Turning to a new page.

1. In the JonBenet case, the DNA was so small and could have came from the manufacturer of her underwear instead of an intruder..

2. Touch DNA aint gonna convince me JonBenet wasn't murdered by John or Patsy. I know damn well it was an inside job..

3. I think people can use DNA and hype it up like in the JonBenet Ramsey case..

.


Sometimes it gets tiresome. These particular gems of wisdom happen to come from Levi Page, some sort of youthful internet Media Darling who is often on TV news shows.

I mean consider that underwear theory of his. Someone sneezes in a Vietnamese factory and the dna winds up in the panties but only in the locations that later had blood spots but not in any of the test swatches, yet that dna also somehow migrates to other garments, but only in the locations where an attacker would have placed his hands to undress her.

Consider his evaluation of the quality of evidence: DNA is the most reliable forensic tool we have but that is of no concern to him. He somehow knows that it was an inside job which of course is some sort of code phrase. A shorthand way of saying that the parents decided to kill their daughter, cause the husband to lose his job and the wife to lose her health insurance, spend all their money on lawyers and become the most hated couple in America. He somehow knows this and considers this knowledge that somehow came to him to be sufficient for us to ignore the highly reliable scientific results that are available as evidence.

Hype it up? You should know, pal!! Pure, utter hype.

I think I will turn the page!

Georgia Innocence Project

The Georgia Innocence project is an arm of the original Innocence Project that at last count has helped free 251 wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA evidence. One of 50 such organizations nationwide, the Georgia Innocence Project is calling for scientist's and law enforcement alike to expand investigation to forms of evidence that includes searching for potential "touch DNA" left at crime scenes as in the case of JonBenet Ramsey - -

Law Day event spotlights DNA project, honors 2 standouts
Published in the Gainesville Times
By Stephen Gurr

"More than 4,000 people have asked a small Atlanta-based legal advocacy group to take a look at their criminal convictions with hopes of proving their innocence through DNA evidence.

Aimee Maxwell, director of the Georgia Innocence Project, told Friday's Law Day luncheon crowd at the Gainesville Civic Center that her tiny two-person office is currently reviewing 200 cases, including one from Hall County. Since 2004, the office has accepted 28 cases and exonerated five men.

"These people are innocent — there's not a ‘not guilty' aspect to it," Maxwell said. "The great thing about this data is it's encouraging criminal justice professionals and scientists to look at other forms of evidence that we use in criminal cases."

Just a few years ago, so-called "touch DNA" was not widely considered a viable form of evidence, Maxwell said. Use of the method in the JonBenet Ramsey case helped change those attitudes, she said. Last year, Maxwell's office used the analysis of skin cells left behind on a cell phone and article of clothing to clear a Georgia man in a carjacking case...[read more]

Anticipation ...

Anticipation, anticipation ... Is makin' me late ... Is keepin' me waitin'
We can never know about the days to come..."

The lyrics are by Carly Simon but the emotion is universal.

Tomorrow at the High Court in Edinburgh there will be a hearing on the Luke Mitchell case. It is his final hearing on an appeal. After this it is not simply that there will be no more appeals. If this appeal fails, it is illegal for him to file any more appeals and it is illegal for any lawyer to file an appeal on his behalf. His Nobile Officium petition failed. His appeals have all fallen on deaf ears. He is serving a life sentence.

For those of you who may not follow Scottish crime quite as closely as I do, here is a brief summary of the case.

Fourteen year old girl raped and murdered in the woods. Police immediately suspect the fourteen year old boyfriend, Luke Mitchell, despite the fact that the murder scene reveals a violent and bloody struggle and Luke Mitchell is without stains or injuries of any sort. Police are so certain of their snap decision that they leave the corpse out in woods overnight uncovered and unguarded thereby allowing rains to wash away forensic evidence. Crime scene reveals the biological fluids of three men, none of the fluids are those of Luke Mitchell. The three males are neither arrested nor charged. One of the three males radically alters his appearance including cutting his own hair shortly after the murder but police only are interested in Luke Mitchell.

