"BACKGROUND ON THE LATE MARY JANE BURTON: Axios: "A Virginia crime lab scientist was posthumously heralded as a hero after her old files helped exonerate 13 wrongfully convicted men. What's happening: It turns out Mary Jane Burton might have actually been responsible for some of those wrongful convictions in the first place. An investigative podcast released this year by VPM and iHeartMedia, "Admissible: Shreds of Evidence," uncovered allegations she altered evidence to help police and prosecutors make cases. Why it matters: Present-day officials in the state crime lab are now weighing whether they need to undertake another review of Burton's old case files for more possible wrongful convictions. Catch up fast: Burton's files were rediscovered in 2001, setting off a cascade of exonerations/ DNA testing had only recently emerged as the gold standard for forensic science and the Innocence Project was looking for evidence in a client's case that could be retested. The state lab's director pulled the man's file and found Burton had been taping swabs containing evidence samples to all her reports. The discovery prompted an unprecedented review by the state that ultimately resulted in the exoneration of 13 convicted men. And Burton, who died in 1999, was portrayed in the press as a visionary who must have seen that better science was just down the road. Details: That's where podcast host Tessa Kramer and reporting partner Sophie Bearman come in. Kramer tells Axios she began her reporting thinking she might tell the story of a pioneering female scientist. Instead, Kramer discovered Burton was a controversial figure in the state lab who, in the 1970s, was the subject of a whistleblower complaint that centered on allegations she changed test results to avoid eliminating suspects sought by police. Plus: All those scraps of evidence Burton saved — colleagues told Kramer it was actually about selling her test results to juries when she testified via a well-practiced "show and tell" routine. Of note: Leadership of the state crime lab was aware of the concerns surrounding Burton, Kramer reports. But officials never acted or intervened, allowing Burton to work another decade until her retirement in 1988. What we're watching: Kramer has handed over much of the documentation she uncovered to the state. Officials said last month they were reviewing the material, but hadn't decided yet whether a broader review of Burton's cases for potential wrongful convictions is warranted, per VPM." Ned Oliver: November 3, 2023;
https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/11/03/mary-jane-burton-crime-lab-evidence-tampered
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "(Sarah) Martin and her family never thought almost 50 years later that they would be left with no answers and the sting of an open wound. She said they have been thinking back and questioning in their mind anyone who had anything to do with their family at the time. The family believes healing can only come one way - which is through justice. They hope people will come forward to give any details that could help the police and help the family get closure." “I feel like it’s something I have to do. The person who did it will be held accountable today. It won’t be by me, but he or she has to answer to what they did,” Martin said."
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STORY: "Nearly 50 years later. She's still determined to find her brother's killer after original suspect exonerated," by Reporter Maggi Marshall, published by WTVR, on July 3, 2024. (Prior to moving to Richmond, Ms. Marshall started her career as reporter in Roanoke, Virginia. During her two years reporting in the Valley, she extensively covered the 2021 Gubernatorial election, the 2020 protests and riots, and the impacts of COVID in schools. Her coverage earned her high honors as AP of the Virginias Multimedia Journalist of the Year, and a Regional Edward R. Murrow award. Before moving to Virginia, Maggi got her journalism degree from the University of South Carolina. There she interned for over a year at WIS-News10 in Columbia, and WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina.)
SUB-HEADING: "The family of a Richmond toddler murdered nearly 50 years ago is speaking out for the first time after the man convicted of the crime was exonerated last month."
GIST: "The family of a Richmond toddler murdered nearly 50 years ago is speaking out for the first time after the man convicted of the crime was exonerated last month.
"It's hard. It's really hard,” Sarah Martin said.
Just months before she was born in 1975, police found Martin's 3-year-old brother Christopher Harper, dead on the banks of the James River fully clothed, arms folded across his chest, 9 miles from his home.
Police say he was also sexually assaulted.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it,” Martin said tearfully.
Now, nearly 50 years later, no one knows who killed her brother. Especially since the man who admitted to, and was convicted of, the murder was exonerated in June 2024.
The Virginia Court of Appeals found over four decades later that Marvin Grimm was not responsible.
"48 years of his life. He can't get that back," Martin said. "It's taken a hard blow to us."
Grimm's exoneration comes after he claimed evidence brought against him and his confession were all coerced.
Court documents from the exoneration state that new DNA evidence does not match his. The evidence that implicated Grimm in 1975 was analyzed by then-forensic scientist Mary Jane Burton.
It is important to note that Virginia's Department of Forensic Science is now looking into allegations of misconduct against Burton from her time at the state crime lab beginning in the 1970s following Virginia Public Media's 2023 reporting.
"There was a lot of stuff in there that is questionable. Why did they not look into this stuff before they sentenced him," Martin asked.
Martin and her family never thought almost 50 years later that they would be left with no answers and the sting of an open wound.
She said they have been thinking back and questioning in their mind anyone who had anything to do with their family at the time.
The family believes healing can only come one way - which is through justice.
They hope people will come forward to give any details that could help the police and help the family get closure.
“I feel like it’s something I have to do. The person who did it will be held accountable today. It won’t be by me, but he or she has to answer to what they did,” Martin said.
If you have any information related to the 1975 murder of 3-year-old Christopher Harper, you are asked to call the Richmond Police Department.
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/christopher-martin-murder-49-years-july-3-2024
