Please see our “Did You Know?” section at the end of this issue.

Topic: Six Trends Driving Change in Laboratory QA Strategies 

Over the past two weeks, a few cases involving DNA evidence seem to have dominated the headlines: the alleged rape of a woman by three of 46 members of the Duke University lacrosse team, all of whom submitted DNA samples for testing. Authorities are awaiting results and we will continue to follow this case. The Darryl Littlejohn case continues to appear in the news, and two more wrongly imprisoned men have been exonerated. More information on these and other cases can be found in this newsletter.  

Other topics include ongoing struggles with appropriate funding to support the growth of DNA evidence used in criminal cases and the collection of DNA evidence from all felons.

Nearly lost amid the recent intrigue of Rep. Elton Gallegly's sudden retirement and his equally shocking return to the campaign was news about a bill the congressman has introduced to provide money for DNA prosecutions.

The Simi Valley Republican's legislation, "Grants for DNA Backlog Prosecutions Act," would dole out federal funding for five years to help local prosecutors pursue "cold hit" cases — those in which DNA on file matches evidence in a previously unsolved violent crime.

The bill, which stalled last year, has now been incorporated as a provision in the "Children's Safety Act," which recently passed the House by a vote of 371-52.

Along with the Gallegly DNA provision, the proposed legislation would, among other things, create a national Web site that could be used to track child sex offenders and increase criminal penalties against child sexual predators.

Mr. Gallegly's proposed funding will clearly help an already underfunded system. In the face of declining local and state budgets, any additional money is greatly needed by prosecutors handling an ever-growing number of DNA cases, which, for the most part, tend to be complex murder and sexual assault crimes.

In California, there has been a dramatic increase in DNA prosecutions due, in part, to the passage of Proposition 69 in November 2004. The voter-approved initiative requires the state to collect DNA samples from all convicted felons to be fed into a statewide database.

Currently, according to the state's District Attorneys Association, this database averages about three cold-hit cases a day. In Ventura County alone, District Attorney Greg Totten reports that DNA cold hits could identify perpetrators in an estimated 250 to 300 unsolved crimes, some dating back 20 years.

However, neither Proposition 69 nor a law signed by President Bush in October that authorizes crime-scene DNA samples to be processed and entered into a database, provided the funding needed to prosecute when a DNA match is made.

The past decade has seen great advances in the use of DNA evidence. Its usefulness has been shown to cut both ways — to convict and to exonerate.

But, if DNA technology is ever to reach its full potential of ensuring accuracy and bringing fairness to the nation's criminal justice system, prosecutors must be given the needed resources.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref01.html

In New York probation departments say they lack the time and money to collect DNA samples from a widening pool of offenders, data that supporters say could solve some crimes and keep career criminals from striking again.  
 
Frustrated by his failure to get the Democrat-led Assembly to pass a law expanding the DNA databank, Gov. George Pataki in December issued an executive order requiring additional DNA samples be collected from all convicts offered parole, probation, plea bargain or a temporary release program.  
 
Before, samples were collected only from those convicted of certain violent felonies or drug offenses.  
 
The order didn't expand the list of crimes eligible for DNA testing.  
 
Since Pataki's order took effect, the state has added 5,246 samples to the databank, said Chauncey Parker, director of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. Most were required as a term of parole.  
 
The New York City Department of Probation, which now oversees about 31,500 probationers, is "developing a plan to collect DNA from defendants who have agreed to provide samples under plea agreements" but has not started doing so yet, said spokesman Jack Ryan.  
 
Pataki also wants to collect DNA samples from those already on probation for felonies and misdemeanors. That would require officials to go to court to persuade a judge to expand the conditions of probation for up to 120,000 people statewide, creating a logistical nightmare for cash-strapped probation departments and already crowded courts, county probation officials said.  
 
"Everybody is running into the same issues," said Robert Sudlow, director of the Ulster County Probation Department. "The numbers for us are difficult to get our arms around."  
 
"I understand the need for it, but resource-wise it's becoming an issue," he said. "Every year, funding for the probation system is reduced, but our duties grow."  
 
