MrsPorkChop
Twinning!!
Member since 5/05 9941 total posts
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Missy
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2 sources say Karr DNA sample doesn't match Ramsey sample
BOULDER, Colo. - KUSA, a television station in Denver, reported Monday that two sources said the DNA sample taken from John Mark Karr is not a match with the DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey's body when she was slain in 1996.
Earlier Monday, an attorney for Karr demanded that the state turn over all evidence related to DNA in the case.
Among other things, Seth Temin’s court filing asked for a clear description of any biological evidence, including how much is left and how it is being stored.
“Eventually in this case, a court will have to analyze the admissibility of DNA evidence and its alleged statistical results,” the public defender wrote. “It appears that more than one laboratory handled or had custody of samples subjected to testing in this case and more than one expert has evaluated the samples and testing results.”
Karr was scheduled to be in court Monday afternoon for a hearing expected to last only a few minutes — long enough for the judge to advise him of his rights and charges against him.
Temin has already challenged the results of any DNA testing involving his client, saying it was illegally obtained. Prosecutors have not confirmed if they performed DNA testing on Karr.
Aggressive defense
Temin and Steve Jacobson, a retired public defender, spent about three hours at the jail Sunday and declined to answer questions as they left. Temin has been aggressive in his short time on the case, winning approval of a gag order and making sure prosecutors and anyone else comes through him before talking with Karr.
He also joined prosecutors in opposing media requests to unseal the arrest affidavit, using capital letters to spell out his contention that releasing the details would violate Karr’s right to a fair trial.
Jacobson is considered a DNA specialist, and DNA could be one of the major issues should Karr go to trial. Jacobson’s name wasn’t listed on Monday’s court filing, but it focused on the rules and procedures of DNA testing, right down to definitions of false positives and “multi-probe genotypes.”
DNA key, experts say
The best-case scenario for prosecutors would be slam-dunk DNA evidence linking Karr to the Ramsey’s former home, where JonBenet’s beaten and strangled body was found by her father on Dec. 26, 1996.
Without it, experts say, it’s much more difficult to build a strong murder case against the 41-year-old Karr, who has said he was there when the girl died but stopped short of an outright confession.
“In this day and age of shows like ’CSI’ jurors not only want forensic evidence before they will convict a person, they demand it,” said Robert Hirschhorn, a jury consultant based in Dallas.
Forensics expert Henry Lee and former prosecutor Bob Grant, both involved in the Ramsey investigation, have said some of the DNA collected at the scene was mixed or contaminated.
Investigators have said DNA was found in blood spots on JonBenet’s underwear, but a Ramsey family attorney said two years ago it didn’t match any of the 1.5 million samples in an FBI database at the time. Other DNA recovered under the girl’s fingernails is degraded, Grant said.
Evidence includes garrote, ransom note
Other physical evidence includes a ransom note, the garrote used to strangle the girl, a boot print found outside the Ramsey house and some indications an intruder could have entered through a basement window.
JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were initial targets of a grand jury investigation that ended with no indictments. Patsy Ramsey died in June after learning authorities had turned their attention to Karr, who was living in Thailand when he was detained earlier this month.
Scott Robinson, a Denver attorney familiar with the case, said prosecutors may end up attacking the police investigation for the alleged contamination of the DNA evidence.
Prosecutors can overcome police mistakes with solid work, said Grant, a former Adams County district attorney who served as an adviser on the case in the 1990s.
“I’ve never seen a case in trial where the defense didn’t find something to attack the investigation about in terms of technical investigative techniques, and I’ve never seen an investigation that was perfect,” Grant said. “If there’s DNA able to be matched to him, then the mistakes are of little or no consequence.”
Message edited 8/28/2006 3:50:46 PM.
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