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Thursday, July 1, 2004
Year V, Edition 963
Today's front section features 8 news and information
items, each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Click on the "Below the
Fold" link at the bottom of this section for 32 more news items.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"It's a great opportunity for the
people of the Commonwealth of Virginia, who will be able to see all the pus and
bile that's part of the system of justice that put an innocent man within nine
days of execution."
--Attorney Peter Neufeld, talking about a judge's
decision to pursue claims that a Virginia state police officer falsified
evidence which helped convict Earl Washington Jr. of rape and murder.
Washington, who has mental retardation, served 17 1/2 years behind bars before
DNA tests cleared him of the crimes (First story)
"The Board draws a sharp distinction between breaking the law and
attempting to change it."
--New Zealand's Parole Board, denying Lesley
Martin's request to be given home detention rather than serve a 15-month
sentence for attempted murder. The Board said it was concerned the
assisted-suicide campaigner remains a danger to the community because she
refuses to admit it was wrong to help her mother die (Fourth story)
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# CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Earl Washington Jr. To Pursue Claims That Officer
Falsified Evidence
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 1,
2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA--A federal judge ruled last week that
there is enough evidence for a jury to consider whether a Virginia State Police
investigator falsified evidence in order to help prosecutors win the wrongful
conviction of Earl Washington, Jr.
In an opinion issued June 23, U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon dismissed civil claims which Washington had filed against the Town of Culpeper and six law enforcement officials involved in the investigation that led to his conviction and death penalty sentence.
Washington had accused the officers of forcing him to confess to the June 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams. He spent 17 1/2 years behind bars -- nine of those on death row -- before DNA tests cleared him of the crime and Governor Jim Gilmore pardoned him and ordered his release in February 2001.
"There is no evidence that the officers intentionally took advantage of Washington's mental state at the time of the interrogation to solicit a false confession," Moon wrote in his 24-page decision.
However, the judge let stand a claim that Virginia State Police special agent Curtis Reese Wilmore misled prosecutors and jurors in the case.
Washington's conviction had been based primarily on his confession, which had many inconsistencies, along with Wilmore's testimony that Washington told him he left a shirt at Williams' apartment -- a detail that only a person familiar with the crime scene would have known. Wilmore, who is now deceased, later told a Virginia assistant attorney general that police had told Washington before his confession about a shirt that was found in Williams' apartment.
"It is significant whether the information regarding the shirt was first volunteered by Washington or whether the presence of the shirt at the murder scene was suggested by police," Moon wrote. "If Washington volunteered the information, it would appear that he had non-public information about the murder scene."
In his confession, Washington stated that 19-year-old Williams was black, that he stabbed her twice, and that he was alone when he killed her.
The white woman was actually stabbed 38 times in front of two of her children.
Washington, 43, filed the lawsuit against Culpeper and the officers in 2002 in an effort to clear his name and to expose flaws within the state's criminal justice system. Prosecutors have not taken Washington off their list of suspects in the crime, even though he was pardoned and DNA tests have pointed to Kenneth Tinsley, a convicted rapist currently serving two life sentences.
Peter Neufeld, who is Washington's attorney and co-founder and director (with attorney Barry Scheck) of the Innocence Project, called Moon's ruling a victory.
"It's a great opportunity for the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia, who will be able to see all the pus and bile that's part of the system of justice that put an innocent man within nine days of execution," Neufeld said.
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with mental retardation is "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Related:
"Pardoned man's suit will go forward" (Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0702a.htm
"Earl
Washington, Jr." (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/laws/earlwashington.htm
---
# CRIME
Prosecutors Call
Daniela Dawes Sentence "Manifestly Inadequate"
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
July 1, 2004
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--The New South
Wales Director of Public Prosecutions on Tuesday said the office would appeal
the recent non-custodial sentence given Daniela Dawes, who admitted killing her
son, Jason.
Dawes could have received a 25-year-sentence, but was released in early June on a five-year behavior bond, similar to probation, after a judge had changed her murder charge to manslaughter. The judge said Dawes "had suffered enough" and that no sentence he could give would compare to the punishment she would continue to inflict upon herself.
