DNA: It Ain’t Perfect

DNA Testing

 

DNA is a very reliable science, but it does have its limitations. It also has its share of flaws. Don’t believe me? Then you should ask Jerry Bellamy, a New Jersey man who was arrested and jailed for the decades old rape and murder of 13-year-old Jane Durrua.

 

In 2004, prosecutors charged Bellamy with the girl’s death after a forensic scientist linked DNA evidence – semen found on the dead girl’s underwear – to him. Bellamy was already serving a prison sentence for an unrelated sexual assault and was about to be released when he was formally charged with Durrea’s murder. The charges were based solely on the DNA evidence found by the scientist.

IN 2006, state authorities realized the lab scientist had handled DNA evidence relating to another case involving Bellamy and the evidence from the Durrua case on the same day, at nearly the same time. This new development raised the possibility that the scientist could have cross-contaminated the Durrua evidence. Therefore, prosecutors had no choice but to drop the charges against Bellamy, and he was released.

Since then, further DNA testing has indicated another suspect in the murder – Robert Zarinsky, a man already serving time for the 1975 murder of Rosemary Calendriello. Bellamy had already spent two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Robert Zarinsky – AP photo by Jennifer Brown

 

Testing of DNA found on Jane Durrua’s slip cleared Jeremy Bellamy of her murder.

Other cases of contaminted DNA, mislabeled evidence, and samples that were accidentally switched occur more frequently than you’d think possible. For example, a state lab in California reported that DNA found on a cigarette butt matched the DNA profile of a sexual assault victim from another case. These results could have meant that the assault victim had smoked the cigarette, but was that actually the case? No. The lab technician working the case processed the cigarette butt close to the victim’s vaginal sample. The evidence in both cases were cross-contaminated.

In 2003, a lab scientist somehow contaminated (a sneeze or cough?) a DNA sample with her own DNA profile.

In 2001, the same scientist in the 2003 case above ran a test on a suspect’s DNA and reported the man’s DNA profile didn’t match his own DNA. WHAT???

In 2002, a scientist accidentally mixed two separate samples from two separate cases in one tube.

A huge backlog of cases in our nations labs also contributes to unsolved and reoccurring crimes, such as rape. Why? Because over 400,000 evidence samples are waiting to be tested, but staff and funding shortages are preventing the cases from moving forward. The suspects in these cases remain free, on the streets, to commit additional crimes. In 2008, Los Angeles alone had a backlog of over 7,000 DNA samples waiting to be tested.

There are many more cases such as the ones I’ve mentioned which leads to one conclusion. DNA testing is not perfect. Therefore, should our courts be sentencing people to life in prison, or worse, to death, based upon a flawed system of evidence testing?

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Comparing Fingerprints: What’s The Point?

Comparing Fingerprints

 

Fingerprints, simply put, are the impression of friction ridges located on the surface of the fingers. It is the duty of fingerprint examiners to compare certain characteristics of a suspect’s fingerprint, known as points of identity, or minutiae, to points on fingerprints found at the scene of a crime. This comparison can prove that the suspect had, at some point in time, been at that particular scene. A fingerprint match alone does not, however, prove the suspect committed the crime.

Basic Ridge Characteristics

Basic and composite ridge characteristics
Minutiae Minutiae
ridge ending bridge
bifurcation double bifurcation
dot trifurcation
island (short ridge) opposed biurcations
lake (enclosure) ridge crossing
hook (spur) opposed bifurcation/ridge ending

There are as many as 150 ridge characteristics (points) in the average fingerprint. So how many points must a fingerprint examiner match in order to safely say the prints are indeed those of a particular suspect? The answer is surprising. There is no standard number required. In fact, the decision as to whether or not there is a match is left entirely to the individual examiner. However, individual departments and agencies may have their own set of standards in place that requires a certain number of points be matched before making a positive identification.