Victim had been grounded and was expected to be at home where a violent and unstable brother dwells and where the three males visit from time to time. Victim's family claim that their daughter had been suddenly un-grounded and left the home at a time that might implicate Luke Mitchell. Victim's family also claim they made a sudden visit to a graveyard which gives them a place where they would not have had any witnesses.

Police leaks provoke a media frenzy about the tattooed 14 year old. Articles mention links to Satanism and Marilyn Manson whose website bears depictions of a corpse with its throat slashed. Defendant's mother is arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice and threatened with a perjury charge which carries a seven year sentence.

Defense lawyer at trial appears ignorant of significant facts, offers no countervailing forensic evidence or dna analysis and generally appears to be accepting of prosecutorial allegations including the allegation that the semen of an uncharged male was on the victim's bra through a process of innocent transfer.

Well, the hearing is tomorrow. Anticipation is troubling me. I imagine its worse for the defendant's family though. Its difficult for the family to see their son doing a life sentence in prison for a crime he didn't do.

Anticipation. I imagine its also a bit difficult for the now 21 year old accused. He knows that although his Life Sentence carries "only" a twenty year minimum that he will serve his entire life in prison if he does not win this appeal.

tainted for life

Provocative article by Jeff Gamso on the presumption of innocence that mentions the parents of JonBenet Ramsey along with others that have been wrongfully convicted, or otherwise presumed guilty. In his write up, Gamso is specifically speaking to the Danny Brown travesty. Based on DNA evidence, in 2001 Brown was released from prison more than 18 years after being wrongfully convicted of aggravated murder. And like the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, even though today Danny is free from imprisonment, he still deals with extraordinary legal complications and lives under a looming cloud of suspicion --

Because Innocence Isn't Enough
Posted at Gamso - For the Defense
Commentary by an Ohio criminal defense lawyer

"I've got to assume that it's coincidence that I read Gideon's eloquent and agonized take on the presumption of guilt from yesterday pretty much back to back with this morning's article by Jennifer Feehan in the Toledo Blade on Danny Brown...First, the short version of Gideon's post. (You should read the whole thing.)

The presumption of innocence, a bedrock principle of criminal justice systems the world over for generations, is really not that ambiguous or in doubt. . . .

It’s a catchy phrase: “innocent until proven guilty”. It nicely ties in the other core principles: the burden of proof is on the State; the defendant has a Constitutional right not to testify; each and every element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. . . .

It’s all a lie. A big, bold-faced, wool over your eyes lie.

The presumption of innocence is dead, at least in practice. The real presumption, if you must, is that of guilt. Despite the Constitutional and historical directives to the contrary, the defendant “enjoys” a presumption of guilt from the moment of the institution of criminal proceedings...

One could jump in pretty much anywhere for an example.

The parents of JonBenet Ramsey?
Kobe Bryant?
OJ?
Ken Lay?
The latest not guilty in your local paper or on Fox News?

Does Nancy Grace let it go?

None of them is ever fully cleared of the taint of guilt - from the mere presumption. Where there's smoke . . . "[read more]

About Jeff Gamso: Criminal defense lawyer, civil libertarian (former Legal Director of American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio), anti-death penalty activist, public speaker. I am one third of GAMSO, HELMICK, AND HOOLAHAN, located at 1119 Adams Street, Second Floor, Toledo, Ohio 43604. My first career was English Professor. I studied medieval and renaissance English Literature, taught literature, film, and composition. I've been a film critic. [more]

A Final Incompetence

Their Lordships, the five Justices of the High Court of Criminal Appeals, formally severed Luke Mitchell's appeal from the proceedings since he was not then represented by counsel. This was done so as to give him additional time with which to seek the advice of counsel but the justices formally advised Luke Mitchell they would expect any such advice of counsel to be consonant with a recognition that the present proceedings as continuing against appellant Nat Fraser declared the grounds of the appeal to be legally incompetent.

Oh what a fine nicety of the law! We are not now denying your appeal because you don't have a lawyer and we are giving you time to go get a lawyer but its obvious you will never be able to actually get a lawyer since we are now formally announcing your appeal to be legally incompetent.

