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LATEST NEWS, in reverse chronological order. (for news about the case and other related non-web-linked news) (For older, archived News see "Latest News (old)")
15 November 2011 The book EYE CONTACT is now available on Amazon.com in a Kindle ecopy edition (@$3.00) or hard copy (@25.00) See the Amazon page for the book. See also, on this website, the "Books about Chad and other cases" section. 9 November 2011. On this 11th anniversary of the death of Kassidy Bortner, the paperback Edition of EYE CONTACT is published. Posted here is the E-COPY (.PDF) of the 699 page paperback edition. (Please send comments, criticisms, questions and suggestions to the author, Morrison Bonpasse at EMAIL) 28 October 2011. Christine Gagne writes an EMAIL to Sr. Asst. Attorney General Jeff Strelzin, following up on October 13 meeting. Her email begins.... "I wanted to sincerely thank you for meeting with myself and members of the Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee on October 13, 2011. As I had mentioned previously, I did not know Chad Evans personally until becoming involved in his case after hearing of his claims of innocence on WMUR in February. I was a complete stranger to this case with a new set of eyes. After spending over 2500 hours researching this case, from the beginning to the end, with a clear, unbiased mind, in search of the truth, I have compiled a list of what/who killed Kassidy. Ironically Chad Evans did not make the list. In fact, I believe that we can scientifically exclude Chad." 26 October 2011. EYE CONTACT reviewed by Barbara Watkins of "All Books Review." [The Review was at the top of the All Books Review FEATURED BOOK list.] The review begins..... “A Riveting Story of Unfairness and a Cry for Justice - ‘Eye Contact’ is an enthralling story of the sudden death of a precious tiny soul, Kassidy Bortner, and a man wrongly convicted of murder. The reader must keep an open mind while reading, and make his or her decision based on the facts provided in the case. The problem is, the prosecutors in this case have misinterpreted the facts to the degree that you will question their every move. Our Judicial system has been under extreme scrutiny in the past few years – and with good reason...." 15 October 2011. Chad turns 40 years old. As he observed during a visit on the 13th, he has spent 25% of his life in prison, for something he didn't do. During that visit, all the inmates and visitors present joined in singing "Happy Birthday." 13 October 2011. Four Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee members, together with Rep. Dick Patten, met with Sr. Asst. Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin to discuss Committee Request that case be re-investigated. Nicole Evans Mahoney, Becky Boudreau, Christine Gagne, and Morrison Bonpasse met with Sr. Asst. Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin. Rep. Dick Patten also joined the meeting in support of Chad. The Committee's Executive Director, Morrison Bonpasse, brought to the meeting a LETTER to Jeff Strelzin, with APPENDICES and a PROPOSED OUTLINE for Re-Investigation of the case. 12 October 2011. Chad wrote a three-page letter to Senator Jeanne Shaheen to ask for her assistance. The letter begins... We met on April 23, 1997 at a dinner where you and Mrs. Nackey Loeb of the Manchester Union Leader presented me with a "HERO" award for pulling three men from a burning car on November 1, 1996. I am including a photo ofthis event so you can put a face with the name Chad Evans. Four Years later I became a wrongly convicted inmate in the New Hampshire State Prison. In a state with the motto "Live Free or Die", a wrongful conviction should be especially intolerable to our state officials. Until November 9,2000, I was an involved productive citizen of Rochester, NH by way of Keene NH.... 28 September 2011. The Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee has become a member of the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits. [See the Committee's PROFILE at the Center's website.] The organization has over 600 members and works to enhance the effectiveness of those organizations. Hopefully, the work of the Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee will be enhanced by this important membership. [See LIST OF NEW MEMBERS in October, 2011, including the Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee, the NH Bar Association and the NH Supreme Court Society.] 27 September 2011. Chad Evans writes response LETTER to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin. Excerpt from the letter.... .... "Even in the interviews and excerpts you highlighted, nowhere does Amanda ever assert that I hit or even spanked Kassidy. This is because I didn't. Again, I never hit or spanked Kassidy. I hope that assertion makes you wonder about this case. As Daniel Webster stated, “There is nothing so powerful at the truth, and often nothing so strange.” When asked this question during a voice stress lie detection test I passed with no deception indicated. As it appears that you do not accept the results of my July, 2010 lie detector test, are you willing to give me a polygraph or other lie detector test, the results of which you do trust?" 20 September 2011. State Representative Dick Patten met with Deputy Attorney General Ann Rice about the Chad Evans case. She oversees the Criminal Justice, Consumer Protection and Environmental Protection bureaus of the Dept. of Justice. 