BACKGROUND: "On July 18, 2009, newsagent Min Lin, 45, Mr Lin’s wife Yun Li “Lily” Lin, 44, their sons Henry, 12, and Terry, 9, and Mrs Lin’s sister, Yun Bin “Irene” Lin, 39, are found dead in their North Epping home. Police investigations over the next six months fail to find clues or culprits. In January 2010, police set up surveillance on Robert Xie: cameras and listening devices installed in his house and car. Still nothing. On May 5, 2011, Robert Xie is arrested and charged with five counts of murder. There was no direct evidence that Robert Xie viciously murdered the five members of his wife’s family nor any credible circumstantial evidence. In the absence of any durable evidence that pointed to Robert Xie, the police exhibited tunnel vision to focus on Xie. The prosecution continued the process and made much of a DNA sample (‘stain 91’) taken from the Xie family home garage floor, 200 metres from the Lin family’s house, the scene of the murders. Expert witnesses provided extensive but conflicting testimony, and in the end, none of them could exclude young Brenda Lin from the DNA sample; but Brenda was overseas on a school excursion at the time of the murders. In stain91 six profiles were found with scores exceeding 4000; they were the six members of the family – yet there were only 5 victims. Since Brenda was out of the country at the time, it is virtually impossible for the DNA in stain91 to have originated from the crime scene. The appeal against his 2017 conviction has been delayed by the Crown, most recently in October 2019 and is expected to be heard in 2020."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "One of the pieces of evidence being challenged concerned a DNA sample found on the floor of Xie's garage in May 2010.
Ms Rigg said there was "absolute evidence" presented at the trial that DNA from at least four of the five deceased was present in the sample.
"Evidence that the DNA came from the five was central and pivotal to the Crown's case," she said.
But she argued that the possibility that the DNA could have come from five other living blood relatives should not have been ruled out.
These other five others included Robert Xie's wife Kathy Lin, sister of Min Lin, as well as her parents.
The court heard the Lin parents were staying at the Xie home following the murders and Kathy Lin's father was known to have used the garage while moving belongings from the scene of the murder.
Ms Rigg also questioned the conclusion that DNA from all three of the deceased males had been present in the sample.
She argued the data showed that this was impossible.
Ms Rigg told the court the DNA evidence needed to be presented in a different way to the jury "so the jury could determine the weight that should be given to it”.
She said one of the DNA expert witnesses had gone beyond his area of expertise and "strayed into the jury's role in determining the importance of evidence”.
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STORY: “Evidence at Robert Xie’s trial for Lin family murders ‘misleading’ and ‘prejudicial’, appeal court told, by reporter Ursula Malone, published by ABC News on 21 June 2020.
GIST: ”Misleading" and "unfairly prejudicial" evidence was presented at the trial of a man convicted of murdering five members of his extended family at their Sydney home, a court has heard.
After two aborted trials and a hung jury, a fourth trial in 2017 found Robert Xie guilty of bludgeoning to death his brother-in-law Min Lin, his wife Lily Lin, their sons Henry,12, and Terry, 9, and sister-in-law Irene Lin at their North Epping home in 2009.
Xie has always maintained his innocence and is appealing against his convictions for which he was sentenced to five life terms with no possibility of parole.
Xie appeared via video link on Monday, looking gaunt and dressed in prison greens.
He appeared to be following proceedings closely, occasionally writing in a notepad.
His wife Kathy Lin, who has stood by him throughout the long legal process, watched from the public gallery.
A panel of three judges heard the appeal would challenge how some of the DNA evidence was dealt with at the trial and would contest that Xie had suffered a miscarriage of justice.
Xie's barrister Belinda Rigg said some of the expert evidence was "misleading, confusing and unfairly prejudicial" to her client.
'Witness went beyond DNA expertise’:
One of the pieces of evidence being challenged concerned a DNA sample found on the floor of Xie's garage in May 2010.
Ms Rigg said there was "absolute evidence" presented at the trial that DNA from at least four of the five deceased was present in the sample.
"Evidence that the DNA came from the five was central and pivotal to the Crown's case," she said.
But she argued that the possibility that the DNA could have come from five other living blood relatives should not have been ruled out.
These other five others included Robert Xie's wife Kathy Lin, sister of Min Lin, as well as her parents.
The court heard the Lin parents were staying at the Xie home following the murders and Kathy Lin's father was known to have used the garage while moving belongings from the scene of the murder.
Ms Rigg also questioned the conclusion that DNA from all three of the deceased males had been present in the sample.
She argued the data showed that this was impossible.
Ms Rigg told the court the DNA evidence needed to be presented in a different way to the jury "so the jury could determine the weight that should be given to it”.
She said one of the DNA expert witnesses had gone beyond his area of expertise and "strayed into the jury's role in determining the importance of evidence”.
The appeal continues."
The entire story can be read at:
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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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