Friends of Justice

I discovered on the Marty Tankleff blog that a book about the case will be relased on Tuesday. I wish it much success!

On another note, Bee’s friend David came home from the hospital on Tuesday and is doing well.

-Bob

This article appeared in today’s Berkshire Eagle. This time the bullies who run Berkshire County (and DSS) picked on someone who had the means and will to fight back.

I know that Lou is determined to fight on against the corruption that poisons our legal and child-protection systems. I wish him every success.

-Bob Chatelle

Dear Friend of Justice,

I recently posted an entry suggesting that people send a sympathy card to Paul Litchfield, who recently lost his sister. Another sister, Robin, emailed me to add that this coming Friday (December 12th) is also Paul’s birthday. So you may want to send a birthday card as well.

Paul’s address is:

Paul Litchfield
NCCI Gardner
POB 466
Gardner MA 01440

-Bob

Dear Friend of Justice,

Recently I asked for a few people to write to the prisoner that I’ve been calling “Kevin.” But there are a great many people behind bars who need correspondents. (I have a list here:

http://www.bobchatelle.net/please-write-to-a-prisoner/

There are three I would like to mention whom I think would especially benefit from some outside friends.

One is Elsie Oscarson, wrongfully convicted of sexually abusing her own children. You can read about her case here.

Elsie’s address is:

Elsie Oscarson
T80574 (Algon unit)
MCI-Framingham
P. O. Box 9007
Framingham, MA 01704

The other person is Ryan Smith, falsely accused at 13 and sent to prison at 15. (Read his story here.) Ryan is currently scheduled for release in June, when he turns 25. He needs help preparing for this transition. If you’d like to write to Ryan, please email me.

The third person is Paul Litchfield, another innocent person convicted in Berkshire County. You can read Paul’s story here. Last Saturday, Paul’s sister, Patricia, died after a long battle with cancer. It has been very difficult for Paul, not being able to be with his family at this time. You can send a sympathy card or note of condolence to him:

Paul Litchfield W80607 T103A
NCCI Gardner
500 Colony Road
PO Box 466
Gardner, MA 01440

In a couple of weeks, when the holiday season is upon us, I will post a message asking people to send cards to prisoners.

-Bob Chatelle

Dear Friend of Justice,

I just received this from the Tankleff support team:

Today Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office announced it would not retry Marty, citing insufficient evidence to prove his guilt.

For Marty, it’s all over but the paperwork, as Suffolk County Judge Robert Doyle still has to sign off on the AG’s motion to dismiss the charges. That should be done by the end of July.

The mood is collective relief, with Marty celebrating at home with family, friends and supporters.

Hopefully this is the end of Marty’s ordeal, but it’s not the end of the story, and we’ll be following it all on www.MartyTankleff.org and the Marty Tankleff Blog.

Today Marty profusely thanked his family, friends and supporters, and that includes every one of you who took the time to witness what was happening here. Without public opinion and support, he doesn’t make it this far.

Congratulations, Team Tankleff!
__________

It was just over two years ago that Jim D’Entremont and I went down to New York to attend a fundraiser for Marty Tankleff. The day before the event, we received a call from John Swomley telling us that Judge Fecteau had granted Bernard Baran’s new-trial motion.

Attending that fund raiser was bittersweet. Nearly everyone had heard about Bee and they congratulated us on the victory. But Marty and his supporters were still reeling from a nasty decision by the judge who had heard his appeal.

Two years ago today, Bernard Baran was released from prison. And his case still is not resolved. But we are joyous that Marty’s case is resolved, and that he can now get on with his life.

Will this country ever see any meaningful criminal-justice reform so that fine young people like Marty Tankleff, Bernard Baran, and so many others won’t have to spend the best years of their life rotting in dangerous, degrading prisons?

-Bob Chatelle

See http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/freeforall/archive/2008/06/11/state-court-bench-loses-one-of-its-best.aspx

-Bob

From Lonna Manning:

Dear Friend of Justice,

I know that many of you like to send birthday cards to innocent people in prison. We have two birthdays coming up in the next week:

Nancy Smith (http://members.shaw.ca/imaginarycrimes/smith&allen.htm)
#W034304
c/o Ohio Reformatory for Women
1479 Collins Ave.
Marysville, OH 43040
(May 26th)

Joseph Allen (http://members.shaw.ca/imaginarycrimes/smith&allen.htm)
A 293486
Mansfield Correctional Institution
P. O. Box 788
Mansfield, Ohio 44901-0788
(May 29th)

May 26th is also Bernard Baran’s (http://www.freebaran.org/) birthday.

