Vanessa Potkin Has Taken Darlie Routier's Case

Do you believe Darlie Routier is Innocent Up To Two Answers Allowed

  • Totally Innocent Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

    Votes: 3 15.8%

  • Totally Guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

    Votes: 11 57.9%

  • I Am On The Fence - Uncertain

    Votes: 4 21.1%

  • She Deserves A New Trial At Least

    Votes: 6 31.6%
  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .

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InDoubt558

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It is official, Vanessa Potkin has taken the Darlie Routier murder case. For those of you who do not know who she is, Vanessa is with the Innocence Project and has been onboard there for over 17 years. This is the same Innocence Project of the famous Barry C. Scheck as well as Peter Neufeld, the originators of the original Innocence Project.

Her position with them is that of Director of Post-Conviction Litigation. She has helped pioneer the model of post-conviction DNA litigation used nationwide to exonerate wrongfully convicted persons. She has represented and exonerated over 30 innocent individuals, from Louisiana to Nevada, who collectively served over 500 years of wrongful imprisonment, five of whom were originally prosecuted for capital murder and has been onboard since 2000.

What does this mean exactly? Since the Innocence Project does not take a case if they do not believe in it, this means that they believe in Darlie's innocence and that the state of Texas got this one wrong.

When you stop to consider that the Innocence Project normally will not take cases when the defendant has legal counsel, this, of course, becomes much more significant since Darlie is represented by Mr. Cooper as well. Apparently, this points to the fact that they believe the state of Texas got this one so wrong they are stepping in to help.

While I am very well aware that there a several of you in this forum who ultimately believe in her guilt, living in Texas myself and not too far from where these murders occurred, I have always had serious doubts about this case.

My background: I have been a legal professional for much of my adult life starting at the age of 16, I have been involved in most aspects of the law and understand how the "Texas" system works and shall we say does not work. I am fully apprised of the fact that Texas votes all of their high powered attorneys into office and how political this absolutely is. Further, I am ultimately aware of just how difficult it is in Texas to get any conviction either overturned or getting a new trial for those unfortunate enough to be seeking a new trial. While criminal law is certainly not my forte, I have known and still do know many of the old big players in the Dallas area especially during this era.

Looking forward to your viewpoints on this case and the fact that the Innocence Project has jumped into the fray despite her having legal representation.
 
InDoubt558 said:
It is official, Vanessa Potkin has taken the Darlie Routier murder case. For those of you who do not know who she is, Vanessa is with the Innocence Project and has been onboard there for over 17 years. This is the same Innocence Project of the famous Barry C. Scheck as well as Peter Neufeld, the originators of the original Innocence Project.

Her position with them is that of Director of Post-Conviction Litigation. She has helped pioneer the model of post-conviction DNA litigation used nationwide to exonerate wrongfully convicted persons. She has represented and exonerated over 30 innocent individuals, from Louisiana to Nevada, who collectively served over 500 years of wrongful imprisonment, five of whom were originally prosecuted for capital murder and has been onboard since 2000.

What does this mean exactly? Since the Innocence Project does not take a case if they do not believe in it, this means that they believe in Darlie's innocence and that the state of Texas got this one wrong.

When you stop to consider that the Innocence Project normally will not take cases when the defendant has legal counsel, this, of course, becomes much more significant since Darlie is represented by Mr. Cooper as well. Apparently, this points to the fact that they believe the state of Texas got this one so wrong they are stepping in to help.

While I am very well aware that there a several of you in this forum who ultimately believe in her guilt, living in Texas myself and not too far from where these murders occurred, I have always had serious doubts about this case.

My background: I have been a legal professional for much of my adult life starting at the age of 16, I have been involved in most aspects of the law and understand how the "Texas" system works and shall we say does not work. I am fully apprised of the fact that Texas votes all of their high powered attorneys into office and how political this absolutely is. Further, I am ultimately aware of just how difficult it is in Texas to get any conviction either overturned or getting a new trial for those unfortunate enough to be seeking a new trial. While criminal law is certainly not my forte, I have known and still do know many of the old big players in the Dallas area especially during this era.

Looking forward to your viewpoints on this case and the fact that the Innocence Project has jumped into the fray despite her having legal representation.
Click to expand...
I have to say this is a big surprise to me, it will be interesting to see where this ends up. You don’t happen to have a link for this info do you? And thanks for the update.
 
neesaki said:
I have to say this is a big surprise to me, it will be interesting to see where this ends up. You don’t happen to have a link for this info do you? And thanks for the update.
Click to expand...

Since I am on the "inside track" with this case and only have the verbal from a very very reliable source, this has not been publicly announced, but I do have permission to post the information and as soon as it goes to print I will be happy to post all information here. This was just signed on April 2rd I promise there will be so much more to follow.

