "This is a historic case for our community."

On June 19, 2012, police arrived at a Holiday Inn in Laredo for a welfare check 
on the boys and their mother, 28-year-old Brandy Cerny, according to the 
criminal complaint. El Campo police had called the department in an effort to 
locate Cerny, who was reported missing and had registered as a guest at a 
hotel.

Bluntson didn't open the door for a hotel employee and police officers, only 
telling them "there's kids in here," according to the complaint. As employees 
and police began to force their way into the room, Bluntson fired a single shot 
through the door.

3 or 4 more shots rang out from inside the room before police were able to 
enter, the complaint said. Inside, they found the 2 children with gunshot 
wounds to their heads and Bluntson, who was detained.

Demond Bluntson, charged with capital murder in the shooting death of 2 young 
boys in a Laredo, Texas.

Bluntson's son, 21-month-old Devian, was pronounced dead at the scene. Devian's 
half-brother, Jayden Thompson, 6, was rushed to the hospital and died the next 
day.

Before bringing the boys to Laredo, Bluntson allegedly shot and killed Cerny in 
El Campo, about 250 miles away, according to a Wharton County indictment.

Bluntson's trial began on April 18, and he was convicted of capital murder 
within 4 days, according to court records. During his trial, Bluntson was 
removed from the courtroom several times for interrupting court proceedings, 
the records said. He watched much of the trial on a television screen from a 
holding cell.

During Alaniz's opening statements of the punishment trial, Bluntson called him 
a liar, according to the Laredo Morning Times.

"Death row is nothing to me, man," Bluntson said. "I don't care about living. 
But I promise, you all won't get away with what you have done."

Alaniz said Laredo's predominantly Hispanic and Catholic population is a factor 
when pursuing the death penalty.

"When you're dealing in a community that's predominantly Catholic, you never 
know how that is going to affect the decision of the jury," he said. "It was a 
serious case, but they had all the evidence to make the decision, and we 
believe they made the right decision."

Only 2 other people have been sent to death row from Webb County since the 
death penalty was reinstated in 1976, according to the Texas Department of 
Criminal Justice. Neither of the inmates were executed.

(source: Texas Tribune)






CONNECTICUT:

Lawmakers approve reform of wrongful imprisonment settlements


The state of Connecticut paid out $28 million in wrongful imprisonment awards 
in 2015 and 2016, significantly more than in previous years. Lawmakers passed a 
bill this week creating legislative oversight for those awards and a formula to 
determine the amount of compensation for a wrongfully convicted individual.

A significant portion of the settlements included a controversial award of 
$16.8 million made to four men released from prison due to a prosecutorial 
error. The settlement sparked outrage because the men were largely believed to 
be guilty and were not exonerated due to DNA evidence. The settlement resulted 
in the resignation of claims commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr.

Under the proposed legislation the claims commission would be able to award up 
to twice the median state income per year of incarceration, adjusted for 
inflation. It also gives the claims commissioner discretion to award an 
additional 25 %, but any payout over $20,000 would be subject to legislative 
review.

Based on the new formula, Carlos Ashe, Darcus Henry, Sean Adams and Johnny 
Johnson would have received $1.3 million each, rather than the $4.2 million 
they were awarded.

However, the bill also expands the eligibility requirements for a wrongful 
imprisonment settlement, which would have laid to rest the controversy 
surrounding the 4 men.

Under previous guidelines a settlement was awarded on the basis of "evidence 
consistent with innocence." Politicians, including Senate Minority Leader, Len 
Fasano, felt the 4 men did not meet this standard. However, the new guidelines 
would allow settlements for persons - such as Ashe, Henry, Adams and Johnson - 
who are convicted based on government negligence or misconduct.

Half the states in the country and the federal government have guidelines for 
making wrongful imprisonment settlement. Even with the reforms, Connecticut's 
award formula will be generous. For instance, the federal government only 
allows for $50,000 per year unless it was a death penalty case in which the 
award would be $100,000 per year.

Under the legislation, Connecticut's award will still be higher than both its 
neighbors and the federal government. The bill has not yet been signed by 
Governor Malloy.

There are still 2 settlements outstanding for this year, including an award of 
$6 million to Miguel Roman, who was exonerated based on DNA evidence.