What an awful mess. At age 14, Luke Mitchell gallantly set forth in the night to search for his overdue 14 year old girlfriend. Each and every member of the small search party stated to police that Luke's dog created a ruckus at a small cleft in the wall and only then did Luke Mitchell proceed to discover the naked and woefully bloody corpse of his girlfriend. After extensive and persistent police questioning the witnesses changed their recollections as to the dog having located the corpse rather than Luke Mitchell having done so. This of course gave the police, the prosecutor and the press the opportunity to repeatedly point out that Luke Mitchell had guilty knowledge of the corpse's location.

The press repeatedly harped on the fact that the injuries to the corpse bore a resemblance to the injuries suffered decades earlier in the Black Dahlia case that was oft mentioned by rock star Marilyn Manson. The press informed the public that Luke Mitchell was an obsessed fan of Marilyn Manson but failed to point out that there was not one reference on Luke's computer to the Black Dahlia and that the only Marilyn Manson CD found in Luke's home was one that was purchased after the murder. The press repeatedly described Luke Mitchell as a devotee of Satan but failed to point out that the school book scribbling they repeatedly described as satanic was in fact a quotation from a very popular computer game.

His girlfriend had struggled valiantly suffering extensive defensive wounds and almost total exsanguination but Luke Mitchell had nary a scratch nor a single drop of blood on him.

Although it was publicly announced that the crime was murder not rape semen was found on the girlfriend's body yet it was not from Luke Mitchell.

Meanwhile the police, prosecutor, press and public show not the slightest interest whatsoever in a male known to have been fond of the location where the body was found, known to have appeared disheveled at the time, known to have borne the next morning facial scratches for which there were absurd and ever-changing explanations and known to have penned an essay about having killed a girl within a week of the murder.

Ah the ever so fine niceties of the law: we will give you additional time to try to get a lawyer to represent you in a futile appeal but we won't even question much less arrest or prosecute the facially scratched violence-prone druggie and sex-offender whose dna was found on the corpse.

What is the use of having dna databases if such evidence as semen found on a murder victim is ignored? What is the use of having advanced forensics if a corpse is allowed to remain out in the woods unprotected from overnight rains and morning dew that will clearly wash away evidence deposited by the attacker? What is the use of having juries if they accept ownership of a Marilyn Manson CD as proof of murder? What is the use of having guidelines for the questioning of a 15 year old youth if all judges do is mildly rebuke the police for their obvious excesses?

Clearly, the one lesson to be learned is that when the police want you they will not shift their focus elsewhere. Obtaining counsel may availeth naught but going without counsel is utterly absurd. The police, prosecutor and press have all railroaded Luke Mitchell and allowed a known sex offender to go unprosecuted.

touch

It is hard to conceptualize anything positive coming from the death of JonBenet Ramsey or any child, anywhere. Sometimes we look back on those who have gone before us and remember what was learned as a result of their life or initiative to make the world a better place, memorializing the loss within something positive. Megan's Law. Adam Walsh Act. Amber Alerts. For JonBenet it very well may become recognition of advanced forensics such as TouchDNA or new mandates like the DNA Law- -

NCIS squad is dedicated to solving cold homicide cases
Published in Stars and Stripes
By Sandra Jontz

"Rosaline Horton says Christmas usually is the worst. And then there’s her son’s birthday.
But Horton, whose son James Alan Horton died 17 years ago at the hand of an unknown killer, says every day brings memories of her boy.

“If only we knew who killed him,” Horton said, her words barely audible across the telephone line.

“They’ve been working on this for 17 years. It’s hard for all of my family. It was hard for my husband, who died not knowing who killed his son.”...Investigators are hoping that advancements in DNA science will help them develop new leads in the Horton case, NCIS spokesman Ed Buice told The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier in November.

