On cross-examination, Miller testified that when he arrived there were wet, muddy prints on the linoleum kitchen floor and on the living room carpet. At about 10:30 p.m., after police completed their investigation, Miller left the house and picked up Buchanan from work. Miller noticed also that a television and VCR were missing. When Miller and Buchanan left home, however, only a small lamp in the living room had been left burning. Bills, which had been on the kitchen table that morning, were scattered over the kitchen and living room floors. That evening, shortly after 9 p.m., when Miller returned home from work, he found that the front door to the house was wide open, most of the lights inside the home were on, the house was in disarray, and there were wet, muddy footprints throughout the living room and kitchen. On the morning of the 9th, he and Buchanan left for work together. Jeffrey Miller testified that on March 9, 1989, he resided at 308 Willard in Joliet, Illinois, a house also occupied by Susan Lewis Buchanan. We answer the inquiry in the affirmative.
The singular issue presented for our review, as framed by the State, is whether shoeprint evidence, standing alone, is sufficient to convict. We granted the State's petition for leave to appeal (134 Ill.2d R. The appellate court, with one justice dissenting, reversed defendant's conviction, holding that he was not found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (205 Ill.App.3d 591,151 Ill. 19-3) and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Campbell, was convicted of residential burglary (.1987, ch.
SHOE IMPRESSION EVIDENCE INTERVIEW TRIAL
Justice FREEMAN delivered the opinion of the court:įollowing a bench trial in the circuit court of Will County, defendant, Charles A. Defender, of the office of the State Appellate Defender, Ottawa, for appellee. Robert Agostinelli, Deputy Defender, and Verlin R. Appellate Prosecutor, Ottawa, of counsel), for the People. Breslin, and Jay Paul Hoffman of the office of the State's Attys. Burmila, Jr., State's Atty., Joliet (Kenneth R. One of them includes Shelia Denton, who was sentenced to life in prison for a 2004 murder in Waycross, Georgia.The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, Since 2005, more than 30 people incarcerated for bite mark evidence have been exonerated or had their indictments dismissed, according to The Innocence Project and The National Registry of Exonerations.
SHOE IMPRESSION EVIDENCE INTERVIEW SKIN
After a multi-year study, the National Institute of Standards and Technology issued a scathing report critical of the reliability of bitemark analysis.Īccording to a draft summary of the report, “forensic bitemark analysis lacks a sufficient scientific foundation.” The authors of the report further explained that human skin is not a reliable surface to analyze because it changes over time depending on swelling, healing and skin elasticity. This past October, the federal government weighed-in on bitemark evidence for the first time. “We cannot execute somebody that we know that the evidence that was used at trial has been entirely discredited.” “, who’s been made world famous by the Ted Bundy trial, a known superstar in the forensic field - you’re never going to question an expert like that,” Fabricant said.
0 kommentar(er)
