Kansas City woman seeks payment for proving man's wrongful conviction

Two wrongfully convicted men were released from prison.  That's a good thing. But their actions after their release are questionable if what Anne Danaher is saying is true.  She claims she is the lady responsible for their release and they haven't shared any of the nearly $12 million they have collected in settlement for their claim against the city for the wrongful conviction. If the facts as stated are true these men owe her their lives and probably some of their money.   The story follows.

Kansas City Woman seeks payment for proving man's wrongful conviction

DES MOINES, Iowa — Anne Danaher is largely responsible for freeing two Omaha men wrongly convicted in a 1977 murder and now seeking $100 million from the police officers they claim framed them for the crime, but as she watches the civil trial in a federal courtroom she wonders why she’s never been compensated for her years of work on their behalf.

Danaher, now of Kansas City, hopes Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee will ultimately remember she’s the one who pursued their freedom for nine years after they had exhausted appeals and attorneys had given up. If not, a lawsuit she’s filed could force at least one of the men to pay Danaher for her work.  “That’s what this is all about,” she said. “They do not want to pay me.”  The civil trial began Nov. 1 in Des Moines and could conclude next week.  Lawyers for the men declined to comment on Danaher’s role in the matter.

Danaher was 37 and a prison barber at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison in 1993 when she met members of Harrington’s family at the prison. That meeting and discussions with Harrington during 15-minute haircuts convinced her he was innocent in the killing of a former Council Bluffs police officer.  “I sensed an injustice based on my background of coming from Kansas City and growing up in the inner city,” Danaher said. “I’ve always had a passion for the pursuit of justice and I just took on that role and wanted to correct an error that I believed had been committed.”

Harrington insisted that he wasn’t involved in the shotgun murder of former police Capt. John Schweer, who was killed one night in July 1977 while working as a security guard for car dealerships in Council Bluffs.  In 1994 Harrington asked Danaher for help. She had no law degree and no background in criminal investigation, but she was determined to understand how Harrington could have been convicted with no physical evidence and on the testimony of several scared teenagers.
She soon discovered that Harrington had exhausted his appeals and without new evidence, he’d have to serve his life prison sentence.

Danaher, now 55, said Harrington agreed if he was ever freed, she’d be paid for her help. Harrington even wrote and signed a promise to share with her 20 percent of anything he might receive for a wrongful conviction. She considers this a contract.  Danaher quit her prison job to devote her time to researching the case, working with Mary Kennedy, a lawyer from Waterloo who helped inmates with appeals.  Kennedy said Danaher’s commitment and belief in Harrington cannot be overstated.

“It was many, many years of just dead end after dead end after dead end,” Kennedy said. “She drove everywhere and did everything. She slept in her car. She drove five times a month for 10 years to the prison.”

Although two decades had passed since the original murder trial, Danaher found key witnesses who said they had been threatened and coerced to lie by police investigators and prosecutors.  But it was in 1999 that Danaher stumbled upon the evidence that would free the two men.  She obtained the complete Council Bluffs police files in the Schweer murder case and uncovered police reports that had not been provided to the attorneys defending Harrington and McGhee.  The reports describe a white man who had been seen by witnesses near the car lot with a shotgun and that Schweer had confronted the man days before he was shot. The reports indicated that police had considered the man a suspect but stopped pursuing him after they began focusing on Harrington and McGhee, two black teenagers from neighboring Omaha.

“When I looked at those reports my jaw just dropped,” Kennedy said. “It’s unprecedented. Usually by that time the evidence is gone.”

Kennedy sought a new trial for Harrington based on newly discovered evidence. It took three years and several appeals, but the Iowa Supreme Court in February 2003 found that the withheld reports would have allowed Harrington’s defense attorney to present an alternative suspect in the Schweer murder. The evidence could have placed doubt in the minds of jurors about the guilt of Harrington and McGhee.