(source: Yankee Institute for Public Policy)






DELAWARE:

Del. Supreme Court considers ex-death row inmates housing----Court hears 
arguments over whether a judge erred by ordering Isaiah McCoy moved out of 
solitary confinement.


A deputy attorney general argued Wednesday to the Delaware Supreme Court that a 
lower court erred when it ordered prison officials to move former death row 
inmate Isaiah McCoy out of solitary confinement while he awaits a retrial.

The justices have not yet ruled but seemed to agree that the Department of 
Correction - and not the court - should have the authority to make prison 
housing decisions, as long as the inmate's access to his attorney is not 
restricted.

McCoy was found guilty of the killing of 30-year-old Jeffrey Mumford during a 
drug deal gone awry in the rear parking lot of the Rodney Village Bowling Alley 
in Dover in May 2010. The Delaware Supreme Court overturned his conviction and 
death sentence last year.

His retrial is scheduled for January.

In anticipation, McCoy's attorney Herbert Mondros filed a motion commanding the 
Department of Correction to transfer McCoy out of the Secure Housing Unit where 
he has been for five years and into the general prison population.

Mondros argued that McCoy's placement in the SHU was hindering McCoy's ability 
to prepare for trial by limiting his access to face-to-face meetings with his 
attorney and to the law library. This, he said, was a violation of McCoy's 
sixth amendment right to assistance of counsel.

Superior Court Judge Robert Young granted the motion last year, and then 
refused to reconsider his ruling. The state has appealed to the Delaware 
Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Jason Staib told the 5 justices that the 
Department of Correction has the difficult job of housing thousands of inmates.

"That job is made even more difficult when potentially dangerous and dangerous 
individuals ... are removed from secure housing and placed in general 
population," he said. "The department is very concerned with the transfer order 
and asks that it be reversed."

While answering questions from the justices, Staib said that since July 2010 
McCoy has been found guilty of 26 prison rule violations, including repeated 
sexual misconduct aimed at female correctional officers and nursing staff. 6 
have occurred since he was moved to general population at the Howard R. Young 
Correctional Institution near Wilmington, as per the court's order, he said.

He called McCoy's disciplinary record "abysmal" and asked the Supreme Court to 
give the Department of Correction the flexibility to place McCoy as they would 
any other inmate at the same risk level.

In court briefs, Mondros argued that 5 years of solitary confinement has been 
detrimental to McCoy. He said it caused McCoy's mental state to deteriorate 
during his 1st trial and made it difficult for him to meet with his attorney 
for his retrial.

He added that since moving him out of solitary he has been a "different man" 
and is far more willing to cooperate with his defense.

Staib responded, saying the department is sensitive to access issues and has 
worked with attorneys to give them time with their clients. He argued that 
inmates have access to the law library via correspondence with a paralegal who 
then has materials delivered to the cells.

Staib also noted in court documents that McCoy's reasons for wanting to be 
moved out of the SHU have little to do with the sixth amendment, and more to do 
with wanting contact visits and the ability to play basketball.

The Supreme Court will issue a written ruling in the future.

(source: delawareonline.com)






VIRGINIA:

4th Circuit rejects Virginia death row inmate's appeal


A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal of a Virginia death row inmate 
who killed 2 people during an escape.

William Morva's attorney argued before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in 
March that he was improperly denied a chance to show that he wouldn't do it 
again if spared the death penalty.

But a 3-judge panel of the court rejected his claims Thursday and affirmed the 
lower court's ruling.

Morva was in jail awaiting trial on attempted robbery charges in 2006 when he 
was taken to a Blacksburg hospital. He overpowered a deputy sheriff and used 
the deputy's pistol to fatally shoot an unarmed security guard. He fatally shot 
another deputy during a manhunt the next day.

Morva's attorney didn't immediately respond to a message Thursday.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA:

Florida Supreme Court weighs death penalty law


Florida's new death penalty law went on trial Thursday in the Supreme Court as 
a death row inmate asked for a life sentence, the state called for his 
execution, and a justice who's often part of a five-member court majority 
questioned the law's constitutionality.

Hanging in the balance are the lives of all 390 death row inmates - and demands 
for justice by victims' families - as the court decides whether a decision by 
the U.S. Supreme Court must be applied retroactively, which would commute death 
sentences to life.

The nation's highest court ruled Jan. 12 in the case of inmate Timothy Lee 
Hurst that Florida's death sentencing system was unconstitutional because it 
gave too little power to juries in capital cases.

