Muñoz explains the significance of a fingerprint report the prosecution hid for 18 years and goes on to point out that:
LaGuer’s lawyer, James Rehnquist, son of the late U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, had argued before the state Appeals Court last year that the fingerprint report could prove exculpatory.
When the Appeals Court didn’t agree, Rehnquist took the matter up with the state Supreme Judicial Court, which this month decided to review LaGuer’s case.
She also brings in some of the politicians who have gotten involved in the case, which is particularly vexing because of a seemingly damning DNA test.:
The crime didn’t occur in her district nor did the man convicted of it live there, but for state Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, the story of this particular Latino is one that reads like others across the country.
That’s why Story wrote to DNA experts across the country last summer, asking them to review the DNA evidence that appears to have cemented LaGuer’s guilt….
….”It appears to me that an extraordinary injustice was done and I am delighted that the highest court in the commonwealth has agreed to take a look at the facts of his case,” Story said. The Amherst lawmaker has been a determined supporter of securing a new trial for LaGuer. Other politicians backing the effort include state Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, and Boston City Councilor Félix Arroyo.
“Based on the materials I have received to date it is my opinion that the accuracy and reliability of the DNA testing performed are highly questionable,” wrote Dr. Theodore D. Kessis, of Applied DNA Resources in Columbus, Ohio, in response to Story’s queries to forensic DNA experts about the LaGuer case.
Natalia Muñoz can be reached at nmunoz at repub dot com
If you made your title a little shorter, I might read your post …
But in all seriousness, I am just curious, what makes you so passionate about this case? It seems to me to pretty confusing, and I don’t know that it resonates with many people. Mayor Murray have anything to say about this?
But it seems to me that someone who is innocent or was railroaded by a DA with bad evidence should get some attention if there is proof that the conviction should be overturned. I think it just might be human to write about an injustice and to care about it. What is your problem with that? What people might this not resonate with? Those who don’t really care about justice? Republicans who don’t give a damn about locking up an innocent minority? I was glad to hear about this and Rep. Storey’s work on it. At least some of our electeds care enough to do something.
I don’t have any problem with someone writing about this issue, I certainly hope you didn’t take my comment about the long title that seriously.
<
p>
I am not sure what gives the impression that I have a problem with the post, as much as I am interested in why SO is so passionate about it. What I meant in regard to resonance was this: is this something that is a major contrversy in the Worcester area? If you look through SO’s posts on the subject, there generally isn’t much response from BMG. I think this is the kind of community that would care about something like this, but I think the comment history shows that the issue hasn’t really resonated with people here. So that was all I was asking.
<
p>
If I really had a problem with the post, I’d have ignored it. I am sorry that I dared to ask a question about why someone cared deeply about an issue. For all I know, SO is LaGuer’s brother/sister/cousin/aunt/roommate/buddy from the high school football team.
<
p>
I said I was confused about the case and wondered why SO posted on it so often. I didn’t lambast him/her for what they thought or what they had to say. I asked some question. Lolorb you’d do yourself a great service by not assuming that I am some sort of soulless monster for asking a question or two.
<
p>
After your comment I went back and read some of SO’s older posts and checked out the website, and if everything there is true then it certainly is an issue worth writing about. But again, I never said “you’re a fool for writing about this”, I said that I didn’t think the issue resonated with a lot of people and wondered where SO’s passion came from.
came off a “soulless”, and adding the bit about resonating was the clincher. I didn’t write the question or the statement — you did. I congratulate SO for bringing this issue to our attention. I didn’t have to ask about his/her motivation because it was obvious to me that it’s a solid story.
Speaking Out wrote a great post. He gave us relevant facts and numerous sources. I hate when someone is disparaged when they take the time to put together a good post. The two of you obviously know each other and much more history than what was posted here. Readers of this blog can only judge by what is posted. In this case, I recommended the post and gave SO high marks for the way it was sourced.
SO and I have no history whatsoever. I had no idea who SO was until I looked at his profile and googled his name. I assume that he looked at my profile as well, seeing as how I can’t imagine how he would know me. I suppose that takes care of us obviously knowing each other.
<
p>
I apologize for being crass, but I don’t think I disparaged the content of his post by poking fun at the length of the title and then asking him why he was passionate about the issue.
<
p>
Believe it or not, I am very glad you recommended the post. It got me interested in the issue, and now I will be interested in SO’s future posts. So thanks for recommending it lolorb …
but I can add to his/her comment.
<
p>
Nate, your dad was a DA and you don’t understand the significance of keeping an innocent man in prison? Maybe that’s part of the problem.
