Posibility of a new trial for Richard Howard......We hope not, but in reality, he may get out, he knows the system better than us, and he knows what to do to get out of this murder rap!

Thursday June 17, 1999

Rockford--Every couple of months, Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia drives to sunset Memorial Gardens in Machesney Park to visit a little girl she never knew. With a bundle of carnations in her hand or sometimes just a single rose, Fiduccia walks to the grave of Carrie Lynn Gaines, a 22 month old child who was beaten to death by her mother's boyfriend because she wouldn't stop crying. Fiduccia places the flowers near a bronze heart-shaped marker bearing Carrie's name. " I just want her to know that there are people in this world who cared about her and loved her," she says. " At least, now she has a decent burial, and she's not just in the ground somewhere." The case of Carrie Lynn Gaines is one that haunts many Rockford residents. The blond haired, blue eyed toddler was beaten to death and buried behind a neighbor's garage. She remained missing for more than five years before an anonymous tip led authorities to the body. Fiduccia has been with the coroner's office for more than 25 years, and she calls that night the saddest in her career. "It was absolutely the worst crime I had ever seen," she said. In October 1995, Fiduccia stood for more than five hours as an exhumation team looking for Carrie Lynn's body carefully shoveled and sifted through the dirt behind a garage on Arthur Avenue. "We didn't want to believe that it was true," she said. "When all of those officers were digging, we were just standing there waiting. When one of them said they found something, we all had to walk away and take a deep breath. "How could anyone do that? Just kill a child and bury the body behind a garage on someone else's property and then just go on with their lives like nothing happened?" Two years later, Richard Lee Howard, the 42 year old former boyfriend of Sherri Gaines, was convicted of first degree murder in Carrie Lynn's Death. But a state appellate court overturned the conviction because the judge allowed inappropriate testimony during trial. It's news that shocks and disappoints Fiduccia, who spent several months watching over Carrie Lynn's remains in the coroner's office while attorneys argued the case against Howard. Workers in the coroners office put a teddy bear in the box with the child's remains and regularly placed fresh flowers atop the box. "Once there was a conviction and sentencing, we felt there was some justice for Carrie Lynn Gaines," she said. "But now that the conviction has been overturned, where is the justice for this little girl?

Pictured below: Carrie the victim, and Rick the man who killed this precious child!

Carrie Lynn Gaines and Richard Lee Howard

(June 17 1999) The conviction of the man who killed 22-month old Carrie Lynn Gaines

in one of the most sensational murder cases in local history has been overturned.

Richard Lee Howard was found guilty in 1997 of

beating the little girl to death and burying her body in a back yard where it

lay for five years.

Appeals Court overturns child killer's conviction
Thursday, June 17, 1999
The Carrie Lynn Gaines Case
The appellate Court said the trial judge should not have allowed evidence intended to bolster the credibility of Carrie Lynn's mother, Sherri Gaines, by characterizing her as a battered woman. The court said such evidence is admissable only for defendants arguing self defense. But Gaines wasn't the defendant. Rather, it was largely her testimony that convicted Howard. The 1995 discovery of the little girl's body buried behind a garage on Arthur Avenue shocked the community and made her an enduring symbol of child abuse. A haven for abused children, the Carrie Lynn Children's Center, was established in her name. Carrie Lynn Gaines would have turned 11 years old this past May 19.

Police search the spot behind a garage on Arthur Avenue where the body of Carrie Lynn Gaines was found buried in a cardboard box in 1995.

June 17 1999: Judy Emerson wrote: "In which the families opinion of her....she must be looking for a promotion or maybe public respect" She will never get respect! Reason being....she is the kind of jornalist that is only out for whatever story she can get! No Matter What The Cost of Others! How low can she get? ........Way too low in my opinion..she is after a news story.....not looking at the real story! No one could visit the grave site without Judy Emerson showing up, looking for a story...anyway i will write the story she printed, whether i like it or not!
Headlines .....
Howard tried to fire attorney: written by Judy Emerson :...........Richard Lee Howard tried repeatedly to fire the attorney whose legal work laid the foundation for Howard's successful appeal. In the months leading up to his trial, Howard repeatedly refused to talk to Assistant Public Defender David Doll, who represented him. For a while, Howard wouldn't make court appearances to protest the judge's refusal to grant him a new lawyer.. He publicly accused Doll and Public Defender Gary Pumilia of incompetence for not interviewing a list of people Howard believed would make good defense witnesses. "I have been mislead, misrepresented and lied to by the Public Defender's office," Howard wrote to Associate Circuit Court Judge Rosemary Collins after his conviction in 1997.. ...." The Public Defender's office, to put it bluntly, SOLD ME OUT.

