http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2013/05/21/nancy-smiths-attorneys-file-for-new-trial/

The court filings also contain an extensive affidavit from Maggie Bruck, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at John Hopkins Medical Institutions, who reviewed the taped interviews of the children Smith and Allen were accused of abusing and other evidence in the case. Jurors who convicted Smith and Allen in the 1990s never saw those tapes.

Bruck wrote that the interview techniques used by investigators such as the use of dolls, repetitive questions and investigators rejecting what they believed to be the incorrect answers to questions, irreparably contaminated the memories and testimony of the 4- and 5-year-old children Smith and Allen were accused of molesting.

Varn Chandola and his wife Neha, Seattle lawyers, were in the unhappy position of divorcing each other while parenting a very young child. The couple could agree on little about their child, and the best way to raise her. The scales decisively tipped when Neha accused Varn of molesting the child, who had just turned two years old. Varn’s access to the child was immediately limited, and always supervised. Nearly a year later, the charges were found to be unsupported and restrictions were removed. The child was better tempered at age three, as are many children. The proper step would have been to immediately attempt to repair the damage done to the accused’s relationship with the child. However, the trial court shrugged off the accusation of sex abuse, saying that Neha “may have needed to precipitate a crisis in order to escape the marriage and the extended family,” and approved a parenting plan in 2012 that will severely restrict the Varn’s contact with his child until 2017. Although the parties (including Heha) all agreed that the charge of sex abuse was unfounded, the court rewarded the spouse who made the charge with all its fruits — the temporary arrangement that flowed from the day the charges were made was ultimately placed into effect for an additional five years.

NCRJ does not pretend to special knowledge about proper parenting, but we are very familiar with the profound, unpredictable damage caused by false accusations of child sex abuse. The world-view of the trial judge in the Chandola case that accepts such charges as a legitimate tactic should be explicitly condemned by the judiciary and by governmental agencies charged with resolving domestic disputes. Unfortunately, the Washington Court of Appeals likewise did not see the false charges as important – even though they led directly to the custody arrangements that were ultimately made quasi-permanent. We support Varn Chandola in his efforts to gain a hearing from Washington’s highest court, and condemn the tactical use of such charges in divorce or custody disputes. So long as false charges lead to success, they will continue to be made.

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2013/05/20/prosecutorial-misconduct-whats-to-be-done-a-call-to-action/

The case of Father Gordon MacRae has long bee sponsored by the National Center for Reason and Justice. Read this article, by Dorothy Rabinowitz, in the Wall Street Journal (May 11, 2013)

Watch this interview with Rabinowitz.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2013-03-26/psych-experts-support-keller-appeal/

Dr. Harrington and Dr. Wood are Advisors to the NCRJ.

http://ncrj.org/the-wrongful-conviction-of-joseph-allen-and-nancy-smith/

There have been some disturbing recent developments.

Judge Burge has recused himself from the case and a new judge has been appointed.

The new judge is going to hold a resentencing hearing for Joseph on June 5th.

Like Nancy Smith, Joseph has applied for clemency. Joseph’s lawyer hopes to keep him free until a decision is made on the clemency petition.

If the judge grants that, he would be free on bond. Bond would most likely be set for $100,000 as it was when Joseph was first released from prison.

If we pay a bondsman, the fee will be 10% or $10,000.

The National Center for Reason and Justice does have a Prisoner Relief Fund for such contingencies. We cannot, however, spare $10,000.

We could if we could get sufficient additional contributions to the fund.

I hope you will consider making a donation to the NCRJ’s Prisoner Relief Fund. The Smith/Allen case is as bad a miscarriage of justice as I have seen.

You can send a check to:

NCRJ
POB 191101
Roxbury MA 02119-1582

Indicate “Prisoner Releif Fund” on your check.

You can also donate online: http://ncrj.org/donate/

Joseph is in terrible danger. I hope you will be able to help us keep him free.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claudia-ricci/its-about-time-we-freed-t_b_3169746.html