Friday, May 16, 2008
When Lees witnesses were then reported missing, the judge had ample reason to believe they had second thoughts about testifying. All three of Lees family members had traveled from California to testify, but all three left without speaking to Lee or his lawyer. Two sets of witnesses, four persons in all, had just placed Lee in Kansas City; and the prosecution had said it had in reserve other witnesses prepared to rebut the alibi testimony. Lee had been sentenced to 80 years in Missouri prison for an unrelated armed assault and robbery, and any witness who was considering perjury would have had little inducement to take that riska risk that would have became more pronounced after the prosecutions witnesses had testifiedif Lee would serve a long prison term in any event. The judges skepticism seems even more justified when it is noted that six weeks later, during a hearing on Lees motion for a new trial, counsel still did not explain where Lees family members had gone or why they had left. It was not until 17 months later, in an amended motion for postconviction relief, that Lee first gave the Missouri courts an explanation for his familys disappearance.
Labels: Americano, DHS, La Ley, Law, Mary Cano, Project RIO, TANF, Taxpayer waste, TWC, WIA
