FBI to review thousands of old cases for contaminated evidence

By Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com

www.whistleblowersblog.org

Frederic Whitehurst in an undated photo.

Updated at 9:51 p.m. ET: Months after the Washington Post revealed that lab technicians at the FBI mishandled evidence, resulting in at least three wrongful convictions, the Department of Justice has announced it will review of thousands of old cases.

The review, the largest in U.S. history, will focus on work by FBI Laboratory hair and fiber examiners since at least 1985, the Post reported.

In April, the Post wrote about two men who were convicted largely because of contaminated FBI hair analysis. A review of the evidence has since resulted in the release of both men. ?


A reporter at the Post had been working on a story about Donald Gates, a D.C. man released after DNA evidence proved his innocence, when he learned about Frederic Whitehurst, an FBI lab chemist who blew the whistle on the FBI Laboratory in the mid-1990s. Whitehurst said he watched colleagues contaminate evidence and, in court, overstate the significance of their matches.

?There was a lackadaisical attitude,? Whitehurst said.

When Whitehurst, a chemist with a doctoral degree from Duke, arrived at the FBI crime lab in 1986, the first thing he noticed was that the place was, as he called it, a pigsty. The equipment was outdated and there was a film of black soot coating the counters ? a dust from the vents that the agents called ?black rain.?

It surprised him, too, he said, that outsiders were allowed to tour the lab, which he said should have been a controlled environment.

When he raised these issues, a coworker told him, ?Before you embarrass the FBI in a court of law, you?ll perjure yourself. We all do it.?

After the first World Trade Center bombing, Whitehurst testified that supervisors pressured him to concoct misleading scientific reports. When he refused to testify that a urea nitrate bomb had been the source of the explosion, the FBI found another lab technician to testify.

Over the years, Whitehurst said, he brought in almost-new equipment that had been turned over by the National Institutes of Health. He implemented protocols, because there hadn?t been any when he arrived. ?

NBC San Diego video: Thousands of cases under review

But other problems arose, Whitehurst told msnbc.com. He learned that an agent had, for the previous nine years, rewritten his scientific reports to support the prosecution. When he complained, he said he was told the agent hadn?t done anything wrong.

?You get patted on the head if you?re the guy who saves the case,? Whitehurst said, explaining why agents would provide misleading information. ?They get promoted; they?re the guys everyone crowds around. It?s a very tight family. A scientist who asks a question and doesn?t go along, he gets isolated.?

Corrupt lab technicians remained employed even after Whitehurst started speaking out about the lab, said David Colapinto, general counsel for the National Whistleblowers Center.

In 1995, Whitehurst told Larry King on CNN, ?I dislike being called a whistleblower, I?m a law enforcement officer and if I see violations of the law abuses of authority corruption. I?m required to report those.?

As an agent, Whitehurst wrote 237 letters to the Inspector General, complaining about the lab. The longest was 640 pages.

?The pressure was so crazy that every so often, I?d just break down and cry,? he said.

Sarah Fox, Occupy Wall Street link could be due to lab error

The Justice Department ultimately did review thousands of cases in response to Whitehurst's reports, Colapinto said, but he said the task force assigned to investigate operated in secret and the findings were not published. Rather, Colapinto said, prosecutors who had originally tried those old cases decided whether the new evidence should be disclosed to the defense.

Dissatisfied with the Justice Department?s review, Whitehurst requested the task force's findings through the Freedom of Information Act. Over several years, he received tens of thousands of pages.

Some changes were made, however. The FBI moved its lab from the FBI?s J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C. to a separate building in Quantico, Va.

The National Academy of Sciences recently pushed for further independence, however. The organization, made up of elite scientists from around the U.S., recommended the creation of an independent federal agency to review evidence. That agency, ideally, should not be connected to the academic community, the scientists said.

Whitehurst, now a forensic consultant and a criminal defense lawyer in North Carolina, and the National Whistleblowers Center worked with the Post for a year on the expose that came out in April. That story apparently pushed the Justice Department to conduct another, more transparent review of old evidence.

The Justice Department says that this time, the review will include outsiders such as the Innocence Project, according to The Associated Press. The Innocence Project, which focuses on exonerating the wrongfully convicted, would watch over the government?s review.

The FBI did not respond to request for comment. ?

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12708918-fbi-to-review-thousands-of-old-cases-for-contaminated-evidence?lite

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Israeli troops kill man crossing illegally from Egypt

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli troops shot dead a man trying to infiltrate the Sinai border with Egypt and wounded another on Friday, the Israeli military said, in the latest in a series of deadly incidents along a once quiet frontier.

Both men, who crossed the desert border under cover of darkness, turned out to be unarmed when Israeli medics found them after dawn, a military spokeswoman said.