19 September 2011. Unredacted copy of March 22, 1001 DNA testing report was found by the New Hampshire Attorney General's office in the Discovery materials which were sent to Chad's attorneys in 2001. See also EMAILED APOLOGY which was sent to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin by Morrison Bonpasse. 7 September 2011. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin writes LETTER to Chad Evans in response to Chad's letter to Attorney General Delaney of 26 August (See below.) Mr. Strelzin concluded his thorough three page letter, "The jury's conclusion was later affirmed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court on appeal. After considering the evidence and all of your recent claims, we see no legitimate basis to question the jury's verdicts or the outcome of your convictions on appeal." 30 August 2011. The Co-Chairs of the Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee forwarded a copy of EYE CONTACT to all the State Representatives, State Senators and Executive Councillors of New Hampshire. The forwarding EMAIL (sample to Rep. David Watters) asked recipients to learn more about the case and ask Attorney General Michael Delaney to re-investigate. 26 August 2011. Chad wrote a LETTER to Attorney General Delaney requesting a reinvestigation of the case and a meeting with him, and a meeting with four of his supporters. The letter began, "First, I am an innocent man, wrongfully convicted, and imprisoned in the New Hampshire State Prison." 25 August 2011. Keene Chapter of Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee conducts open meeting and discussion of "EYE CONTACT" at Keene Public Library. See Keene Sentinel ADVERTISEMENT for meeting, and Library NOTICE. 24 August 2011. Chad wrote to Centurion Ministries in Princeton, New Jersey, to ask for their assistance in correcting his wrongful conviction. See his FOUR-PAGE APPLICATION with a summary of his case. Chad has also applied to the New England Innocence Project for assistance. 21 August 2011. Morrison Bonpasse sent an ecopy of "EYE CONTACT" to Attorney General Michael Delaney, Senior Asst. AG Jeffrey Strelzin and Asst. AG Elizabeth Woodcock. He wrote, "The truth is that Chad Evans didn’t murder Kassidy. He didn’t, and doesn’t, believe in corporal punishment, and never spanked nor hit her; and he passed a lie detector test in 2010." 18 August 2011. EYE CONTACT was made available at the www.wattpad.com self-publishing site, at EYE CONTACT at WATTPAD.COM, and at the epublishing site for Sony E-Readers, www.smashwords.com, where the book is located at EYE CONTACT at Smashwords. 16 August 2011. EYE CONTACT was made available at the www.lulu.com self-publishing site. Ecopies are $2.00 and a paperback copy is $38.50. For people visiting this site, the Ecopy is free and hard copies can be purchased directly for $20.00. Contact the Chad Evans Committee. 10 August 2011. Draft Edition 2 of the 692 page e-book, "EYE CONTACT - The Mysterious Death of Kassidy Bortner in 2000 in Maine and the Wrongful Conviction of Chad Evans in New Hampshire"was published online on August 10, 2011. The second draft edition includes photographs of Kassidy in the Appendix, and sections on Chad's pre-sentencing report and the laws regarding parental discipline in New Hampshire. 18 July 2011. Morrison Bonpasse emailed a copy of "EYE CONTACT" to Asst. Attorney General Elizabeth Woodcock and to the prosecutors and investigators of the case in 2000. He wrote, "It is a work in progress and will continue to be improved as comments and constructive criticism are received from readers. The goal is to make it as accurate and truthful as possible so that the people of New Hampshire can see what really happened in 2000 and why Chad was wrongly convicted." 18 July 2011. Draft Edition 1 of 660 page e-book, "EYE CONTACT - The Mysterious Death of Kassidy Bortner in 2000 in Maine and the Wrongful Conviction of Chad Evans in New Hampshire" now available. The book explores what happened to Kassidy Bortner and how Chad Evans was wrongly convicted of abusing and murdering her. 12 July 2011 LETTER from Christine Gagne, a member of the Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee, to Attorney General Michael Delaney. The letter begins.... I am writing today to ask you to take a look at the Chad Evans case from a different perspective. I do not know Mr. Evans personally; I became involved in this case after seeing it on the news in February. 21 January 2011. Twenty-two more signatures added to the www.change.org Petition during the previous week. See email REPORT from Change.org 21 December 2010. NH Senior Asst. Attorney General N. William Delker responded, in part, to Chad Evans's 9 November letter to the Governors and Attorneys General of Maine and New Hampshire. See Mr. Delker's LETTER. The letter in its entirety.... Dear Mr. Evans: Please be advised that in response to your letter dated November 9, 2010, in which you request the investigative files of your case, the State has received a similar request on your behalf from Morrison Bonpasse. We are in the process of responding to that request. We anticipate your current request will also be addressed by the response to Mr. Bonpasse's request. The State expects that this process will be completed on or before January 13,2011. See RSA 91-A:4, IV. 12 December 2010. Chad sends "Holiday Greetings" to his friends and supporters. His letter begins... I hope this short letter finds you happy and healthy. I am extremely busy right now working with my advocate, Morrison, to get the truth out in my case and a bit tight on time so please forgive that my holiday greetings are not as personal as normal. 