Examiners make their determination based on he clarity of the print, the uniqueness of the print’s formations, and the examiner’s ability (or lack of) and experience. A less experienced examiner should match as many points as possible, whereas an examiner with many years of experience may settle on as few as a half dozen points that match.

Obviously, the more points that match the better the case for the prosecution.

The FBI maintains the IAFIS system (Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System), which is a database containing the prints of 55 million subjects. Police agencies can typically expect to receive responses from the IAFIS system is as little as two hours. This is a sharp contrast to the wait time of three months of just a few years ago.

The IAFIS system is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The system is so quick that officers are able to run a check on a subject’s prints while they are in custody. In the past, officers were often forced to let suspects go only to learn later that they were wanted for crimes in other jurisdictions.

*Photos by Patti Phillips

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Castle: Ghosts

Episode 8, Ghosts, begins in a seedy, pay-by-the-hour hotel where a woman is found dead in a bathtub filled with motor oil. The show this week didn’t provide much fodder for a bad review of police procedure, which was good. But the medical examiner still insists on using some odd psychic wisdom and powers to determine cause of death and other forensic findings. Let’s dive right in and get this ME stuff out of the way, because this character makes me ill.

First of all, she was right about one thing. She’d actually have to test the substance in the tub to say for sure that it was indeed motor oil. However, it looked like motor oil, felt like motor oil, and the empty motor oil containers were nearby. Well, duh. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck!

Any other time, she’d merely dream up some wacky conclusion. Why now does she decide to test something so obvious?

While the ME is busy sucking motor oil from the tub with a turkey baster, one of Beckett’s dynamic duo sidekicks steps forward to say he’s found the empty motor oil bottles in a closet.

Why do Beckett’s two sidekicks always appear together, side by side, from nowhere?

A bathtub filled with motor oil on the upper floor of a busy hotel bothers me. It’s a little wacky logistically.

A bathtub holds approximately 60 gallons of liquid which equates to 240 individual quarts of motor oil. That’s 20 cases of the syrupy liquid (450 lbs.) that the killer, a female this week, would have had to carry to the upstairs hotel room. Then she’d have to open each bottle and sit there waiting for it to drain into the tub. This is all possible, but…

Next, Beckett asks the ME for a cause of death and she replies, “Drowning.” How in the heck could she say that without first performing an autopsy? Sure, she could guess, but that’s not what she did. She also stated the victim had a contusion on the back of her head. How did she know the poor woman didn’t die from the head trauma before being placed in the oil?

The next ME words of stupidity were about the wine glass found at the scene. She informed Becket that she’d found traces of a sleeping pill on the glass.

No way she’d know this so quickly. Besides, she’d have to have a reason to suspect the drug would be found there to order that particular testing during the tox screen. Tox screens are NOT catch-all tests.

AND, it probably wouldn’t be the ME who collected the glass. That’s the job of police.

ME’s take care of the body. Detectives/officers/crime scene techs handle everything else.

There simply had to be two writers for this week’s episode, because the ME scene compared to the rest of the show was like oil and water. Pun intended. They’re wearing me down with this ME character.

The rest of the show wasn’t as bad. The police procedures fared pretty well this week. The one thing I’d point out was when Beckett and Castle entered the true crime writer’s home after finding the door ajar. At the time they entered they believed they were entering the home of a murder suspect. Once inside they observed items that could have been potential evidence in the case. Beckett probably should have backed out and gotten a search warrant at that point. However, she could always say she thought someone was in trouble or injured since the door was ajar. But I’m not sure that would fly in court. People leave their doors open all the time.

All in all, the show was just okay this week. Will I remember anything about it? No.

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Weekend Road Trip: Linda McCabe in Paris

Linda McCabe

 

Linda McCabe is the past president of the Redwood branch of The California Writers Club. The branch was founded in 1909 and is proud to call Jack London one of their early members. Linda writes and maintains a fascinating blog she calls Musings from a L.O.O.N.

Paris: Gardens and Art

Paris is known for her beautiful gardens and art. Some gardens are famous and easy to spot such as the Tuileries on the grounds of the Louvre.

