Vanessa Potkin Has Taken Darlie Routier's Case

[Rinit63]

I want to say one thing about Darlie’s neck wound and the crap about it being so severe. I worked in a jail and had to do first aid on a young woman who had slit her own throat. She was taken to surgery as well but in her case her neck was stapled together like Frankenstein’s monster not steri-stripped like Darlie. They took her in for surgery out of precaution. The young woman I dealt with cut her throat 3 times with a blade she had taken out of her razor before actually nicking her artery. 2 mm away doesn’t seem like much but to actually cut it isn’t easy. Unless Darlie had her fingers on her pulse she likely had no clue how close she was but she never cut deep enough to be in any danger. As for the bruising, it looks nothing like anything from any fight I’ve ever dealt with. If someone attacks you and causes that much bruising it doesn’t take your son to wake you up. Even the worst DV violence I’ve witnessed where the woman was beat badly and tossed around had finger impressions and bruising where she was hit and hit things but nothing under the arms like that. Nothing matches up with her story.

 

[Berrybell]

I want to say one thing about Darlie’s neck wound and the crap about it being so severe. I worked in a jail and had to do first aid on a young woman who had slit her own throat. She was taken to surgery as well but in her case her neck was stapled together like Frankenstein’s monster not steri-stripped like Darlie. They took her in for surgery out of precaution. The young woman I dealt with cut her throat 3 times with a blade she had taken out of her razor before actually nicking her artery. 2 mm away doesn’t seem like much but to actually cut it isn’t easy. Unless Darlie had her fingers on her pulse she likely had no clue how close she was but she never cut deep enough to be in any danger. As for the bruising, it looks nothing like anything from any fight I’ve ever dealt with. If someone attacks you and causes that much bruising it doesn’t take your son to wake you up. Even the worst DV violence I’ve witnessed where the woman was beat badly and tossed around had finger impressions and bruising where she was hit and hit things but nothing under the arms like that. Nothing matches up with her story.

that is a great point, if the cut was severe why was it only steep-stripped?

 

[Theestunning1]

Unfortunately we will never know the exact reason(s)why the boys were slaughtered. People who do this are beyond my knowledge and understanding

But we can speculate...money, resentment of her responsibilities towards the boys, need for control, clean freak OCD, life easier with one baby instead of two active boys who made messes (as kids will)

That may be one of the reasons why she demanded the boys be outside from 9 am to 9 pm. It they were not around inside she did not have to parent them and be responsible for them, easier on Darlie on a day to day basis just to send them outside without any supervision and the inside of the house would be kept all neat and clean without kids making a mess

After the murders Darlie and Darin had announced to family and friends at a solemn gathering directly after the funeral that they had plans in place to travel to Europe. While travelling they hoped to conceive another baby preferably a girl

They solved their money problems by collecting on the boys insurance to the tune of 10k

Went from not being able to pay bills, turned down for a 5k loan, to plans are in place to travel to Europe

So I feel it is probably a combination of several things as to why she slaughtered her kids, but only Darlie knows

I really do think Darlie fully expected to continue with her life, shopping, vacation, having a baby girl and never anticipated that her intruder story would not be believed and the evidence contradicted her story.

She wanted empathy and sympathy for the murder of her boys and her injury. Poor me look what happened to me...feel sorry for me

Kind of like Scott Peterson....he thought his story would be believed and not contradicted by evidence also.

Both are exactly where they belong after presentation of facts at trial and a determination of those facts supporting the guilt of the defendant

One thing I found interesting is that a neighbour who lives directly behind Darlie was surprise that her two dogs were quiet during the slaughter of the boys as was Darlie vocal dog also

The entire neighbourhood was quiet while two boys were slaughtered as they slept, not a sound of any dog sensing danger afoot in the neighbourhood , all the while a stranger slaughtered two children in their own home without leaving any evidence that he was there at all

This is why I have grave difficulty when others make a determination that Darlie is innocent without looking at the entire totality of evidence and not cherry pick one or two things that they feel is supportive of her innocence like that darn silly string video

But ignore the fact that the intruder did not steal valuable jewellery in plain sight including a Rolex watch but went right to murdering two sleeping boys who were not in plain sight in a darkened living room

Does not make sense in reality and fact

Resolved money problems with 10k?!?? Do you know what it cost to bury someone??

 

[MeadowMuffin]

Resolved money problems with 10k?!?? Do you know what it cost to bury someone??

Didn't Sarilda pay for the funeral? There was even a fly-over done which was over the top not necessary.

 

[9-1-1 Keeper of the Night]

Looks like it's actually finally been approved by a Texas judge for IP to officially get involved with Darlie's case. It'll be very interesting to see where this goes now...as previously stated, they rarely if ever get involved with helping the guilty.

Darlie Routier, mother sentenced to death for murder gets backing from Innocence Project

 

[Zzzz]

It's fine for the IP to take the case, but that doesn't mean she's innocent. It also does not mean there will be a new trial.

The IP was started to help those who might be proved innocent by new DNA testing that wasn't available long ago when the cases were tried. The IP takes indigent cases that can't afford the testing without their help. Of all the cases taken, around 43% were proved innocent with new DNA testing and around 42% were confirmed guilty. In 15% of the cases, the testing was inconclusive (source: Wikipedia). I believe Darlie has had as much or more DNA testing than just about any case, so I'm not sure where this is heading, but it will be interesting to see exactly what they are testing. I don't think an unidentified hair on a sock that was left out in the elements is conclusive of her innocence.