While Parker conceded there have been some bumps in the road in carrying out the governor's order, overall, he said the collections are "progressing well."  
 
"It will take some time to implement any kind of new initiative" he said. "It would be much easier if it was the law. ... This is the most important thing we can do to reduce crime in this state."  
 
The governor has proposed $1 million more in this year's budget for the additional collections, Parker said.  
 
Ryan said his department supports Pataki's push for a law that requires all criminals to submit DNA samples. That would provide a "complete solution," he said.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref02.html

In Hawaii state lawmakers are working to fix a law passed last year that requires the collection of D-N-A from all of Hawaii's felons.  
 
Under the original law, the collection work was to be done in phases depending on the severity of each felon's conviction.  
 
But it turns out that sifting through files to find out who should be eligible first would take hundreds of hours.  
 
Multiple phases also meant that testers would need to make many visits to the same prisons to swab the inside of different felons' mouths.  
 
State Attorney General Mark Bennett spoke outside a House Judiciary Committee hearing today on a bill from Governor Lingle to make the program more efficient.  
 
The bill would allow the testing of felons to be done en masse -- regardless of the classification of their crimes -- at each prison.  
 
Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref03.html

Cases involving DNA evidence include:

Pennsylvania - Four-and-a-half months.

That's how long 50-year-old Charles R. Livingston spent in York County Prison waiting for investigators to figure out he wasn't the razor-wielding attacker who brutally raped and threatened to kill a young woman after kidnapping her from York City on Oct. 7.

Less than six hours after the assault, police arrested Livingston because his age, general physical description and clothing he was wearing closely matched the description of the rapist's. He was taken to York County Prison and, four days later, arraigned on charges including kidnapping, rape and robbery.

Livingston remained locked up until February on $250,000 bail, when results from a DNA test confirmed what he'd been telling investigators all along -- that he was innocent. The charges against him were dropped on Feb. 10, according to District Judge Barbara Nixon's office.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref04.html

Texas - A Dallas County man walked out of court a free man Monday morning. 
 
Greg Wallis was released after spending the last 18 years in prison… for a crime he didn't commit.

Two years ago Wallis requested a post conviction DNA test. That test eventually cleared his name, with the help of evidence collected in 1988.

Now that same technology may be able to help find the real attacker. Prosecutors in the case can run the evidence thru their DNA database to see if they can find a match.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref05.html

Arizona - In a case loaded with circumstantial evidence against an ophthalmologist accused of having his rival killed, jurors were finally handed what may be the only direct forensic evidence —DNA on a car radio knob in a stolen Lexus.

Two prosecution experts testified Tuesday that the DNA found in the car of the murder victim, Dr. Brian Stidham, likely belonged to the alleged hit man, Ronald "Bruce" Bigger.

The testimony came just before prosecutors rested Wednesday after 13 days of their first-degree murder case against Dr. Bradley Schwartz, who is accused of hiring Bigger to kill Stidham, a fellow pediatric ophthalmologist and former associate.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref06.html

Virginia - A man who was linked to a 19-year-old slaying by a DNA "cold hit" pleaded no contest to first-degree murder.  
 
Thomas Lee Crowder Jr., 46, could be sentenced to life in prison for the fatal stabbing of Bertha Sommardahl, 87, in her apartment. His sentencing was scheduled for June 5.  
 
The case was cold until December, when Crowder was linked to the killing by a DNA hit. The DNA swab was taken from him when he was convicted on cocaine-related charges last year in Roanoke County.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref07.html

California - An Oroville man, who is currently in state prison on unrelated charges, will be transported to Butte County court to face new charges of multiple counts of rape thanks to the results of DNA tests.

An arrest warrant was obtained by the Butte County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit for Jamahl Rashad Mcmillon, 25, of Oroville on multiple counts of raping a person under the age of 18.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref08.html

New York - A history of nose bleeds could explain why Darryl Littlejohn’s blood was found smeared on the plastic bindings used to tie up murder victim Imette St. Guillen, a law enforcement said last night, hours after the career criminal was indicted and charged in her macabre murder.