In that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court also told the state's highest court it 
must review the sentence of Hurst, 37, sentenced to die for the 1998 murder of 
Cynthia Harrison, the manager of a Popeye's fast-food restaurant in Pensacola 
where they both worked. Testimony showed that Hurst emptied the store safe and 
used the money to buy shoes and rings.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not invalidate the death penalty itself, but Hurst's 
attorney, David Davis, argued that because Hurst was sentenced under a 
defective law, he should now be sentenced to life.

"You can't separate the punishment from the procedure," Davis said. "You can't 
have one without the other."

In response to the Hurst decision, Gov. Rick Scott signed a legislative 
overhaul of the death penalty sentencing law (HB 7101) in March.

Assistant Attorney General Carine Mitz countered that Hurst should still be 
executed because the Legislature addressed the defects in the old law.

"If the (Hurst) case were to be remanded (back to a trial court), it would have 
to be under the new statute," Mitz said. "I still don't think we have a 
problem."

But Justice Barbara Pariente, who frequently is part of a 5-member majority on 
the court, said she sees a big problem.

Pariente expressed concern that the new law could violate the Eighth Amendment 
prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment because it requires the 
existence of only one of 16 aggravating factors under Florida law that make a 
defendant eligible for a death sentence.

Florida's old law was a legal balancing act in which "sufficient aggravating 
factors," such as the severity of the crime or whether another crime was also 
being committed, are weighed against mitigating factors, such as the 
defendant's background or level of intelligence.

"If only one aggravator is needed in this state to put someone to death, we 
have a serious Eighth Amendment problem," Pariente said. "If we want a death 
penalty in Florida, we need it to be constitutional."

The state disagreed.

"I don't think that the new statute is as detrimental as some might present," 
Mitz said. "I probably should have said it's actually better."

Justice Charles Canady, a death penalty supporter who is frequently opposite 
Pariente and in the minority, noted that jurors in Hurst's case found 2 
aggravating factors in recommending his execution by a 7-5 vote.

"We know the death sentence was based on 2 aggravators," Canady said.

Long before the U.S. Supreme Court intervened, Pariente had questions about 
Hurst's case. The court upheld his death sentence in 2014 in a 4-3 decision in 
which Pariente' partial dissent was joined by justices Jorge Labarga, now the 
chief justice, and James Perry.

"I dissent from the majority's affirmance of Hurst's death sentence because 
there is no unanimous finding by the jury that any of the applicable 
aggravators apply," Pariente wrote in 2014. "The absence of juror unanimity in 
the fact-finding necessary to impose the death penalty remains, in my view, an 
independent violation of Florida's constitutional right to trial by jury."

Because of the Hurst case, capital punishment in Florida is facing its greatest 
uncertainty since it was reinstituted in the 1970s.

The last inmate executed was Oscar Ray Bolin, who was put to death Jan. 7, 5 
days before the Hurst decision.

Since then, the Florida Supreme Court has indefinitely delayed the executions 
of Michael Lambrix and Mark Asay, whose attorneys have also argued that their 
sentences should be reduced to life without parole.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has identified 43 death sentences that are eligible 
to be reduced to life.

Those 43 so-called "pipeline" cases involve inmates whose initial limited 
appeals, known as direct appeals, have not yet been heard by the Florida 
Supreme Court.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)

*******************

Florida Reconsiders 400 Death Sentences


The Florida Supreme Court has heard arguments in a case that could see nearly 
400 death-row prisoners having their sentences commuted to life terms.

In January, the US Supreme Court struck down Florida's system of imposing death 
sentences as unconstitutional, because it let judges rather than juries hand 
down the sentences.

The state then changed its death penalty law to comply with the ruling, but the 
fate of the 396 death row inmates sentenced under the now-unconstitutional 
provision has gone in front of the state's high court.

On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court heard legal argument over the case of 
Timothy Hurst, 37, who was convicted of murdering his co-worker in 1998.

According to court records, Cynthia Harrison's body was found bound, gagged and 
stabbed more than 60 times at a Popeyes restaurant in Pensacola, where she 
worked with Hurst.

Lawyers for Hurst have said that under the now struck down state law, he must 
be given a new sentencing hearing and be handed down a life term in prison.