According to this report (which is almost 3 weeks old), the conviction integrity unit of the DA's office is also reviewing the case, which is good. Given the massive amount of other evidence against her, I have no doubt her conviction will be upheld. But it will be interesting to follow this.

Interestingly, and perhaps tellingly, nothing has been written about this in the Dallas Morning News, just in a small-circulation news radio article.

 

[iamkitten]

I want to say one thing about Darlie’s neck wound and the crap about it being so severe. I worked in a jail and had to do first aid on a young woman who had slit her own throat. She was taken to surgery as well but in her case her neck was stapled together like Frankenstein’s monster not steri-stripped like Darlie. They took her in for surgery out of precaution. The young woman I dealt with cut her throat 3 times with a blade she had taken out of her razor before actually nicking her artery. 2 mm away doesn’t seem like much but to actually cut it isn’t easy. Unless Darlie had her fingers on her pulse she likely had no clue how close she was but she never cut deep enough to be in any danger. As for the bruising, it looks nothing like anything from any fight I’ve ever dealt with. If someone attacks you and causes that much bruising it doesn’t take your son to wake you up. Even the worst DV violence I’ve witnessed where the woman was beat badly and tossed around had finger impressions and bruising where she was hit and hit things but nothing under the arms like that. Nothing matches up with her story.

I agree with you 100%. Trauma nurse of 15 years here, in the 1990’s trauma treatment guidelines indicated that anyone with a penetrating trauma to that zone (upper chest) required surgical exploration of the wound regardless of the depth or size. Her vitals are noted as stable. The wound is clearly superficial. It required no repair or even sutures to close it. I am sure the procedure took all of five minutes, minus surgical prep and anesthesia time. Thankfully the guidelines have changed. We now have better imaging and no longer have to subject patients to the risk of general anesthesia without a clear indication (arterial injury on imaging, hypotension, low or dropping hemoglobin/hematocrit or urine output, severe pain etc.) had this happened today or even 10 years ago, she would have never gone to surgery without one of those indications.

A claim I frequently see is “only 2mm from her carotid artery”. The carotid artery is huge and easy to nick with a wound to the upper chest, had it actually been incised in the same manner the skin was incised it is my opinion it would have required holding pressure for a few minutes as I do not believe it would have caused any arterial damage or pseudoaneurysm that would have endangered her life.

I have also seen the claim that “her necklace required surgical removal” I haven’t seen anything presented in the evidence that proves the necklace was embedded in the wound. If this were in fact true the defense could have presented the operative notes proving that or even the bill as it would have been included in the diagnosis and procedure codes. It is very possible the necklace may have been adhered to the chest or the wound due to dried blood and the medical personnel left it in place knowing she would be undergoing a wound exploration under anesthesia.

I have also seen the claim that her having been admitted to the ICU is proof she was seriously injured. In every hospital I have worked in it was very common to admit patients involved in horrific circumstances to ICU for a few reasons:
1. ICU units are usually entry limited so harder for journalists and busy bodies to enter.
2. They are almost always private (double rooms were common in the 90’s, except in ICU’s.) and usually larger than regular hospital rooms with extra chairs and what we called “grieving carts” with coffee, water, soda, and small snacks available so they were more comfortable and private for police to question patients involved in crimes and better for anxious and grieving family members to gather in.
3. The much smaller nurse to patient ratio allows for nursing staff to spend a lot more time than they would be able to on a general floor. Common ratios in the 90’s at night for ICU 1-2 vs Floor 1-7 or even 1-9 in some hospitals (not much better today btw). In short admission to ICU is often extended as a courtesy to patients involved in horrific circumstances. The hope being they could spend their entire stay there but if the bed was needed by an actual critical patient we would just move them out then.

I can say that in all my years in ER and ICU in an inner city level 1 trauma center I have never seen defensive wounds that looked like hers. Nor have I ever seen two victims from the same crime with such stark differences in their wounds unless more than one perpetrator was involved. Years ago I came across pictures of the boys on Darlie’s site. If you compare Darlies wounds to her son Damon’s wounds the difference is astounding. If you compare her wounds to defensive wounds in survivors or wound forensics in general the differences are astounding. ** Warning: I would not advise anyone to go looking for any of the above as the images are extremely graphic and upsetting (especially of Damon). **

I do not know if Darlie is guilty. My brain tells me yes absolutely she is. My heart does not want to believe a mother could ever do that to her children. I will say that I believe the wound evidence does not support her story.

As a longtime lurker on this site I would like to say thank you in advance to anyone willing to read and consider my opinions.

 

[cami]

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.

My question is why now when Texas and the New York IP have turned her down twice in the past with Texas claiming she's guilty. This leads me to believe that Podkin et al is now only interested in halting the death penalty. They will probably get her case commuted somehow. As long as she never gets out is fine with me, I don't believe in the DP.

 

[cami]

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)

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

Actually Darlie has had DNA testing on the evidence in 2011, 2013 and 3015 when the Y-STR DNA tests found no unknown male DNA on any of the evidence. She has also had testing in 2018 and on and on. Texas has been extremely transparent. Darlie has had more post conviction DNA testing than any other DR inmate and she still cannot put an unknown male or her husband committing murder that night, It all points back to her.

 

[fridaybaker]

Very confused. Is there a link to "VP" taking D's case? And does that equate to the IP taking her case?