Daily Archives: March 1, 2017

Alaska Dispatch News

DNA leads to Anchorage cabbie's conviction in 2014 sexual assault Alaska Dispatch News Assistant District Attorney Gustaf Olson, who prosecuted the case, said Wednesday the victim, who immediately reported the attack, was assessed by a sexual assault specialist. DNA samples taken during the investigation were submitted to the state ...

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DNA leads to Anchorage cabbie's conviction in 2014 sexual assault - Alaska Dispatch News

Jeffrey Denny(Photo: Wisconsin Department of Correcti)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reversed a Court of Appeals decision that would have allowed DNA testing of evidence from a 1982 Ozaukee County homicide case, and set aside its own prior precedent in the process.

The decision concluded that Jeffrey Denny, who is represented by the Innocence Project, did not meet the statutory threshold for testing old evidence with new science, even at his own expense, and in the process overruled a unanimous 2005 decision interpreting the statute on post-conviction DNA testing.

The ruling Tuesday was 4-3 to deny the testing, but 5-2 to overrule the court's prior case, Wisconsin v. Moran. In all, the court put out 88 pages of the majority, concurring and dissenting opinions.

In a strong dissent, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley concluded, "Making several missteps along the way, the majority limits the contours of this search (for truth)," and legislates from the bench.

Denny and his brother Kent were convicted of killing Christopher Mohr in Grafton. Another man reported to police that he had shown up at Mohr's house and found him dead, and assumed it was suicide. But an autopsy showed Mohr had been beaten with a bong and stabbed repeatedly. Several people later testified that Kent and Jeffrey Denny admitted to killing Mohr, and about hiding blood-stained clothes from the crime.

Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley(Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The brothers were sentenced to life in prison. Kent Denny died in 2012.

After other appeals failed, JeffreyDenny in 2014 sought to have numerous items from the crime scene tested for DNA that he suggested might match other people alreadyin the state or federaldatabase, or exclude him, and tend to prove he was innocent.

In 2015, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Joseph Voiland denied the request and in 2016, the Court of Appeals reversed Voiland and ordered the forensic DNA testing.

But the high court majority rejected Denny's contention that he may not have been prosecuted or convicted if the DNA testing had been available. The court overruledits own precedent that would have held that Denny would be entitled to the testing if he paid for it himself.

Otherwise, the court now says, it would allow "post-convictionfishing expeditions in attempts to cast doubt uponand upset" convictions.

And in Denny's case, the majority found, there was too much evidence to overcome, even ifDNA testing revealed none of his was on the evidenceand even if other known offenders' DNA was found on the evidence.

"The ideathat the DNA results Denny seeks would tip the scales and causepolice or a jury to reject the substantial evidence againstDennyis simply conjecture,"Justice Annette Ziegler wrote for the majority.

Chief Justice Patience Roggensack wrote separately, concurring that the 2005 case, Moran, should be overruled, but dissenting to say she would allow Denny to test the evidence.

Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler.(Photo: Associated Press)

In her dissent, Bradley condemned the majority for legislating from thebench. "Throwing caution (as well as any semblance of judicial restraint) to the wind, the majority steps in to perform the Legislature's job," she wrote.

She noted that even though the 2005 Moran decision clearly invited the Legislature to address issues raised then, it did not, and the law on post-conviction DNA testing has been perfectly functional since then.

"Only the makeup of this court has changed," she wrote.

Thequestion is not whether there is strong evidenceof guilt. Rather, the question is whether the Legislature haswritten a statute that gives Denny the opportunity to testevidence that has the potential toexonerate him."

Justice Shirley Abrahamson joined Bradley's dissent, and wrote a separate dissent regarding the appellate procedures that landed the case before the court.

Read or Share this story: http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2017/03/01/supreme-court-denies-dna-testing-1982-ozaukee-murder-case/98551846/

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Supreme Court denies DNA testing in 1982 Ozaukee murder case - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Morgan Reynolds and Jennisara Sumiri are looking forward to a future together after a DNA test matched them together.

CBS San Francisco

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Bound by blood but separated by fate, two sisters met in the Bay Area on Tuesday for the first time after a lifetime apart.

The two sisters never knew each other. But each had an emptiness in their hearts they said that only the other could fill.

Since I was 10, I knew that I had a sibling, Morgan Reynolds told CBS San Francisco. But I also knew that I would never ever see her.

That was then. But no more, thanks to a DNA test -- through MyHeritage DNA -- that changed the lives of Reynolds and her sister Jennisara Sumiri.

Now, more than six decades later, they were united for the first time.

The moment I heard her voice on the phone, something clicked inside of me and I started crying, said Sumiri.

They share the same father -- Ray Edward Reynolds -- a gas station owner from Washington state.

He was married to Morgans mother but had an affair that produced Jennisara before Morgan was born.

This is what he looked like when he met your mother, said Reynolds, showing a photo of their father as a young man.

I so dont blame her! laughed Sumiri.

Jennisaras birth mom put her up for adoption and Ray Reynolds eventually left Morgan and her mom.

The sisters lived separate lives until last month when Jennisaras son bought a MyHeritage DNA kit.

He said mom, I think I may have found your sister. I said, What? No...WHAT? exclaimed Sumiri.

It matched up with Reynolds, who had also joined the registry, as a possible relative.

Her son Ted found...he found us, said Reynolds. After seeing he was my nephew, it just made sense that my fathers daughter was here.

I found a sister when I least expected to, said Sumiri.

Its been a rush of emotions. And things now certain make sense, like Jennisaras special talent.

He sang, said Reynolds.

And I sing and I always wondered where that connection was, said Sumiri.

Their father and mothers have passed away, but now the sisters are looking forward to the future together.