They argue that "persons previously sentenced to death for a capital felony are 
entitled to have their now-unconstitutional death sentences replaced by 
sentences of life without parole".

That argument has been backed by 3 former chief justices of the Florida Supreme 
Court.

Florida has America's 2nd-largest death row, with 396 people as of 1 January, 
2016. California has the most, with 743.

The state legislature rewrote the sentencing procedure after the US Supreme 
Court overturned Hurst's death sentence. It now requires a unanimous jury 
finding of at least 1 aggravating circumstance and at least a 10-2 vote to 
impose a death sentence.

Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told 
the Washington Post that if all of Florida's death sentences are overturned, it 
would be the biggest reversal since 1972 when the US Supreme Court struck down 
the death penalty.

Since the Hurst ruling, Florida has halted several scheduled executions.

The state supreme court is expected to take months to reach a decision.

(soure: 964eagle.co.uk)

*****************

Death penalty possible after Sievers, Rodgers indictments


The 1st-degree murder indictments handed up by a Lee County grand jury this 
week would ensure Mark Sievers and Jimmy Rodgers would at least spend their 
lives in prison if convicted -- though a conviction could also mean a death 
sentence.

To send the men to death row, the state would have to prove the slaying of 
Bonita Springs doctor Teresa Sievers was planned in advance and carried out 
willfully.

Mark Sievers was indicted on charges of 1st-degree murder and conspiracy to 
commit murder while Rodgers faces the same 2 charges along with burglary.

Attorney Scott Moorey said the state attorney's office will turn over all its 
information to enable the defense to conduct its own investigation -- which he 
said could take quite a while.

"He is innocent until proven guilty and he has a right to the fair and just 
trial," Moorey said. "We're talking about months upon months of investigation 
and depositions."

Sievers is being held on a $4.4 million bond.

His attorney is headed to an appeals court to try and have that number lowered.

"He certainly has a right to a bond," Moorey said. "He did stay here during the 
period of the investigation, so there certainly is a good-faith argument that a 
bond should be set and I'm sure his attorneys will do that. Whether a judge 
grants it? I doubt it."

A 3rd man charged in the murder, Curtis Wright, made a plea deal in February 
that gives him a 25-year sentence in exchange for providing investigators what 
they needed to arrest Mark Sievers.

But Moorey doesn't expect any more arrangements.

"With the cooperation of one of the key players," he said, "I don't think any 
deals will be made for the remaining 2."

Rodgers and Mark Sievers are scheduled to be in a Lee County courtroom on 
Friday for their first official appearances on the new charges. Both are also 
scheduled for arraignment hearings on Monday.

(source: ABC news)

******************

Supremes Hear Arguments In Hurst Death Penalty Case


Florida's high court is deliberating the fate of Timothy Hurst - the death row 
inmate whose case prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the Florida's 
capital sentencing scheme. But some on the bench have doubts about newly passed 
sentencing procedures.

The state argues Hurst's death sentence should stand, but failing that, he 
should be resentenced under a system passed earlier this year. But Justice 
Barbara Pariente worries the new system might not meet constitutional muster 
either.

"The worst thing would be - if we don't agree with the defendant - would be to 
start down a path of a new statute that has unconstitutional infirmities that 
we then are applying to all these pending prosecutions," Pariente says.

She questions the statute's requirement of just 1 aggravating factor and the 
use of a 10-2 vote for the recommendation of death. Meanwhile Hurst's lawyer 
Dave Davis argues a 1970s era law requiring death be commuted to life if the 
death penalty is found unconstitutional should apply in his case. Some court 
watchers go further and believe that law should apply to all 390 inmates 
convicted under the invalidated system.

But Davis cautions his focus is simply on his client.

"That's one of the points I wanted to make sure the court understood: I 
represent Timothy Hurst," Davis says. "As to Timothy Hurst, he should get a 
life sentence. I'm going to leave it to the Florida Supreme Court and other 
lawyers to sort how much retroactivity it gets."

The state contends the law doesn't apply because the higher court ruling 
invalidated a sentencing procedure - not the death penalty.

(source: WGCU news)

**************

State seeking death penalty for Woodberry


Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a man indicted last month in 
the brutal stabbing of a woman at his west Tallahassee apartment.

On Wednesday, Assistant State Attorney Eddie Evans filed a motion signalling 
his intent to seek the death penalty for 30-year-old Leon Woodberry, who is 
charged in the death of 24-year-old Shannan Gordon April 16.