The Supreme Court reversed Harrington’s conviction. It took a few more legal maneuvers but by October 2003 both men were released after spending 25 of their 43 years in prison.  In 2005 they sued the prosecutors, Pottawattamie County, the investigating police officers and the city of Council Bluffs.
A federal judge found that the prosecutors violated the men’s constitutional right to due process. Appeals in the case ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2009 the court heard arguments but before it could rule, the county settled the case in January 2010 by offering Harrington $7 million and McGhee nearly $5 million.

Danaher sought to be paid but has received no money from either man.  Last year she filed a lawsuit seeking payment. A judge dismissed McGhee’s portion of the case in March, concluding she couldn’t prove he promised to pay her.  McGhee’s attorney, Steve Davis of Chicago, declined to comment.
The case involving Harrington is pending in U.S. District Court in Des Moines and is scheduled for trial late next year. Harrington’s attorneys did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Danaher said she and Harrington had grown close, but that ended once he was released. Within nine days of getting out of prison he was back in Omaha living a life that didn’t include her, she said.
Danaher has been in court daily during the trial, in which Harrington and McGhee allege two retired Council Bluffs police officers and the city should be held responsible for their wrongful imprisonment.
The city of Council Bluffs and the retired officers dispute allegations they framed McGhee and Harrington and contend they had enough evidence to take to prosecutors, noting the men were convicted in two separate jury trials.

Danaher watches lawyers representing McGhee and Harrington use the information she uncovered as they seek $100 million. Their attorneys will get tens of millions of dollars if the jury rules in their favor.
Kennedy said she finds it unbelievable that they won’t share any money with Danaher.
“They don’t even acknowledge that she did anything,” Kennedy said. “Even if they just reimbursed her for her expenses it would be a phenomenal amount.”

NY man suing Facebook claims 50% ownership

Came across this article and found it interesting.  Looks like this man can't keep a lawyer after all the recent allegations.

NY MAN suing Facebook wants lawyer to stay

By CAROLYN THOMPSON


BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A New York man claiming part ownership of Facebook indicated Tuesday that his lawyer wants off the case because he's received threats, but he opposed the lawyer's motion to withdraw.  "I appreciate the fear for his own safety that he has and the threats that have been made against him," Paul Ceglia of Wellsville said during a telephone conference to consider Ohio attorney Dean Boland's request to leave the case.

"Worse has happened to me," he said. He didn't elaborate.

But Ceglia said it would be hard to find another attorney for his 2-year-old lawsuit, especially since his arrest last month on criminal charges accusing him of doctoring and destroying evidence to support his Facebook claim. He's pleaded not guilty.  Boland filed the request to withdraw last month, a few days after Ceglia's arrest on federal charges. He detailed his reasons in two private letters to the judge.
On Tuesday, Facebook attorney Orin Snyder asked that Boland's reasons be made public to determine whether "they might be overblown, exaggerated or worse."

The judge gave Boland until Dec. 4 to respond and said he'd rule on the request after that.  Boland said he would stand by his belief that "I can no longer professionally and ethically represent Mr. Ceglia's interests over my own interests."  "I have to deal with my own life, my own career, my own existence," he said.  At least a half dozen lawyers or law firms have withdrawn as Ceglia's attorney before Boland. Their reasons have not been publicly disclosed.

Ceglia's original attorney, Paul Argentieri of Hornell, has stayed on the case in a secondary role. But he said Tuesday that his own future is uncertain because he'd recently received a subpoena to testify about Ceglia before a grand jury.  Snyder, from the New York City firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, dismissed Ceglia's suggestion that he'd influenced federal prosecutors downstate to bring the criminal charges to better Facebook's chances in the civil case.

In his 2010 lawsuit, Ceglia claims he and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg signed a software development contract in 2003 that included a provision entitling Ceglia to half-ownership of Facebook in exchange for $1,000 in startup money for Zuckerberg's then-fledgling idea.

Zuckerberg counters the document he signed had only to do with a street-mapping database called Streetfax that Ceglia had hired Zuckerberg, then a Harvard University student, to help develop.

Earlier this year, attorneys for Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook and Zuckerberg filed a motion to have Ceglia's lawsuit dismissed, asserting that Ceglia had forged documents, fabricated emails and destroyed evidence. They also said he had waited too long - six years - to bring his claim and the statute of limitations had expired.
The motion is pending.