Then there are parks that are tucked away that can provide a sense of peace and tranquility to contrast with a major metropolitan city. This small park is on the Isle de la Cite near the Pont Neuf.

On our way to Marais we discovered the Jardin de l’Hotel de Sens.

There is beauty everywhere in Paris. You simply need to keep your eyes open. Even above doorways you can sometimes find art.


I thought the road signs had their own charm as well. I could not resist taking a photograph of the road named after the “Father of Europe.”

“Rue Charlemagne.”


Some gardens are hidden. One is within Hotel Dieu, which is the oldest hospital in Paris dating back to the 6th century. The hospital has a long history of floods and fires through the centuries. During the 19th century, it was demolished during the urban renewal program of Baron Hausmann and a new hospital was built. It still stands next door to Notre Dame Cathedrale.

To see this garden you must go through the ER doors, turn right and pass through another door, then turn left and you will find this magnificent courtyard.

Here are two other views of the gardens at Hotel Dieu.

If you walk up a small stone staircase around the courtyard you will be rewarded with seeing historical woodcuts of Hotel Dieu and Paris.


Originally Hotel Dieu was to the south and west of Notre Dame and even spanned the bridge to the Left Bank of the Seine as seen in this woodcut. The current hospital is situated to the north and west of Notre Dame.

Here’s a link to my travelogue to France.
http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/search/label/France

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Officer Terry Adams, 38

Tifton Georgia Police Department

On April 22, 2009, Officer Terry Adams was answering an emergency call on his motorcycle when he was struck head on by a pickup truck. Officer Adams passed away during transport to the hospital. He leaves behind a wife and four children.

* Thanks to ODMP

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Familicide: The New Domestic Violence?

Actually, familicide is nothing new. It’s just occurring at a more rapid and alarming rate. Parents who kill their children and then turn the weapons on themselves do so for various reasons. Those reasons tend to differ among men and women.

Men are often driven to kill their loved ones because they feel as if they’ve failed to provide for their children. Woman are generally motivated by feelings of altruism, a selfless regard for the well-being of others. However, women tend to have a high failure rate of suicide, therefore, their cases are often not classified as familicide.  The women who fail at taking their own own lives are more than likely charged with murdering their children.

Another factor that drives women to kill their own children is psychosis. They actually believe they are protecting their kids from demonic possession. Death would end the child’s suffering.

With the downturn of today’s economy looming over the heads of American’s, police have seen an increase of familicide across the nation. Again, the father’s failure to provide seems to be the motivating factor.

Cases of familicide and attempted familicide:

– Sametta Heyward left her two kids in a hot car. Their bodies were discovered under the kitchen sink wrapped in trash bags.

– Chris Benoit, a professional wrestler, killed his wife and 7-year-old son, then he killed himself.

– Thomas Reilly, a New Jersey engineer, drowned his kids and then hung himself.

– California businessman Kevin Morrissey shot his wife and children and then took his own life. Morrisey left a note stating he’d committed the act because of financial stress.

Are these cases on the rise?

The number of these cases seems to rising. In fact, last week two families were found dead just miles apart. Police in the Towson, Md. area (just outside Baltimore) are investigating:

– Christopher Wood shot and killed his wife and kids and then killed himself.

– William Parente, a Maryland lawyer, and his family were found dead in a Towson, Md. hotel. It is believed to be a case of familicide.

Both families were experiencing severe financial difficulites.

The Violence Policy Center in Washington D.C. reports an average of 9-10 murder suicides each week. But familicides occur only 2-3 times in a six-month period.

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Warrantless Vehicle Searches: A Thing Of The Past?

7 ways cops spot drunk drivers

 

A 5-4 Supreme Court ruling will now force police officers to obtain warrants for vehicles they want to search. In the past, a 28 year precedent gave officers the legal authority to search any vehicle without a warrant immediately or soon after an arrest of the driver. They could also search as long as they had reason to believe there was evidence of a crime inside, even in cases of an ordinary traffic stops for speeding.

