Luke Mitchell and the Satanic Struggles

Wednesday November 23, 2011: The Supreme Court(UK) backed judges in the High Court(Scotland)who had previously refused Mitchell the right to appeal again.

Maggie Scott QC said the Crown had relied on evidence of Mitchell’s comments and demeanor during the lawyer-less police interview, resulting in “a fundamental unfairness amounting to a denial of justice”.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence taken from a police interview where a suspect was not first offered access to a solicitor was unreliable and could not be used in court.

However, in the instant ruling it respected the “finality” of the rejection of Mitchell’s appeal against conviction in May 2008 and did not believe there were any live matters that would lead the court to re-open his case.

At appeal in 2008, the justices criticized the “overbearing and hostile interrogation” by police of the teenager during the investigation in an attempt to gain a confession. However, the justices noted Mitchell had not been cowed nor submitted to the pressure.

The Supreme Court said that verdict marked the end of the case.


UPDATE:
The Scottish Criminal Review Commission rendered its uniquely absurd conclusion quite some time ago which left Luke Mitchell virtually without any further hope of release. However the commission has now ordered that murder victim Jodi Jones clothing be re-examined forensically since the scientific state of the art has changed in the interim and usable profiles might yet be obtained.

Four men were believed to have left their DNA on, in or inconveniently close to the corpse, but none of the four were ever arrested or considered suspects. One of the men when questioned, though not as a suspect, was provided by the police with a reason his dna might have been on the victim's tee shirt. The victim's sister later married one of the men whose dna was found at the crime scene.

A few days after the announcement of further dna testing, Corrine Mitchell's Caravan Park was fire bombed by "persons unknown".

Luke Mitchell case to be reviewed by SCCRC.

The Scottish Criminal Convictions Review Commission has notified Luke Mitchell, now a prisoner serving a Life Sentence for the murder of 14 year old Jodi Jones that his case will be reviewed. The communication from the SCCRC did not indicate any dates but this usually takes at least six months and in a case that has achieved such notoriety it is likely to take longer.

For those unfamiliar with this case:
Jodi Jones put up a great struggle yet her boyfriend, Luke Mitchell, had no scratches and was shown to be calm and normal when interacting with his friends about twenty minutes after the alleged time of the murder. Three men whose dna was found on, in or near the corpse were never arrested or considered suspects; Luke Mitchell whose dna was not found at the scene was convicted of murder. Two of the three men concealed themselves and altered their appearance soon after the murder. The sister of the deceased victim later married the man whose semen was on Jodi's shirt and bra. A third man stated that he had deposited his semen in a condom found near the corpse while he was alone in the woods with no one nearby. He stated that he did not see the naked corpse at his feet and he claimed that this event took place at a time when local reports indicate it was raining heavily. Despite his semen being found near the corpse of a 14 year old girl, he was not arrested or charged with her murder as the Lothian and Borders Constabulary apparently believed his statement about his using a condom despite there being no one else present at the time.