The career criminal accused of killing the Boston native claimed in a TV report aired last night that the absence of wounds on his body should raise questions about the blood allegedly containing his DNA found on plastic straps that bound St. Guillen’s wrists.

But a law enforcement source said jailed suspect Darryl Littlejohn is prone to nose bleeds, easily accounting for the evidence. He is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and unlawful imprisonment.

In a jail interview with WCBS-TV, Littlejohn, 41, denied killing St. Guillen and said police “have the wrong person.”

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref09.html

Louisiana - In addition to the slow-burning matches authorities believe he used to set the fires, Kenneth W. Singletary left something else behind in the woods off Louisiana Highway 1088 - his DNA.

Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Bob Odom said it was a "history-making" moment, the first time his office has used DNA to solve a woods' arson.

Since mid-January, more than 20 fires presumed to be arson-related have occurred along La. 1088 and Interstate 12.

George Bonnett, spokesman for the St. Tammany Sheriff's Office, said authorities have used forensic evidence to connect the 46-year-old Pearl River school bus driver to two of the fires, but they believe he may be also responsible for several others, including Tuesday's blaze that charred more than 250 acres near Louisiana Highway 36.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref10.html

California - A 34-year-old loan officer has been charged with a rape and a sexual assault as a result of what officials described Tuesday as the state's 2,000th "cold hit" from DNA samples run in connection with Prop. 69.

Ronald Steven Krokum is being held at the Orange County Jail on charges he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman in Costa Mesa in February 1998 and that he raped another woman in Costa Mesa in April 2003.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref11.html

Florida - A 59-year-old Golden Gate man took the stand Tuesday to deny that he had sex with an 11-year-old girl and fathered her child — testimony that contradicted a videotaped confession, a paternity test, and the girl’s testimony.

But a four-woman, two-man jury ignored his denials and took only 20 minutes to convict Jimmy Smith of capital sexual battery of a victim less than 12 years old. Smith, a surveyor for 28 years, stared straight ahead, emotionless, as the clerk read the verdict. The girl, now 14, smiled as she sat in the back of the courtroom.

Detective Scott Peterson said the girl was brought to the Sheriff’s Office by her mother in April 2005. He used swabs to take DNA from her cheek, the baby’s, and Smith’s, which were used for a paternity test.

“There really is no way to refute that you had sex with her,” Peterson said during Smith’s videotaped confession. “It doesn’t get any more rock solid than if you had a baby with her.”

Smith then admitted having sex with her “a few times” after they’d grown close, but said she’d come to his room and he was unsuccessful while trying to push her away.

Day, whose only witness was Smith, built his case by cross-examining prosecution witnesses, trying to cast doubt on Peterson’s interrogation and evidence collection techniques. He also tried to tarnish the veracity of the DNA test, which Kelli P. Hayes, a former forensic technician who analyzed DNA for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said showed Smith was the father with 99.99 percent certainty. She said protocols prevented contamination.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref12.html

North Carolina - Police have taken DNA samples from 46 members of the Duke University lacrosse team in hopes of finding at least three men suspected of the rape and beating of a woman hired to dance at a party.  

Duke spokesman John Burness said team members reported to police Thursday to provide DNA samples and to be photographed.

"Duke University is monitoring the situation and cooperating with officials, as are the students," Burness said.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref13.html

Many people in Durham and on Duke University’s campus await the results of 46 DNA tests in a rape investigation. Results should be available the week of April 3rd.

Indiana - Jackson County deputies moved Anthony Ray Stockelman under heavy security. He appeared in court for his plea bargain hearing Friday morning.

The 39-year-old admits he killed Kaitlyn Collman.

Prosecutors say that in January 2005 Stockelman kidnapped Kaitlyn from her Crothersville home. For five days the community searched.

Then on January 30 authorities recovered her body in a creek.

Investigators used DNA to link Stockelman to her death.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref14.html

Illinois - After a three-week search, Berwyn police announced yesterday that they had arrested the owner of an SUV involved in a March 3 crash that killed a 58-year-old Riverside woman.

