Archive for the ‘Smith/Allen’ Category

NBC Dateline to Air Segment on the Smith/Allen Case Sunday 7 p.m. Eastern

Friday, April 6th, 2012

Dear Friend of Justice,

I haven’t posted about this case for a long time. So you may want to refresh your memory with the following link:

http://www.crimemagazine.com/shame-lorain-ohio

I just learned from a friend’s Facebook posting that NBC Dateline is doing a segment about this case this Sunday at seven p.m. Eastern

My expectations, however, are very low.

For one thing, here is the only thing NBC has posted:

http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/dateline-nbc-2012/episode-34-season-20/dateline-nbc/100110

No mention of Joseph Allen at all.

I phoned Joseph. He knew nothing about the program.

He hadn’t been contacted. He is certain that his lawyer wasn’t contacted.

One thing every agrees about this case: They are either both guilty or both innocent.

I don’t plan to watch, but will be interested in hearing what you think.

Any publicity is good publicity I suppose.

-Bob

Two Justices Dissented

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Two of the Ohio Supreme Court Justices actually changed their minds on their earlier Smith-Allen decision.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/04/ohio_supreme_court_upholds_dec.html

-Bob

Ohio Supreme Court Refuses to Reconsider Smith-Allen Decision

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

http://morningjournal.com/articles/2011/04/19/news/doc4dad9d4ed862e669890063.txt

This is not a setback — this was the result expected by all parties. No one seriously thought the high court would reverse itself. But the motion for reconsideration bought some time.

Smith’s attorney (with assistance from the Ohio Innocence Project) evidently has a new-trial motion to file at the resentencing hearing. Joseph’s attorney has not indicated his plans.
I suspect that the prosecutors would just like to see the case go away at this point. I think justice will eventually prevail.
-Bob

Cleveland Plain Dealer on the Smith-Allen Case

Monday, April 18th, 2011

One of accusers in Lorain Head Start child-molestation case, now 22, beginning to have doubts if abuse ever occurred

Another Bizarre Twist in the Smith/Allen Case

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Lorain police chief was working to free bus driver he helped lock up

The Lorain Ohio Police Department

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Cleveland’s Scene magazine has an interesting article about the Lorain, Ohio police department and the ex-cop (Joseph Montelon) who supplied the media with the Joseph Allen lineup video.

-Bob

Reason Magazine on the Smith/Allen Case

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

http://reason.com/archives/2011/02/14/sticklers-for-procedure

An Editorial Today Supporting Justice for Smith and Allen

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2011/02/13/opinion/mj4103288.txt

Some of the Reasons I Believe Joseph Allen and Nancy Smith are Innocent

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

The first accusation was false. A young mother — who had previously been convicted for distributing cocaine from her home  — claimed that on May 7, 1993, her daughter hadn’t gone to  Lorain Head Start School. She claimed that Nancy Smith had driven the children on her bus that afternoon to see a man named “Joseph.” Joseph allegedly tied the girl up, taped her eyes, and molested her with a stick. But the bus odometer showed that Smith had driven her usual route. School records showed that the daughter had been present at school. The aide who rode the bus with Nancy said that nothing unusual had happened that week, And Nancy that afternoon hadn’t even been driving the school bus. She had been driving for a Meals-on-Wheels program. The little girl showed no signs of physical harm.

The other children initially denied the mother’s story. When the children on the bus were questioned by the police, they said that Nancy had never touched them, that they didn’t know a man named Joseph, and that they liked Nancy.

The accusing mother created a moral panic by contacting the other Head Start parents, telling them her unfounded accusations, and causing them to aggressively question their own children. She also went to the media, appearing on a local TV station’s newscast. More accusations resulted.

“Joseph” was variously described as white, black, black with white spots, white with black spots. Several children said he had blue eyes. The first person the accusing mother identified as “Joseph” was white. Joseph Allen is a very dark black man.

Joseph Allen’s home was quite different than what was described by the children. The abuse supposedly occurred upstairs and in the basement. Allen lived in a single-story cottage with no basement. No one ever saw a yellow school bus parked in his neighborhood.

Audiotapes show that the children were improperly, coercively interviewed. On these tapes the children initially deny that any abuse took place. But the interrogators refuse to take no for an answer. Two experts (Dr. Mel Guyer and Dr. Kathleen Quinn) later reviewed the videotapes and affirmed that they contained no evidence of wrongdoing by either Smith or Allen. Dr, Guyer said, “All of the interviews are outrageous, horrible, terrible,,,there is a high incidence of suggestibility. It’s outrageous.” The judge refused to allow the jurors to hear these tapes.

The lineup procedures used against Joseph Allen were critically flawed. The police first used a photo lineup. Nine of the ten children  —  including the daughter of the first accusing mother – either picked no one or picked someone other than Allen. The first mother had always claimed that “Joseph” was white. But after Joseph Allen’s picture was published in the paper, she brought the daughter to the police station to identify Allen. Most of the children also failed to identify Allen during the live lineup. Those who did were immediately taken away. Those that didn’t were encouraged to reconsider or were brought back. Children were coaxed in various ways to pick Allen. A child’s failure to identify Allen was attributed to fear — and thus evidence of Allen’s guilt.

The only witness to link Smith and Allen apparently perjured herself. Smith and Allen to this day have never met outside the courtroom. At trial, an aide claimed that Allen had once come on the bus and terrified the children. But during the initial recorded police interview, this same aide had explained that the black man who had come on the bus was the father of one of the children. The father testified to this effect at the trial, but the prosecution discredited him by saying he was a criminal. The aide also said that neither Nancy nor the children ever talked about a man named Joe or Joseph. The prosecution was well aware of the aide’s initial interview. According to affidavits, prosecutor Jonathan Rosenbaum once said to another witness, “God damn it, you will answer the way I want you to answer. Is that understood?”

For more information, see  http://www.crimemagazine.com/shame-lorain-ohio

A video About the Bogus Lineup in the Smith/Allen Case

Friday, February 11th, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1MWEzjiNI

I have also seen the transcript of another video that proves that a key prosecution witness perjured herself — with the complicity of the prosecutors. I hope that this will soon also be made public.

-Bob