The death penalty is being sought because of the heinous nature of the killing, 
the fact that Woodberry had previously been convicted of a capital felony and 
was a sexual predator, according to court records.

Gordon was found in a wooded area near Woodberry's apartment with severe cuts 
to her throat and limbs. Police connected him to the crime by following a trail 
of blood to his front door.

Woodberry told investigators he stabbed Gordon, a Tallahassee native, and said 
the two had struggled over a knife. He said she'd come to his house after he 
contacted her on Backpage.com

Woodberry was released from state prison in September. He had been sentenced to 
15 years on sexual battery and burglary charges stemming from a 2001 incident 
in Palm Beach County.

(source: Tallahassee Democrat)






ALABAMA:

Grand jury to hear case against Town Creek man accused of killing 2-year-old


A Lawrence County grand jury will hear evidence in the case against a Town 
Creek man accused of killing his girlfriend's son in 2014, according to court 
records released this week.

Evan Berryman, 28, has been held in Lawrence County Jail without bail since his 
March 24 arrest by the State Bureau of Investigations in connection with the 
death of 2-year-old Ian Calhoun.

A request to reduce his bond was denied this week by Lawrence County District 
Judge Angela Terry, court records show. Berryman's preliminary hearing 
Wednesday determined there was enough evidence to hold him pending the outcome 
of the grand jury hearing.

Calhoun's mother, Chelsea Nichole Fike, 25, of Moulton, was charged April 3 
with 1st-degree hindering prosecution, a Class C felony, in connection with the 
case.

Calhoun died at Children's Hospital in Birmingham on Aug. 4, 2014. The cause of 
death was blunt force trauma to the head, torso, and lower and upper 
extremities, according to an autopsy report completed by the Alabama Department 
of Forensics.

The report, which identifies the manner of death as homicide, lists several 
injuries the child received, including cuts on his face, scalp, left ear, 
chest, abdomen, back and genitals.

After authorities found bruises on Fike's other child that were similar to 
those discovered on Ian's body, the mother told authorities she was never given 
any information about Berryman harming her children, Special Agent Senior Bill 
LaPradd wrote in court records.

However, authorities later learned Fike was notified by her mother about claims 
the other child made regarding abuse by Berryman, court records allege.

Senior State Trooper Johnathan Appling, an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency 
spokesman, said he can't comment on whether SBI is investigating the abuse 
allegations.

"But I can tell you the investigation into the death is definitely still 
ongoing," Appling said. "This is a case with a lot of different things going 
on. It's very complex."

Fike is accused of hindering the investigation on or about March 17, according 
to LaPradd's affidavit.

Authorities haven't said why Berryman's arrest took nearly 2 years.

Appling said the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office was the 1st agency on the 
case, and the SBI became involved the week of March 14, before Berryman's 
arrest.

Fike was released from Lawrence County Jail the day of her arrest on $30,000 
bail. Fike is scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 7 at 1 p.m.

If convicted, Fike faces 1 to 10 years in prison.

Berryman faces life without parole or the death penalty, the only punishments 
for capital murder, if convicted.

(source: Decatur Daily)

*****************

Mobile man convicted again after defending himself in capital murder retrial


Carlos Kennedy has been found guilty again of the murder of Zoa White, after he 
was granted an opportunity to represent himself in a retrial that began in 
March.

A jury returned a guilty verdict after closing statements wrapped up Thursday, 
the Mobile County District Attorney's office says.

Kennedy was originally convicted of the crime in 2013 and sentenced to the 
death penalty.

An appeals court ruled, however, that former Judge Rusty Johnston acted outside 
of his authority by deeming Kennedy unfit to represent himself in the trial.

Police found 69-year old Zoa White in her home in Mobile on June 2010. She was 
bludgeoned to death in what appeared to be a claw hammer.

Investigators located a fingerprint, hand print and blood at the scene that 
matched Kennedy.

White was a retired real estate agent who had worked as an administrator for 
the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs under former Governor 
Bob Riley.

The sentencing phase of the trial begins Thursday afternoon.

(source: Associated Press)






MISSISSIPPI:

Bite mark evidence in local death row case under scrutiny, again


A more than 20-year-old murder case took a new step Tuesday as a 
post-conviction relief hearing began for Eddie Lee Howard.

