"IN JANUARY 2009, A JUDGE FREED STINSON FROM PRISON AFTER THE INNOCENCE PROJECT, A PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN LAW SCHOOL, RAISED DOUBTS ABOUT BITE-MARK EVIDENCE THAT WAS CRUCIAL IN STINSON'S TRIAL.
DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY KENT LOVERN ALSO WOULD NOT IDENTIFY THE SUSPECT BUT SAID MONDAY HE EXPECTS TO FILE CHARGES HIM AGAINST HIM SOON AND THAT HIS OFFICE WOULD THEN MAKE "A MORE DEFINITIVE STATEMENT" ABOUT STINSON REGARDING THE 1984 MURDER.
LOVERN SAID THAT THE BEST SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AVAILABLE AT THE TIME STRONGLY INDICATED STINSON'S GUILT, BUT THAT SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUES HAVE SINCE MADE GREAT ADVANCEMENTS.
THE BITE-MARK EVIDENCE WAS DEVELOPED BY DANIEL BLINKA, A FORMER PROSECUTOR, AND DENTAL SCIENTIST L. THOMAS JOHNSON, BOTH OF WHOM NOW WORK AT MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY.
JOHNSON SAID AFTER STINSON'S RELEASE FROM PRISON THAT HE HAD RECENTLY RETESTED MUCH OF THE EVIDENCE FROM THE TRIAL USING MODERN TECHNIQUES AND CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION.
BUT FOUR EXPERTS GATHERED BY THE INNOCENCE PROJECT SAID THE BITE MARKS ON CYCHOSZ COULD NOT HAVE COME FROM STINSON'S MOUTH.
LAST JULY, THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE SAID IT WOULD NOT PUT STINSON ON TRIAL AGAIN. PROSECUTOR NORMAN GAHN SAID AT THE TIME, HOWEVER, THAT WHILE THE NEW BITE-MARK ANALYSIS FROM THE WISCONSIN INNOCENCE PROJECT RAISED QUESTIONS, NO FACTUAL EVIDENCE POINTED TO STINSON'S INNOCENCE.
GAHN SAID THE AGE OF THE CASE MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO RETRY, GIVEN THAT SOME EVIDENCE HAD BEEN DESTROYED AND THE MEMORIES OF SOME WITNESSES HAD FADED.
IN ITS ANNOUNCEMENT MONDAY, THE INNOCENCE PROJECT SAID NEW DNA TESTING IT PAID FOR PROVES THAT THE BITE MARKS ON CYCHOSZ CAME FROM THE NEWLY IDENTIFIED SUSPECT, WHO LIVED IN MILWAUKEE AT THE TIME, AND THAT THE SUSPECT HAS SINCE SIGNED A WRITTEN CONFESSION AFTER BEING INTERVIEWED RECENTLY BY AN INVESTIGATOR WHO WORKS FOR STINSON......
INNOCENCE PROJECT ATTORNEY BYRON LICHSTEIN SAID IN A STATEMENT THAT THE CASE DEMONSTRATES THE NEED FOR SYSTEMIC REFORM OF FORENSIC SCIENCES SUCH AS BITE-MARK IDENTIFICATION, WHICH WAS CRUCIAL IN STINSON'S CONVICTION.
"FAULTY FORENSIC SCIENCE IS ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS," LICHSTEIN SAID IN THE STATEMENT.""
REPORTER TOM KERTSCHER: THE JOURNAL SENTINEL; Wikipedia informs us that, "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state."
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BACKGROUND: Robert Lee Stinson was convicted of the 1985 murder of a Milwaukee woman. Stinson's conviction rested almost exclusively on bite-mark identification purporting to match Stinson's teeth to bite patterns found on the victim's body. (Dr. L Thomas Johnson, a Wisconsin bite mark analyst, testified at Stinson’s trial for a 1984 murder that bite marks on the victim’s body matched Stinson’s teeth.) In 2005, the Wisconsin Innocence Project accepted Sinton's case and developed two kinds of new evidence. First, DNA testing revealed male DNA in saliva on the victim's sweater, and this DNA excluded Stinson. Second, working with California forensic science expert Christopoher Plourd, WIP arranged for the bite-marks to be re-examined by a panel of four nationally-recognized experts, Dr. Gregory Golden, Dr. David Senn, Dr. Norman Sperber, and Dr. Denise Murmann. Using modern methods, the panel unanimously concluded that Stinson's teeth could not have inflicted the bites. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office did not oppose Stinson's motion to reverse his conviction, and he was freed. Bite-mark identification has been implicated in numerous other wrongful convictions around the country.
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"The Wisconsin Innocence Project announced Monday that it has developed evidence indicating that a 1984 murder - for which a man served 23 years in prison before being released - was committed by a different man who remained free to commit other crimes," the Journal Sentinel story by reporter Tom Kertscher published earlier today under the heading, "Innocence project that cleared man finds real perpetrator," begins.
"The Innocence Project did not identify the man it has connected to the 1984 slaying in Milwaukee," the story continues.
"But according to the state Department of Corrections, that man is now in prison after having been convicted of another crime. The Department of Corrections couldn't immediately determine details of the crime.
In January 1985, a jury found Robert Lee Stinson of Milwaukee guilty of the 1984 stabbing death of his neighbor, Ione Cychosz, 62.
Then 20, Stinson was sentenced to life in prison.
In January 2009, a judge freed Stinson from prison after the Innocence Project, a program of the University of Wisconsin Law School, raised doubts about bite-mark evidence that was crucial in Stinson's trial.
Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern also would not identify the suspect but said Monday he expects to file charges him against him soon and that his office would then make "a more definitive statement" about Stinson regarding the 1984 murder.
Lovern said that the best scientific evidence available at the time strongly indicated Stinson's guilt, but that scientific techniques have since made great advancements.
The bite-mark evidence was developed by Daniel Blinka, a former prosecutor, and dental scientist L. Thomas Johnson, both of whom now work at Marquette University.
Johnson said after Stinson's release from prison that he had recently retested much of the evidence from the trial using modern techniques and came to the same conclusion.
But four experts gathered by the Innocence Project said the bite marks on Cychosz could not have come from Stinson's mouth.
Last July, the Milwaukee County district attorney's office said it would not put Stinson on trial again. Prosecutor Norman Gahn said at the time, however, that while the new bite-mark analysis from the Wisconsin Innocence Project raised questions, no factual evidence pointed to Stinson's innocence.
Gahn said the age of the case made it impossible to retry, given that some evidence had been destroyed and the memories of some witnesses had faded.
In its announcement Monday, the Innocence Project said new DNA testing it paid for proves that the bite marks on Cychosz came from the newly identified suspect, who lived in Milwaukee at the time, and that the suspect has since signed a written confession after being interviewed recently by an investigator who works for Stinson.
Stinson, 45, is now represented by Loevy & Loevy, a Chicago law firm, and is seeking compensation from the state for his conviction in the 1984 murder.
Innocence Project attorney Byron Lichstein said in a statement that the case demonstrates the need for systemic reform of forensic sciences such as bite-mark identification, which was crucial in Stinson's conviction.
"Faulty forensic science is one of the main causes of wrongful convictions," Lichstein said in the statement."
The story can be found at:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/93320724.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