Logli vows to oppose release in Gaines case
Thursday, June 17, 1999
Ruling will send the toddler's slaying case to the Illinois Supreme Court or back to Winnebago County for retrial.
Rockford-----A state appeals court has overturned the conviction of Richard Lee Howard, the man who beat to death 22 month old Carrie Lynn Gaines and buried her body in a back yard, covering up the brutal crime for five years.
The ruling means Rockford must frlive one of its most horrifying murder cases -- one that led to a change in state law and prompted officials to establish the Carrie Lynn Children's Center, a haven for abused children.
"It's something we'll never forget, but we don't bring up too often," said Rollie Wysong a community activist who lives two doors from where Carrie Lynn's remains were discovered.
"Sometimes it comes back to you, and it's really upsetting," Wysong said. "If he has to go to a new trial and he comes away differently, we are going to be one upset neighborhood."
The decision by the Second District Appellate Court in Elgin also opens the possibility -- however slim -- that Howard, now serving a life sentence in state prison, could be free on bond within weeks.
A three-judge panel faulted Winnebago County circuit Court Associate Judge Rosemary Collins for allowing expert testimony on battered woman syndrome.
Prosecutors hoped the testimony would explain why Sherri concealed her daughter's death and why she stood mothionless as her boyfriend threw the girl against the wall and kicked her repeatedly.
The judges said such testimony cannot be used to bolster the credibility of witnesses but shoul be reserved for accused criminals arguing self-defense.
Winnebago County State's Attorney Paul Logli said he was "very disappointed" with the decision, but he called the chance of Howard securing a release on bond "very remote." Logli, instrumental in establishing the children's center on North main Street, said he would push for the Illinois Supreme Court to hear the case.
"This is just another blow to the memory of this litle girl who died a painful death, " he said Wednesday.
Carrie Lynn's murder has gripped Rockford since police acting on an anonymous tip found her body -- wrapped in a blanket and buried in a cardboard box -- behind a garage on Arthur Avenue on Oct. 24, 1995.

Police search through the dirt from the grave of Carrie Lynn Gaines in Oct 1995. Howard says he is innocent! Jury finds him guilty! Now he wants a new trial......he found a loop hole in the legal system, and has the possibility of getting out of this charge!
Anyone who may have connections...please help us keep Rick in prison for the murder of Carrie!

Fund Raising Drive
In addition to inspiring the abused children's center in her memory, Carrie Lynn's death prompted a community fund raising drive to pay for her funeral and a change in state law removing the statute of limitations for concealing a homicide.
Had she lived, the blond, blue eyed toddler would be 11 years old.
In writing the panels opinion, apellate Judge Fred Geiger said evidence in the case was sufficient to convict Howard, a drug-addicted church janitor, without the battered woman testimony from an out-of-state psychologist.
Even so, the testimony "was not relevant to the issue of whether the defendant murdered the victim," Geiger wrote, adding it "caused substantial prejudice to the defendant and denied him a fair trial."
WinnebagoCounty assistant Public Defender David Doll, who represented Howard, said Judge Collins' decision to allow the testimony improperly influenced the eight man, four woman jury.
"The way it works," he said, "is the jury decides who they believe and who they don't believe. Richard Howard is like anybody else: He's innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt -- and at this point he's not been proven guilty of anything."
Collins declined comment, saying she might be called upon to oversee a subsequent trial.
Appellate prosecutors and public defenders in Elgin have handled the case since the 1997 verdict, which came after three hours of deliberation and a 10-day trial.
Logli said prosecutors presented the expert testimony to give as complete a picture as possible to the jury.
He denied the courtroom strategy was designed to minimize in the minds of jurors any guilt on the part of Sherri. " she was not on trial," Logli said.
Statute of limitations ---
Authorities originally considered charging Sherri for concealing a homicide, but the three year statute of limitations had expired. Logli said state lawmakers later changed the statute of limitations in Illinois as a direct result of the Carrie Lynn case.
The appellate court's ruling sends the murder case back to Winnebago County for another trial, unless Logli persuades the Supreme Court to intervene.
It could take the Supreme Court up to three months to decide if it would accept the case.
Logli said he would fight any attempt to release Howard from Menard state prison in southern Illinois, including an expected motion to free him on bond.
After his arrest, Howard could not post 10 percent of a 100,000 bond.
"We are committed to getting the (appellate) decision reversed," Logli said.
"If that fails, we are prepared to retry the case. This was a heinous murder of a child, and we are not going to allow this situation to pass without another trial -- if that's what's necessary to keep this man confined."
Appellate defeats ---
Logli said appeals of felony convictions occur "almost 100 percent of the time."
He could not cite an exct number of appellate defeats for his office, but said he could "count on one hand" the number of overturned murder convictions.
Sgt. Brian Harrison, the Winnebago County sheriff's officer who exhumed Carrie Lynn's skeletal remains, said he has become accustomed to cases being overturned.
Last September, for example, prosecutors convicted Ricky Lambert for the third time in a drug related murder. The appellate court reversed two earlier convictions.
"You want to make sure everybody has their right, "Harrison said.
"But the longer the case goes, the harder it is to find all the witnesses.
"You hate to see anybody that innocent and that young come to that kind of an end. You want to see the guilty punished, and you want to see justice prevail. That's what makes this so frustrating."
Sen. Dave Syverson, who co-sponsored legislation stemming from Carrie's death, was unhappy about the court's decision, particularly because the justices said Howard could have been convicted on the remaining evidence.
"Its unfortunate that some of these udges throw out common sense and use a technicality to let somebody off for an extensive retrial," Syverson said.
" We know what the result is going to be anyway."

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