Another major case sponsored by NCRJ has just been taken on by Innocence Projects, and this weekend the defendant’s claims of innocence were featured in an article on the front page of the Boston Globe and a video at the Globe web site..

Defendant Victor Rosario has been in prison in Massachusetts for almost three decades, charged and convicted for setting a fire which killed several people, including three young children. It appears Mr. Rosario did not set the fire and that in fact it might have been an accident. In all likelihood he is innocent, the victim of “junk science” in fire investigations as they were routinely conducted nationwide until just a few years ago.

Three years ago NCRJ Executive Director Robert Chatelle attended a conference sponsored by the Innocence Network. A major topic at this conference was forensic science developments in arson investigations.

There Chatelle met attorney Andrea Petersen. Petersen represented, pro bono, Victor Rosario. She was convinced of his innocence and knew that a new-trial motion would require the help of very expensive experts. Rosario and his family had no money.

NCRJ vetted the case and approved it for fiscal sponsorship. We took the case because the death of so many children in the fire seriously compromised Rosario’s right to a fair trial. NCRJ also realized the importance of developments in arson science and were eager to take on another battle against junk science in the courtroom.

NCRJ raised the tens of thousands of dollars necessary to hire the needed experts.

We also contacted New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) at Boston University, suggesting they take a look at the case. NECIR did so, and their report appears today in the Boston Globe. The Globe has also produced a video about the case.

Mr. Rosario’s case has been accepted by the New England Innocence Project and by the Innocence Project of the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services. The legal team plans to file a new-trial motion this summer.

NCRJ is proud of our involvement in this important case. Victor Rosario has spent 28 long, lonely and painful years in prison for crimes he never should have been convicted or accused of. We are hopeful he will soon come to know freedom and justice.

Rosario’s is the second NCRJ-sponsored case to be accepted recently by Innocence Projects. Last week the “Four Lives Lost” San Antonio “mass child abuse” case was accepted by the Innocence Project of Texas. Read more about this case.

Posted by rbchatelle on Sunday, June 27th, 2010 @ 5:48PM
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Newsroom

No comments