The Wrongful Conviction of Alfred Trenkler
Jurors Disavow Guilty Verdict
In a move virtually unprecedented in the federal court system four members of the Alfred Trenkler jury, including the jury forewoman Sheridan Kassirer asked trial judge Rya Zobel for a retrial because they felt that an innocent man may have been wrongfully convicted. A fifth juror did not need to read the book; he wrote the trial judge with the same sentiments after hearing about the first four jurors; he happened to to be one of a few hold-out jurors that had felt the trial was a scam based on flawed science.
After reading the book "Perfectly Innocent" the four jurors felt that much of the evidence that was presented at trial and accepted by the jury is now highly suspect. This includes:
- The entire notion of the possibility of a "signature" bomb has been largely discredited over the years, and even if this theory was still extant, details now revealed indicate that there were few similarities between the bomb that killed Officer Hurley and wounded Officer Foley, and Mr. Trenkler's previous prank "bomb." These facts weighed heavily in the jury's decision to convict.
- It now appears that the testimony of a key witness, William Lindholm is now seriously suspect. Lindholm most likely did have a deal with the prosecution, which he denied vociferously during the trial.
- Did investigators seriously consider other possible suspects who would have had motives much stronger than Alfred who had none at all?