The touch DNA method analyzes skin cells left behind when assailants touch victims, weapons or something else at a crime scene, according to an article last year in Scientific American. The method was used in 2008 to exonerate the family of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old beauty queen from Boulder, Colo., whose parents and brother had been suspected in her 1996 slaying....[...read more]

in the clouds

In 2008 when the Ramseys were cleared as suspects in the murder of their daughter JonBenet, DNA processes were used to pinpoint the yet to be identified man that left his skin cells, biological and tissue behind at the crime scene. The reactions by many was that the forensic method used to isolate the skin cell DNA was too new to be relied upon. Bolstered by an in sundry list of contentions and challenges from professionals and the public alike who were taken back by advances in DNA technology, in reality, this has been around since the time the murder was committed back in 1996.

Like discovery and advances in DNA technology other science disciplines are exploding through shared data and technology. A natural progression will be how these advances will be applied to forensic investigation, perhaps already in play with evidence types or known circumstances associated with JonBenet's murder - -

A Deluge of Data Shapes a New Era in Computing

Published in the New York Times

by John Markoff

"In a speech given just a few weeks before he was lost at sea off the California coast in January 2007, Jim Gray, a database software pioneer and a Microsoft researcher, sketched out an argument that computing was fundamentally transforming the practice of science.

Dr. Gray called the shift a “fourth paradigm.” The first three paradigms were experimental, theoretical and, more recently, computational science. He explained this paradigm as an evolving era in which an “exaflood” of observational data was threatening to overwhelm scientists. The only way to cope with it, he argued, was a new generation of scientific computing tools to manage, visualize and analyze the data flood..."[...read more]

walk the cat back

Shortly after JonBenet Ramsey was murdered, male DNA belonging to someone other than the Ramsey family was found at the crime scene. Some dozen years later, through incredible advances in forensic science, this same unknown male DNA was located in locations on JonBenet's clothing.




In a huge set back in the investigation of the 1998 murder of Suzanne Jovin, allegations of the similarly mismanaged investigation have been further compromised by lab worker's contamination of evidence. The next step in this investigation may be employing DNA techniques recently applied to JonBenet's case to help find the DNA of Suzanne's killer --

State Lab Must Fix Errors, Seek New Jovin Clues
Published in The Hartford Courant
by David Cameron

"...One such test involves a new technique to discover "touch DNA" on Jovin's clothing. Traces of DNA left when someone touches an object, even slightly, can be detected. The technique led to a major breakthrough last year in the JonBenet Ramsey case. By scraping places on JonBenet's long johns where investigators guessed she may have been touched or held by the killer, the Bode Technology Group found male DNA in two places that matched DNA found earlier on her underwear. The finding led the Boulder County district attorney to conclude she was murdered by the source of that DNA, as yet unidentified, rather than by a member of her family.

The same technique could be applied to Jovin's clothing — in particular, to her coat. A reconstruction of the crime, indicating the sequence and location of the 17 stab wounds, might reveal places where the killer grabbed her or held her. No doubt many friends, first responders, medical personnel, investigators and forensic scientists touched her clothing and left their DNA on it. But the technique may reveal DNA that matches that of someone else — the killer.

Obviously, it's long shot. But after the recent revelation, it may be the best way — indeed, the only way — to obtain the DNA of Suzanne Jovin's killer."

prize fighter

19 years after she was stolen from her bed much like JonBenet Ramsey, 27 year old Jennifer Schuett has new hope in the quest to find the man that kidnapped, raped and tried to kill her-- leaving her for dead.

Dennis Earl Bradford, a welder of North Little Rock Arkansas was arrested today based on a CODIS DNA hit and other forensic testing--

DNA leads to suspect after 19 years, FBI says

By Mayra Cuevas-Nazario

CNN

"-- A suspect has been arrested in the 1990 abduction and attempted murder of an 8-year-old Texas girl, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Houston, Texas, office said.

The victim, Jennifer Schuett, is now 27. She recently shared her story with CNN in hopes of someday bringing her attacker to justice.

Schuett fought tears as she spoke at a news conference in Dickinson, Texas.

"This event in my life was a tragic one," she said. "But today, 19 years later, I stand here and want you all to know that I am OK. I am not a victim, but instead, victorious."

