Please see our “Did You Know?” section toward the end of this issue.
f you did not receive our last issue of The DNA Information, you will see that we have a new look. The content is still the same: recent news stories, new and ongoing cases involving the use of DNA evidence and our Did You Know section. The new format will give you a brief overview of the stories. For details please follow the link after each story.
In the news, across the country lawmakers are making changes to criminal justice procedures as a result to the exoneration of over 200 convicts with the help of DNA evidence.
Nevada joins California and 42 other states to take DNA samples from all convicted felons, not just violent felons.
And in Japan, an IT and network solutions provider and a press machine manufacturer have developed a portable and compact device that analyzes human DNA in just 25 minutes.
Following these stories you will find new and ongoing cases involving the use of DNA evidence.
In The News
Exoneration Using DNA Brings Change in Legal System
State lawmakers across the country are adopting broad changes to criminal justice procedures as a response to the exoneration of more than 200 convicts through the use of DNA evidence.
All but eight states now give inmates varying degrees of access to DNA evidence that might not have been available at the time of their convictions. Many states are also overhauling the way witnesses identify suspects, crime labs handle evidence and informants are used.
At least six states have created commissions to expedite cases of those wrongfully convicted or to consider changes to criminal justice procedures. One of them, the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, will hold a hearing this month on remedies for people who have been wrongfully convicted.
Laws in several states, including Illinois, New Jersey and North Carolina, have bipartisan backing, with many Democrats supportive on civil rights grounds and Republicans generally hoping that tighter procedures will lead to fewer challenges of convictions.
Source: New York Times
New law requires DNA of all convicted felons
A new law starts today (Monday) that requires all of Nevada's felons to submit a DNA sample to a national database. Nevada joins California and 42 other states to take DNA samples from all convicted felons, not just violent felons. That means robbers and burglars - even those convicted of crimes like forgery - will be forced to submit their DNA and it will stay on file.
Source: KVBC
Japanese IT, Press Firms Develop Portable DNA Analyzer
Tokyo, Japan - An IT and network solutions provider and a press machine manufacturer in Japan have developed a portable and compact device that analyzes human DNA in just 25 minutes.
The device's makers, NEC Corp. and Aida Engineering Ltd., said it is the first of its kind. The two companies added that the device will speed up police crime investigation, where analysis of DNA samples is needed.
Source: All Headline News
New and Ongoing Stories Involving the Use of DNA Evidence
California - A prison inmate has been linked by DNA to the mysterious murder two years ago of a Lawndale housekeeper inside a Manhattan Beach home, prosecutors said Thursday.
Capital murder charges were filed Wednesday against Milton Montiel Gallardo, 25, who was sent to prison earlier this year for an unrelated car theft conviction. As part of his sentence, he was required to supply a DNA sample for inclusion in the state law enforcement database.
Source: Daily Breeze
Texas - Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal announced that DNA tests performed this summer exonerate Taylor and point to Carroll as the 1993 rapist.
Prosecutors are now working to secure the 47-year-old Taylor's release, which could come after a hearing before state District Judge Denise Collins scheduled for Oct. 12. They are not, however, working to prosecute Carroll, who is serving 15 years for failing to register as a sex offender in 2004. The five-year time frame in which charges could have been filed in the 1993 case has passed.
Source: Houston Chronicle
New York - A Florida man was arrested Tuesday and charged with the 1976 murder of 7-year-old Michelle McMurray, who was raped and strangled in Rochester after her mom left her home alone at 2 a.m. to go buy a pack of smokes.
Three decades later, James Pressler, 64, was allegedly tied to the cold case by a cigarette butt he casually flicked into the gutter.
Source: New York Daily News
California - DNA comparisons have been used to positively identify the remains of an Oregon woman who was first reported missing in 1973.
A portion of a human skull found in the Elliot Creek area of northwestern Siskiyou County on June 18, 1980 has been determined to belong to that of Lydia Gillett of Roseburg, Ore.
Source: Mt. Shasta News
California - Myrick, 41, was convicted by a jury Tuesday of raping a Hawthorne woman during a burglary seven years ago.