Leukemia Hoax uncovered when women lied about boy's death

I what can only be described as the definition of sick and twisted, a Colorado women told everyone that a boy had leukemia and was making the whole story up.  In what turned out to be an elaborate plot with no real purpose the women even faked an obituary.   Authorities are determining if a law has been broken.  Here it the article in the Huffington Post. 



Leukemia Hoax May not Violate Law, Prosecutor Says

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
GYPSUM, Colo. -- The story began circulating in October: A boy with leukemia had moved with his family to spend his final days in the Colorado mountains.  The Eagle Valley High School team in Gypsum drew inspiration from the tale and dedicated a game to the 9-year-old boy known as Alex. A radio station took up the cause, and a Facebook page bearing his picture drew more than 1,000 followers.

However, the story began to unravel when he failed to show up at the game, and the woman spreading the story said he suffered a seizure and could not attend. It wasn't long before she said he had died.
She submitted an obituary to local media, but no one could find a death certificate, The Vail Daily ( HTTP://TINYURL.COM/B5DL9JV ) reported.

Police are now calling the story a hoax and investigating whether it violated any laws.  "This story just shows the best of human nature and the worst of human nature," said Holli Snyder, general manager of NRC Broadcasting, parent company of KSKE, which broadcast the story.  Authorities are trying to determine if the 22-year-old woman who spread the story collected any money from the hoax, Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said Thursday.  So far, they haven't found any evidence that she did.  "It hinges on whether any money was taken," Hurlbert said about the possibility of charges.
The woman has not been identified by authorities. The photo of the boy was traced to a Kids Cancer Crusade website and turned out to a South African boy who is still alive.

People told the newspaper they felt guilty about perpetuating the hoax but proud about the way the community came together to support a child and make his final days happy ones.  "This story took my heart," said disc jockey Jordon Lyles, who played songs dedicated to Alex at a fall festival. "We are all just good people, when it comes right down to it."

Man spends 30 Years in Prison for a Murder he didn't commit. Gets Released

Thirty years ago a mentally ill man was arrested for the murder of a 31 year old woman.. The case looked nice and tidy it even had a confession, but that wasn't the case.  It turns out the detectives and police that worked the case coerced the confession, hid fingerprint evidence, and disregarded DNA material that ruled out George Allen.  They fixated on him and put together a false case, that got him convicted.

Imagine spending 30 years in prison for a crime you didn't commit...Now being released into a new world with no work experience, no money, no education, and 30 years of missed opportunities.  Here is the article that tells the terrible story of the wrong conviction and the final correction of the mistake.  Thank God he partnered up with the criminal defense lawyers at the innocence project.

30-Year inmate freed after conviction tossed
KMBC.com

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. —
An inmate imprisoned nearly three decades for a rape and murder conviction walked free Wednesday after a judge ruled that St. Louis police hid or destroyed evidence that cast doubt on his guilt while misleading the mentally ill man into a false confession.

Wearing loose-fitting, donated clothes and appearing frail, George Allen Jr., 56, grinned as he hugged friends, family and supporters outside the Cole County courthouse moments after a brief hearing before Circuit Judge Daniel Green.  "I have spent 30 years in prison as an innocent man, but I never gave up hope," Allen said, reading from a prepared statement. "I knew some day the truth would come out... Thank God this nightmare has finally ended."

Allen, who suffers from schizophrenia and was blinded in one eye during his lengthy imprisonment, served 29 years of a 95-year sentence - and narrowly avoided the death penalty - in the February 1982 death of 31-year-old Mary Bell. She was attacked and killed in her St. Louis apartment during a blinding February snowstorm. Three witnesses testified that Allen was 10 miles away at his mother's home in University City at the time of Bell's attack during a historic blizzard that crippled the St. Louis region.

On Nov. 2, Green ordered Allen's release in a blistering 75-page ruling that suggested St. Louis police ignored and suppressed numerous pieces of evidence. Among them were blood tests that ruled out Allen as the source of the semen found on Bell's robe and fingerprints rejected by investigators as unusable smudges that not only excluded him but were also used in comparison with other suspects.

