QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Every defendant—including gang members—is entitled to a trial in which the scales were not weighted on one side by invalid scientific evidence."
A California appellate judge;
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STORY: "Judge Orders Murder Retrial Based on ‘Invalid’ DNA Mixture Analysis," by Seth Augenstein, published by Forensic Magazine on October 11, 2017.
GIST: A
hung jury could not convict a man of murder in 2010, partly because of
difficult DNA evidence. A pair of bloody gloves was almost certain to
have the victim’s DNA on the outside, but the inside showed a complex
mixture with potentially four contributors and a chance that the accused
was a minor part of the mix in the right glove. Before the second trial, a San Diego Police DNA analyst cut open the
gloves, took more swabs and again used the combined probability of
inclusion (CPI) methodology to determine whether Florencio Jose
Dominguez was the one wearing the gloves at the time of the murder of
15-year-old Moises Lopez. The results showed a better likelihood that
Dominguez had worn the gloves. The accused was convicted after three days of jury deliberation. But
what was never mentioned in the proceedings was that the DNA mixture
protocols in San Diego had changed just days before the second
trial—something the jury never heard in court. The California appellate court has now ordered the convicted murderer
to be re-tried, or released—since the DNA evidence presented at the
second trial was already “invalid,” the judge ruled. “It is not disputable that (the analyst’s) testimony at the second
trial was based on analyses that were then invalid under his own
agency’s new protocols,” San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles G.
Rogers ruled on Oct. 6. “Moreover, at no time during his direct and
cross-examination at the second trial did (the analyst) disclose that
the changes in policy had occurred.”......... Suzanna Ryan, a Carlsbad-based DNA expert, provided testimony for the
defense. She found that the San Diego analysis presented in 2011 did
not meet its own protocols established just days before the second
trial—and did not meet those established in 2010 by the Scientific
Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods, or SWGDAM.
Ryan told Forensic Magazine that the DNA-mixture interpretation from less than a decade ago could mean that trials just a few years later could be tilted in the opposite direction, based on the best science now available. “The thing is, is that there are cases like this all over the country,” she said. “If you were convicted of a crime pre-2010 (or even later in many jurisdictions) and the case involved a complex mixture, there is a very good chance the mixture would no longer be interpreted the same way.” Prosecutors have realized that the CPI problem may go beyond population database errors, and instead go all the way from including a defendant as a contributor to inconclusive results, based on new SWGDAM standards, Ryan said. Texas is one state that has noticed potential problems, and attempted to remedy where misleading testimony may have swayed a case, she added. “The Texas Forensic Science Commission is now proactively soliciting cases for review that involved the older mixture interpretation methods,” Ryan said. “They are the only state, that I am aware of, that is making an effort to address the mixture interpretation issues.” The California appellate judge wrote that the trial’s DNA evidence had been unfair to the accused, no matter his ultimate innocence or guilty. “Every defendant—including gang members—is entitled to a trial in which the scales were not weighted on one side by invalid scientific evidence,” the court ruled. Ryan said that Dominguez and his attorneys could have new evidence at their disposal. The San Diego lab re-amplified two of the glove samples—and has used STRmix, a probabilistic genotyping software now gaining wide acceptance, to interpret the mixture."
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/10/judge-orders-murder-retrial-based-invalid-dna-mixture-analysis?et_cid=6132791&et_rid=979655504&type=headline&et_cid=6132791&et_rid=979655504&linkid=https%3a%2f%2fwww.forensicmag.com%2fnews%2f2017%2f10%2fjudge-orders-murder-retrial-based-invalid-dna-mixture-analysis%3fet_cid%3d6132791%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26type%3dheadline
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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 found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
Ryan told Forensic Magazine that the DNA-mixture interpretation from less than a decade ago could mean that trials just a few years later could be tilted in the opposite direction, based on the best science now available. “The thing is, is that there are cases like this all over the country,” she said. “If you were convicted of a crime pre-2010 (or even later in many jurisdictions) and the case involved a complex mixture, there is a very good chance the mixture would no longer be interpreted the same way.” Prosecutors have realized that the CPI problem may go beyond population database errors, and instead go all the way from including a defendant as a contributor to inconclusive results, based on new SWGDAM standards, Ryan said. Texas is one state that has noticed potential problems, and attempted to remedy where misleading testimony may have swayed a case, she added. “The Texas Forensic Science Commission is now proactively soliciting cases for review that involved the older mixture interpretation methods,” Ryan said. “They are the only state, that I am aware of, that is making an effort to address the mixture interpretation issues.” The California appellate judge wrote that the trial’s DNA evidence had been unfair to the accused, no matter his ultimate innocence or guilty. “Every defendant—including gang members—is entitled to a trial in which the scales were not weighted on one side by invalid scientific evidence,” the court ruled. Ryan said that Dominguez and his attorneys could have new evidence at their disposal. The San Diego lab re-amplified two of the glove samples—and has used STRmix, a probabilistic genotyping software now gaining wide acceptance, to interpret the mixture."
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/10/judge-orders-murder-retrial-based-invalid-dna-mixture-analysis?et_cid=6132791&et_rid=979655504&type=headline&et_cid=6132791&et_rid=979655504&linkid=https%3a%2f%2fwww.forensicmag.com%2fnews%2f2017%2f10%2fjudge-orders-murder-retrial-based-invalid-dna-mixture-analysis%3fet_cid%3d6132791%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26type%3dheadline
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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 found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