R
 
cobalt sky said:
Welcome and thanks for posting @InDoubt558 , this is big news!! I am VERY curious as to what were the key aspects of Darlie's case that made Vanessa decide to take her on. Can you give us any hints?? :D
Click to expand...

It is absolutely no secret that Vanessa Potikin took the time to assist Viola Davis to determine the cases she believed should be covered in her new series "The Last Defense", this is widely known and accepted. It is my personal opinion that (THIS IS NOT A FACT AND MY OPINION ONLY) while Vanessa Potkin made the suggestion that this case would be one to consider, even she may have been unaware of all of the inconsistencies in this very case. I feel that she went on to delve into this case even further, uncovering many more facts that point to the possibility of Routier's innocence.

Because DNA testing has advanced so much since the time that these murders happened back in the '90s and Routier's requests to utilize any of these new methods of testing were denied to Routier at the time requested, so these same requests were appealed to the higher court. The higher court found that the lower court had erred in their decision and remanded Routier's case back to the lower court for these DNA tests could be completed. These tests were not performed for years over 10 years in fact. Just recently, these tests are being performed it is now 2019!! This could also be a sign with Routier's case being taken up by the Vannessa Potkin and the Innocence Project that these tests may have new discoveries that we are unaware of.

By Texas taking its time as well as their refusal to run to THIS DAY, the bloody fingerprint found at the crime scene, it should give every one of us pause. What is really bad are the non-supporters who wish to say that it is Routier who has delayed these DNA tests when in fact it is the state of Texas that has decided to deny tests that she should have been granted and/or dragging their feet.

Texas' excuse? Well, they say that their labs are just that far behind! I call BS, sorry but there is nothing else one can call this! When you have a court making decisions that go against your rights, then even when you are ordered to do the testing and it takes a decade for you to do so, I say there is so much wrong with this case that it stinks!

R
 
this is an old article, but refers to Vanesa Potkin and Darlie's case (June 2018)

Defending Darlie

Darlie’s mother, Darlie Kee – often referred to as “Mama Darlie” – has always been disappointed that the Innocence Project never came to her daughter’s rescue. No interest was shown in the case by either the original New York City-based organization founded at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck or by Innocence Texas, formerly the Innocence Project of Texas. Innocence organizations have limited funds and rarely take on cases in which the person convicted already has legal representation. In Darlie’s case, there is a team. In addition to Cooper, she is represented by Richard Smith and Richard Burr.

With the Texas organization, there is more to the story as it pertains to Darlie. Executive Director Mike Ware told me that he believes Darlie is guilty. So, too, does board member and treasurer Russell Wilson. Both men, at different times, headed up Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins’ groundbreaking Conviction Integrity Unit, which many Darlie supporters had hoped would undo what a previous regime had done to her. Watkins lost his bid for re-election to a third term in 2014. With all three men – Ware, Wilson, and Watkins – I never felt that I received a clear answer as to why they are so convinced that Darlie is guilty.

In a way, though, Mama Darlie has gotten her wish where the New York organization is concerned. Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project, and Cardozo graduate Aida Leisenring, who worked with Potkin while a law student, approached XCON and Lincoln Square Productions about developing a project that re-examined death row cases. The impetus for the idea was a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which estimated that 4 percent of the people on death row are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. All of the production partners had a hand in creating the final product, which differed somewhat from the women’s original concept. Among the docu-series’ executive producers, Potkin and Leisenring worked with the other executive producers, as well as researchers, paralegals, and law students, to examine about 3,000 death penalty cases with the goal of choosing just two.

“Darlie’s case,” XCON’s Crowell said, “just rose to the surface.”

Potkin said that the case contains several elements that are now known to be among the leading causes of wrongful convictions, including a rush to judgment, tunnel vision, and character assassination.

“Once you delve into the facts of the crime, the investigation, the trial evidence, it becomes clear that there is a completely different narrative – one of innocence and a story that needs to be told,” Potkin said.

There is a common belief that law enforcement often deliberately prosecutes people it knows are innocent, Potkin said, but that’s not true.

“That’s not how most wrongful convictions occur,” she said. “I’m sure Toby Shook believes that Darlie did it, but his belief that she did it doesn’t equate to her actual guilt. I think he’s earnest. I think that that’s what they believe, and probably nothing will ever change their mind. This is a horrible crime, and they became convinced that Darlie did it. They invested a lot of time and resources and emotion in obtaining her conviction, and that’s very hard to undo.”