She would not divulge the identities or nationalities of the infiltrators though Israeli media said they were Palestinians from the nearby Gaza Strip.

"Israeli border police identified two suspects infiltrating Israel through the Israel-Egypt border," the spokeswoman said. When they failed to heed orders to stop, the troops "fired at the suspects," she added.

Last month armed men shot and killed an Israeli who was working on a fence being put up along the border, where tensions have risen since former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, an Israeli ally, was overthrown a year ago in a popular revolt.

Israel says the Egyptian authorities have lost control of the vast Sinai desert, with Bedouin bandits, jihadists and Palestinian militants from Gaza filling the vacuum.

African migrants have also poured across the porous border in the past two years, with the Israeli government under growing pressure from public opinion to halt the influx.

Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=504011

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'Twilight' Stars Rally Around Fans After Death At Comic-Con

'The great thing about our fans is that they're such a unit, and they're so supportive of each other,' Ashley Greene tells MTV News.
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Eric Ditzian


Jackson Rathbone at 2012 Comic-Con
Photo: Chelsea Lauren/ WireImage/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689452/twilight-fan-death-comic-con-san-diego.jhtml

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Florida Asset Protection & Estate Planning Blog: Legal Issues ...

We're cosponsoring a free lunch and learn seminar on July 31, 2012 to talk about Elder law issues affecting seniors and the elderly.

Topics include:

  • Planning for Incapacity and What Happens if You Don't
    • Florida's New Power of Attorney Statute - What Does It Mean for You?
    • How to Avoid a Guardianship
  • Protecting Your Assets from the High Costs of Long Term Care
    • National Average Cost of Nursing Home Care = $84,000 annually
    • National Average Cost of Assisted Living = $30,000 to $60,000 annually
    • Medicare vs Medicaid for Long Term Care
    • VA Pension Benefits and Aid and Attendance Benefits
    • How to Protect Your "Well" Spouse from Financial Ruin if You Are in a Nursing Home
    • How to Protect Your Assets for Your Loved Ones
  • Florida Probate

Why the information you will learn at this seminar will be important to you:

If you, your spouse, or your parents become a resident of a skilled nursing facility you have the following choices:

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Attend this seminar and learn how to protect your assets from the cost of long term care.

Date:????July 31, 2012
Time:????10:30 a.m. (registration); 11:00 a.m. presentation and complimentary lunch
Place:????Maggione's Italian Restaurant - St. Johns Town Center
Sponsrs:? The Coleman Law Firm, PLLC and the New York Life Insurance Jacksonville Regional Office

RSVP (seating is limited and will be subject to advance reservations) to reserve your place please call or email:??

????????The Coleman Law Firm - (904) 448-1969 or email abaker@thecolemanlawfirm.net

Source: http://blog.thecolemanlawfirm.net/2012/07/12/legal-issues-affecting-floridas-seniors---free-lunch--learn.aspx?ref=rss

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SC funeral home to offer Starbucks coffee

(AP) ? A funeral home in northwestern South Carolina will be offering what it calls the Starbucks experience to those needing comfort, or just a cup of coffee.

Robinson Funeral Home in Easley is building a coffee shop attached to the funeral home.

The Coffee Corner will feature Starbucks coffee and food and also will be open to those who don't need services from the funeral home. Chris Robinson says the Coffee Corner will include a fireplace, TV and Wi-Fi.

Starbucks employees will train employees at the funeral home later this month before the shop opens.

Robinson says there's nothing like food or coffee to help comfort those who've experienced a loss.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-07-12-Funeral%20Home-Starbucks/id-174c8b98ac3741789ecc2b73e4e8b98b

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'Ghost Galaxies' of Early Universe Seen by Hubble Telescope

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ghost-galaxies-early-universe-seen-hubble-telescope-153457455.html

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HTC confirms another tablet coming to the UK

HTC has kept pretty quiet on the tablet front, aside from some Windows brou-ha-ha. But according to PC Advisor, the company has plans to lauch another tablet on British shores. The Flyer remains the last tablet to arrive -- due to a lack of 4G networks, the Jetstream didn't make the trip across the Atlantic. It remains a very vague tease, with no promise of a launch even within the year and not even a nod to whether the OS will be Android or something else altogether. HTC's apparently holding back until it has something unique to offer, a strategy that other companies seem to be following in a bid to avoid the pile of tablet also-rans.

Filed under:

HTC confirms another tablet coming to the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GOsXr0eF0rI/

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EU gives Spain more time on deficit, sets bank aid

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone ministers agreed early on Tuesday to grant Spain an extra year until 2014 to reach its deficit reduction targets in exchange for further budget savings and set the parameters of an aid package for Madrid's ailing banks.