...DNA and other forensic testing led to him, authorities said. His DNA profile was in the FBI database due to a 1996 arrest in Arkansas. Watch police announce the arrest »
Schuett was abducted from her bedroom, raped and left for dead August 10,1990. She spoke with CNN two weeks ago.

CNN normally does not identify victims of sexual assaults. But Schuett decided to go public with her story -- and her name -- to increase the chances of finding and prosecuting her attacker.

"It's not about me anymore," she told CNN in September. "It's about all the little girls that go to sleep at night. I know there are so many girls out there who have been raped and hurt. You have to fight back." [...read more]

sign of the times

In the past year the professional forensic science associations have called for strengthening of forensic practices in an effort to thwart junk science or shoddy practioners so that scientifically reliable, replicable and tested forensic methods are used in investigations and the courtroom. I have been puzzled at how this could happen in what might be a reasonable time frame given the nature and structure of the organizations and their memberships, practical application of standards at a local level aside. Could it be a trend that would quickly place objective, validated and contemporary forensic methods into the hands of local investigators and the legal community come from creation of and greater access to 3rd party facilities?

In June of this year, Bode Technology Group, the lab that continues to be invaluable with 911 victim DNA analysis and performed the touch DNA process on JonBenet Ramsey's clothing, opened the first independent forensic lab in the US. Today, Dr. Henry Lee, who assisted with the investigation of JonBenet's murder, is celebrating a groundbreaking ceremony for the new home of the forensic science institute that bears his name--

School has red-letter day

Published in the New Haven Register

by Abbe Smith

"WEST HAVEN — It was a big day at the University of New Haven Friday with the dedication of the new $43 million “green” dormitory and the groundbreaking for the much-anticipated Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science...

The $9.4 million facility, expected to be completed in fall 2010, will house a forensic crisis management command center, an interactive forensics museum, a crime scene learning center, laboratories and classrooms. The institute will have on hand state-of-the-art forensic equipment including ground-penetrating radar for locating buried bodies, a high-intensity laser for bullet-trajectory reconstruction and portable instruments for chemical and biological analysis...

Speakers at the ceremony stressed that the institute’s greatest asset is Lee, himself, an internationally renowned forensic scientist who has assisted in the investigation of thousands of crimes, including the O.J. Simpson case, the John F. Kennedy assassination, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, Colo., and the Chandra Levy murder investigation...[read more]

About the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science

The Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science links scholars, forensic scientists, the legal community, and professional practitioners of many fields in addressing the scientific and social issues confronting forensic science and the criminal justice system throughout the world.

Forensic Forgery

Although rare, forensic forgery is always something to be considered. Fingerprints have been "found" at a crime scene that turned out to be exact photocopies of fingerprint cards. Some incarcerated defendants have tried to have their own dna planted at the scene of a copy-cat crime.

Normally, we tend to dismiss the possibility of forensic forgery since it is viewed as being incredibly rare. However as technical knowledge and abilities become more widely spread, we may have to start giving greater thought to the question of the authenticity of evidence purported to have come from a crime scene.


Recently the New York Times published an article discussing the relative ease with which a scientifically manipulated dna sample can be left at a crime scene.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html?_r=1

The article discussed the ability to fabricate a dna sample if the forger merely has knowledge of the subject's profile as well as the ability to fabricate a serum or saliva sample that contains the dna of a person other than the actual donor.

Sometimes a "gold standard" test can be shown to be very tarnished gold.

seeing the killer

After JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in 1996 authorities, media, psychics and the general public have been all over the board with criminal profiles in sometimes pointed speculation that JonBenet's killer was a woman, and or a Ramsey. This occurred despite less that 3 weeks after the murder it was established there was male DNA left on JonBenet's undergarment and that this male DNA did not belong to any of the Ramseys. Twelve years later, leaps in proven technologies, it is broadly recognized this same unidentified male left DNA from 3 of his bodily sources in 4 different locations on JonBenet's person.

