Friends of Justice

Dear Friend of Justice,

This morning I received the wonderful news that the acquittals in the Smith/Allen case will stand. The case is over!

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/10/07/acquittals-in-head-start-case-to-stand/

I called Joseph to congratulate him right after I heard the news, and discovered that he didn’t know about it yet. (Joseph is in Boston visiting his brother.)  When I told him what had happened, he shouted, “Thank you Jesus hallelujah!” Some Boston NCRJ folks will be getting together with him this Saturday. I hope to post more after that.

-Bob Chatelle

Dear Friend of Justice,

I had been expecting to read a news story like this for the past month, ever since Judge Burge ordered the acquittals of Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen:   http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/07/24/the-fight-continues-for-head-start-pair-smith-and-allen/

I once heard a prosecutor say on television that convicting an innocent person was his worst nightmare. That is true for good prosecutors. But for far too many prosecutors, their worst nightmare is convicting an innocent person and not getting away with it.

Bernard Baran was released from prison in June of 2006. But his legal battle continued for three more years. He fought the battle outside the walls — far better than fighting from inside. And onerous restrictions had been placed on Baran, restrictions that do not apply to Smith and Allen.

During the past three years, more and more people found out about the Baran case and realized that it was a monstrous miscarriage of justice. When they did, people realized that DA David Capeless was either completely immoral or a total fool. Eventually, continuing the fight became politically untenable for him.

My hope is that there will be increased media attention paid to Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen, both locally and nationally. Some prosecutors may not be bothered by sending innocent people to prison. But, fortunately, a great many American citizens still are.

-Bob

Dear Friend of Justice,

I have just received word that Judge Burge has voided the convictions in the notorious Nancy Smith/Joseph Allen case. See http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/06/24/burge-tosses-convictions-in-head-start-case/

That the convictions of Smith and Allen were a gross miscarriage of justice is apparent to any rational person who has ever taken a look at these cases. Judge Burge is obviously a rational person.

The prosecutors and their supporters, on the other hand, are either irrational, ignorant, or dishonest — or some combination. I’m sure they are not going to let the matter drop. But we can hope that the danger of these fine people being sent back to prison has lessened considerably.

For some background, see http://members.shaw.ca/imaginarycrimes/smith&allen.htm

-Bob Chatelle

Dear Friend of Justice,

My organization, the National Center for Reason and Justice (ncrj.org) has long been involved in the case of Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen. Many of you are already familiar with this terrible miscarriage of justice. (If you are not, please read this article.)

Due to a sentencing error, Nancy Smith was recently released on $100,000 cash bond. (See my post on her release.)

Nancy was fortunate in having someone post the bond. Joseph could likely be released  on the same bond, but he has no resources and his family can’t raise that kind of money. Neither can the NCRJ.

The alternative would be to pay a bondsman. The bonsdman’s fee would be $10,000 and that is non-refundable.

Difficult as it may be, the NCRJ is attempting to raise the money.

You can help in three ways.

One, you could make a tax-deductible donation to the NCRJ’s Prisoner Relief Fund. Send your donation to:

NCRJ
POB 191101
Roxbury MA 02119

Write “Prisoner Relief Fund on your check.

You can also make your donation by credit card.

The NCRJ can’t guarantee your funds will be used to help Joseph. (Donations earmarked for a specific individual are not deductible.) But giving to the Prisoner Relief Fund will give the Board the power to help. Funds in the Prisoner Relief Fund can only be used to help prisoners. Your donation will not go towards administrative expenses. If you don’t help Joseph, you will help someone else.

The other thing you can do is to email me ([email protected]) and make a pledge to help pay Joseph’s bond. Your pledge will be called in if and only if (1) bond is granted and (2) there have been sufficient donations and pledges to pay the bond fee. (If your pledge is called in, however, the NCRJ will not be able to issue a tax receipt.)

The third way you can help is to send a link to this post to anyone you know who might be willing to help us right this terrible wrong.

Thank you for any help that you can give.

–Bob Chatelle

I received this today from Lona Manning, my friend and a Friend of Justice:

Today, February 4, 2009, Nancy Smith is tasting freedom for the first time in fifteen years.

Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen were convicted of sexually abusing young children in August of 1994. Smith, a 37-year-old single mother with four children, was a bus driver for the Lorain, Ohio Head Start. The prosecution charged that after delivering the children to school, she would sometimes keep three or four of them and take them to a mysterious location, where she and a man known to the children only as “Joseph” would commit various sexual acts with them, make them drink urine, and poke them with needles and sticks.

But an examination of the police investigation leaves many disturbing questions; questions about the children’s testimony, questions about whether Smith and Allen even knew each other — questions about whether, in fact, any crimes were committed at all.

Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James Burge overturned her five consecutive life sentences and released her on $100,000 bail as her friends and family in the courtroom burst into tears of joy. Nancy Smith’s sentence has been overturned, but not her conviction. She may return to prison, albeit with a reduced sentence, when a new sentencing hearing is scheduled. However, this legal breakthrough opens the door for future appeals of her conviction.

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/doc4989bcd4974e8167554852.txt

Smith’s lawyer Jack Bradley brought the successful appeal of her sentence owing to a technical error by the original trial judge. Bradley does not act for Smith’s co-accused, Joseph Allen, who is still in prison. Smith’s daughter, Amber Bronish, has been fighting for her mother’s freedom. She recently organized a rally in support of her mother in freezing cold weather in front of Lorain City Hall.

Smith told Jeff Green of the Morning Journal that she would never give up hope. “Because if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to clear my name of these charges. It’ll never end until I do.” Smith was turned down for parole in 2007, and said then she would rather die in prison than confess to crimes she did not commit.

See below for the link to my article about this shameful miscarriage of justice.

http://www.crimemagazine.com/shameoflorain.htm