The decisions were aimed at preventing the currency area's fourth largest economy, mired in a worsening recession, from needing a full state bailout which would stretch the limits of Europe's rescue fund and plunge it deeper into a debt crisis.

"The Eurogroup supports the recently adopted Commission recommendation to extend the deadline for the correction of the excessive deficit in Spain by one year to 2014," ministers said in a statement.

No final figure was agreed for aid to ailing Spanish lenders, weighed down by bad debts due to a housing crash and recession, but the EU has set a maximum of 100 billion euros ($123 billion) and some 30 billion euros would be available by the end of July if there was an urgent need.

A final loan agreement will be signed on or around July 20, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference.

In one key decision closely watched by investors, ministers agreed that once a single European banking supervisor is set up next year, Spanish banks could be directly recapitalized from the euro zone rescue fund without requiring a state guarantee.

That fulfils an EU summit mandate to try to break a so-called "doom loop" of mutual dependency between weak banks and over indebted sovereigns, but represented a climb-down for hard-line north European creditor countries.

In a nine-hour marathon meeting ministers of the 17-nation euro zone also settled a series of long delayed appointments.

But they made no apparent progress on activating the bloc's rescue funds to intervene in bond markets to bring down the spiraling borrowing costs of Spain and Italy, which threaten to drive them out of the market.

The ministers reappointed Juncker as their chairman for a further term of up to 2-1/2 years, though Europe's longest-serving government leader said he intended to step down from the position at the end of this year or early in 2013.

They nominated another Luxembourger, inflation hawk Yves Mersch, to the vacant position on the European Central Bank's six-member executive board, and picked German Klaus Regling to head their permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, due to come into force this month.

Regling had already set up and run the temporary European Financial Stability Facility which has funded rescues for Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

As ministers were meeting, a top ECB policymaker warned that Europe's debt crisis was now more acute than the 2008 financial turmoil that felled U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

"The euro zone crisis is now much more profound and more fundamental than at the time of Lehman," ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet told a conference in Lisbon.

The Eurogroup ministers were tasked with fleshing out a bare-bones agreement reached by EU leaders at a summit last month on establishing a European banking supervisor and using the bloc's rescue funds to stabilize bond markets.

But differences persisted between north European countries such as Finland and the Netherlands and southern states led by Italy and Spain.

Earlier, ECB President Mario Draghi endured at times hostile questioning in the European Parliament, notably from German, Dutch and Finnish lawmakers concerned at the prospect of European bank bailouts using taxpayers' money.

A wider gathering of EU finance chiefs on Tuesday will formally ease a deficit reduction goal that has forced Madrid to make punishing cuts that are exacerbating a recession.

SLIPPAGE

Spanish and Italian borrowing costs continued to rise on Monday, with Spain's 10-year bond topping the critical 7 percent level.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos spelled out to the euro zone ministers his government's plan for a package of up to 30 billion euros over several years through spending cuts and tax hikes that are due to be announced this Wednesday.

A source close to the Spanish government said 10 billion euros of cuts would come this year and that the measures would include a hike in VAT sales tax, reduced social security payments, reduced unemployment benefits and changes to pensions calculations.

The European Commission proposed in return easing Madrid's deficit goal for this year to 6.3 percent of economic output, 4.5 percent for 2013 and 2.8 percent for 2014.

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Spain was expected to take additional savings measures very soon to ensure it meets its new targets.

The new targets may still prove hard to reach, according to a draft recommendation from European partners, loosening Spain's goals and demanding the country be subjected to three-monthly checks.

The figures highlighted Spain's dramatic fiscal slippage due to a worsening recession. Madrid was originally meant to cut its budget shortfall to 4.4 percent this year. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy unilaterally changed the target to 5.8 percent in March before eventually accepting an agreed goal of 5.3 percent.

De Guindos said he was satisfied with the draft memorandum of understanding on the bank rescue, under which Spain will create a single bad bank to house toxic assets from its banking sector.

Spain and Italy continued to press for European action to put a cap on their borrowing costs.

"At this moment the only institution that has enough money to act is the ECB," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said at a conference.

But ECB President Draghi told EU lawmakers the key to restoring market confidence was for countries in difficulty to fully implement promised structural reforms and stick to programmes agreed with Brussels and international lenders, even if they caused "social tensions".

He left the door open to a possible further cut in interest rates after last week's 25 basis point cut to 0.75 percent but voiced concern that the ECB was being expected to act "in areas which don't seem to have a connection with monetary policy's traditional remit".

The euro zone ministers also had a first discussion with new Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras but made no decision on any change in Athens' draconian austerity programme, which is off track following June 17 elections.

