Misook (Wang) Nowlin, left, and Christina McNeil, the 3-year-old Bloomington girl who was killed in 1998.
Credit Illinois Department of Corrections/Family Photo
A pathology report by Dr. Violette Hnilica claiming Christina was sexually molested before she was smothered will be challenged with new scientific evidence, according to defense lawyers.
“Applying modern scientific principles, a renowned forensic pathologist has now concluded that noting about the autopsy findings in Christina McNeil’s case supports an objective, independent diagnosis that she was smothered or that the manner of death was a homicide,” said the petition.
Lawyers argue a child abuse expert will testify the state’s accusation of molestation was equally faulty.
Adobe Stock Photo
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has pardoned a man 30 years after the first of two wrongful convictions, the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield announced Friday.
Norman Propst had been convicted of a robbery in 1990 based on a “notoriously unreliable eyewitness identification” and then convicted of workplace theft in 1997, though his managers said no crime occurred and one even resigned in support of Propst, the Innocence Project said in a statement.
In the first instance, Propst took a plea deal and served several months in prison because his mother was seriously ill and he otherwise faced a 15-year sentence. In the second case, Propst was accused of stealing a book from the Borders bookstore where he worked and pleaded guilty to avoid further court proceedings.
Man convicted of killing restaurant owner wants out of prison while awaiting appeal Kenneth Smith
Updated 12/21/2020 6:35 PM
Lawyers cited a rapid spike in COVID-19 cases in Lawrenceville Correctional Center where the man accused of killing a McHenry restaurant owner in 2001 awaits news of the appeal that could set him free in asking that the man be released.
Lawyers for Kenneth Smith, 44, formerly of Park City, filed their motion Dec. 16 seeking his immediate release on bond from prison pending the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Smith, who was convicted three times in the case, has served about 20 years of 67-year sentence for the murder of Raul Briseno, owner of the Burrito Express. In March, a federal judge vacated his latest conviction based on evidentiary errors that lawyers said violated (Smith s) constitutional rights to present a complete defense.