The DNA Informant
Volume 1, September 19, 2005

We feel safe to assume that by now you have heard of the ever increasing popularity of DNA testing and its application in criminal cases and court testimonials. Every day there are new cases including burglaries, assaults, rapes, murders, whether they are from recent incidents or those that occurred in the past several decades.

A recent study conducted by researchers from the Washington State University indicates that regardless of its ever increasing publicity "DNA analysis remains a woefully underused technology in investigating criminal felony cases throughout the United States . When you add together all of the major unsolved offenses that provide law enforcement agencies with biological evidence - rapes, homicides and property crimes - the estimated number of unsolved cases in the U.S. that could potentially benefit from DNA analysis rises to more than half a million," they report.

On the other hand, there are indications that DNA testing has become "tarnished". According to an article published this week, " expecting perfection when humans handle evidence and interpret test results is fool's gold. Too much hinges on the outcome to tolerate the tarnish." Whatever the reason may be however, mistakes, especially those made through less than perfect evidence handling and interpretations are inexcusable when it comes to sending someone to prison for life.

To us, the importance and usefulness of DNA is a given, however we are also aware of the existing controversies. There is a definite difference in DNA testing done accurately and DNA testing conducted based solely on quickly reducing backlogs.

It is safe to say that "DNA testing is only as good as the analyst performing the test" - an article published by journal columnist John Railey last week. According to Railey, j ust a few years ago, DNA testing was the Next Big Thing in criminal cases. "Defense attorneys and prosecutors alike sang its praises. Now, prosecutors and police are singing those praises louder than anybody. And defense lawyers are rightly pushing to make DNA testing live up to its promise."

"Not enough defense attorneys are versed in the complexities of DNA testing, much less how to challenge its accuracy. To its credit, the academy of trial lawyers is taking steps to provide that training to its members. Good lawyers want all the ammo they can get to win their cases, and that has to be at least part of the reason for this push. But, ideally at least, the push will result in more accurate testing - instead of just efforts to get DNA evidence tossed out on technicalities.

And defense lawyers have a list of reforms that should lead to more neutral and accurate DNA testing, and better forensic testing in general. Crime labs should operate independently of law enforcement. Samples to be tested should be identified by a code, not by suspect name, to ensure neutrality.

At its best, DNA testing can free the wrongly imprisoned and catch the killers and rapists who walk among us. But it's only as good as we demand that it be."

With that said, DNA analysis continues to be used worldwide, and analysis done well will put the right people behind bars, clearing our streets of some of the most horrendous crimes imaginable.

In the past two weeks one man's conviction and 60 year-sentence has been overturned, after he spent 17 years in prison, based on new DNA evidence that was unavailable at the time of his trial .

Two men were arrested for rape and murder with prior lesser felonies including carjacking, and aggravated battery. Amos Mequel Busby, was arrested after DNA collected from the crime scene was matched to Busby's DNA profile, which was stored in a state database of people convicted of violent crimes such as aggravated battery and carjacking - a story confirming the statistics that indicate the tendency of minor felonies turning into rapes and murder cases, and the importance of the state and national databases. The other one Salvador Martinez , 39, is charged with the April 8, 2003 , killing of Angela Williams, 35.

Another man, Manual Bracamontes , was convicted of murder, after being arrested in Oct. 2003 as DNA evidence, taken from samples of his hair, connected him to the crime, although Bracamontes' defense questioned the credibility of the genetic evidence. The details and reasons for the questionability were not given, however.

Edward Kithcart , a 47-year-old state prison inmate, was charged with the murder of Patricia "Barbara" Kilbourne, in May 1983. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said authorities linked Kithcart to Kilbourne's slaying through DNA evidence.

Antwon Whitten , a 41-year-old Dumfries man, got two life prison terms for the robbery and capital murder of Crystal Michelle Jacobs at Earl's True Value Hardware in July 2003. Two months passed before an arrest was made. Forensic examiners later linked DNA recovered from under Jacobs' fingernails with the genetic profile of Whitten--who was arrested on Jacobs' wedding anniversary.

A 33-year-old Las Vegas , N.M. , man arrested in connection with a Santa Fe rape was identified through a DNA profile, court documents say. Alfredo J. Garcia , arraigned Friday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court on charges of rape and kidnapping, was being held in lieu of a $100,000 cash-only bond. Police detective submitted evidence to the Department of Public Safety's Crime Laboratory that was collected from the woman, and a resulting DNA profile for the suspect was entered into a national database.

The defense attorney for first-degree murder defendant Derek Glenn Arnold has asked the court to continue Arnold 's trial - set to begin Sept. 12 - to allow time for DNA testing on certain pieces of evidence found at the crime scene. Arnold is accused of killing Nolen Michael Yarbrough at Catoosa's Super 8 Motel July 3.

Justice for Nicole Palley came nearly four years after the pregnant Farmington woman was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 1999 , while picking up friends at McDonald's on Main Street . The break came from small drops of blood crime scene Officer Eric Ellis found and collected. A drop of that blood was entered into the state's database containing DNA samples from convicted felons, which also is part of the FBI's larger system. It later matched with Edmond C. Duffin , who had been convicted of rape in Tennessee , and his DNA sample was entered into that state's database. That resulted in a "hit" and Duffin's subsequent murder conviction.

DNA test results cleared Christopher Matthew of charges he faced in a weekend sexual assault of a University of Virginia student .

Recent DNA testing of blood samples taken from the tennis shoes of convicted murderer Joseph Dayringer shows that DNA evidence on his shoes matches that of the blood of Joyce Holland, who was stabbed to death in her Pearl Avenue apartment 19 years ago. Dayringer, 34, who was convicted in 1987 of first-degree murder in the slaying of Holland and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, had requested the testing in an effort to get his conviction overturned.

But, the tests conducted this year at the Missouri Southern State University Regional Crime Lab and completed in June found a positive match between the DNA of the blood on Dayringer's shoes and the DNA of the victim, according to documents filed in Jasper County Circuit Court on Thursday. A Stafford County man accused of attempting to abduct a 19-year-old Stafford woman in July has been linked through DNA evidence to two prior rapes.

A Stafford grand jury indicted Donnell M. Cusick, 21, on numerous violations Tuesday, including two counts of rape. Past assaults on Stafford women, one in the fall of 2004 and the other in May of this year, matched Cusick's pattern of attack, according to the sheriff's office. DNA evidence from those cases was resubmitted to the Virginia Forensic Laboratory to locate a possible match. As a result, detectives linked two rape cases to Cusick, who is now charged in three separate cases.

It is important to understand that labs, which are able to run samples to be entered into the FBI database CODIS, must have obtained accreditation, which forces these labs to demonstrate technical competency; requires periodic evaluations; provides laboratories with the opportunity to determine whether work is performed correctly and to appropriate standards; identifies areas for improvement through discussion and detailed reporting; monitors areas for improvement through follow-up action.

We hope that the news will show the difference between accurate analysis and that which is conducted under conditions susceptible error, however in no way do we intend to sway this newsletter either way. We hope to keep you informed of recent events as they are reported, and should you have any questions or concerns or be interested in our opinion, please feel free to contact us.