There are signs that someday emerging technologies like forensic molecular photo fitting will produce an image of this evil person. On the path of research and development toward photo fitting and much closer to real life application is the capability of extracting basic personal characteristics and associating the killer's relatives from DNA. These general characteristic techniques can pinpoint race; height; hair or eye color are now being put through the expected legal, ethical and privacy paces so that once released for appropriate use this information will be of tremendous benefit in creating a verifiable criminal profile in many cases, including JonBenet's. In the meantime that new task force over at Boulder PD submits weekly the killers DNA profile to CODIS on the chance they may get a match to one of the 7m+ criminals whose DNA profile is contained in CODIS.

Offender profiling, outside what characteristics found in crime scene DNA will eventually tell us, can be a risky business most especially for a layperson. It is not replicable, validated and tested meaning it does not qualify as science in standard. Sort of like handwriting analysis or forensic linguistics. Because these practices are qualitative opinion based methods admissibility of results and expert opinions can be challenged, frequently limited, in state and federal courts. Criminal profiling can be useful investigative tool where it is understood by users that it's application is subject to unestablished fault and error rates, again like document examination and linguistic stylistics.

Offender profiling by subject matter experts like John Douglas is can be of high investigative value based on education and experience, often a source of clues in a specific crime scene as derived from historical crime conditions and behaviors of known criminals. With that in mind, and somewhat more realistic than attempting to tie guilt to someone wearing the same clothes two days in a row, because there was a sexual element to this crime we may have more hints to ponder about JonBenet's killer than in 1997--

He is most likely of Caucasian descent

He is now probably at least in his mid-forties

He may be shorter than the average in height

He could be left-handed

In the past, prior to the crime, he might have had a head injury

May prefer alcohol over street drugs

His choice of victim may have been totally random

Is likely to feel he suffered more than the victim; lack of empathy for the victims

Ramseys update own probe
1997, Denver Post
By Marilyn Robinson

"Frustrated at the pace of the police investigation, JonBenet Ramsey's father stepped up his efforts Wednesday to find her killer...

• JonBenét's killer may have been suffering from some stress in the weeks and months preceding the crime;
• A triggering event, such as a job crisis or crisis in a personal relationship may have caused this individual to vent anger, perhaps at a female close to him, or perhaps at me personally;
• Since the murder, this individual may rabidly read news reports of the investigation, listen to talk radio shows oriented to coverage of the murder;
• He possibly has increased his consumption of alcohol or drugs;
• He may have even turned to religion;
• He may be rigid, nervous and preoccupied in casual conversation;
• He may have tried to appear very cooperative with the authorities if he was contacted during the course of the police investigation;
• He may have quickly constructed an alibi for his whereabouts the night JonBenét was killed and may have repeated it several times to key individuals around him as if rehearsing them in the answer;
• The killer is someone who may have previously been in my home..."

forensic lab game changer

Have been meaning to post this PR from Bode Technology, the company that did the touch DNA analysis on JonBenet Ramsey's clothing. This may present an easy to access opportunity for investigators to clarify any pertinent unresolved questions and access to cutting edge technology for JonBenet's case. Great minds, great company--

GlobalOptions Group’s Bode Technology and Integrated Forensic Laboratories Announce the Creation of the Nation’s First and Only Independent Crime Laboratory System

"NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul. 28, 2009– GlobalOptions Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLOI), a leading provider of domestic and international risk management services, announced today that its Bode Technology unit (Bode) and Integrated Forensic Laboratories, Inc. (IFL), have finalized a landmark agreement. Together, Bode and IFL have created the nation’s first and only independent criminal forensic testing laboratory system.


Criminal forensic testing in the United States has been historically dominated by publicly-funded laboratories, including city and county labs, state lab systems, and federal lab systems. A number of concerns regarding many unaccredited crime laboratories have been raised by The National Academy of Science’s Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Science Community in a report, “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.”


“We are pleased to create an independent, private crime laboratory system offering law enforcement agencies another choice for their forensic services requirements,” said Howard Safir, CEO of Bode Technology and former New York City Police Commissioner. He also noted: “The forensic services we offer in our laboratories including DNA analysis, forensic biology, blood alcohol content testing, fingerprinting, firearms and toolmark analysis, drug chemistry, and fire debris, analyses are performed using processes accredited by American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board.”

