The Innocence Files season 1 premiere: Indeed and Without Doubt

The season 1 premiere of Netflix series The Innocence Files examines the convictions of Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer in Mississippi for separate toddler murders.

As Netflix‘s The Innocence Files begins, Innocence Project co-founders Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck paint a grim picture of America’s criminal justice system, in which certain innocent people are definitely incarcerated. Some cases are built on flimsy evidence, standing mostly because investigators and prosecutors settle on a convenient suspect rather than expand their investigation.

However, we are told that the Innocence Project can only take about 1% of the cases they receive. One of those cases involved someone accused of killing a 3-year-old named Courtney Smith in September of 1990. This episode is bold enough to question the veracity of some forensic science used in acquiring a conviction.

The (first) murder

On September 16, 1990, the Smith family (Ashley, Patricia, and Sonya), realized 3-year-old Courtney was missing. Little time was wasted in getting a search party underway.

On the next day, Courtney was found in a pond, and there was evidence she was violently abused. Scott Boyd, a journalist for the Macon Beacon, says there were bite marks found. Forensic Odontologist Dr. Michael West was tasked with analyzing these marks.

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Dental impressions were taken of 12 different people considered suspects. Ashley Smith, who was 5 at the time, was interviewed by “Uncle Bunkey,” a local children’s TV show host who was also a sketch artist and child witness interviewer. Ashley mentioned the name “Chevon” and an earring, which led them to suspect Levon Brooks.

Although Levon was at a club that night, it’s speculated that he could have done the crime after work.

Brooks was picked out of the photo lineup. However, because The Innocence Files shows that he’s now free, we can reasonably assume the case wasn’t as solid as the Forensic Odontologist suggests.

In fact, we even see Levon Brooks tend to some chickens. However, Dr. Michael West still argues that the bite marks were a really good match. Levon’s niece, Gloria Williams, doesn’t seem to agree, but the jury did at the time.

January 13, 1992

A Juror named Bos Stevens tells us that he knew Levon since they were young, and was, in fact, a close childhood friend. He also says he thinks the DA chose him regardless of that, simply because he was white and therefore might more readily convict Brooks. Stevens says Dr. West’s bite mark analysis testimony was convincing, so it helped put Levon Brooks behind bars.

Indeed, Dr. West has an expansive résumé and was so committed to his craft he even had people bite his arm to demonstrate how teeth can match. He also studied crime scene analysis and various other fields in forensic science. However, the question is: Does all this mean he is infallible?

May 1992

Tragedy struck again in 1992, and it wasn’t only tragic because another toddler was abused and murdered. “The Innocence Files” quickly hints that this other murder — which authorities considered a “copycat” crime — probably means Levon didn’t murder Courtney Smith.

In fact, the crime was so similar that it should immediately raise eyebrows. The death was of 3-year-old Christina Jackson. She was also found in a water system, and also with bite marks.

Like with the other case, Forensic Pathologist Steven Hayne and D.A. Forrest Allgood were involved in this case. Immediately, the crime was pinned on the victim’s mother’s boyfriend, Kennedy Brewer. Thomas Kessler, Brewer’s Defense Attorney, noted that his client refused a plea deal, suggesting that he may have been innocent.

Though Brewer notes that they settled on him as a suspect right away, Dr. West’s analysis noted that the bite marks on the new victim were “indeed and without doubt” Kennedy Brewer’s teeth.

Dr. Souviron

What follows next is pretty interesting, as it’s a clash between different forensic experts. Dr. Richard Souviron challenged Dr. West. Souviron wasn’t exactly a nobody, either. He provided one of the key pieces of evidence in the infamous Ted Bundy case, using the serial killer’s dental impressions to help secure his death penalty.

He tells The Innocence Files that Dr. West was “110% wrong” in his analysis, saying, among some other things, that there is no such thing as a bite mark with only upper teeth. He adds that West might have made the bite marks himself in his actual demonstrations, by pressing teeth on the body to match them.

In other words, Souviron challenges “direct comparison” analysis. Thomas Kessler comes right out says West was a quack. In any case, people like Juro Larry Ferguson were more impressed by Dr. West, who acted like he really knew what he was saying.

In other words, as they say about advertising, “It’s the sizzle, not the steak.” So Brewer was sentenced to death. He was already on death row for 5 years by the time he contacted the Innocence Project.

What are your thoughts on this episode of The Innocence Files? Let us know in the comments!