{"id":2040959,"date":"2023-09-22T01:39:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T05:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/connecticut-agrees-to-a-25-million-settlement-in-the-henry-lee-evidence-fabrication-case\/"},"modified":"2023-09-22T01:44:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T05:44:48","slug":"connecticut-agrees-to-a-25-million-settlement-in-the-henry-lee-evidence-fabrication-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/connecticut-agrees-to-a-25-million-settlement-in-the-henry-lee-evidence-fabrication-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut settles Henry Lee evidence fabrication case for $25M."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconnecticut-agrees-to-a-25-million-settlement-in-the-henry-lee-evidence-fabrication-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2040959&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Connecticut Attorney General Agrees to $25.2 Million Settlement in Wrongful \u2064Conviction Case<\/h2>\n<p>In a stunning turn of \u200cevents, \u2064Connecticut&#8217;s attorney \u2064general has reached a groundbreaking \u200d$25.2 million settlement with two men who \u200cwere wrongfully imprisoned for decades. This case \u200bgained notoriety due to the involvement of renowned forensic \u200cscientist \u200cHenry Lee, whose\u200b evidence was\u2063 later found \u200cto be \u2064fabricated \u200cby a judge.<\/p>\n<p>Ralph \u201cRicky\u201d Birch and\u2064 Shawn Henning were convicted in 1985 \u200cfor the murder of Everett Carr, based partly on Mr. Lee&#8217;s testimony regarding blood stains found on a \u2063towel at the crime scene. However,\u200c in 2020,\u200d testing revealed that the towel was actually free of \u2064blood, leading to the vacating of their felony murder convictions.<\/p>\n<p>Seeking justice, Birch and Henning filed a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit against Mr. Lee, eight police investigators, and the town of New Milford. U.S. District Court Judge Victor \u2064Bolden ruled in\u200d July that there was \u2063no evidence of Mr. Lee \u200bconducting any blood tests on the towel, resulting in a summary judgement against him.<\/p>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/2-teens-face-murder-charges-for-fatal-hit-and-run-of-former-bell-police-chief-5495773?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>2 Teens Face Murder Charges for Fatal Hit-and-Run of Former Bell Police Chief<\/strong><\/a>  &#8211; 9\/20\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/prison-inmate-kills-serial-killer-accused-of-22-murders-5495462?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>Prison Inmate Kills Serial Killer Accused of 22 Murders<\/strong><\/a>  &#8211; 9\/20\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If\u2064 approved \u200cby the General Assembly, Birch and Henning will each receive $12.6\u200c million as part of the settlement, according to Attorney General William Tong&#8217;s\u2062 office. In a joint statement, the attorney general&#8217;s \u200boffice and the lawyers \u2063for Birch and Henning expressed their satisfaction with the agreement and their intention \u200dto present it to the legislature.<\/p>\n<p>While Mr. Lee has not yet commented on the settlement,\u2064 he previously \u2062denied fabricating any evidence. He suggested that the\u200b traces of blood may have \u2064degraded over \u200cthe 20-year period between the crime and when the defense experts tested the towel.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, there was no forensic evidence linking \u2062Birch and Henning to\u200d the crime. \u2062The crime scene contained numerous hairs and fingerprints, none of which \u2064matched the two men. Additionally, no blood was found on\u2064 their clothing or in their car.<\/p>\n<p>Henry Lee, now 84, was the former head of Connecticut&#8217;s forensic laboratory and\u2062 currently serves as a professor emeritus\u200b at the University of New Haven\u2019s Henry C. \u200bLee College \u200dof Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences. Despite his fame and involvement in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-will-hear-boston-marathon-bomber-execution-case\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Will Hear Boston Marathon Bomber Execution Case\">high-profile cases<\/a> like the \u2064O.J. Simpson murder \u2063trial,\u2063 the JonBenet Ramsey case, and the \u200bScott Peterson trial, his work has faced scrutiny, including \u2062allegations of mishandling evidence.<\/p>\n<p>This groundbreaking settlement\u200c serves as a significant step\u2062 towards\u200c rectifying\u200b the injustices faced by Birch and Henning, shedding light on the importance of upholding integrity and accuracy\u2063 in forensic science.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\"><em>By Pat Eaton-Robb<\/em><\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How did the involvement of \u200crenowned \u200dforensic\u2062 scientist \u200cHenry Lee in the\u2062 Birch\u200c and Henning case add complexity and confusion?