Notable court cases in which genetics has played an important role
1990 - According to the Montgomery County News, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected a Montgomery County judge's recommendation, based on DNA tests, that a man convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl receive a new trial. Roy Criner was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Deanna Ogg, a New Caney High School sophomore, on Sept. 27, 1986. Criner and his relatives insisted that DNA evidence be used as proof that Criner is innocent of the 1986 rape and murder case. However, three witnesses who testified in Criner's 1990 trial sealed his conviction on the sexual assault of Ogg. Despite the DNA test that excludes him as the assailant, Criner remains behind bars because District Attorney, Mike McDougal came up with the theory that the victim had consensual sex with someone else before the crime since she was known to be sexually active. Roy had then raped her, but either failed to ejaculate or used a condom.
http://www.freeroycriner.com/FreeRoyCriner.html
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Roy Criner |
Roy Criner |
1993 - On March 8, 1985, Kirk Bloodsworth was convicted of sexual assault, rape, and first-degree premeditated murder of a 9-year-old girl who was found dead in a forested area. A Baltimore County judge sentenced Bloodsworth to death. In 1996, Bloodsworth's lawyer filed an appeal to have forensic testing conducted in his case. The DNA results concluded that Bloodsworth's DNA did not match any of the evidence submitted for testing. Numerous tests followed and supported the fact that Bloodsworth is not responsible for the murder. Prosecutors submitted a joint petition with Bloodsworth's attorneys to grant him a pardon. A Baltimore County Circuit judge ordered Bloodsworth released from prison on June 28, 1993.
http://justice.policy.net/profiles/kbloods.vtml
1994 - Ronald Cotton was wrongly convicted of the Thompson rape. His case was one of the first in which DNA evidence was used not only to overturn his conviction but also to implicate the actual rapist. According to the National Institute of Justice report, Ronald was one of 28 wrongly convicted men who were freed after DNA testing proved their innocence. As a result of Cotton's case, the Innocence Project was founded to support and review cases of people who say they have been falsely accused, and arrange for DNA tests that may support claims of innocence.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dna/
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Jennifer Thompson |
Ronald Cotton |
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A victim of rape who misidentified her Thompson Attacker in a photo spread and in a second physical line up. |
Wrongly convicted of the rape and of another rape at a Trial. |
1995 - Former Football great O.J. Simpson is charged with the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. DNA sample samples taken from blood at the crime scene were compared to samples from all three parties. Prosecution witnesses testified that the DNA tests link O.J. Simpson to the murders, while defense witnesses supported the claim that the crime scene samples had been contaminated or could have been planted as part of a conspiracy against Simpson. Ultimately the tests are not persuasive enough.
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dtebbutt/oj/ojindex.html
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O.J. Simpson |
1995 - On February 25, 1983, a 10-year-old girl was kidnapped from her home, raped, and beaten to death. Alejandro Hernandez and Rolando Cruz were convicted based on anonymous tip and were sentenced to death for kidnapping, rape, and murder. In September 1995, DNA tests showed that neither Cruz nor Hernandez matched semen samples taken from the crime scene, although tests indicated that they could still have been present at the crime. On November 3, 1995, Cruz was acquitted on the basis of DNA evidence. Hernandez's case was also dismissed on the basis of recanted testimony and DNA evidence.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/cruz990415.html
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Rolondo Cruz, right, testified against the police and prosecutors that sent him to death row for 14 years |
Alejandro Hernandez -Sentenced to death: March 15, 1985 Freed; December 8, 1995. |
1998 - DNA analyses of semen stains on a dress worn by Monica Lewinsky match DNA from a blood sample taken from President Clinton. The chances that the semen is not President Clinton's are one in 7.87 trillion.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/impeachment/
(Left to right) Monica Lewinsky, President Bill Clinton,
and the infamous blue dress (photos courtesy of www.altavista.com).
2000 - The murder of Marilyn Sheppard occurred in Bay Village, Ohio, on July 4th, 1954. The wife of the prominent surgeon, Sam Sheppard, Marilyn Sheppard was killed in her own bed by more than 15 blows to her head. Sam Sheppard was convicted of the murder by the Ohio Courts and sentenced to life in prison. He served 10 years and died in 1970. In January 2000 the doctor's son, Sam Reese Sheppard, brought a wrongful-imprisonment suit against the State of Ohio in an effort to prove the innocence of his father. Currently, modern forensic science is using DNA fingerprinting and other laboratory sciences to prove his father innocent using the results of DNA analysis.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/
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Marilyn Sheppard |
Sam and Marilyn |
Young Sam Sheppard |
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was brutally murdered in her home on July 4, 1954. |
Shepard. Sam was was convicted of beating his wife to death in his home. |
was seven years old when his mother was murdered in the next room while he slept. |
2000 - In September 1986, Kathryn Roberts and her 14-year-old daughter, Donna, were shot in their home while the family's prized pink roadster was stolen from the garage. After fourteen years Gary Dale Hinesis, the man who was convicted of the murders, wants to use new technology to prove his innocence. He is fighting for the right to conduct DNA tests on tiny spots of blood that were found on his clothes on the day of the murder, tests that were not conducted during the original trial. The state opposes his request, which begins a nationwide debate over post-conviction DNA testing. As a result of the advancement of new technology, many convicted criminals are now requesting that courts take a second look at their cases.
http://www.capitolalert.com/news/old/capalert01_20000702.html
2000 - In 1984, Earl Washington Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 19-year-old Rebecca Williams in Culpepper, Virginia. His lawyer claimed that Washington's conviction was primarily based on his confession to the police, which was found to be inconsistent, possibly because he was diagnosed with mental retardation. Thus, his lawyer requested an appeal for a DNA test. The test concluded that Washington be eliminated as a possible donor of the genetic evidence in the case.} In early June of 2000, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore ordered new DNA testing that could prove that Earl Washington did not commit the crime for which he was sentenced to die.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/case/cases/
Date Unknown - The multiple murder trial, Virginia vs. Timothy Wilson Spencer, was the first case in the United States where the admission of DNA evidence led to guilty verdicts, resulting in a death penalty. The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the murder and rape convictions of Spencer, who had been convicted on the basis of DNA testing. Tests showed that his DNA matched that of semen samples found on several victims.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/case/revolution/wars.html