“We believe that offering law enforcement agencies an additional option to process crime scene evidence will speed up the processing of samples and ensure the work is performed with qualified personnel and procedures” stated Barry Watson, President of Bode Technology. “We offer many of our services with turn-around times of a few weeks and options to perform many services in a few days, helping to speed justice for victims of crime.”

“IFL is excited to form this new lab system with Bode Technology. Bode is a national leader in forensic DNA testing and related products,” said Ron Fazio, IFL’s President. “Together, we can bring an unprecedented new independent, accredited, criminal laboratory testing option for all members of the justice system.”..."


Source: GlobalOptions Group, Inc.
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates
PR:
Jules Abraham, 212-201-6639
jabraham@lhai.com
or
IR:
Jody Burfening, 212-838-3777
jburfening@lhai.com

standardization of forensic sciences

Report Finds Forensic Evidence Lacking
February 27, 2009

Listen Now [28 min 11 sec]

"National Academy of Sciences says much of what's commonly called 'forensic sciences' doesn't meet scientific standards. Experts say the country's forensics methods and systems — from fingerprint identification to bite-mark analysis — need an overhaul...

The research council report recommends that a new, independent National Institute of Forensic Science set a research agenda, enforce standards and push for improvements....

Since the development of highly precise DNA testing in recent years, the scientific basis behind many older forensic methods has come into question.

The committee found there isn't enough research behind many forensic techniques to show how accurate and reliable they are.

It also says forensic labs are underfunded and understaffed, and there's no mandatory certification to ensure quality.

This new institute, according to the report, "must have a culture that is strongly rooted in science" and "must not be part of a law enforcement agency."

The report did not offer specific judgments about past convictions or pending cases, nor did it offer views as to whether courts should reassess cases that have already been tried."

the face of her killer

DNA left at crime scene could be used to create picture of criminal's FACE, say scientists
17th February 2009

Forensic experts will soon be able to reconstruct facial features and skin just by reading DNA, U.S. scientists said.

'Forensic molecular photofitting' maps the genes that are linked to skin pigmentation and facial structure which means a person's face could emerge from the analysis, Dr Mark Shriver from Pennsylvania State University said.

The process has already been used to help identify and convict serial killer Derek Todd Lee who murdered seven women in Louisiana.

Witness statements said the offender was white but genetic testing of DNA at the crime scenes showed he was African American - which helped lead to his arrest.

He was convicted in 2004.

Dr Shriver said he has now linked DNA that mark a person's ethnic origin with the gene mix of fixed points on the face, e.g. corners of the mouth and tip of the nose.

This allows the computer to build up an image of a face based on the gene mix found in the DNA.
Speaking to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago at the weekend, Dr Shriver said 'maybe 500 facial markers and 500 ancestry markers' would be enough to build an accurate and complete face.

DNA tops in Colorado

On the list of important Colorado stories nominated for news editors top 10 picks are events surrounding the Presidential election, a DNA match found in the murder Susannah Chase and DNA no match results released mis-convicted murderer Timothy Masters from prison and cleared JonBenet's parents of suspicion.

Colorado's Top Stories for 2008
Associated Press
December 3, 2008

"Editors:

It's time to vote on the top Colorado news and business stories of 2008. Here are some nominees, in no particular order, and write-in candidates (space at the bottom) are welcome. Please rank them from 1-10. One ballot per news organization, please...

Timothy Masters is freed from prison in the 1987 killing of Peggy Hettrick after DNA tests find someone else

Boulder County officials clear John and Patsy Ramsey in the 1996 death of their daughter, JonBenet.

Using DNA evidence, police arrest Diego Olmos-Alcalde in the 1997 rape and beating death of University of Colorado senior Susannah Chase....."

legacy of the long johns

The techniques used to exonerate JonBenet's mom and dad is helping bring closure for other children and crime victims around the world.

