STORY: "Massereene murders: Colin Duffy found not guilty" by reporter Henry McDonald, published in the Guardian earlier today.
GIST: "Diplock judge Mr Justice Anthony Hart told Antrim crown court that he was satisfied that Duffy's DNA was found on a seat belt buckle of the car believed to have been used by the gunmen and on a latex glove tip, but that the prosecution had failed to link the defendant to the murder plot. "I consider that there is insufficient evidence to satisfy me beyond reasonable doubt that, whatever Duffy may have done when he wore the latex glove or touched the seatbelt buckle, meant that he was preparing the car in some way for this murderous attack. And I therefore find him not guilty," the judge said. He said the prosecution had failed to link Duffy to the murder plot."
(A decision is awaited on the second defendant, Brian Shivers, 46, from Sperrin Mews in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry.)
BACKGROUND: Sappers Quinsey, 23, and Azimkar, 21, were shot dead by the Real IRA as they collected pizzas with comrades outside Massereene Army base in Antrim town in March 2009. Duffy, 44, from Forest Glade in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Shivers, 46, from Sperrin Mews, in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, deny two charges of murder and the attempted murder of six others - three soldiers, two pizza delivery drivers and a security guard. The Prosecution's novel forensic evidence came under intensive attack. (U.S. expert) Dr (Mark) Perlin's forensic computer-based system strongly linked the two men to the getaway car used in the attack. But the academic's "true allele" method of analysing mixed genetic samples and deriving a likelihood ratio is relatively new and has never once been admitted as evidence in a UK or Irish court, and only on a few occasions in the United States...Patrick O'Connor QC, who represents Shivers, told Antrim Crown Court: "He (Perlin) is partisan and lacks all impartiality in relation to the merits and the limits of his system and that is a violation of his duty. He has demonstrated disdain and contempt for even the most eminent of those who do not follow his methods and that is why we suggest he is a man on a mission who has lost his objectivity." (UKPA);
THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
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http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
