EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENT: VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA) POLICE CHIEF BANS ALL DNA EVIDENCE FROM COURT AFTER ERROR IN LAB CAUSED WRONGFUL RAPE CONVICTION;

"THE BAN MEANS ALL FORENSIC OFFICERS WILL BE PREVENTED FROM SUBMITTING DNA EVIDENCE OR PROVIDING STATEMENTS TO THE COURTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

"I WANT TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR THAT THE DNA IS NOT IN QUESTION HERE," MR OVERLAND (VICTORIA'S POLICE CHIEF) TOLD REPORTERS ON WEDNESDAY.

"THE SCIENCE IS ABSOLUTELY ROCK SOLID. THIS IS A MATHEMATICAL ISSUE."

HIS DECISION COMES TWO DAYS AFTER A RAPE CONVICTION WAS OVERTURNED BECAUSE OF A CONTAMINATED DNA SAMPLE AND A DAY BEFORE THE RELEASE OF AN OMBUDSMAN REPORT THAT IS EXPECTED TO DETAIL PROBLEMS WITHIN POLICE FORENSIC LABS."

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD;

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that, "Victoria's police chief Simon Overland has ordered all DNA evidence be banned from court proceedings."

"The ban, effective immediately, is expected to last until mid-January at the earliest while police try to fix an error in how DNA is interpreted in its forensic labs," the December 9, 2009 story, published under the heading "Victoria Police Ban DNA Evidence" continues.

"Mr Overland said the ban would impact on at least six cases being heard in Melbourne's Magistrates and County courts. Further cases dating back to September could also be affected.

The ban means all forensic officers will be prevented from submitting DNA evidence or providing statements to the courts until further notice.

"I want to make it very clear that the DNA is not in question here," Mr Overland told reporters on Wednesday.

"The science is absolutely rock solid. This is a mathematical issue."

His decision comes two days after a rape conviction was overturned because of a contaminated DNA sample and a day before the release of an ombudsman report that is expected to detail problems within police forensic labs.

Peter Ryan, Victoria's opposition spokesman for police, said it was an "extraordinary event" for Mr Overland to announce the DNA ban a day before the report's release.

Mr Ryan questioned how those before the courts would be cared for now that their trials had been put on indefinite hold.

"The reality is that justice delayed is justice denied," Mr Ryan told reporters on Wednesday.

"These people are entitled to go to trial as soon as they can be accommodated."

The problem relates to equipment upgraded in September that is used to analyse DNA.

New machines allow police to probe smaller pieces of DNA, but how that new data is being interpreted has caused some concerns.

Mr Overland denied the timing of the DNA ban had anything to do with the overturned rape conviction of 22-year-old Farah Jama, released after spending 15 months in jail, or the upcoming ombudsman report.

"As soon as we got to the point that we believed it was appropriate to take this course of action, which was only late yesterday afternoon ... we have gone public," he said.

"That's what's driven the announcement now. Nothing else."

He said the public could still have confidence in DNA evidence.

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls echoed those statements, saying the problem was with the interpretation of DNA, not the testing process itself.

The continuing impact on court cases will be reviewed by Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke QC.

Deputy Commissioner Ken Jones will oversee a national working party to review DNA standards for police while a DNA expert is being sought to help overhaul the system.

Mr Jones said he was confident the current problems would not open the flood gates on reviewing old cases."

The story can be found at:

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/vic-police-ban-dna-evidence-20091209-kjbw.html

-----------------------------------------------

By way of background, Farah Jama was released from prison yesterday having been wrongfully convicted of rape.

The Herald Sun reported his release in a story by reporters Antonia Magee and Elissa Hunt, which ran under the heading "Victorians facing massive compensation payout to man wrongly jailed for 16 months."

"Victorians face a massive compensation payout after Farah Jama, 22, was freed when the Court of Appeal sensationally quashed his conviction yesterday after the Crown conceded DNA evidence might have been contaminated and there might not have even been a crime," the story began.

"Today Mr Brumby defended the state's DNA testing regime, saying it had successfully brought many criminals to account," the story continued.

“It’s a very serious issue and obviously when you use DNA, people who use it – police and the courts – need to have the highest possible confidence in its reliability,” he said.

“Overall, DNA is an outstanding new technology that enables more people to be brought to justice, but when it fails it is not acceptable and it means a miscarriage has occurred.

“I’ll be getting advice and the attorney will be getting advice on whether there’s any implications for the state, but the conviction has obviously been quashed on the lack of reliability.”

Mr Jama's case has further eroded confidence in the use of DNA to prosecute offences and comes just days after Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke, QC, ordered a review of all cases over the past five years following doubts about DNA tests.

Mr Brumby said he had not received any advice on whether a compensation claim would result from the Court of Appeal's decision.

“I’m told it’s quite a complex matter as to whether there’s an obligation or even a liability,” he said.

The Premier also said the onus was on the police and the courts and not the state government.

“I think it’s a matter for the courts and the police but, obviously in a case like that, it’s completely inappropriate to have been wrongly in jail and the state will look at appropriate options.”

Mr Jama said he would never forget the moment a jury decided he was a rapist: "I couldn't breathe. I couldn't talk."

The prosecution conceded not only was Mr Jama wrongly convicted - it's possible no crime was even committed.

"You always think ... 'I haven't done this. Why am I here'?" he said.

His DNA was found on a sample taken from a woman found unconscious in a nightclub toilet in 2006, but is believed to have been accidentally transferred from a sample taken the day before in another matter.

The blunder has sparked an investigation by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, which collected the sample.

The case comes as the DPP continues to review cases dating back five years, amid claims of unreliable DNA profiling at the police labs, the Victoria Police Forensic Services department.

Mr Jama was a teenager when a woman, 48, was found unconscious in a locked toilet cubicle at an over-28s nightclub in Doncaster.

Although she did not report a sexual assault, a swab was taken as she could not remember anything and may have been drugged.

Tests revealed Mr Jama's DNA, even though nobody saw him at the club, he was much younger than the club's clientele - and he had an alibi.

He said he was at home in Preston, praying with his Muslim family, and his story never changed. His family gave evidence at his trial, but the jury rejected it.

Mr Jama, who had just finished his VCE, was sent to Loddon prison to serve at least four years of a six-year term.

Mr Jama's DNA was taken for another rape claim that never proceeded, allegedly after the complainant's story fell apart when confronted with its inconsistencies.

The Court of Appeal heard it was now not known whether any rape happened, and if it did it was "improbable" that Mr Jama was responsible.

He plans to seek compensation over his ordeal."

The story can be found at:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victorians-facing-massive-compensation-payout-to-man-wrongly-jailed-for-16-months/story-e6frf7jo-1225807904144

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;