Police Chief William Kushner confirmed that Stephen J. Pocina, 44, of Riverside, was being held on a warrant issued yesterday afternoon by the Cook County State's Attorney for leaving the scene of an accident.

The arrest warrant was issued after forensic evidence collected inside the 2004 Range Rover found wedged inside the train depot at 7135 W. Windsor Ave. matched DNA evidence collected at Pocina's Riverside condominium and DNA evidence collected last week by police from Pocina's mother and sister, Kushner said.

Kathleen Talmage, a 40-year employee of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad who worked as a ticket agent and was inside the depot at the time of the incident, was critically injured from the impact of the crash. She died less than an hour later at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref15.html

California - Though he claimed he doesn't remember the attack, an apologetic Chico rapist -- who was arrested after his DNA was found at the scene -- drew the maximum 24-year prison sentence Thursday.

Butte County Superior Court Judge Stephen Benson agreed that a psychological evaluation of Dominick Wynn, 36, should accompany him to prison and that he be considered for placement in a secure state mental facility "so that he can get treatment before he gets out."

Wynn was serving a prior prison term in an unrelated felony threats case last year when a state computer data bank matched his DNA with fluids left during a May 21, 2004, break-in and sexual assault of a young Chico woman, who had been asleep and unable to identify her attacker.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref16.html

California - A man suspected in the rape of a woman in October was arrested at his Rialto home Thursday afternoon.

Jorge Almanza, 30, was arrested Thursday at 1:28 p.m. at his home in the 100 block of Acacia Avenue, according to a police statement.

"He was identified via DNA evidence he left behind," Fontana police Sgt. William Megenney said. "Then a photo lineup was constructed based upon the information identifying him through DNA. The victim was able to identify him and the suspect was arrested."

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref17.html

Michigan - Following closing arguments in the 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct case of James Buie, a jury required less than 20 minutes to return a guilty verdict against the 42-year-old Ionia resident Thursday morning.

Buie will now face a sentence of up to life in prison when he appears before 8th Circuit Court Judge Charles Miel for sentencing in six to eight weeks.

On Wednesday, the first day of Buie's trial, the jury was presented with evidence by a Michigan State Police forensic scientist that linked Buie genetically to the rape victim. The MSP technician described how a DNA sample from Buie matched the DNA found internally in the victim and on her underwear.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref18.html

Illinois - A Chicago man already sentenced to 28 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1999 has been linked to two other attacks the same year, including one on an 11-year-old, prosecutors said Wednesday. 
 
Walter Vega, 33, of the 4100 block of North Drake Avenue, has been linked to the crimes by DNA evidence, Assistant State's Atty. Melanie Fialkowski told Criminal Court Judge Thomas Hennelly, who declined to set bail.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref19.html

Boston - A rape suspect who twice won mistrials because key DNA evidence could have come from either him or his twin brother was convicted Wednesday in his third trial.

Darrin Fernandez, 31, was convicted in an April 2001 attack on a Boston woman who said she was repeatedly raped by a man who climbed up a fire escape and broke into her second-floor bedroom while she slept.

Jurors in the previous trials deadlocked, saying afterward that they were unable to agree on whether Fernandez was guilty because DNA from semen found on the woman's pillowcase could have come from either him or his identical twin.

During the third trial, prosecutors urged jurors to consider a "pattern of behavior" they said would distinguish Fernandez from his brother.

Prosecutors introduced evidence they said showed Fernandez committed a series of home break-ins, sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults with characteristics similar to the rape in 2001.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_15_apr_06/vol15_ref20.html

Did You Know?

Topic: Six Trends Driving Change in Laboratory QA Strategies

Superior Liquid Delivery Calibration Can Increase Efficiency

by George Rodrigues, Ph.D.

