The Story(ies) That Caught My ‘I’

B. White

by B. White

I-Witness Strikes Again

With the recent release of Willie Avery from prison after serving five years for a crime he did not commit, Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen is calling for an investigation of all convictions dating back to 2001.

I-Witness made the call first because even to a layman there appears to be something wrong when five or more people are convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Van Hollen is calling for the investigation because it is believed accused serial killer Walter E. Ellis may be responsible for many more killings during a 25-year period.

The investigation will tighten up on the mess the State of Wisconsin’s Crime Lab have made in DNA testing.

But more importantly, the investigation may free other men who have been wrongly convicted.

In the last two years, we have had several men released from jail. Many of whom were convicted by forensic evidence and/or eyewitness testimony.

A few of the cases were prosecuted by District Attorney Daniel Blinka with the forensic evidence being provided by L. Thomas Johnson a forensic odontologist.

Both men are now working at Marquette University and are regarded as experts in DNA testing.

Robert Lee Stinson

Walter E. Ellis

Well, many in this community are questioning whether the evidence was manufactured in some of the cases.

Particularly in the Robert Lee Stinson case, where to date forensic odontologist Johnson is still insisting that Stinson is guilty even after he tested the evidence a second time and despite DNA evidence that clears him of the crime, with the added bonus of a confession from the real killer.

We find it interesting that Blinka was the ADA on the Stinson case and Johnson provided the forensic evidence.

Blinka’s conviction rate increased on the prosecution of the wrong person.

Van Hollen needs to also include Blinka and Johnson in his investigation as well.

Because something is not right here, many smell a rat.

Let me tell you, that Wisconsin Innocence Project is no joke. They don’t just take cases unless they can prove a person’s innocence and no judge is going to release a person who has committed a crime of murder simply because they say so.

So the question is why is Johnson still insisting that Stinson is guilty and that his DNA is the matching DNA? Could it be a smokescreen to cover other manufactured evidence in other cases? Stinson has been proven innocent, just like William Avery and Chaunte Ott. The cases in which these three men were found guilty, they are now attributing to Ellis, who must still be assumed innocent until he receives his day in court.

While DNA is a wonderful scientific tool and has helped society in freeing innocent people from jail and a host of other good things.

We must always remember the dark side of all things. There is always someone out there trying to get theirs by any means necessary. Making any of us a target, just as William Avery, Robert Lee Stinson, Michael Green, Raymond Towler, Bain, Chaunte Ott, and Forest Shomberg were.

I-Witness wishes these men a joyful and peaceful life from this point forward.

Our hope is that they can now go on to live productive lives and become model citizens. No one should ever suffer as these men have for crimes they never committed. We will never know what they had to endure in prison.

Yes, some may have had a few brushes with the law. But we cannot punish people for crimes they did not commit.

Again, we salute the Wisconsin Innocence Project for daring to challenge the judiciary system and giving these men their lives back.