Wudge
New Member
"A Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge dismissed rape and murder charges against Ralph Armstrong on Friday based on the misconduct of a Dane County prosecutor who concealed evidence of Armstrongs innocence.
Armstrong was convicted in 1981 of the rape and murder of fellow University of Wisconsin-Madison student Charise Kamps. He has always maintained his innocence."
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"At a hearing in April, a woman testified that she called Assistant District Attorney John Norsetter in 1995 to report that Armstrongs brother, Stephen, confessed to the crime. Stephen Armstrong was visiting his brother at the University when the crime occurred and was interviewed by police as a possible suspect immediately after the crime.
Even though Armstrongs case was on appeal when Norsetter [the prosecutor] learned of the confession in 1995, he never told defense attorneys about the phone call and never pursued the lead. Stephen Armstrong has since died."
Below is the link to Judge Kinney's decision that was handed down on Friday, in which he says: "The facts of this case are as unusual as a five hundred year old rain. But the prejudice to the defense was not an act of rain."
I highly recommend that you read the entire ruling so as to gain an appreciation for prosecution ethics.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Wisconsin_vs_Armstrong_Oral_Decision.pdf
This case is yet another example of a prosecutor who has no shame and no conscience. But this is not atypical as also noted in the article. To wit: "Prosecutorial misconduct has played a role in scores of wrongful convictions that were later overturned with DNA testing and, in many cases like Armstrongs, prosecutorial misconduct has also prevented innocent people from being exonerated much sooner. Among the 241 people nationwide who were exonerated through DNA testing, fully 25% cited prosecutorial misconduct in their appeals or civil lawsuits. In 38% of those cases, prosecutors were accused of withholding evidence that could prove innocence."
(I just flew back in. The media has not yet latched onto the outcome in this wrongful conviction case. This is all that is available on the web.)
Armstrong was convicted in 1981 of the rape and murder of fellow University of Wisconsin-Madison student Charise Kamps. He has always maintained his innocence."
.
.
.
"At a hearing in April, a woman testified that she called Assistant District Attorney John Norsetter in 1995 to report that Armstrongs brother, Stephen, confessed to the crime. Stephen Armstrong was visiting his brother at the University when the crime occurred and was interviewed by police as a possible suspect immediately after the crime.
Even though Armstrongs case was on appeal when Norsetter [the prosecutor] learned of the confession in 1995, he never told defense attorneys about the phone call and never pursued the lead. Stephen Armstrong has since died."
Below is the link to Judge Kinney's decision that was handed down on Friday, in which he says: "The facts of this case are as unusual as a five hundred year old rain. But the prejudice to the defense was not an act of rain."
I highly recommend that you read the entire ruling so as to gain an appreciation for prosecution ethics.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Wisconsin_vs_Armstrong_Oral_Decision.pdf
This case is yet another example of a prosecutor who has no shame and no conscience. But this is not atypical as also noted in the article. To wit: "Prosecutorial misconduct has played a role in scores of wrongful convictions that were later overturned with DNA testing and, in many cases like Armstrongs, prosecutorial misconduct has also prevented innocent people from being exonerated much sooner. Among the 241 people nationwide who were exonerated through DNA testing, fully 25% cited prosecutorial misconduct in their appeals or civil lawsuits. In 38% of those cases, prosecutors were accused of withholding evidence that could prove innocence."
(I just flew back in. The media has not yet latched onto the outcome in this wrongful conviction case. This is all that is available on the web.)