Juncker said arrangements would be made to ensure a Greek debt repayment due in August did not plunge the country into bankruptcy.

"We will find solutions for August. There's no reason to worry about August," he said without elaborating.

(Additional reporting by Paul Carrell, John O'Donnell, Francesca Landini, Daniel Flynn, Ilona Wissenbach and Ethan Bilby and Rex Merrifield.; Writing by Paul Taylor, editing by Mike Peacock)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spain-longer-reach-budget-goal-002936714--finance.html

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Annan urges 'consequences' if no Syria cease-fire

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? International envoy Kofi Annan urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to send a message to the Syrian government and the opposition that there will be "consequences" if they don't comply with demands for an immediate cease-fire, a U.N. diplomat said.

Russia and China, key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad and veto-wielding council members, have blocked repeated attempts by the United States and its European allies to even threaten "consequences" ? a diplomatic code word for sanctions.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because Annan's videoconference briefing from Geneva was at a closed session, said the council should insist on implementation of its resolutions which included a strong endorsement of his six-point peace plan.

That plan calls for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of heavy weapons from populated areas by the Syrian government to be followed by an opposition cessation of hostilities.

The U.N. sent a 300-strong unarmed observer mission for 90 days to oversee the cessation of violence and monitor implementation of the Annan plan. It was forced to withdraw from key conflict areas because of the escalating fighting and the council must decide what to do about extending its mandate which expires on July 20.

Another U.N. diplomat said U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the council the ceiling of 300 observers should remain and the U.N. should decide on their deployment. A third diplomat said the peacekeeping department plans temporarily withdraw half of them, on 48-hour standby to return if conditions change.

They also spoke on condition of anonymity because Annan spoke behind closed doors.

On the eve of Annan's briefing, Russia circulated a draft resolution to Security Council members that would extend the U.N. observer force in Syria but refocus its activities on trying to achieve a political solution to the conflict.

Britain, France, Germany, Portugal and the United States have also been drafting possible texts for a new resolution but were waiting to hear what Annan had to say. Diplomats said a Western text will likely be circulated either later Wednesday or Thursday.

Annan briefed the council on his talks with Assad in Damascus and his visits to Iran and Iraq.

He told reporters in Tehran and Baghdad on Tuesday that Assad agreed to a plan to contain the bloodshed in the most violent areas of Syria step by step and then expand the operation to the whole country.

"I believe that if everyone works on it seriously then it could work," Annan said in Baghdad. "We are also ... going to discuss this with the opposition on the ground."

But several U.N. diplomats raised concerns about this new approach, citing the Security Council's unanimous endorsement of Annan's six-point peace plan and questioning whether targeting places of extreme violence would mean targeting opposition strongholds.

The conflict in Syria has defied every international attempt to bring peace, and there was no sign that the plan Annan described Tuesday would be a breakthrough. Although the Assad government's crackdown has turned the Syrian president into an international pariah, he still has the support of strong allies including Russia, Iran and China.

There is little support for military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and several rounds of sanctions by the U.S. and European nations, and other attempts to isolate Assad have done little to stop the bloodshed. More than 17,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011, according to Syrian activists.

In Moscow on Wednesday, a prominent Syrian opposition leader said Russia's resistance to international intervention in the conflict was bringing misery and "suffering" to the violence-torn country.

Two Syrian opposition delegations visited Moscow this week, raising hopes that Russia could be pushed to accept Assad's ouster but Syrian National Council head Abdelbaset Sieda said he saw "no change" in Moscow's stance after meeting with officials including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"The Syrian people are suffering because of Russia, because of the position it has taken, because of its veto in the U.N. Security Council," Sieda said at a news conference. "The current regime uses Russian weapons against its own people."

Sieda called for intervention by the U.N. and said no dialogue with the regime was possible until Assad was ousted.

Russia strongly opposes international intervention and says that if Assad goes, it must be as the result of dialogue.

At a conference in Geneva last month, Russia insisted that any political transition must have the "mutual consent" of both Assad's government and the opposition, essentially handing a veto on the peacemaking process to both sides.

Lavrov on Wednesday repeated Russia's support for non-intervention, and insisted that any solution would have to be decided by "Syrians themselves," and not by any foreign power.

Lavrov also expressed doubt that the fragmented Syrian opposition was ready to act as a real partner for dialogue with the regime. After a meeting on Monday with members of the Syrian Democratic Forum, another opposition group, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the need for "the Syrian opposition to act on one platform."

___

Associated Press Writers Laura Mills in Moscow and Ron DePasquale at the United Nations contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/annan-urges-consequences-no-syria-cease-fire-170708990.html

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