The Barry AJ Fisher & Friends Very High Profile Hissy Fit

On February 18, 2011, I published a post about Barry AJ Fisher that talked about several things. Some of the topics included Barry AJ Fisher’s lack of real leadership in forensic science in spite of his ubiquitous “leadership” roles, Barry AJ Fisher’s deceptive statements to me and others regarding his own actions and those of his buddies in ASCLD and the CFSO, and some of Barry AJ Fisher’s weird/naïve beliefs regarding what could actually be done regarding federal forensic reform legislation.

Barry AJ Fisher was not happy with me after the post came out, for several reasons.

First of all, I had called Barry AJ Fisher a liar. During my interview with Barry AJ Fisher for my post, he had lied to me (demonstrably so) about why he had left the meeting of the California Crime Lab Task Force. Barry AJ Fisher had told me that he left because he had matinee tickets for South Pacific at the Ahmanson Theater. There was no matinee show that day.

Barry AJ Fisher had also said that the vote to shut down the Task Force had just come up unexpectedly. That also was not true. A review of the meeting minutes of that day shows that both the California Association of Criminalists and the California Association of Crime Lab Directors had submitted position statements ahead of time suggesting that the Task Force be shut down.

I had also called attention to the problems with Barry AJ Fisher’s logic and his inability to stay on topic when the topic did not suit his needs.

Just a few minutes before I actually published the post, an e-mail came out from Senator Patrick Leahy’s staff inviting various stakeholders to a meeting regarding the newly introduced Criminal Justice and Forensic Science Reform Act (S. 132).

Barry AJ Fisher, presumably trying to play nice before my post went up, forwarded the e-mail to me recommending that I contact Leahy’s staff and try to get invited to the meeting.

I had already been invited to the meeting by Senator Leahy’s staff, and I let Barry AJ Fisher know that. Radio silence followed. I don’t think that was the response that Barry AJ Fisher was expecting.

The next morning, after my posting had gone up, Barry AJ Fisher issued the following e-mail to a whole slew of people:

In case you couldn’t read that, it said:

It’s an interesting experience to get slammed in a Blog on a Saturday morning even before your first cup.

I’m passing this around in case you haven’t read it yet to you because you’ve been mentioned directly or in passing (although the bulk is about me) or because you know me and have had dealings with me.

I’m not sure if this is actionable or if so it pays to do anything about it. Amy Driver, the author, of late has been taking shots at many colleagues whom I know. In my case, it irks to be flat out called a liar. That doesn’t sit well for me.

Anyway, if you haven’t read it, I wanted to pass it along to you. It’s great for conspiracy theorists and takes half truths and turns into fiction.

I’ll see some of you who are at the AAFS meeting next week in Chicago.

Barry AJ Fisher, like John Nixon, was upset to an unexpected extent, particularly since, as with John Nixon (as with all the charlatans, really) I had documentation to back up everything I had written about Barry AJ Fisher. Much of it was Barry AJ Fisher’s own words and Barry AJ Fisher’s own writings, actually.

Interestingly, Barry AJ Fisher has become one of John Nixon’s biggest fans, at least according to the e-mails that have been forwarded to me. Birds of a feather, and all that…

But the things that were most interesting about Barry AJ Fisher’s e-mail were the number of people he sent it to, who he chose to send it to, and the number of those people who then hit “reply all” to trash me and try to, as one person put it “talk Barry down out of his tree.” Evidently, “talking Barry out of his tree” was something that a lot of people had to spend some time on in the days and weeks that followed.

I can tell you this: I have never gotten as much gleeful, positive feedback and as many cries of “can’t you find any more material on him?”, and all from people Barry AJ Fisher no doubt counts as friends, than I have after that post. Not even after the Adina Schwartz posts.

The people who hit “reply all” to Barry AJ Fisher’s e-mail were not unexpected: Ken Melson, Joe Polski, Mike Sheppo, Jay Siegel, Jan Burke, Jamie Downs, and Matt Redle. It wasn’t even unexpected that some of these people were stupid enough to do so from a government or work e-mail. Here are their responses:

Scurrilous trash! Rubbish! How dare that woman speak against the establishment! Are you kidding me, people? You’re all one white cat away from being movie villains.

By the way, I did e-mail all the people listed above whose replies you see here and ask if they wanted to comment. None replied.

As you can imagine, I am quite hurt by not having the esteem of people like these, who are such fine examples of…. well, hell, it’s Ken Melson, Mike Sheppo, Jay Siegel, etc., etc., etc. Need I say more?

But the one whose response surprises me the most is Matthew Redle, prosecuting attorney from Sheridan County, Wyoming who testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 9, 2009 regarding the NAS Report. I wrote about this hearing almost a year ago.

Also at that hearing was Peter Neufeld, founder of the Innocence Project, who spoke about the case of Roy Brown who was wrongly convicted of murder after the prosecutor in his case failed to turn over exculpatory scientific evidence that cleared him and, instead, went and found an expert who would support the prosecutor’s case. This Brady violation was discovered many years later and Brown was cleared through DNA testing.

After hearing Peter Neufeld testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the case of Roy Brown, Matt Redle sat there and cried while saying the following words

I would suggest, Mr. Chairman, that Mr. Brown’s case represents not so much a failure of science, as much as it pains me to say so… it represents a colossal ethical failure on the part of the prosecutor in that case…

The prosecutor, not abiding by his ethical responsibilities, not following the constitutional rule of Brady vs. Maryland withheld that information from the defense and, instead, shopped for a new expert… and as a result of that failure, that ethical failure, this tragic injustice was perpetrated on Mr. Brown and I apologize on behalf of prosecutors everywhere.

[Long pause, deep sigh, sniffling]

So it surprised me a little that Matt Redle’s response to Barry AJ Fisher’s sympathy-seeking, damage control e-mail would be this ([sic] throughout on spelling and punctuation):

I’ll toss my two cents in as well. Those who know you will not credit the article. Those who know the author will- well- know the author and credit or discredit the story accordingly. Those of us who don’t know the author may recognize a certain rambling nature and pressured speech that suggests questionable credibility. Besides look at the good company your in- Jill Spriggs and Beth Lavach. Let it roll off your back.

Jill Spriggs? Jill Spriggs? The woman who proudly defended some of the most unethical, hide-the-ball Brady violations the modern crime lab world has ever seen? The same Jill Spriggs that defended those unethical withholding of evidence policies knowing that they had sent innocent people to prison?

Is this the same Matt Redle who cried big crocodile tears for the Senate Judiciary Committee over a wrongful conviction back in 2009? Yep. Sure is. Now praising the people who defend bad convictions left and right. It’s also the same Matt Redle who is on Ken Melson’s White House Subcommittee, no doubt handing Melson everything he wants.

It’s so nice to see that the ASCLD-brand of “discredit and retaliate swiftly” in response to the cold, hard truth doesn’t change. No wonder Barry AJ Fisher (and no doubt all his friends who helped him craft this little e-mail thread) is such a fan of John Nixon. A bunch of non-experts who can’t do anything but lash out in the ugliest way they know how when faced with the truth about themselves.