He said that in the “Edmonds v. State case Dr. Hayne didn’t testify that he could tell from looking at a body that there had been two people holding the gun…” as was asserted in this boy’s PCR motion and brief. “Dr. Hayne never testified to any such thing. He answered an improper question posed by the prosecutor to the effect that the circumstances at the time of the shooting as described in Edmond’s statement and other physical findings known to Hayne were consistent” and then he went on to say that the Supreme Court went on to observe, “Dr. Hayne is qualified to offer expert opinions in forensic pathology”.

Thanks MS Supreme Court.

Also, quoted from the opinion: “Finally, as to Dr. Hayne’s testimony, this Court has no basis to consider that the testimony of Dr. Hayne “casts a coubt over the entire proceedings” as asserted by the Petitioner. It is the opinion of this Court that anyone with medical training of any degree could form a valid opinion as to the cause of death where the victim’s body had been punctured by a knife or knives some 20 times.” (there were a total of 7 wounds, 6 less than 1/8th inch deep and one fatal in a claim of self defense by the 8th grader against his much bigger attacker who was suffering from mental degeneration of which Dr. Hayne never sampled or tested brain tissue in his autopsy).
The judge couldn’t even get the main facts of the case right in his opinion.

Thanks State of Mississippi.

There’s a hugely perverse incentive in keeping things “settled”. For one, the more people you let out of prison, the more people you’re going to have to pay off in a civil suit later. More money paid out to “criminals” or even “former criminals” or if we’re lucky, “innocent people who got locked up” means less votes.

Plus, there’s also the fact that the prosecutor and judge have to admit they screwed up royally. When you release someone after serving many years in prison because they were innocent, not only to have to say, “we got the wrong guy”, you have to admit that for however many years, someone didn’t pay for the crime they committed — and now, the trail has likely gone cold and the case will never be solved. All because you couldn’t be bothered to do the right thing the first time. That certainly won’t get votes. Better to just say, “we know we got our man here, even if that expert witness was a fraud.”

Don’t forget, there are plenty of idiots out there who think that criminals “get off” too often and there are too many appeals for people who are “obviously guilty”.

| hexag1 | December 9th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

“more reputable pathologists” ???
Don’t you mean actual pathologists ?

I suppose you might refer to Charles Smith and Steven Haynes as ‘sociopathologists’.

Private justice is the best way to handle these evil creatures.

They will HAVE to re-open the cases in which Hayne/West testimony was crucial to the conviction. They also know there will be a lot of cases that will be overturned and exonerations. AND the wrongfully convicted will sue the bejesus out of them.

So in essence, they are trying not to shoot themselves in the foot.

Well guess what! OOPS!! They already have.

http://www.gopetition.com/online/25939.html

I can’t fathom how someone can stand in court and use their power to needlessly wreck someone’s life.

You can’t understand it because it’s called EVIL and you don’t possess enough of it to understand it.

Always follow the money if you want an answer to your questions. The end result may not be all about money — sometimes it’s about power and control, with money being incidental — but money will almost ALWAYS lead you to the truth (or as close to it as you will ever get).

Government exists for the sole purpose of serving government, whether it’s Mississippi or Washington DC. Government is cancer.

Can I get that on a t-shirt and/or bumper sticker?

Sure, a lot of innocent people suffer, but it’s not like the concept of collateral damage as a cost of civilization is unique to Mississippi. Government exists for the sole purpose of serving government, whether it’s Mississippi or Washington DC. Government is cancer.

You assume that people consider facts and then reach conclusions. Most people do not think that way at all; they decide what they believe and then either sift or create the facts to reach that conclusion. Hayne knew that the answer, so he made sure his process was correct (that it reached the right answer).

People want to believe that the criminal justice system can be trusted. It is very important that they be able to believe that the innocent are protected and the guilty punished, so they do believe it. They’ll fight tooth and nail against any attempt to demonstrate failures or inadequacies of the system.

a short prison sentence is not enough.

States get money for prisoners, do they not? Prisons have become a boom and a way for state and local governments to create recession-proof jobs. Also, I think that some people falsely believe that the more prisoners there are, the better job the state is doing to “protect” them.

It’s a sad reality, but I doubt any state will be gunning to release any falsely convicted people anytime soon.