This new ruling states that officers must obtain a search warrant to legally search a car in cases where the driver has been arrested and is custody inside the police vehicle. The argument explains that the driver is no longer a threat to the officers or others, therefore, there is ample time for officer to effect the necessary  steps of obtaining the warrant.

Warrantless searches may still take place when the suspect removed from the car is still within reach of the passenger compartment, or when officers have reason to believe that evidence relating to the crime that led to the traffic stop will be found.

I know, as a former police academy instructor, that officers are taught (I guess I should say were taught) to make the traffic stop and then if at possible, search the car. This has a been a very effective means of discovering narcotics and cash related to drug trafficking. Other crimes, including murder, have been solved based upon warrantless searches of vehicles.

This new ruling from the high court stemmed from an Arizona case (remember Miranda started in Arizona) where a man was arrested for driving on a suspended license, handcuffed and placed inside an officer’s patrol car. The officers then searched the suspects car and found drugs and drug paraphernalia, which he was charged with having in his possession.

An Arizona court dismissed the charges stating the search was unreasonable. The state appealed and the final result was the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that was handed down yesterday.

I see this ruling as a lot more work for police officers. And costs for these arrests will be much higher. Now, police will have to have an officer stand by the vehicle while a second officer heads back to the department to begin the tedious chore of filling out the paperwork that’s required to obtain a search warrant. Then they’ll have to locate a judge or magistrate who’ll sign those documents.

During this time, another officer will be needed to transport the prisoner to the police department or county jail for processing. The criminal probably wouldn’t be permitted to remain on the scene (the longer a suspect remains in an officer’s custody the greater the chance of him becoming violent).

However, I still see a loophole for officers. When a driver is arrested and there’s no one with him who can drive the car away, police normally tow his vehicle to an impound lot. In these cases officers are legally permitted to conduct an inventory search of the vehicle, which means they may search the entire vehicle listing each item they find. Well, duh…If they discover drugs or a hacked up body during that legal search…Well, you get the idea.

 

The case is Arizona v. Gant, 07-542

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Castle: Home Is Where The Heart Stops

Home Is Where The Heart Stops is the title of this week’s episode of Castle. The medical examiner, Lanie Parrish played by Tamala Jones, was back this week, unfortunately. Back, and in rare form again. In the opening scene she holds up a bloody piece of gauze and says, “The blood spatter indicates GSR at close range.” Excuse me, but what does one have to do with the other. Sure you could find GSR (gunshot residue) in blood, maybe. But blood spatter doesn’t indicate its presence. What blood spatter patterns do tell you is where the killer and victim were standing when the fatal blow/shot was delivered. This character makes me want to scream at my beloved flat screen television! She’s awful, and she’s very distracting. She serves no positive purpose on this show.

Detective Kate Beckett wasted no time joining the awful information train. Her opening line was, “I can still smell the cordite.” This is also a line I read in a lot of books. NO, NO, and NO! Unless your story is set during World War I, in World War II England, or, if your killer used a tank to do his killing, you can’t use cordite in your writings. Cordite was used by the British Navy as a low explosive because of its slow burning capability. Sure, the U.S. brought some over many moons ago, but it’s no longer manufactured. Hasn’t been for decades.

Cordite production ceased in Britain at the end of the 20th century.

Okay, enough of my ramblings. Let’s list the good and bad.

– Beckett states the killer must have used a revolver because there were no spent casings on the floor. This is good information. Revolvers do not eject spent casings. If you attended the Writers Police Academy last weekend you heard this several times from the instructors.

– One of the detectives used the phrase “did a nickle” to describe a con’s time in jail. Good stuff! Doing a nickle means the guy served five years.

– I loved it when one of the detectives chastised Castle for using a writer’s favorite nickname for bad guys – Perp. I believe he asked, “Why do writers always say perp. Cops don’t.” Then he and his partner reeled off a long list of bad guy nicknames used by cops. They did miss two – Scrote and Asshole.

