Debunked Arson Science Keeps Mother Imprisoned for Nearly 30 Years, Attorneys Say
“There is nothing left of the State’s case but outdated beliefs and junk science.”
This story was originally published in The Appeal.
Attorneys with the New Jersey public defender’s office are seeking a new trial for Maria Montalvo, a former nurse who was convicted of burning her children to death more than two decades ago. Montalvo’s attorneys argue that advances in forensic science have undermined the expert testimony that prosecutors relied on to secure her conviction.
Prosecutors accused Montalvo of intentionally setting a fire that killed 16-month-old Zoraida and 28-month-old Rafael. To support their case, the State proffered expert testimony that espoused the prevailing views of the day, but that her attorneys say has since been discredited.
“All of the evidence relied on by the State’s experts to determine the origin of the fire has been debunked,” Montalvo’s attorneys wrote in their petition for a new trial filed last year. “There is nothing left of the State’s case but outdated beliefs and junk science.”
In February, a New Jersey judge denied Montalvo’s petition, ruling that changes in fire science over the past 30 years did not constitute new evidence in the case. Montalvo’s attorneys are appealing the decision, which they say highlights the difficulty people face when challenging convictions based on junk science.
“There is a general belief that wrongful convictions are the problems of other prosecutors, other judges, other jurisdictions,” Assistant Public Defenders Tamar Lerer and Josh Hood said in a statement to The Appeal. “That belief is wrong. Wrongful convictions happen here because junk science happens here. Until we confront that reality, we will never be free of the harmful human cost that comes with relying on it.”
Read the full story at The Appeal.