There also were questions about the accuracy of testimony by Bell co-worker, who said she called out her friend's name outside the victim's apartment during the attack. Police detectives sent the co-worker to a hypnotist to shore up her account, a session that wasn't disclosed to Allen's previous defense lawyers.

The undisclosed evidence was unearthed within the past two years by lawyers working for and with the Innocence Project, the New York group that has helped free hundreds of wrongfully convicted inmates nationwide, often by relying on more advanced, previously unavailable DNA technology. Several lawyers from the St. Louis firm Bryan Cave also assisted Allen's defense on a pro bono basis.

"He's looking forward to some home cooking by Mom.  His sister was there and he was able to hug and kiss those people for the first time in decades.  There was not a dry eye in the house, I don't think," said Laura O'Sullivan, a local member of the Innocence Project.
Some law students from the University of Missouri-Kansas City attended Wednesday's hearing.
Innocence Project attorney Olga Akselrod said the group plans to request a formal review by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce of all cases handled by now-deceased St. Louis homicide detective Herb Riley and criminologist Joseph Crow, both of whom were singled out for questionable conduct in Green's ruling.

The judge found that Riley steered Allen into falsely confessing after more than 40 denials while overlooking details provided by Allen that didn't match the circumstances of Bell's death. Allen claimed he was threatened and beaten during the interrogation, but the judge doesn't address that allegation.

And a lab report written by Crow contained scratched-out notes describing the blood test results that eliminated Allen as a source.

"We have serious concerns that this case is not an outlier," Akselrod said.

Joyce, who last week declined to again prosecute Allen but cited procedural flaws rather than certainty about Allen's innocence, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Joyce spokeswoman said the prosecutor was preparing a written response for release later Wednesday.

Allen's release is not the end of his legal process. The Missouri Attorney General's Office is appealing Green's ruling and opposed his release on his own recognizance, stances that drew sharp criticism from defense lawyers.  "This appeal has just extended the pain and heartache for Mr. Allen and his family," Akselrod said. "They're just wasting the state's resources needlessly."  State prosecutors responded with a written statement provided by a spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Koster and attributed to deputy attorney general Joe Dandurand.

"The trial judge is the first and only person to have found Mr. Allen to have been prejudiced during his trial," the statement reads. "Numerous judges and courts have affirmed Mr. Allen's convictions in the years following the jury's verdict. "  Dandurand added that the state's appeal is "part of the normal safeguarding process." Should the Western District Court of Appeals uphold Green's ruling, the state won't further pursue the case, he said.

Among those attending Allen's hearing was Josh Kezer, one of the 22 Missouri inmates who have been exonerated over the past two decades. Kezer was released in 2009 after spending more than 15 years in prison for the murder of a southeast Missouri college student. He too was released after a Cole County judge found that prosecutors withheld key evidence from defense attorneys.

Allen was arrested about a month after Bell's attack when police mistook him for a convicted rapist whom he reportedly resembled, in part because both were African-Americans in their 20s with shaved heads. Officers who interviewed Allen before Riley dismissed him as a suspect.

Mother Participated in letting Two Daughters get Raped

This is one of the strangest and just all around sickening displays of disregard for the safety of one's children I have seen.  It turns out that the mother of these young girls was not only turning a blind eye to the rapes of her two young daughters she was actually helping the man.  Some of the quotes are just completely ridiculous.  Here is the article in the Kansas City Star.  Then followed up by another update from the Star.

KCK firls testify in rape, human trafficking trial.

By: Hurst Laviana

A Kansas City, Kan., woman described to a Sedgwick County jury Wednesday how she made repeated trips to Wichita with her young teenage daughters so a Wichita man could have sex with them in an east Wichita motel room.  “Who rented the room?” Deputy District Attorney Marc Bennett asked.

“Sometimes I did, sometimes he did,” the mother said.  “The lights were on?” Bennett asked. “Correct.”  “You could see what he was doing to your girls?”  “Correct. I’d tell him to stop but he wouldn’t. He told me he’s the head of the household, and he wanted things to go the way he wanted them to go.”