Ten-year-old Jason had autism.
Dawes had admitted pinching closed Jason's nose and mouth until he suffocated to death on August 4, 2003. She said she was experiencing depression and marital stress at the time. Jason's disability, however, was not the reason for her depression, she explained.
The DPP described the sentence as "manifestly inadequate" and filed an appeal in the Court of Criminal Appeal against the non-custodial sentence. A hearing date is expected to be set next week.
Dawes said she was "very, very scared and very confused" and didn't understand why the appeal had been lodged.
Craig Dawes, her estranged husband, told the Daily Telegraph that he believed public opinion had influenced the DDP's decision.
"I believe it's pure public outrage," Mr. Dawes said Tuesday.
---
# INSTITUTIONS
Feds
Cite Washington State Agency Over Fircrest Transfers
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
July 1, 2004
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON--The State
of Washington Department of Social and Health Services violated federal
regulations when it moved several people with developmental disabilities out of
Fircrest School, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a
report issued June 25.
The federal agency, which provides much of the funding for Washington's five state-operated institutions, cited DSHS for moving residents based on which cottage they were closing rather than individual needs and the wishes of their families. CMS said the Department's Division of Developmental Disabilities transferred one resident without "good cause" against the recommendations of her individual support team, and 11 residents without the consent of their guardians or families.
It also faulted the state for failing to consider the proximity of the residents' families, and denying them a formal appeal process.
CMS officials gave DSHS until this Friday to file a "Plan of Correction" and to implement it by August 16.
Linda Rolfe, the head of the Division of Developmental Disabilities, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that her agency would provide more documentation to CMS which she hoped would clear up the problems. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 6.
So far this year, DDD has closed two cottages at Fircrest and moved 43 of its residents to other residential habilitation centers (RHCs) in the state. Twenty-nine of those were transferred to Rainer School, which is located 57 miles away in Buckley, south-east of Seattle.
Since the state closed Interlake School at Medical Lake in 1993, it has been slow to downsize or close the other RHCs. It currently costs about $150,000 a year to house each of its 1,050 RHC residents.
After years of lobbying efforts by advocates of community-based supports, lawmakers in the last legislative session considered closing Fircrest and consolidating services to save the state money, and to sell the 87-acre campus valued at around $30 million. Despite opposition from the union that represents 700 Fircrest employees and family members of Fircrest residents, the legislature settled on a plan to move 60 residents by June 2005, and to have the state prepare for the facility's eventual closure at a later date.
This week, one state legislator, along with the pro-institution group Friends of Fircrest, suggested that the state pressured CMS to go easy on the department. They claimed that the final CMS report was considerably different from a preliminary report the federal agency had inadvertently released earlier, and that DSHS Secretary Dennis Braddock had pressured the investigators to cover up the problems.
"There were several substantiated complaints in the original report. What happened to them? I'm very puzzled," Representative Maralyn Chase told the P-I.
DSHS and CMS officials flatly denied the allegations.
Related:
"Group blasts new Fircrest report" (Seattle
Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/180139_fircrest30.html
"Washington
State's Institutions: Fircrest School" (Inclusion Daily Express
Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/wa/fircrest.htm
---
# CRIME
Assisted Suicide Campaigner Will
Remain In Jail, Parole Board Says
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily
Express
July 1, 2004
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND--Assisted suicide
campaigner Lesley Martin will not be released from jail until she says that it
was wrong of her to inject her mother with a massive amount of morphine to end
her life.
The Parole Board issued a decision Wednesday denying Martin's request for home detention.
"The Board draws a sharp distinction between breaking the law and attempting to change it," the panel wrote.
The Board told Martin that it "had concerns about undue risk to the community" considering that she is in the position to influence the minds and actions of others while continuing to insist that she would "do the same again or help others do the same in the current legal environment".
The panel also said it was "unrealistic" to believe she could be rehabilitated and would stop her public campaign to make assisted suicide legal in New Zealand.
