The Dutch (Courts) Are Stupid!

Please check out Ben Goldacre's latest blog entry about one Lucia de Berk, a nurse in Holland who was convicted of multiple murders because 6 patients died in her ward over a 3 year period. The fact that 7 patients died in the 3 years BEFORE she came to that ward didn't seem to point to the unlikelihood of her being a serial killer. Now, after serving 6 years of a life sentence, she out awaiting the final repeal of the judgement against her; she is penniless, unable to claim welfare and is hemiplegic after a stroke at age 44 when a previous appeal was denied...

The manipulation of statistics plays heavily in the case against her.  (50% of people surveyed by E@L claim to be easily fooled by statistics. That'd be me and my mum; not saying which is who.)

While the state prosecution in Holland now agrees she has no case to answer for "the murders", the deaths are now magically not unnatural after all, she has still been pinged for stealing two library books (both by Stephen King).

When you're down, that's when they lay the boots in, eh?

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There's a lot of meat in the comments as well.

E@L