The testimony came in the trial of James Lamont Brown, 49, who is facing multiple counts of rape and aggravated human trafficking for crimes that allegedly occurred from April 2010 through June 2011. The girls, now 14 and 15 years old, both testified Wednesday that Brown had sex with them on at least five weekend trips they made to Wichita with their mother in 2010 and 2011.  The younger sister said they followed the same routine every time after checking into the Econo Lodge at 8302 E. Kellogg.
“He would take off his clothes. Mom would take off her clothes, and they would have sex,” the girl said. “And then he would come to me.”

The mother, who is not being named to protect the identity of her daughters, has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated human trafficking and is facing a sentence of life without parole for 25 years.
Seconds after defense lawyer Mark Sevart finished cross-examining the older girl, Brown startled the courtroom by announcing, “Objection. I’ve got a list of questions.”  After the jury was excused, Brown told District Judge Greg Waller that he had prepared a list of questions he wanted to ask the girl, but that his lawyer, Sevart, refused to ask them. Waller asked why the questions hadn’t been given to Sevart earlier. Sevart said that his client had refused to meet with him when he tried to visit him several times in jail. Waller refused a request by Brown that he be allowed to represent himself for the duration of the trial.

After the jury returned, the mother said that Brown wanted to get both of her daughters pregnant so he could expand the size of his family. She didn’t have a clear answer when Bennett asked why she allowed the abuse to happen.  “Why didn’t you turn around in Emporia and go home?” Bennett asked at one point. “I should have, but I didn’t,” she said.

The prosecution is scheduled to rest its case Thursday.

Wichita Man Found Guilty of Raping two KCK girls

By Hurst Laviana

A Sedgwick County jury on Friday convicted a Wichita man of 17 of 20 felony charges that accused him of raping two Kansas City, Kan., girls after their mother checked them into a Wichita hotel so the man could have sex with them.  Prosecutors said police became involved after the younger girl mentioned the abuse to a woman who was braiding her hair.

The defendant, James Lamont Brown, 49, showed no emotion as District Judge Greg Waller read the verdicts shortly after 4:30 p.m. Friday. Waller set sentencing for Jan. 10.  Because of his extensive criminal record, Brown would face a mandatory sentence of life without parole even if convicted of only one of the 20 charges.  Brown was charged with 10 counts each of rape and aggravated human trafficking for having sex with the girls, who are now 14 and 15, in 2010 and 2011. Some of the charges cover a time when the girls were 11 and 12 years old.

The girls’ mother, who is not being named to protect the identity of her daughters, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated human trafficking and is facing a sentence of life without parole for 25 years.  She testified this week that on at least five occasions she sat on a motel bed and watched as Brown had sex with her daughters. Both girls also testified that Brown had sex with them on multiple occasions.  Brown denied the allegations when he testified Thursday in his own behalf.

At the outset of the trial, Deputy District Attorney Marc Bennett said the rapes occurred after the mother drove the girls to the same hotel. He said the rapes always occurred in rooms with two beds. The mother and one daughter would typically sit on one bed, he said, while Brown had sex with the other daughter on the other bed. He said the girls often cried during the rapes.  “Sometimes he would stop if they cried loud enough,” Bennett said. “Other times he wouldn’t.”  The younger sister testified that they followed the same routine every time after checking into the motel.  “He would take off his clothes. Mom would take off her clothes, and they would have sex,” the girl said. “And then he would come to me.”

The mother testified that Brown, whom she identified as a cousin, wanted to get both of her daughters pregnant so he could expand the size of his family.  At one point, Bennett asked the mother if she could see what Brown was doing to the girls.  “Correct. I’d tell him to stop, but he wouldn’t. He told me he’s the head of the household, and he wanted things to go the way he wanted them to go.”

She didn’t have a clear answer when Bennett asked why she allowed the abuse to happen.  “Why didn’t you turn around in Emporia and go home?” Bennett asked.  “I should have, but I didn’t,” she said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/09/3909666/human-trafficking-defendant-guilty.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/07/3905769/girls-testify-in-rape-human-trafficking.html#storylink=cpy

Why do we have the electoral college?