<
p>
One of the many fascinating things about this case is that in 1983 when LaGuer voluntarily went into the police station for questioning they asked him for fingerprints because they said they wanted to compare them to prints from the crime scene. He voluntarily gave them.
<
p>
Eighteen years later, in 2001, a report surfaced showing that they had compared LaGuer’s prints “with neg results.” Police and prosecutors kept this report from the defense in violation of everything we hold dear about our justice system.
<
p>
To top it off, the State Police now REFUSES TO PRODUCE THE PRINTS FROM THE CRIME SCENE. Not only did Rep. Ellen Story (and five other reps) write to the State Police asking for an explanation, but so did Senators Jarrett Barrios and Dianne Wilkerson.
<
p>
The State Police stonewalled every one of them. Now that the blogosphere is coming into its own, citizens have the opportunity to raise the question anew. Why did it take 18 years for the report to surface? And where are those original fingerprints now?
SO: In part I will refer you to my response to lolorb, but as for some other things …
<
p>
Beleive me, I understand the importance of an innocent man being in prison. I was raised on one idea about justice, from good old John Adams at the Boston Massacre trial, “It is of more importance to community that innoncence be protected, than guilt be punished.”
<
p>
I am sorry if my facetious first post was that offensive, but I was just giving you a hard time for having a long title.
<
p>
As to the rest of my comment, do you have a special connection to this case, or are you generally interested in wrongful/false convictions? I only ask because your comments on here haven’t seemed to gain much traction. A year ago the Eisenthal report posted your comment wondering when the blogosphere would latch onto it. As best I can tell, this part of that sphere hasn’t and I was curious why you persist.
<
p>
I understand and appreciate that an injustice like this (if it is everything you say it is) is a threat to the legal system as a whole, but forgive me if I am generally skeptical of people who post on BMG about only one issue.
<
p>
I don’t doubt the significance of the case, Eric (see this is all I was looking for “Hi Nate, I am a freelance journalist who has been working on this a while, and I’ve really grown passionate about it. I know I don’t get much of a response here on BMG, but let me tell you about this case and why it should resonate with you even if it doesn’t resonate with others…”) I just wanted to know why you’re behind it with so much effort. It is something worthy of applause if the facts are as you say they are, especially considering that the issue hasn’t really picked up steam at least as best I can tell.
<
p>
Sorry for the long post, but I was just interested in the case and felt like got pounced on. So, is there any sense of what the SJC is going to do with this?
I didn’t mean to imply that you are some kind of monster, and I’m glad to hear that you take issues like this seriously.
<
p>
For the record, I am not LaGuer’s roommate. He lives in an eight by ten cell in a maximum security prison. Nor am I a relative. I met him in 1991 when I was teaching a course through a prison education class. He was my student during a summer session which met twice a week for seven weeks. I have followed the case from a distance since then, and became fascinated by it after the 2002 DNA test went against everything I had learned to date. I’ve done a lot of independent investigation of the facts since then. I think the conclusion I came to is obvious, but I have tried to make the Web site into a resource for people who want to look at primary documents, like the legal filings of both sides.
<
p>
As for traction on BMG. I just started blogging on this issue, and so far I am pleased to see that the traction has been steadily building. I picked this time to start blogging on BMG because the case will be going to the SJC for a hearing this fall. In the mean time, I am happy to respond to people like you who have questions about the case and how I came to believe that it represents a serious miscarriage of justice.
<
p>
I don’t intend to post clutter here, but as developments occur such as news articles and court events I aim to keep the BMG community in the loop. My goal is for the posts to gain most traction just at the time when shining a spotlight on the case will be most important. That will be when it is in the court this fall.
<
p>
I spent this morning at the Journalism and Democracy conference going on at UMass this week. There was a lot of talk about the role of citizen journalists, the tension between reporting and opinion, where the media is headed, etc.. The bottom line is that government works best when the public is well informed.
<
p>
I’ve decided to limit my posts to this one issue for the time being because I am a non partisan person by nature. In this case my opinions are purely fact/research driven and I felt an obligation to find a forum in which to Speak Out.
Thanks for the response SO. I was shooting from the hip a bit and apologize for coming off as unfeeling about the situation.
<
p>
I’ll read up further about things on the website and look forward to reading about any developments as well as the arguments in the fall.
<
p>
Thanks again.
There may be some more news soon. I got a call from a tipster a couple of days ago to say that the guy who prosecuted LaGuer (yes, the one who somehow failed to disclose the exculpatory fingerprint report) is applying for a judgeship. That should be a no go if ever there was one. As Drudge says, developing…