Innocent

In this country, are you innocent until proven guilty, or vice versa? Ask Wen Ho Lee. SHELLEY MARTIN San Pedro

A convicted killer who died on death row while his appeal languished before the California Supreme Court should have his case decided posthumously, his attorney told the state high court. Scott F. Kauffman, who represented Dennis Lawley for 19 years, contends that his client was innocent of a 1989 murder for hire that sent him to San Quentin. Lawley, he said, deserves a ruling on his claims, even if the outcome will have no practical consequence. "Mr. Lawley's death does not erase the injustice of his conviction and sentence," Kauffman told the court in a written motion.

Whatever their views about capital punishment, most Americans probably assume that a convicted defendant will be released from prison if he can prove that he didn't commit the crime. In fact, the Supreme Court has stopped short of endorsing what lawyers call the "actual innocence" doctrine. But an unexpected order in a Georgia death penalty case may indicate that the justices are coming around to a common-sense view about the due process of law. Last week, they ordered a federal court in Georgia to reconsider the case of death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, convicted of murdering an off-duty police officer 18 years ago. Since then, seven prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony, and dignitaries including former President Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI have pleaded for clemency, with the pope's representative providing Georgia officials with a detailed critique of the evidence used to convict Davis.

Frank O'Connell sat in the same Pasadena courtroom where more than a quarter of a century ago he was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he insists he did not commit. In front of him, a new judge on Friday delivered the words he had long awaited: He could go free on bail. Behind him, his relatives sobbed with relief. His lips trembling and with tears in his eyes, O'Connell turned to look at his son, who was just 4 when a judge convicted him of gunning down a maintenance man at a South Pasadena apartment complex.

Rarely has it been proved so eloquently, that a picture speaks for a thousand words as Paul Conrad's cartoon (Sept. 9) lamenting the dastardly murder of innocent worshipers in the Istanbul synagogue. Once again Conrad proved not only his customary genius, but also his compassion for the innocents. DENES MARSH Los Angeles

Literary empires have to start somewhere, and Scott Turow's began 23 years ago with the creation of an unusually trusting prosecutor named Rusty Sabich, whose affair with a somewhat pathological colleague made him the prime suspect after she was found bound, naked and dead. Sabich, of course, was innocent — not much of a murder-mystery if the protagonist is guilty. But the twisting plot Turow hatched for that debut novel, "Presumed Innocent," kept readers thinking and dissecting long after they finished the book.

It's very disturbing to read about the things children have to deal with--gang shootings, molestations, teen sex and a poor school environment. What a shame that kids have to face so many intense problems. I recently received an announcement for my 30th high school reunion. I remembered that the only thing I had on my mind back then was what kind of sweet roll did I want to get for nutrition. What has happened to the "innocence of childhood?" MARTY ESTRIN Glendale

The Times appears to have solidified an editorial policy to glorify, at every opportunity, the endless stream of Palestinian terrorists who have "no choice" but to murder innocent civilians ("Guide for Bombers Maps His Methods," June 12). Does The Times truly believe that the warped mentality of a chauffeur for would-be terrorists is more newsworthy than the stories of the grandparents and grandchildren whose lives are stolen, with each bomb blast, by the terrorist murderers who pretend to be working for a noble cause?

I could not finish "Preoccupied Territory" (Opinion, Jan. 19). Lynn Cohen's point of view, that innocent Arabs are suffering, left no room for outrage at the Arab leaders whose terrorist aims and unwillingness to seek peace are in large part responsible for the present heart-rending situation. It is a known axiom, and I quote Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben: "When leaders go astray, innocent people suffer." Unfortunately, innocent people are suffering on both sides. Since the intifada began in earnest two years ago, more than 700 Israelis have been murdered and over 5,000 Israelis have been burned, maimed, wounded and permanently disabled in terror attacks.

Re "9/11: 'Treat Each Day Lovingly, Carefully,' " letter, Dec. 21: Don Stanley writes, " 'Things' have not changed" since Sept. 11. Since I have said that "things will never be the same," I feel I should respond. While I understand what he is saying, I would reply that our lives are based on perception, and that when our perceptions change, so, in effect, do our lives. To live in fear is to live in fear; it becomes the new reality. It doesn't matter that the danger has always existed; the fear did not, but now it does.

A word of a warning to parents of adolescents, from the nation's poison centers: Yes, you've secured your medicine chest and your liquor cabinet; but a new thrill-seeking activity among teens might make you consider locking away the cinnamon shaker as well. In the first three months of 2012, the nation's poison centers have had 139 calls -- close to three times as many as were received in all of 2011 -- seeking help and information about the intentional misuse of cinnamon. At least 122 of those calls arose from something called the "cinnamon challenge" -- a game growing in popularity among teens in which a child is dared to swallow a spoonful of ground or powdered cinnamon without drinking any water.