I hope some of you will take a minute to brighten the day of a victim of our broken-down criminal-justice system.

-Bob Chatelle

When I first got into the justice-advocacy business, one of the first people I encountered was Carol Hopkins. Recently, Carol sent me the following email and asked me to post it to this blog:

Dear Friends of Justice,

As most of you know I retired 10 years ago from the “injustice business.” I have only come out of seclusion a few times on very special cases. Fortunately, in each of those cases the unjustly accused and convicted had a quick release. This time I am writing about a case that desperately needs your help. It is in the process of reversal; the court has “found good cause to reverse” Dr. Dubria’s donviction. The case is in the process of being briefed prior to ordering an evidentiary hearing. I have absolutely NO doubt the case will be overturned but time is of the essence.

Dr. Sam Dubria’s mother and father are in their late 80’s. Lourdes Dubria has recently undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer. His father, Pat Dubria, has been nearly blinded by a stroke several months ago. Despite their age and fraility, they are still working full-time to pay the attorneys working for their son’s freedom. Dr. Sam needs to come home and be with these wonderful people in the last days of their lives.

While Mr. and Mrs. Dubria have been working in what should have been the retired years they enjoyed their grandchildren, the San Diego District Attorney’s office has hidden, and perhaps destroyed, files, delayed and continued at every opportunity. The original DA on the case is now a sitting Superior Court judge. He has filed a declaration claiming t he provided Brady evidence to the defense at the time of trial that was, in fact, never provided, never bate-stamped, and not in the district attorney’s own case file. There is no element of this case that is not tainted. It is only attorneys Tracy and Thor Emblem’s persistence, perseverance, and obsessive attention to science and detail that has resulted in the current order.

For full details on this case, please go to http://www.free-drsamdubria.com/.

There is a petition to sign on the website. Please take the time to do so. It would be helpful if you forwarded the information on to those in your address book who you think would be interested and take the time to sign.

If you would like to be kept informed about this case, please write back and I will put you on the Sam Dubria information board.

If you would like to help in some way, please let me know. We particularly need help in the San Diego area reaching out to the media, clubs and organizations to inform them about the case. It is my hope that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will drop the case and let Dr. Sam go free before, or soon after, the July 16 hearing but we need to be prepared to apply political pressure if she does not. Continuing to hold an innocent man is a political decision; we will need a political solution.

A thumbnail sketch of the case follows.

Seventeen years ago, a young Filipino-American, Dr., Sam Dubria, was convicted of murder with special enhancements for rape. He was sentenced to life without parole.

The facts of the case are that Dr. Dubria and his long time friend, only recently a romantic friend, Jennifer Klapper were vacationing at a hotel in Carlsbad. They had spent several nights before with the Dubria family in Glendale. Dr. Dubria had just finished his residency in gerentology and this was a celebratory trip.

Jennifer had a long medical history of health problems with multiple trips to the hospital for arhythmia, severe headaches, nausea, dizziness. She was approximately 25% below recommended body weight at the time of her death. Those records were received by the Deputy District Attorney during the trial but never provided to the defense. Instead, Deputy DA Casserly argued in closing that Jennifer was a perfectly healthy young woman knowing that she had this history. These medical records were only discovered within the past two years by Tracy Emblem, the same appellate attorney who did the Ken Marsh case.

The Deputy DA’s theory of the case was that Dr. Dubria chloroformed Jennifer, raped her, she died and he then tried to cover it up. There is no evidence for any of the above. There is evidence that there could have been some contamination in the Medical Examiner’s lab. There is also evidence that the Medical Examiner changed her testimony to fit the DA’s theory of the crime. At the time of autopsy she explained the abrasions on Jennifer’s face as the usual result of paramedic intervention. At trial she testified that the abrasions were as a result of her attempts to ward off a rape.

There is much more on the website. This is a far story than any CSI could imagine.

Carol Hopkins
61-840-5154