During production, Leisenring traveled with Crowell and others on the project to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. There, bloodstain pattern analysts Terry Laber and Bart Epstein –the experts who were ready to testify on Darlie’s behalf but were never given the chance – conducted on-camera experiments. They used their own blood to re-enact the scenario presented at trial by Tom Bevel, the state’s bloodstain pattern expert. Bevel testified that blood stains on the back of Darlie’s Victoria’s Secret nightshirt were from her raising the knife as she repeatedly stabbed her children and that blood marks on the kitchen floor were from a vacuum cleaner that Darlie had knocked over in her staging of the crime scene.

.....more at link
 
I'd laugh if it wasn't so tragic. Why is that over 70'% of people polled who watched The Last Defense, still believe Darlie is guilty. Me for instance. Why is it The Last Defense had to engage in lies and misrepresentations to present an alleged wrongfully convicted Darlie? Oh well have your fantasies. Darlie isn't going anywhere.
 
Kristikay52 said:
I can't, for the life of me, understand how people can believe she is innocent. How do explain away the evidence? The blood wiped clean from the sink, the blood spatter on the back of her nightshirt, the screen cut from the inside?
Click to expand...

A killer with OCD? Just had to clean the sink before leaving. Although the fact that he forgot to bring his own weapon might be in conflict with that idea. Definitely poor planning.

Seriously. How anyone buys into the innocent Darlie fantasy is beyond me. She is guilty as hell.
 
Spellbound said:
this is an old article, but refers to Vanesa Potkin and Darlie's case (June 2018)

Defending Darlie

Darlie’s mother, Darlie Kee – often referred to as “Mama Darlie” – has always been disappointed that the Innocence Project never came to her daughter’s rescue. No interest was shown in the case by either the original New York City-based organization founded at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck or by Innocence Texas, formerly the Innocence Project of Texas. Innocence organizations have limited funds and rarely take on cases in which the person convicted already has legal representation. In Darlie’s case, there is a team. In addition to Cooper, she is represented by Richard Smith and Richard Burr.

With the Texas organization, there is more to the story as it pertains to Darlie. Executive Director Mike Ware told me that he believes Darlie is guilty. So, too, does board member and treasurer Russell Wilson. Both men, at different times, headed up Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins’ groundbreaking Conviction Integrity Unit, which many Darlie supporters had hoped would undo what a previous regime had done to her. Watkins lost his bid for re-election to a third term in 2014. With all three men – Ware, Wilson, and Watkins – I never felt that I received a clear answer as to why they are so convinced that Darlie is guilty.

In a way, though, Mama Darlie has gotten her wish where the New York organization is concerned. Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project, and Cardozo graduate Aida Leisenring, who worked with Potkin while a law student, approached XCON and Lincoln Square Productions about developing a project that re-examined death row cases. The impetus for the idea was a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which estimated that 4 percent of the people on death row are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. All of the production partners had a hand in creating the final product, which differed somewhat from the women’s original concept. Among the docu-series’ executive producers, Potkin and Leisenring worked with the other executive producers, as well as researchers, paralegals, and law students, to examine about 3,000 death penalty cases with the goal of choosing just two.

“Darlie’s case,” XCON’s Crowell said, “just rose to the surface.”

Potkin said that the case contains several elements that are now known to be among the leading causes of wrongful convictions, including a rush to judgment, tunnel vision, and character assassination.

“Once you delve into the facts of the crime, the investigation, the trial evidence, it becomes clear that there is a completely different narrative – one of innocence and a story that needs to be told,” Potkin said.

There is a common belief that law enforcement often deliberately prosecutes people it knows are innocent, Potkin said, but that’s not true.

“That’s not how most wrongful convictions occur,” she said. “I’m sure Toby Shook believes that Darlie did it, but his belief that she did it doesn’t equate to her actual guilt. I think he’s earnest. I think that that’s what they believe, and probably nothing will ever change their mind. This is a horrible crime, and they became convinced that Darlie did it. They invested a lot of time and resources and emotion in obtaining her conviction, and that’s very hard to undo.”

During production, Leisenring traveled with Crowell and others on the project to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. There, bloodstain pattern analysts Terry Laber and Bart Epstein –the experts who were ready to testify on Darlie’s behalf but were never given the chance – conducted on-camera experiments. They used their own blood to re-enact the scenario presented at trial by Tom Bevel, the state’s bloodstain pattern expert. Bevel testified that blood stains on the back of Darlie’s Victoria’s Secret nightshirt were from her raising the knife as she repeatedly stabbed her children and that blood marks on the kitchen floor were from a vacuum cleaner that Darlie had knocked over in her staging of the crime scene.

.....more at link
Click to expand...

Were any of these experts NOT from TX? just wondering ?
 
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