The crime was unsolved until he exposed his bare buttocks years later and a DNA sample collected by officers linked him to the rape.
Source: Mercury News
Oklahoma - A man has been linked by DNA to the 2005 rape of a 14-year-old girl who was attacked by a burglar as she slept in her home, police said Tuesday.
Jamel D. Garner, 20, is wanted on first-degree rape and first-degree burglary charges.
Source: Tulsa World
Pennsylvania - A borough man already in jail on charges he was prowling and peering into a woman’s window was arraigned Monday afternoon on charges he raped and almost killed a woman while burglarizing her home on the Fourth of July.
Michael A. Kuhn, 30, is charged with attempted murder, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, criminal trespass, theft, receiving stolen property, terroristic threats and false imprisonment.
The arraignment came after police received the results of tests on DNA samples from the rape scene.
Source: Centre Daily Times
Arizona - A national DNA database led to an arrest in the 1998 sexual assault of a woman in a downtown alley, a Tucson police spokesman said.
Alvin Lambert, 50, was arrested in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Officer Frank Amado said here Friday. He is being detained, pending extradition.
Source: Tucson Citizen
New Jersey - Police said DNA evidence links a convicted drug dealer who is still at large to at least one of a series of rapes and attempted rapes committed since last November.
Police believe all of the attacks are connected.
Victim descriptions make Darnell Hagan, 25, a suspect in five attacks on young Hispanic women in the city's Eastside, police said.
Source: Herald News
Texas - A neighbor of a 6-year-old girl who was found hanged in her family's garage has been charged with sexual assault and capital murder, authorities said Friday.
Shaun Earl Arender, 19, was linked to the crime scene by DNA evidence, Navarro County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Mike Cox said Friday.
Source: Associated Press
Oregon - Twenty years after the bodies of a slain woman and a baby were found in separate southwest Washington rivers, police using DNA evidence have linked the pair as mother and daughter.
Cowlitz County authorities identified them Tuesday as Raj Narain, 24, a Fiji Islander who was living in Eugene at the time of her death, and 14-month-old Kamnee Koushal Narain.
Source: The Oregonian
Maryland - Two heinous crimes that confounded investigators for more than two decades were closed Monday, after a DNA match linked one man to both offenses.
Baltimore County police charged Joseph McInnis Jr., 39, in a 1984 rape and a 1987 slaying that both occurred in the Woodlawn area.
Source: Examiner
New Mexico - DNA on the body of a woman found dead in the Rio Grande was the link that led deputies to their suspect, according to an arrest warrant unsealed today.
esse James Ingram, 29, pleaded not guilty today in state District Court in Albuquerque to charges that he raped and killed Norma Moya on July 27 in the South Valley. He was arrested Aug. 30.
Source: The Albuquerque Tribune
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Did you know?
Topic: New Book Examines the Latest Advances in Forensic Genetics
DUBLIN, Ireland - Research and Markets has announced the addition of An Introduction to Forensic Genetics to their offering.
An Introduction to Forensic Genetics is a comprehensive introduction to this fast moving area from the collection of evidence at the scene of a crime to the presentation of that evidence in a legal context. The last few years have seen significant advances in the subject and the development and application of genetics has revolutionized forensic science.
This book begins with the key concepts needed to fully appreciate the subject and moves on to examine the latest developments in the field, illustrated throughout with references to relevant casework. In addition to the technology involved in generating a DNA profile, the underlying population biology and statistical interpretation are also covered. The evaluation and presentation of DNA evidence in court is discussed as well with guidance on the evaluation process and how court reports and statements should be presented.
- An accessible introduction to Forensic Genetics from the collection of evidence to the presentation of that evidence in a legal context
- Includes case studies to enhance student understanding
- Includes the latest developments in the field focusing on the technology used today and that which is likely to be used in the future
- Accessible treatment of population biology and statistics associated with forensic evidence
For more, please go to:
Research and Markets
Editor: Karen Daurie
Karen.Daurie@DNALabsInternational.com
