How a Rumor Sent a Teen to Prison for Murder
March 14, 2015 12:13 PM   Subscribe

"Show me another black man with a missing a penis and maybe we'll have something to talk about," Deputy DA Owens told the court. // Writing for The Intercept, Jordan Smith details the story of a woman, Kirstin Lobato, who was convicted for the brutal murder of a homeless man in Las Vegas. According to those who are working for Lobato's release, it is a "perfect storm of wrongful conviction. Everything that possibly could have been done incorrectly was done incorrectly." [NSFW: graphic descriptions]
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates (15 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
She was no angel - but this story is 50 kinds of horrific.

Actually probably 76.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 1:06 PM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, Thowsen and LaRochelle are shit detectives. Absolute shit.
posted by e40 at 1:23 PM on March 14, 2015


The same judge that allowed Johnson’s third-hand account barred testimony from witnesses on the defense side, on the grounds that their statements were hearsay.

Jesus H Christ.
posted by e40 at 1:33 PM on March 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


WTF? Just so much WTF.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 2:17 PM on March 14, 2015


#serialseasontwo
posted by alby at 2:53 PM on March 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


What are the options here, in terms of advocating for her release?
posted by dontjumplarry at 2:56 PM on March 14, 2015


Prosecutors Sandra DiGiacomo and William Kephart, who is now an elected Clark County judge…

Our elected judiciary consists disproportionately of former prosecutors. This explains a lot of the WTF miscarriages of justice we see.
posted by TedW at 3:19 PM on March 14, 2015 [5 favorites]


What are the options here, in terms of advocating for her release?

i just googled up The Innocence Project...she's on their (criminally) lengthy todo list.

A pretty measurably effective organization.
posted by j_curiouser at 4:48 PM on March 14, 2015


What the actual hell? How on earth does this go to two trials and at no point does a judge say "Oi, cops. You will turn over the semen for DNA testing right fucking now"?

I mean, at a wild guess they'd be able to figure out whether said semen was implicated as happening concurrently with the murder, right? And last I checked, cis women were unable to produce said bodily fluid. Nothing in the article mentions anything about anyone even bothering to bring up the notion of an accomplice at either trial. And now someone has lost, what, fourteen years of her life? Why has her appeal been on hold since 2010?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:34 PM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Cops and judges are just as dumb as the general population, and occasionally you will get a full roster of chowderheads in a trial. The real crime is stonewalling on the physical evidence and never wanting to admit wrongdoing.
posted by benzenedream at 7:14 PM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


The thing about these cases that never quite seems to add up for me is how the cops and prosecutors can square their zeal for a botched conviction with the likelihood that they have allowed the real criminal to walk free.
posted by dhartung at 11:04 PM on March 14, 2015 [10 favorites]


It's worth noting that there is a Change.org petition in support of the Innocence Project's attempts to have DNA testing carried out.
posted by howfar at 2:14 AM on March 15, 2015


Thanks for the link, howfar. I just signed the petition.
posted by daisyk at 3:37 AM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


dhartung: "how the cops and prosecutors can square their zeal for a botched conviction with the likelihood that they have allowed the real criminal to walk free."

The score is the same regardless of who goes away.
posted by Mitheral at 8:45 AM on March 15, 2015


Two reactions to this story: One, that based on the information presented this is a terrible miscarriage of justice.

Two, the Intercept, which wound up with egg on its face over its botched articles related to the Serial podcast, has found a rather similar story to report. Huh.
posted by bunderful at 11:50 AM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


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