Howard, 62, is on death row at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman 
after being convicted in May 2000 for capital murder. He was accused in the 
1992 murder and rape of 84-year-old Georgia Kemp.

Howard's 2000 conviction was the 2nd time he faced trial for the crime. He was 
previously convicted and sentenced to death in May 1994. The Mississippi 
Supreme Court in 1997 overturned that conviction, finding that the trial court 
erred in allowing Howard to represent himself in a death penalty case. The high 
court also found that Howard's waiver of counsel was not voluntary.

Kemp, according to court documents, was killed in her Columbus home on Feb. 2, 
1992, after being "savagely beaten, choked, bitten, raped, stabbed and killed."

Howard's conviction relies on the testimony of forensic odontologist Michael 
West, of Hattiesburg. During both of Howard's trials, West testified the bite 
marks left on Kemp's body matched dental impressions taken from Howard.

The marks were the only piece of physical evidence linking Howard to the crime, 
according to court documents.

The bite marks on Kemp's body, according to court documents, were not noted 
during the initial autopsy performed on Feb. 3, 1992, by medical examiner 
Steven Hayne. West requested additional study on Feb. 6, 1992, and Kemp was 
exhumed the next day.

Documents say bite marks were found on Kemp's neck, arm and breast.

Howard is being represented by the Mississippi Innocence Project, which is 
housed at the University of Mississippi.

Tucker Carrington, director of the Mississippi Innocence Project, said the 
Innocence Project requested for Howard's conviction to be vacated and the case 
to be not tried again. Failing that, the Innocence Project is requesting a new 
trial. Carrington said it's possible the court could choose not to grant 
relief.

"Generally speaking, we've asked for a new trial based on the results of DNA 
evidence and the evolution for the science around bite marks over the years," 
Carrington said. "Specifically, we know that bite marks have been responsible 
for 25, 26 wrongful convictions, including three here in Mississippi -- all 
done by (West)."

Howard's hearing is being held before 16th Circuit Judge Lee Howard.

Howard was present in the courtroom Wednesday.

'Everybody makes mistakes'

Wednesday's hearing consisted solely of testimony from Iain Pretty, a professor 
of dentistry from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

The Mississippi Innocence Project called Pretty to testify as an expert on bite 
marks as a matter of forensic dentistry.

Pretty said views within the forensic dentistry community have changed 
drastically since the 1990s and early 2000s, when bite marks were seen as valid 
means of identification.

"What was apparent was we were building on the building blocks of bite marks 
and expanding the discipline, yet no one had gone back to see whether or not 
there was a fundamental scientific underpinning for what we were doing," Pretty 
said from the witness stand. "There simply wasn't."

Pretty also referenced a 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences, which 
found that bite marks could not be used to reliably identify an individual.

"They said there was nothing in the literature that supports the taking of a 
human bite mark in the skin and pairing it and linking it to an individual," 
Pretty said.

Pretty said it can be particularly difficult to rely on bite marks on a corpse 
that's been exhumed, as Kemp was, because of possible distortion in the time 
since the wound was inflicted.

Pretty said he was familiar with West's work, calling him "one of the great 
advocates" for bite marks at the time. He said West was seen as a pioneer in 
the field. But, Pretty said, as scientific evidence turned against bite marks 
-- and as more and more wrongful convictions emerged from cases built on bite 
mark evidence -- West's reputation began to fall.

"I think everybody makes mistakes," Pretty said. "But the challenge of a 
forensic scientist is to revisit those decisions and look at them again in the 
light of new evidence and determine what that review might change."

In June, the Clarion Ledger, a newspaper in Jackson, reported that West, during 
a 2012 deposition, said that the practice isn't reliable.

"I no longer believe in bite-mark analysis," West was quoted as saying. "I 
don't think it should be used in court. I think you should use DNA. Throw bite 
marks out."

Jason Davis, director of criminal appeals for the Mississippi Attorney 
General's office, asked Pretty if individual mistakes, such as those in 
convictions in more than 2-dozen wrongful conviction cases that have been 
overturned, invalidate bite marks.

"What we are talking about today is not one mistake," Pretty said. "I'm not 
even sure we're talking about mistakes. We're talking about fundamental 
underlying science not supporting what has happened."

West was present during Wednesday's hearing. He is expected to testify this 
week, according to Carrington.

(source: Columbus Dispatch)