Friday, March 28, 2014

Fire Away Friday: The Problem With AmeriKan Prosecutors

‘‘In order to be exonerated, Prade and his attorneys needed to show clear and convincing evidence of his innocencenot simply create doubt.’’

Far be it from me to defend a police captain, but it is GUILTY until PROVEN INNOCENT, and GUILTY BEFORE a REASONABLE DOUBT'eh? 

Just goes to show you it is not truth or justice they are concerned about, but the won-loss record that leads to promotion.

"Ohio court reverses ruling that freed ex-cop" by JOHN SEEWER | Associated Press   March 20, 2014

A former Ohio police captain who spent nearly 15 years in prison before being exonerated in his ex-wife’s killing could be headed back behind bars after an appeals court ruled that a judge was wrong to free him.

The ruling Wednesday comes a year after former Akron police officer Douglas Prade was freed by a Summit County judge when new testing of a bite mark cast doubt on his conviction.

The judge ordered Prade’s release in January 2013, saying there was convincing evidence of his innocence after tests of the bite mark on Dr. Margo Prade’s lab coat showed DNA that did not match that of her former husband.

But Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals said that the DNA testing raised more questions than answers, and that Prade’s conviction was based on overwhelming circumstantial evidence.

‘‘Without a doubt, Prade was excluded as a contributor of the DNA that was found in the bite mark section of Margo’s lab coat,’’ the ruling said. ‘‘The DNA testing, however, produced exceedingly odd results.’’

‘‘While it is indisputable that there was only one killer, at least two partial male profiles were uncovered within the bite mark,’’ the ruling said.

Summit County prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said she will seek a warrant to have Prade returned to prison. The prosecutor’s office did not know where he is currently living.

‘‘In order to be exonerated, Prade and his attorneys needed to show clear and convincing evidence of his innocence — not simply create doubt,’’ Walsh said. ‘‘They failed.’’

A message seeking comment was left with Prade’s lawyer. Prade has maintained his innocence.

Prade was convicted in 1998 of shooting his 41-year-old ex-wife, a family practitioner, inside her van on the parking lot of her Akron office. There were no witnesses and no fingerprints, and no gun was found after the November 1997 shooting.

A test of the lab coat fabric showed it contained at least two and as many as five DNA profiles, none of which matched the former police captain’s.

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"Convicted killer freed, detained, freed in DNA dispute" | Associated Press   March 21, 2014

AKRON, Ohio — A former police captain released after nearly 15 years in prison for his ex-wife’s slaying landed back in custody for a few hours Thursday after an appeals court ruled a judge was wrong to free him based on bite-mark DNA testing.

A county judge ordered former Akron officer Douglas Prade taken into custody at a morning hearing, but Prade left the county jail in the afternoon because the Ohio Supreme Court granted his request to temporarily block the appeals court ruling.

Prosecutors want Prade sent back to prison. But his attorneys are fighting to keep him free....

Prade was freed from prison in January 2013 when now-retired Judge Judy Hunter decided there was convincing evidence of his innocence based on DNA tests. The tests of the bite mark on Dr. Margo Prade’s lab coat showed the DNA did not match that of her former husband.

On Wednesday, Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals said the DNA testing raised more questions than answers and Prade’s original conviction was based on overwhelming circumstantial evidence....

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Related:

"Pair planned rapes, killings, jury told" by Jennifer Peltz | Associated Press   March 12, 2014

NEW YORK — A former high school librarian and an auto mechanic who swapped ideas for abducting, raping, and killing women plotted to turn their disturbing fantasies into deadly action, prosecutors told jurors Tuesday, while defense lawyers said the men just thought up scenarios no more real than horror movies or violent pornography.

Retired librarian Christopher Asch and mechanic Michael Van Hise of Trenton, N.J., do not dispute that they discussed their ghoulish fetishes, with Van Hise even suggesting female relatives as potential targets and Asch assembling a macabre kit of apparent torture tools.

RelatedThis Blog Tacking Towards Portway

When deliberations in their Manhattan federal conspiracy trial begin as soon as Wednesday, jurors will have to decide whether the men crossed a line between imagination and intention.

In a prosecution that grew out of another shocking case — that of a police officer accused of plotting to kidnap and kill women and eat their flesh — Asch and Van Hise are accused of scheming to brutalize Van Hise’s wife, stepdaughter, sister-in-law, and several nieces under age 10.

Related: Ferreting Out Some New York City Stories

Something starting to stink.

Asch also is charged separately with plotting to kidnap a woman who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

An instigator in the middle of it?

Although no kidnappings ultimately happened, prosecutors insist the men’s objectives were more than mere talk.

OMG! It's "Minority Report!"

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The feeling here is these weirdos are agent provocateurs to give government reason to shut down the web.

Also seeBarbourous Honeymoon 

The booking agent was Satan.

Related: 

"A biblical booklet in a shirt pocket apparently helped a bus driver survive a shooting, and authorities were looking Tuesday for three suspects, police say."

Just don't bring one into school.