Facing increasingly strict regulations and highly competitive environments, laboratories are under pressure to enhance productivity and eliminate inefficiencies, making the need for superior data integrity stronger than ever. Additionally, rising laboratory costs and time-to-market demands highlight the importance of improving laboratory practices, including liquid delivery optimization. Laboratories need new methodologies to efficiently, reliably and conveniently ensure the quality of their liquid delivery systems to ensure data integrity, and ratiometric photometry has emerged as a strategic tool. This technology utilizes dye chemistry for precise calibration of all types of liquid delivery instrumentation essential to laboratory processes.

Outlined below are six key trends driving change in quality assurance strategies for laboratories.

Increasing Focus on Small Sample Volumes

The trend toward low-volume samples is evident in laboratories across industries. Drug discovery laboratories, for example, are increasing throughput, stretching samples and controlling reagent costs by conducting assays with smaller volumes. Forensic laboratories are also experiencing this trend due to the predominance of DNA testing, which is characterized by small and often irreplaceable samples. Data integrity requires knowledge of volumetric performance even with microscopic droplets.

Growing Focus on Process Efficiency

The intensely competitive business environments of food, environmental and life science laboratories and the time-sensitive nature of forensic laboratory testing are pressuring laboratories to continually improve process efficiency. Traditional gravimetric calibration is time consuming, straining limited laboratory resources. Conversely, ratiometric photometry ensures data integrity with calibrations that can be performed in five to ten minutes and are not affected by environmental conditions. Easy-to-use, this method facilitates both high productivity and quality assurance.

Rising Risk of False Negatives/Positives

The potential impact and high costs of false negative and false positive laboratory results across industries have focused attention on reducing volume inaccuracy. Dispensing reagents in volumes inaccurate by even miniscule amounts can alter experiments, leading to the missed opportunity cost of false negative results and the wasted time and resources of chasing a dead end based on false positive results. For example, in drug discovery laboratories, inaccurate volumes can alter reagent concentration and prevent the identification of a reaction between compounds, the foundation for a new drug.

Liquid delivery instrumentation malfunctions can also cause a food laboratory to fail to detect the presence of a pathogen or an environmental laboratory to mistakenly classify a sample as exceeding regulatory limits. On the other hand, accurate liquid delivery quality assurance methods strengthen a laboratory’s confidence in the quality of its results.

Need for Improved Method Transfer

Globalization and the increasing use of contract research and manufacturing services have greatly impacted laboratories across industries. As a result, there is an urgent need for transferable methodologies. As laboratory operations are spread across borders and to outsourced partners, effective communication and harmonization of laboratory practices become crucial for market success. Companies are recognizing the value of integrating accepted calibration methodologies to facilitate consistency and compatibility across laboratories, while also helping to ensure process efficiency.

Scarcity of Lab Resources

An alarming shortage of qualified technicians and shrinking resources are driving laboratories to require improved liquid delivery quality assurance systems. Convenience, speed and ease-of-use are necessary to offset personnel shortages and make real-time volumetric verification a cost-effective option. A modern liquid delivery quality assurance program improves productivity and makes best use of scarce lab resources.

Stricter Regulatory Environment

The heightened scrutiny of laboratory practices is another trend calling for enhanced data integrity. Regardless of industry, regulatory regimes are growing in scope and complexity. For pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, FDA inspection and enforcement activity continues to increase, while accreditation to the testing requirements of ISO 17025 and strict new anti-terrorism demands are driving forensic and food laboratories to achieve greater quality while maintaining efficiency. For these reasons, more and more laboratories are seeking fully traceable volume measurements to ensure data accuracy throughout laboratory operations. To meet these needs, ISO recently adopted 8655-7, recognizing photometry as a methodology with unique capabilities for helping laboratories ensure quality quickly and easily at even the smallest volumes.

For additional information on the technologies discussed in this article, see Laboratory Equipment magazine online at www.LaboratoryEquipment.com or the following Web site:
• www.artel-usa.com

Source: http://www.labequipmag.com/ShowPR_Print.aspx?PUBCODE=020&ACCT=
2000000100&ISSUE=0603&RELTYPE=FE&PRODCODE=00000000&PRODLETT=B&
CompName=Laboratory%20Equipment

Editor: Karen Daurie

Karen.Daurie@DNALabsInternational.com  

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