Beckett joined in ( if you’ve ever attended my workshops you’ve heard me say this a thousand times) and added, “We call them suspects.” YES! That’s what cops call crooks in most areas. Suspects. Remember that, please. Oh, even the lieutenant said he calls them dirtbags, not perps.

– Beckett has a pattern going when questioning suspects (notice I said suspect). They ask for attorneys, but she continues her questioning. No. Officers must stop questioning when the suspect asks for an attorney.

– Beckett said she had no legal reason to hold the initial suspect. Not true. He was a convicted felon who, when arrested, was in possession of a firearm. That’s a felony. Convicted felons may not possess a firearm of any type unless they’ve had their rights restored by the court, or received a pardon from the governor or from the president of the U.S.

– Castle and Beckett did a little practicing at the firing range. Castle fired a round at the target using the detective’s weapon, and supposedly a spent casing ejected from the pistol striking Beckett on her right cheek. Unless Beckett’s gun is a specially-made left-handed firearm, this couldn’t have happened. She stood to Castle’s left. Casings eject to the right.

– Castle took a known jewel thief to the crime scene, contaminating it. Had this guy been the actual crook he could then have easily explained why his fingerprints and DNA were present.

– Beckett made the statement, “They (writers) never get it write in books and movies.” What about TV writers!!! Guys, please let me send you a copy of my book. Then pick up a copy of Doug Lyle’s book on forensics. Shoot, just email either of us with your questions. We’ll save you!

– A suspect described the killer to Castle who in turn relayed the description to a forensic artist, who then drew a sketch based on Castle’s second-hand knowledge. Robin Burcell, what’s the possibility of this scenario having positive results?

– Castle and Beckett observe a guy at a party taking photos of women wearing expensive jewelry. They know the guy has a criminal background, so Beckett then holds up her badge and informs the guy that he’s under arrest for murder. No way. She’d need something other than snapping photos and a criminal past to make this sort of drastic move. Something like probable cause that actually linked him to the crime would have been nice.  Besides, I can’t imagine making this particular arrest without a warrant in hand, which she didn’t have.

_ In the closing scene Beckett and Castle arrive to collar the crook. Beckett is seen fumbling with her weapon (What the heck was she doing anyway?). Then we heard her pull and release the slide on the pistol. NO! Cops always, always, always keep a round in the chamber. Their weapons are ready to fire, always. Did I make that clear enough – ALWAYS! In Beckett’s case she’d have ejected a live round into the car beside Castle. That would have left her one round short, which is how I’m feeling about the writers of this show – One round short of a full magazine.

Oh, Beckett returned a piece of evidence to the crime victim. Cops aren’t allowed to do that. Once evidence has been collected and recorded it can only be released with a court order or with the permission of the prosecutor.

Still, the chemistry between Castle and Beckett is great. Believe it or not, I really do like this show.

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Vehicle Stops: Day Two At The Writers Police Academy

flashing blue lights

 

You’ve all seen the flashing lights of a patrol car as it zoomed by, right? Hearing sirens blare those eerie wailing sounds causes most drivers to immediately swerve to the side of the road. But what’s it really like to sit behind the wheel of one of those souped-up black and whites?

Many writers have had the unique experience to listen to cops describe their feelings during those moments when they’re racing to a crime scene. Some writers have also attended citizens police academies to get an even closer feel of what police work is all about. But there’s nothing like climbing in the driver’s seat, buckling up, punching all the buttons, and then use the in-car PA system to command suspects to surrender.

Rebekah Aidukaitis commanded a suspect vehicle to pull over at the next exit.

Photo from Write Out of the Ordinary

Well, the lucky folks who attended the Writers Police Academy last weekend got to experience tons of behind the scenes police activities. We also showed them what it was like to be on the business end of a patrol car and police weapons held by officers who were determined to arrest a car load of dangerous thugs.

