JOSEPH ABBITT: NORTH CAROLINA: NEW TWIST IN CASE OF EXONERATED MAN; DNA FOUND ON BEDDING SAMPLES; HE'S A SUSPECT AGAIN;

"In July, police sent new DNA samples to the lab for testing.

Wednesday, police say Abbitt's DNA is on the bedding samples and is again the top suspect in the rape case.

Police say they've requested an interview with Abbitt but were denied by Abbitt's lawyer.

WFMY News 2's Justin Quesinberry spoke with Abbitt on the phone Wednesday afternoon. He said he just found out about being a suspect in the case again about 12:30 pm. The Winston-Salem Police Department held their news conference starting at 10:00 am.

When asked if he had any idea why his DNA would be on the sheet, Abbitt said no.

Abbitt said he is still waiting to speak with his lawyer."

REPORTER CHELSI ZASH: WFMY NEWS 2;

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"Rabil said there are questions unresolved in the Abbitt case, even with the news that Abbitt’s DNA was found on sheets taken from the bedroom of the victims. Abbitt was convicted in 1995 of raping two teenage sisters in 1991. He was freed last year when it was shown that a DNA test ruled out that he was linked to semen from a swab taken from the older of the sisters. The swab did not definitively identify any suspect.

“The police should have tested all of this (bedsheets) before they agreed to the exoneration,’’ Rabil said."

WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL;

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"Winston-Salem, NC -- Winston-Salem Police announced Wednesday morning that Joseph Abbitt is again their top suspect in a 1991 rape case," the WFMY NEWS 2 story by reporter Chelsi Zash published earlier today begins, under the heading, "Police: Man Freed From Rape Case Is Suspect Again."

"Joseph Lamont Abbitt was found guilty in 1995 on two counts of First Degree Rape, one count of First Degree Burglary and two counts of First Degree Kidnapping related to a 1991 attack of two Winston-Salem teenage sisters. He was sentenced to life in prison," the story continues.

"A judge cleared him of the charges last year.

Last September, a judge agreed DNA evidence ruled out the possibility Abbitt committed the crimes and set Abbitt free.

In July, police sent new DNA samples to the lab for testing.

Wednesday, police say Abbitt's DNA is on the bedding samples and is again the top suspect in the rape case.

Police say they've requested an interview with Abbitt but were denied by Abbitt's lawyer.

WFMY News 2's Justin Quesinberry spoke with Abbitt on the phone Wednesday afternoon. He said he just found out about being a suspect in the case again about 12:30 pm. The Winston-Salem Police Department held their news conference starting at 10:00 am.

When asked if he had any idea why his DNA would be on the sheet, Abbitt said no.

Abbitt said he is still waiting to speak with his lawyer. WFMY News 2 has also tried to contact Abbitt's lawyer.

Winston-Salem Police Captain David Clayton explained the time gap from when they were informed about the evidence to the time they released information to the public as a time to handle their legal responsibilities.

"It's a complicated legal matter," Clayton said.

Clayton said Abbitt's attorney was notified of the evidence results in July.

"It's interesting; it really puts the prosecution in something of a bind," said Elon Assistant Law Professor Mike Rich. "If they tried to try him again for the rapes a second time, they'd be violating his constitutional rights."

History On The Case

The Attack

The conviction stemmed from an attack on two sisters, age 15 and 13, on the morning of May 2, 1991.

The sisters told police they were getting ready for school at their home on Fairchild Avenue when someone broke into the home through a kitchen window and attacked them around 5:30 a.m. The intruder raped both girls at knife-point and bound their hands and feet.

The attacker held the girls for more than an hour before searching the home for money and running out the front door.

The girls' mother was at a boyfriend's house for the night, leaving the girls unattended.

The girls claimed to have seen the attacker's face during the attack. From the moment detectives arrived on the scene, the girls named Abbitt as their attacker.

Both girls were taken to the hospital to collect rape evidence.

Joseph Abbitt Profile

Abbitt had lived two houses down the street from the family and visited the girls' home on occasion.