Martin was convicted in April of attempted murder and given a 15-month sentence, rather than a possible 14-year sentence. Martin, who is the founder of a pro-euthanasia group, admitted helping her 69-year-old mother, Joy, to die in May 1999. Joy Martin had rectal cancer.
The Parole Board wrote that it would reconsider its position once Martin accepts that it was wrong to break the law and agrees to stay away from the media. Otherwise Martin will remain in jail until her statutory release date in December.
Assisted suicide is illegal in New Zealand. Last year, Parliament rejected a bill to make it legal.
Martin's supporters responded to the Board's decision by saying it motivates them more to push for legalizing assisted suicide.
Disability rights groups around the world have opposed efforts to legalize assisted suicide for years. They have argued that doing so would essentially make it "open season" for people with disabilities and anyone else who is considered undesirable or a "burden" on society -- particularly at a time when the cost of health care is high. Despite legal safeguards, many of those who have been assisted to kill themselves have not been in the final stages of terminal illness.
Related:
"Lesley Martin's Application for Home Detention" (New
Zealand Parole Board )
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0406/S00315.htm
---
# ADVOCACY / AWARENESS
Journalists Should Be
Front Line In Fight Against Mental Illness Stigma
July 1,
2004
LONDON, ENGLAND--The following three paragraphs are excerpts from a
brief item in Wednesday's The Guardian:
"Innocents butchered by nutters freed too soon." "Madman caged." Headlines still ram home the message: mental illness means mad, bad and dangerous, so the government's announcement of funding to reduce stigma and discrimination through targeting the media is welcome.
The anti-stigma programme, however, is not new. It builds on Mind Out for Mental Health, a campaign that has, for three years, tackled defamation among employers, young people and the media. As its lead - but firmly independent - journalist, I've trained hundreds of students across England and more than 7,000 media guides have been distributed.
I am convinced that legislation would be a poor substitute for encouraging the media to shelve denial.
Entire article:
"Read between the lines" (The Guardian)
http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,7843,1249808,00.html
Related:
"New
government drive to end mental health stigma" (National Institute for Mental
Health in England)
http://www.nimhe.org.uk/whatshapp/item_display_news.asp?id=683
Mind
Out for Mental Health
http://www.mindout.net
---
# TODAY'S FEATURED EMPLOYMENT
WEBSITE
Worksupport.com: Information, resources & research
about work and disability issues
The purpose of this center is to identify factors that enhance or inhibit businesses from tapping into a pool of potential employees. Let us be your gateway to information, resources, and services regarding the employment of people with disabilities.
http://www.worksupport.com/default.asp
---
# FROM THE IDE ARCHIVES -- From one year ago:
British Boy Sends Message Of Goodwill To Iraqi Boy Injured In
War
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
June 30
2003
WORCESTER, ENGLAND--When 11-year-old Cornel Hrisca-Munn learned
about Ali Ismaeel Abbas, a 12-year-old Iraqi boy who recently lost both arms in
a missile attack, he knew he wanted to help in any way he could.
"I sort of feel what he is going through," said Cornel who himself was born without the lower parts of his arms.
So Cornel wrote a letter to Ali, whose family was killed in the attack on his home.
"I am sorry to hear about your terrible injuries and your family tragedy," Cornel wrote. "I have been following your story every day on the television and I am hoping you will get well soon."
"My name is Cornel Hrisca-Munn and I am 11 years old. I was born in Romania with no lower arms and a twisted leg, which I had to have amputated."
In the letter, Cornel went on to explain that he enjoys playing sports like snooker, basketball, football and swimming.
"Swimming is something I enjoy and I am reasonable quite good at it."
Cornel intends to raise money to help buy prosthetic arms for Ali by swimming 50 lengths of the Worcester Citizens Swimming Pool, this Wednesday, July 2.
---
# DISCUSSION BOARD
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---
# BELOW THE FOLD
Click here for the rest of today's
disability-related news:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/btf/07010437.htm
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