Reporting from Sacramento -- The San Bernardino County district attorney's office has filed criminal charges against a California lawmaker who attempted to take a loaded gun onto an airplane. Tim Donnelly, a self-described tea party Republican from San Bernardino, was charged with carrying a loaded firearm in public without a concealed weapons permit and possessing a gun in an airport. Both offenses are misdemeanors, punishable by up to 18 months in jail and $2,000 in fines. A vocal advocate for gun rights, Donnelly was detained by police at Ontario International Airport last month after security screeners discovered a loaded .45-caliber Colt Mark IV pistol and an ammunition magazine with an additional five rounds in his carry-on luggage.

The Valentine's Day Google Doodle is pure sweetness. A one-minute animation, drawn with childlike innocence, it depicts a little boy trying to figure out what to get for his heart's desire - a little girl who jumps rope. He buys her flowers, and chocolates (via Google, of course), but she pays no attention. He tries clothes, and balloons, a pie and a television, a top hat, an old-fashioned submarine helmet, and still she continues to jump rope, oblivious to his overtures. As a last-ditch effort he walks over to her with his own jump rope clutched in his hands and starts to jump rope alongside her. And then -- she stops jumping.

In a case that has highlighted the perils of forensic science, a federal magistrate is expected to rule soon on whether a man convicted of a triple murder arson may be innocent. During a three-day hearing ordered by a federal appeals court, U.S. Magistrate Michael J. Seng heard evidence last week that suggested George Souliotes, 71, may have been wrongly convicted of setting a fire in a Modesto rental home he owned that killed three tenants: Michelle Jones, 31; and her children, Daniel Jones Jr., 8; and Amanda, 3. Jones' husband was not at home during the fire.

As a senior city housing inspector, Ronald Diaz's job is to be an impartial, frontline guardian of safe and habitable apartment living in Los Angeles. But according to testimony and statements given to city and state officials, Diaz also allegedly improperly moonlighted as an unlicensed contractor with some unorthodox billing practices: A North Hills woman accused him of offering a $1,000 discount if she would send him a text message with a picture of her bare breasts — and upping the offer to $2,000 when she ignored him. Diaz, 49, was charged Dec. 30 with five misdemeanor counts, including grand theft, attempted grand theft and contracting without a license.

Last week provided yet another reminder of just how serious the problems are in the Los Angeles County jails. As if reports of assaults on prisoners by sheriff's deputies were not disturbing enough, a Times investigation has revealed that more than 1,400 people over the last five years were wrongfully incarcerated. Some were held for days, others for weeks. All were cases of mistaken identity, in many instances made worse because protests of innocence were disregarded. In one case, a construction worker with no prior arrests said he was assaulted by inmates and ignored by deputies.

Re "Executing 'Mental Children,' " editorial, Aug. 15: I was somewhat surprised by the question: "And have we executed some individuals who were innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted?" Is this a trick question? Of course innocent people have been executed! That is the tragedy of capital punishment. It isn't that we believe ruthless killers don't deserve to die. We have no sympathy for out-of-control monsters who are a threat to society. However, the reason some of us support life sentences without the possibility of parole, instead of the death penalty, is because if one innocent person is executed, then the entire system is inherently wrong and should be abolished.

The abduction and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion made me angrier than any crime in my recent memory (July 18). It was a cold, calculated, brutal and senseless murder of an innocent child. Even as an African American, it strengthens my belief in the death penalty. For in crimes like this, children, the most innocent among us, haven't the capacity to defend themselves. One can only imagine the pain, suffering and agony she went through. I found it almost unbearable to watch as her mother, in the depth of her pain, anguish and sorrow, pleaded for her safe return on TV on Tuesday, to no avail.

The death squad shows up in uniform: black masks and tunics with the name of the group, Khorasan Mujahedin, scrawled across the back in Urdu. Pulling up in caravans of Toyota Corolla hatchbacks, dozens of them seal off mud-hut villages near the Afghan border, and then scour markets and homes in search of tribesmen they suspect of helping to identify targets for the armed U.S. drones that routinely buzz overhead. Once they've snatched their suspect, they don't speed off, villagers say. Instead, the caravan leaves slowly, a trademark gesture meant to convey that they expect no retaliation.

The case of a grocery store clerk wrongly convicted of murdering his wife has rocked the legal system across Texas, and not just because an innocent man served 25 years of a life sentence. Supporters of Michael Morton, who was set free in October, say he might never been convicted if a prominent prosecutor had shared significant evidence with the defense at the time of the trial. "Mr. Morton was the victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct that … completely ripped apart his family," said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project in New York, which represented Morton in his appeal.