http://ncfm-dc.org/ezine/archive/v20n1.html

The NCFM
E-Zine Gazette archives

Editor Richard Kroeger <NCFM-gazette@ncfm-dc.org>
January 2001, Vol. 20, No. 1

Welcome to the NCFM E-Zine Gazette.
We are the monthly email newsletter of the National Coalition of Free Men (NCFM).
Visit: http://www.ncfm.org

This month's issue contains:

DNA CLEARS PRISONER OF RAPE/MURDER CHARGE AFTER HE DIES IN JAIL

Frank Lee Smith died at the age of 52 after serving 14 years on death row for a rape and murder that he did not commit. Smith died of cancer 11 months ago. Florida prosecutor Carolyn McCann reports that the FBI told her, "He has been excluded. He didn't do it." McCann says she was upset by the findings, and "Nobody wants to feel like the wrong person was in jail." The case has been reopened.

There were three witnesses who testified against Smith at his trial in 1985, including the murdered girl's mother who allegedly saw him at the window of their house just before the crime. Smith, who was on parole for two other murders at the time, entered an insanity plea, which the jury rejected.

The office of Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) is in the process of researching a method to provide DNA testing for all death row inmates, according to spokeswomen Katie Baur. This means Florida may be joining a number of other states and counties that are taking similar steps. There was no mention if DNA testing would be provided to other prisoners who are not on death row, however.

15 December 2000, The Washington Post