Friday, February 28, 2014

Henry Keogh: Australia; Destruction of all remaining samples from the 1994 autopsy of Anna-Jane Cheney raises serious concerns - and a troubling question: how could the authorities who took this irreparable step have been unaware of Keogh's legal moves in his battle to free himelf when they destroyed the crucial evidence? InDaily.


STORY: "Concern about destruction of Keogh evidence," by reporter  Jeremy Roberts, published by InDaily on February 27, 2014.

GIST: "The state’s forensic science laboratory destroyed its last remaining evidence in the Henry Keogh murder conviction 15 months before its own policy required, it has been revealed. In a leave to appeal application by convicted murderer Henry Keogh in the Supreme Court this month the Director of Public Prosecutions Adam Kimber SC admitted that Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA) had destroyed all remaining samples from the 1994 autopsy of Anna-Jane Cheney. Keogh is serving a minimum 26-year sentence for the murder of his then-fiancee. This year he became only the second person to use new appeal rights to test his conviction based on new evidence, with the six-day hearing ending on Monday afternoon.........The revelations in court led to disquiet among Justice Nicholson and Keogh’s lead counsel Marie Shaw, QC. Nicholson said: “It’s an interesting proposition, given the evidence we heard yesterday about the importance of retaining this sort of material, virtually indefinitely.” Shaw pointed out that at the time of the destruction Keogh had a live petition before the Governor to have his conviction reviewed. This raises a separate question for FSSA to address. The State Records schedule requires that records not be destroyed if “an agency is aware that records may be required for use in litigation … or government inquiry …” It goes on: “In such cases the records must be retained until two years after all cases and inquiries are complete, including appeals.” Keogh and his lawyers have never lost interest in agitating his case and have brought about numerous court actions and at least four petitions to the Governor of South Australia for a review of the conviction. The destruction raises the question as to how FSSA could not have known of the continuing legal moves in relation to the Keogh conviction when it destroyed the autopsy tissues."

The entire story can be found at:

http://indaily.com.au/news/2014/02/27/state-forensic-lab-destroys-keogh-evidence/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.