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Connecticut\u200c Attorney General \u200bWilliam Tong has agreed to a historic $25.2 million settlement \u2063with Ralph &#8220;Ricky&#8221; Birch and Shawn Henning, two men\u2063 who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for decades. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/connecticut-agrees-to-a-25-million-settlement-in-the-henry-lee-evidence-fabrication-case\/\" title=\"Connecticut settles Henry Lee evidence fabrication case for M.\">groundbreaking case gained widespread \u200battention due<\/a> to the\u2064 involvement of renowned forensic scientist Henry Lee, whose evidence \u2062was later discovered to be fabricated \u2064by a\u200b judge.<\/p>\n<p>In 1985, \u2064Birch and Henning were convicted for the \u2063murder of Everett Carr, partly based on the\u2064 testimony of Mr. \u200bLee regarding \u200bblood stains found on a towel at the crime scene. However, in 2020, new testing revealed that the \u200btowel was,\u2063 in fact, free of blood, \u200dultimately leading to the overturning of\u2062 their felony murder convictions.<\/p>\n<p>In their pursuit of justice, Birch \u2062and Henning filed\u2064 a federal \u200dwrongful conviction lawsuit against \u2064Mr. Lee, \u2062eight police investigators, and the town of New \u2064Milford. U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden ruled in July that there was no evidence \u200bof\u200b Mr. Lee conducting any blood \u2064tests on the towel, resulting\u2064 in a summary judgement\u2063 against him.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200b$25.2\u200b million settlement\u2064 represents one\u2062 of the largest wrongful \u2062conviction settlements\u200b in Connecticut&#8217;s history. While the monetary compensation offers a small sense of reparation for the years stolen from Birch and Henning, \u2064it cannot\u200b fully restore \u2063the damage caused\u200c by their wrongful imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>Wrongful convictions not only rob\u2064 innocent\u2064 individuals of \u2063their freedom but also expose deep flaws\u2062 within \u2062the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-needs-more-focus-accountability-commitment-to-civil-liberties-asa-hutchinson\/\" title=\"FBI must prioritize, be accountable, and protect civil liberties: Asa Hutchinson.\">criminal justice \u200dsystem<\/a>. In this case, the involvement \u200bof a renowned forensic scientist added an extra layer of complexity and confusion. It serves \u200bas a reminder that even experts in their field are not infallible and should be\u2064 subject to rigorous scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Tong has\u2064 expressed regret \u200dfor the injustice suffered by\u2062 Birch and Henning, acknowledging the catastrophic \u2063consequences of their wrongful convictions. He also highlighted the importance of addressing systemic issues within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-please-pardon-jon-woods-a-victim-of-process-crimes-like-michael-flynn\/\" title=\"President Trump, Please Pardon Jon Woods, a Victim of Process Crimes Like Michael Flynn\">criminal justice system<\/a> to prevent similar injustices from occurring \u200bin the future. This settlement serves\u2064 as \u200ba step towards rectifying the \u2064failures that allowed this miscarriage of justice \u2063to happen.<\/p>\n<p>The case of\u200d Birch and Henning is a sobering\u2062 reminder that no\u2063 justice system \u2063is \u200dwithout flaws. It calls for\u200c continuous efforts to improve the reliability of forensic evidence, strengthen accountability, and\u200c prioritize \u2064justice above all else. While this settlement cannot erase the painful memories and \u2063lost years, it provides \u200ca semblance of closure and \u2063a financial acknowledgment\u2062 of the wrongful convictions. The hope is that Connecticut&#8217;s commitment to justice will lead\u200c to positive changes and further \u2062protect innocent\u2063 individuals from enduring\u200b the same ordeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Connecticut&#8217;s attorney general settles for $25.2 million with two men imprisoned for murder. Evidence presented by renowned forensic scientist Henry Lee, later deemed fabricated, contributed to the wrongful conviction of Ralph Birch and Shawn Henning for the 1985 slaying of Everett Carr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2040960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2040959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2040959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2040960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2040959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2040959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2040959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}