As some of you may know I write for 17 newspapers across Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa.  I author a legal advice article in which people will write in with legal questions.  The website is www.newspaperatttorney.com, this question was submitted by three different people so I thought I would also answer it on this blog as well.

Q: Why do we have the electoral college for presidential elections?

*First let me preface this by saying its not the type of question I generally answer, it is not exactly a legal question.  That being said three different people submitted this question so... I'll do my best.

A:  The electoral college was installed for two primary reasons: (1) It was a compromise between very populated states and states without a large population.  It was a compromise between big states and small states.  It was supposed to keep small states from getting dominated by large states.  The idea was to keep candidates from just going to the populous states and leaving out the small states.  (2) You have to remember when the system was set up over 200 years ago the political, economic, and well everything was different than it it now.  The United States didn't have 20 channels of 24/7 news covering everything and broadcasting it out in HD to your TV, computer, and cell phone.  People were worried that some rouge but wealthy, "crazy person" would trick the electorate into voting for them.  The founders were worried that the average man wasn't smart enough to vote.  They set up the electoral college to act as a buffer between the common man and electing the president.  The idea being to save the people from the people.

Kansas Lawyer seeks reinstatement after leaking Guantanamo documents

A lawyer that was convicted during a court martial proceeding back in 2007 for leaking secret documents about Guantanamo Bay detainees is trying to get his license to practice law back after what looks like a three year suspension.

Apparently, Mathew Diaz was a Naval officer whom printed off the names of about 500 Guantanamo Bay detainees and sent them to a advocacy group trying to obtain the names of the detainees and provide them legal counsel.

Here is the article in the San Fransisco Chronicle.

Former Navy Lawyer goes before Kansas Supreme Court
By: John Milburn

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Navy lawyer who was convicted during a court martial in 2007 for mailing secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees is seeking to get his law license reinstated in Kansas.  Attorneys for Matthew Diaz will argue on Thursday before the Kansas Supreme Court to accept a recommendation from the Office of Judicial Administration to suspend his law license for three years effective 2008. Because of the timeline, Diaz would be reinstated with the Kansas bar.

The disciplinary hearing panel said Diaz warranted "significant discipline" for his actions, which included the act of printing and sending classified information and sending it to an unauthorized person.
"The respondent (Diaz) mailed the card the day before he left the island so as to reduce his chance of facing consequences for his actions," the hearing panel noted in its filing with the Kansas Supreme Court.

However, disciplinary administrator Stan Hazlett sought for the panel to recommend disbarring Diaz.
Diaz, who was a lieutenant commander in the Navy, is currently living in New York. He earned his law degree in 1994 from Washburn University in Topeka and was admitted to practice law in Kansas.

He is represented by Wichita attorney Jack Focht who argues that Diaz by virtue of his court martial, discharge from the Navy and prison term had been punished enough for his actions.  Focht argues that Diaz was torn between what he believed was his ethical duty to see that the accused terrorists received legal counsel and his duties as a military officer to obey orders.  Prosecutors say Diaz went to his office in January 2005 and used his classified computer to log onto a classified military network and access a database with detainee information. They say he printed information that included the names of 550 detainees, their nationalities, the interrogators assigned to them and intelligence sources and methods.

Diaz then cut the document into 39 sheets that he placed inside a card with a big heart and a Chihuahua on its front and mailed it to Barbara Olshansky, they say.  At the time, Olshansky worked for the Center for Constitutional Rights, a nonprofit legal group that was suing the federal government to obtain the names of detainees because the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled they had the right to challenge their detention.  She turned the document over to federal authorities, and they traced it to Diaz.  According to court documents, Diaz sent the list of names on the day before he was to leave Guantanamo, knowing that if he was no longer on the island he would not have to answer for his actions.

Diaz's attorneys noted that their client had strong feelings toward prisoner rights. When he was 16 years old, his father, who was a nurse, was convicted in Southern California for multiple counts of murder for injecting patients with a lethal dose of Lidocaine. His father was sentenced to death but died of natural causes in prison in 2010.