Verna Dreisbach (Dreisbach Literary Management) and I played the part of two bad guys who were out whooping it up after committing a robbery. Our passenger (one of our partners in crime) was played by conference attendee Trudy Brandenberg. Poor Trudy had no idea what she ‘d gotten herself into when she ageed to join our gang.

As the conference-goers lined the sidewalks in front of Miami University, I drove our getaway car into the lot – music blaring with Verna “Yee-hawing” to the top of her lungs. Trudy added a few mock drunken yelps of her own to our caterwauling.

We were quickly spotted by a pair of patrol cops (Lt. Dave Swords and Public Affairs Officer Dave Crawford) who quickly pulled in behind us and immediately attempted to stop our car. Well, we were having none of that. I hit the gas and led the officers on a brief high-speed chase, sliding through a series of left and right turns, ducking through parked cars (we’re talking speeds of 40-50mph in a parking lot). But my tiny rental car was no match for the power of the patrol car and the skill of the driver, because he soon stopped me in front of the line of excited conference attendees.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we purposely neglected to tell Trudy (our passenger) the part about the pursuit. I thought it might be more fun if she simply found out the moment when I shoved the gas pedal to the floor. The look on her face when the car leapt into action was priceless!

This is the point where folks got a first hand look at the dangers of situations like this one faced by officers every day. We were armed, we’d just committed a robbery, we had drugs in the car, and we were not complying with the officers commands. But they remained calm, got us out of the car at gunpoint, and finally slapped the cuffs on each of us. Including poor Trudy.

Officers finally get our vehicle stopped and then ordered us out of the car with our hands up.

Keeping three uncooperative robbery suspects covered  is an extremely tense situation.

Lt. Dave Swords handcuffs the the driver of the car while Officer Dave Crawford keeps the very dangerous Verna Dreisbach covered. Verna was not at all cooperative. She also had a 9mm concealed in the waistband of her jeans.

Officer Dave Crawford aims his shotgun at the notorious Trudy Brandenburg. Not exactly Trudy’s best angle. She was a great sport!

After the exercise Officer Crawford answered questions and  discussed the procedure for high-risk traffic stops.

* Want to share your photos of the Writers Police Academy? Contact me at lofland32@msn.com

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Writers Police Academy: Day One

WPA, Day One

 

Entrance to the Writers Police Academy.

The first day of the academy consisted of presentations by canine officers and their dogs, arson investigators, fire crews, tour of a working fire truck, and a hands-on look at fire-fighting equipment. Were also treated to workshops taught by a defense attorney and a prosecuting attorney. The attendees then divided up into three groups and boarded buses for off-site tours of a police department and the local morgue.

Ketcher, a Fairfiled, Ohio police canine, demonstrated his remarkable ability to locate hidden narcotics, and then ended his portion of the show by bringing down a bad guy with his teeth!

Arson investigators detailed techiques of investigating suspicious fires.

Firefighters described their individual roles. They also allowed the participants the opportunity to climb inside the truck, and a chance to touch and hold firefighting equipment.

The next stop was an behind the scenes tour of the Hamilton, Ohio police department, where attendees were allowed to explore the booking rooms, property room, muster room, gym, detective’s offices, patrol offices, AFIS terminal, lock up, vice, training rooms, wet evidence storage rooms, crime labs, and much, much more. They were also allowed to climb behind the wheel of an actual patrol car. Some were even brave enough to have a seat in the rear cage compartment.

Hamilton canine, Taz, demonstrated his biting skills for the tour groups.

Taz’s focus on his target was unwavering. His bite was much worse than his bark.

Coroner’s investigators were on hand to answer questions.

Author Shirley Jump is flanked by Investigator Andy Willis and Butler County, Ohio Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt (Dr. B.).

While you’re reading this we’ll be handcuffing people, fingerprinting, and playing with SWAT equipment, weapons, and spy gadgets.

Everyone is having a great time! Wish you were here.

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