And for the first time, this year they cant wait to celebrate each others birthdays.

One other twist to the story: Sumiri was originally named Jennifer-Raye as a hint to her natural fathers name. But that name was later changed to Jennisara by her adoptive parents.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Siblings meet for first time in 6 decades thanks to DNA test - CBS News

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early speaks to the public at a press conference.

PRINCETON Its been nearly seven months since Vanessa Marcotte left her mothers Princeton home for an afternoon jog and never returned. More than half a year since her body was found in the woods off Brooks Station Road, her murder remains unsolved.

Investigators are still searching for her killer, but in the months that have passed that search has gotten narrower, and last week, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early announced that that hunt has gotten a step closer. They do not know the name of the man who killed Vanessa, but they do know another key to his identity: they have his DNA.

In a press conference outside of the Princeton Town Hall Annex, a tiny parking lot usually filled with municipal employee cars, Early stood before reporters and television news cameras last Thursday to announce a new development in the case that the mans DNA, combined with with information from more than 1,300 tips that have poured in since August, have led to some key clues as to who Vanessas murderer is.

Early said that they have narrowed their search and are looking for a Hispanic or Latino male with light to medium complexion, of average height and with an athletic build. At the time of the murder, he had a shaved head or very short hair. He is approximately 30 years old and would have sustained scratches around the face, neck, arms, hands and upper body on Aug. 7 and dates forward of that, Early said.

Sifting through more than 1,000 tips and a very precise science yielded the new description of the person of interest in the case the first major development thats been announced since police said they were looking for a dark SUV in connection with the murder last November. Along with testing at Massachusetts State Police labs, the DNAwas sent for more detailed testing at Parabon NanoLabs, a small Virginia-based company whose DNA engineers are performing groundbreaking work.

Staffed by a team of scientists and technologists, Parabon is leveraging the enormous power of DNA with recent advances in DNA sequencing, processing and manufacturing technologies. They offer a forensic DNA analysis service that predicts the physical appearance and ancestry of an unknown person from DNA, used by law enforcement across the country for generating investigative leads, narrowing suspect lists, and identifying unknown remains.

DNA carries the genetic instruction set for an individuals physical characteristics, producing the wide range of appearances among people, according to their description of DNA phenotyping. By determining how genetic information translates into physical appearance, it is possible to reverse-engineer DNA into a physical profile. Snapshot reads tens of thousands of genetic variants (genotypes) from a DNA sample and uses this information to predict what an unknown person looks like.

Were very confident in our description that weve given you today that this is our person of interest, Early said at last weeks press conference. Since it is an active investigation, Early said he was limited in the questions he could take, but emphasized the coming up with the physical description is a very significant development in the case.

Indeed, similar clues have been a turning point in other unsolved cases. Just last week, police investigating a 20-year-old cold-case rape and killing in Costa Mesa, California, used DNA phenotyping to pinpoint the identity of a suspect.

Early would not say if Marcotte was specifically targeted, nor exactly where the DNA was collected. He said police officials have been able to rule out a connection to the murder of a female jogger in Queens around the same time.

We are asking the publics help in locating this particular person of interest, Early said, but cautioned that the man should

not be confronted. Im here today to urge the public to please, if you think you have something, give a call on the tipline.

Vanessa Marcottes naked and partially burned body was found in the woods not far from her home on Brooks Station Road. She worked for Google and lived in New York City, but was home that weekend visiting her family. Marcotte, 27, went out for a jog several hours before she was due to catch a bus to New York. When she did not return, a search was undertaken. Early thanked police chief Michele Powers, MSP detective lieutenant Dennis Hunt, Colonel Richard McKeon and Secretary of Public Safety Dan Bennett for their efforts, assistance and resources in this investigation.

State police detectives, Mass. State Police and Princeton Police are continuing to follow every tip and every lead they get in this case, Early said.

After the news conference, Vanessa Marcottes uncle, Steve Therrien, released the following statement: The family of Vanessa Marcotte wishes to thank the District Attorney, his staff, the detectives of the Mass State Police assigned to the case, and the Princeton Police Department for their relentless efforts and the tremendous support that they have shown us throughout this ordeal.

The family thinks that this development of a profile of a person of interest will be very helpful in getting the public to rethink and re-examine the events of Aug. 7, 2016 and help identify an individual who might have been on Brooks Station Rd on that day and subsequently had scratches and cuts that were clearly visible on his person. No tip is too small to call in.

Vanessa went for a walk on the lovely afternoon of Aug. 7, 2016. She did nothing wrong. She deserves justice.

Anyone knowing a man fitting the description is asked to call the MSP tipline at 508-453-7589. The tipline is anonymous.

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DNA yields new clues in Marcotte murder case - The Landmark

In 1953, we found the double-helix shape of DNA, the building block of all life as we know it. In 2003, humans finally sequenced our own DNA, which was a huge milestone in understanding ourselves. But today, with a few clicks, we can order a DNA testing kit to see what these blocks build for each of us.

A, T, C, and G are the base compounds of DNA, and they come in pairs. There are about three billion pairs in each DNA strand. So many, that we can only sample a few. Scientists do research all the time to identify specific groups of these pairs called genes. Genes can cause blue eyes, thick earwax, or even tell where you're really from.

As scientists get more and more DNA samples they'll be able to compare more and more people to find these genetic components that make up our lives by comparing all these different genomes. When you get tested, you can elect to add your DNA to the world-wide database of humanity.

To learn more about how DNA testing really works, check out the video above.

Read More:

BBC:How does DNA testing work?

U.S. National Library of Medicine:How is genetic testing done?

Nature:The family history: the first genetic test, and still useful after all those years?

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We Got Our DNA Tested, Here's How It Actually Works - Seeker