Xana O'Neill of the Los Angeles News wrote in Cheat Sheet - -

"....must-read articles that will impress your co-workers, wow your friends and make you seem smart.... '

DNA evidence analyzed this summer cleared JonBenet's family of her murder. The man who spearheaded that investigation uses the same techniques used in crime-solving to ID the badly charred remains of 9/11 victims and soldiers and is hoping to spread the DNA technology to new areas. "

From the referenced Washington Post article - -

With the same understated, patient tone he has used for decades -- first as a top U.S. military expert on soldiers' remains, then as leader of international efforts to identify victims of massacres in Bosnia -- Huffine, a top executive at the Lorton-based DNA identification lab Bode Technology, walks though the connections he finds amid the static.

"You see, DNA technology never works in a vacuum," Huffine said. "If you improve a technique that might help get DNA results from a very challenging environment, like in the JonBenet Ramsey case, those same types of techniques could be used to help identify people who are missing in other countries. It could help to address systematic and government-sponsored rape in other countries, and so on."

Experience with the Trade Center, where bones were subjected to intense heat, is in turn applied to the work in Peru, where soldiers tried to hide killings by burning bodies.

"It's very September 11-like material. It's very degraded," said Jose Pablo Baraybar, executive director of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team, which has been sending exhumed remains from a massacre in southern Peru's Accomarca area to Lorton. "There are a lot of children. That's a problem. The bones are very fragile."

JonBenet's new legacy

Breakthrough 'touch' DNA technology from Bode applied to JonBenet's case gives hope to families with victims of unsolved crimes.


Cases gone cold
By Lise Fisher
Sun staff writer


"Their names aren't in the daily headlines.

But the families of these murder victims and the officers who investigated their unsolved cases haven't forgotten or given up searching for answers.

Some officers are turning to new technology, while others have renewed pleas to the public for any information that could catch a killer.

DNA technology used in the JonBenet Ramsey case could hold clues in the investigation of the 2004 slaying of a University of Florida graduate assistant...."

Jatin Patel's 12 years under the umbrella of suspicion

Cold Case Unit investigates double homicide

Twelve years later the unsolved brutal double murder of a mother and grown daughter still haunts Windsor, its residents and its police force. Windsor Police Detective Deborah Swanson stated it was one of the most brutal crimes she has investigated in her 23 year career. It is the only unsolved homicide in Windsor in the last 70 years.

For 12 years a cloud of suspicion has hovered over the head of Jatin Patel, the son of Champaben Patel and the older brother of Anita. There were several reasons that caused Windsor Police to look at him as a suspect. There had been ongoing tension between him and the two victims due to their disapproval of Jatin's wife, Seema. At the time of the murders, Jatin was experiencing financial difficulties and had tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Most damaging to him was that his alibi during the time of the murder could not be verified by anyone else. However, 12 years later, no arrests have been made.

Shortly after the murders, several letters were sent to area newspapers, the Windsor Police Department and family members of the victims. "DNA came off of one of the letters," Inspector Jim Rovella stated. "We eventually got a match to another crime. This crime was an assault and robbery of a woman in the New Haven area. We're chasing the DNA lead and it's taken us to several cities and towns. The DNA was not from a Patel family member and has not matched any known offender in the state or federal DNA database."


A few years after the murders occurred, Jatin Patel and his family settled in the southeastern part of the country. When reached for comment about the new DNA evidence, Patel was excited. Talking about his situation as a suspect, he made reference to the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case. The Ramsey family had been under a cloud of suspicion soon after the six-year-old beauty queen was found murdered in her Boulder, Colo. home on Dec. 26, 1996. A DNA sample taken from the crime scene 12 years later cleared the murdered girl's parents and brother from being persons of interest in her homicide. "I am glad that a new team is looking at this case with an unbiased point of view and they are looking at this by looking at the evidence and not personal theories or opinions," Patel said. "I hope this helps solve the murders and help my whole family finally get some peace and clear my name from these false accusations."

If you have any information about the double murder of Champaben Patel and Anita Patel call the Cold Case Unit at 860-548-0606 or the unit's tip line at 866-623-8058. You can also e-mail them at cold.case@po.state.ct.us.