15 November 2010. The REPORT of the Voice Stress Analysis lie detector test for Chad Evans is released. The report concluded, "After analyzing all of the circumstances and the test results, it was concluded that Mr. Evans was a cooperative, sincere individual who eagerly submitted to VSA testing which revealed No Deception Indicated (NDI) on his part." See article, "VSA History and Facts". See also, Chad-drafted questions which Chad took to the test, with the expectation that one or more of them could be used. 9 November 2010. Chad Evans writes a LETTER to Governors Baldacci and Lynch of Maine and New Hampshire, and Attorneys General Mills and Delaney of Maine and New Hampshire to request a re-investigation of his case. The letter begins... Until November 9, 2000, exactly ten years ago, I was a productive citizen of Rochester, New Hampshire. I was living with my 3-year-old son, part-time through shared custody with my to-be-ex-wife, and with the woman I loved, Amanda Bortner, and her young daughter, Kassidy, whom I also loved. As an area manager for eight McDonald's restaurants, my income was more than adequate for current expenses and for saving for the future, including education for my stepson, my son, and Kassidy. We were melding a family, embraced by our larger families, and life was good. 8 October 2010. Morrison Bonpasse writes EMAIL to Senior Assistant Attorney General for New Hampshire, N. William Delker regarding actual innocence of Chad Evans, and to initiate a New Hampshire Right-to-Know documents request. The email closed with this paragraph... I look forward to working with you, and/or a delegate, in the effort to uncover the truth and to secure justice, if not already achieved, in this case. A wrongful conviction is surely every prosecutor's nightmare, and I'm confident that you do not want an innocent man to be imprisoned for crimes he did not commit. How an innocent man was convicted in this case is a long story, which is contained, in part, in the website, www.chadevanswronglyconvicted.org. The rest may be contained in a manuscript, "Eye Contact." Incidentally, as I believe that Chad is innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted, it follows that I also believe that Amanda Bortner is also innocent of knowing that he was committing such crimes and doing nothing to stop them. I know that you have much other work to do, but if you or any other person in the New Hampshire government find any errors or discrepancies in what is presented on that site, I would appreciate hearing about them. We are interested in finding and presenting the truth. [In response, NH Asst. Attorney General Jane Young wrote a LETTER to Morrison Bonpasse that the request for Right-to-Know access to documents was received, and that it would take about 90 days to assemble the documents.]
8 October 2010. A 22 March 2001 Report of a DNA test from the Maine State Police Crime Lab as been located through a Freedom of Information Access request. This report had not been previously disclosed to Chad Evans's defense team prior to the 2001 trial. For reference, the two other, and previously disclosed crime lab reports are here: 12 March and 8 March 2001 Reports from the Maine State Police Crime Lab (7 pages)[1185-1191] Together, these three reports indicate that the blood found underneath all ten of Kassidy Bortner's fingernails had female DNA, and thus was probably hers. The saliva stain on a napkin had male DNA. An EMAIL was sent to Senior Asst. Attorney General N. William Delker on 8 October 2010 to advise him of the finding of the 22 March 2001 report. 1 October 2010. Docketing at the First Circuit Court of Appeals of Evans vs. Gerry, Chad's Federal appeal of the 15 year increase to his 28 year sentence. See DOCKETING NOTICE and FULL RECORD FOR APPEAL. Chad's attorneys are challenging the constitutionality of the post-sentencing 15 year increase in his 2002 sentence of 28 years. Even though the appeal does not include his claim of wrongful conviction, it's an important part of justice for Chad. 29 September 2010. The Seacoast Chapter of the Chad Evans Wrongly Convicted Committee met in Rochester. Nine members reviewed Chad's case and elected Becky Boudreau and Sandy Gelinas Co-Chairs. Becky read a thank-you LETTER from Chad. See also the WORD copy. The next meeting will be the 3rd Wednesday in October, the 20th. 16 December 2009 Boston Bar Assn. Task Force on Preventing Wrongful Convictions issues report: See, also, "Links to Articles" for Boston Globe article of 16 December. 22 October 2009 "CPCS [Committee for Public Counsel Services] to establish Wrongful Conviction Unit" from the website of the Mass. Bar Assn.
The special unit is made possible by a U.S. Department of Justice grant
This funding, from the federal FY09 Wrongful Prosecution Review Program: Representation of Wrongfully Convicted Defendants in Post-Conviction Claims of Innocence, will enable CPCS to create a Wrongful Conviction Specialist position to assist assigned counsel in these cases. The grant will also support an Expert Funding System to enable post-conviction counsel to access experts and testing to develop the factual information needed to present these claims initially, and to obtain court approval for additional needed funds. The Wrongful Conviction Unit is anticipated to being services in January 2010.
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