Abbitt was previously charged with two rapes in the late 1980s, but the District Attorney's Office reduced both charges to misdemeanor Assault on a Female when he pled guilty.

According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections, Abbitt's previous convictions include robbery with dangerous weapon, escaping prison, assault on a female, B & E, DWI and Larceny. He served time for all those charges.

The Investigation

Both girls identified Abbitt as the rapist during the course of the investigation. They were each shown a photo line-up with color photographs of six subjects. Each girl individually picked Abbitt's photo as their attacker.

After detectives looked into Abbitt's past, along with the positive identification from the victim, they issued arrest warrants. He was found jailed in Texas on unrelated crimes and arrangements were made to transport him back to North Carolina.

Investigators did find a piece of clothing related to the case, but it was not a match to Abbitt.

Due to limited DNA technology, the results of the rape kit taken at the hospital could not conclusively link Abbitt to the crime.

The Trial

The trial began on June 19, 1995 in Forsyth County Superior Court.

Both girls were called to the stand and testified that Abbitt was their attacker.

Abbitt didn't testify, but told investigators he was working the morning of the crime. His employer couldn't provide evidence since the trial was four years later.

Abbitt's attorney introduced the DNA evidence the excluded him from the trial, although no one could relate the questioned clothing to the crimes.

The jury found Abbitt guilty on two counts of First Degree Rape, one count of First Degree Burglary and two counts of First Degree Kidnapping.

He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Abbitt appealed his conviction, but they upheld the conviction on May, 28 1996.

The Darryl Hunt Affect on DNA Evidence

DNA evidence freed another Forsyth County man in 2004.

Darryl Hunt's exoneration sparked an investigation into 2,100 jailed inmates that could benefit from newer technology. Abbitt applied for the program to review his case.

Investigators with the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence and the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office, with assistance from the Winston-Salem Police Department, the State Bureau of Investigation and LabCorp, Inc., say DNA evidence collected from one of the victims excludes Abbitt from the rape.

Based upon this additional scientific testing, which was unavailable to the parties at the time of trial, the State and the Center have joined in a "Motion to Vacate" the convictions.
WFMY News 2

The story can be found at:

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=148913&catid=57

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WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: DNA STILL DEEMED USEFUL IN FILING APPEALS;

"Mark Rabil, the attorney for Darryl Hunt, said yesterday that he does not believe that the new developments in the Joseph Abbitt case should hurt the use of DNA evidence as grounds for people to appeal convictions.

“All through the history of DNA exonerations, each case has been very fact specific,’’ Rabil said. “You have to look at what the evidence is and is it a case where more than one person has been described or identified as the perpetrator. In multiple-suspect cases, DNA can mean one thing; in a one-suspect case it can mean another.’’

Hunt was convicted of murder in the killing of newspaper copy editor Deborah Sykes in 1984 and served nearly 19 years in prison before DNA evidence identified another suspect, Williard Brown, who admitted to raping and killing Sykes. As a result of Brown’s confession in late 2003, Hunt was freed and later exonerated.

The DNA evidence in the Sykes case proved as early as 1994 that Hunt was not the man who raped Sykes. But his efforts to win his release or a new trial based on that fact failed until the DNA match in 2003.

Rabil said there are questions unresolved in the Abbitt case, even with the news that Abbitt’s DNA was found on sheets taken from the bedroom of the victims. Abbitt was convicted in 1995 of raping two teenage sisters in 1991. He was freed last year when it was shown that a DNA test ruled out that he was linked to semen from a swab taken from the older of the sisters. The swab did not definitively identify any suspect.

“The police should have tested all of this (bedsheets) before they agreed to the exoneration,’’ Rabil said.

“They did that in Darryl’s case.’’

Once Brown had confessed, Rabil said, authorities tested fingernails and a sweater.

“They did all their homework that time around,’’ he said.

“They wanted to be sure it was Williard Brown. Why didn’t they do that for Joseph Abbitt?”"

The story can be found at:

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2010/oct/07/dna-deemed-still-useful-in-filing-appeals-ar-440338/

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;