17y/o Killed By Neighborhood Watch/CHL

[WildBill]

Yet another conflict of interest. Perhaps a new venue is in order.

Texas might be good.

[Ameer]

That's only four months from now. How much of a speedy and public trial can you accomplish in a mere 122 days?

[sjfcontrol]

That's only four months from now. How much of a speedy and public trial can you accomplish in a mere 122 days?

Don't 'ya just hate people with short-timers syndrome?

[Frankie]

More info released..

http://www.bnd.com/2012/09/19/2329693/n ... found.html

While the Miami Gardens teenager’s supporters saw the state’s crime lab blood-work results as proof that an innocent teen was attached, experts say the evidence won’t produce any courtroom bombshells for either side.

More in the link above.

[Happily Ever After]

The story makes no sense. Since when did a CHL or a COP for that matter need a sample of their attacker's DNA before shooting in self defense?

[The Annoyed Man]

More info released..

http://www.bnd.com/2012/09/19/2329693/n ... found.html

While the Miami Gardens teenager’s supporters saw the state’s crime lab blood-work results as proof that an innocent teen was attached, experts say the evidence won’t produce any courtroom bombshells for either side.

More in the link above.

As I recall—perhaps incorrectly—Zimmerman's testimony wasn't that Trayvon Martin grabbed Zimmerman's gun......it was that he saw it and tried to grab Zimmerman's gun. He may very well not have gotten any of his own DNA on the gun because he never actually got his hands on it. In fact, if he had gotten his hands on the gun, Zimmerman may well have been found dead instead of the other way around.

[baldeagle]

Note to Benjamin Crump. People don't shed DNA like feathers in a fight.

[The Annoyed Man]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-shepp ... z28KfFgAr1
George Zimmerman Sues NBC Over Edited 911 Tape
By Noel Sheppard | October 04, 2012 | 08:20

In March, NewsBusters broke the story about NBC's Today show airing an edited audiotape of George Zimmerman's 911 call the day he shot Trayvon Martin in Florida.

On Thursday, the New York Post reported Zimmerman is suing the Peacock Network.

According to the Post, the complaint will be filed against NBC News President Steve Capus and correspondent Ron Allen who was the Today reporter involved in the March 27 broadcast.

A source told the Post, “The suit will be filed imminently against NBC and its news executives. The network’s legal department has put everybody in the news department involved with this incident on notice, telling them not to comment.”

[philip964]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 6929.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Zimmerman's attorney wants Trayvon's school records released. Parent's object.

Why would they object. He was the victim, a model student, not a gang banger wannabe.

[WildBill]

November 20, 2012 An Interesting development:

A Sanford police officer who is scheduled to be deposed in preparation for the George Zimmerman murder trial has hired attorney Jose Baez to represent him.

I don't recall a police officer needing his own attorney for a disposition.

Reading the article further down it states that Chris Serino is a "former investigator."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162- ... esent-him/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[C-dub]

Note to Benjamin Crump. People don't shed DNA like feathers in a fight.

What makes you think we don't? We are shedding skin cells all the time and you're also going to leave some skin cells on just about anything you touch.

[sfemti33]

Note to Benjamin Crump. People don't shed DNA like feathers in a fight.

What makes you think we don't? We are shedding skin cells all the time and you're also going to leave some skin cells on just about anything you touch.

The problem with this is that it is true, yet may not yield results. (for reference, I was a forensic investigator for a police department). True, we may not shed DNA like feathers in a fight but "touch DNA" has been something used widely in recent years because we always leave something behind. Simple science is in "Locard's Principle", which essentially says you will always leave something and take something from a crime scene (but that doesn't mean the police with always FIND it). In the state I was in, touch DNA would ONLY be analyzed if it was a felony due to time and financial constraints. The great thing was, you could "dust" for fingerprints (and even "lift" them) and THEN swab for touch DNA and perhaps yield a result.

Most problems lie in evidence handling, knowledge base of the first individual who handle said evidence, and willingness/financial burden of those doing the test. If you do not handle/package the evidence correctly you can destroy or dilute the DNA (brush it off, like swiping away fingerprints). Transporting it, how you transport it, if you take the DNA swabs on scene and how you handle that, etc all can lead to destruction of any evidence. Unfortunately, I met many officers who were not well versed in evidence preservation and mishandled/destroyed evidence. Another factor is money and resources. The state lab could only test to a certain limit. For example, they may only be able to test to a level of 135 (to make it easy, let's say if there were 135 pieces of DNA on a penny they could find anything above that. But let's say, only 60 pieces of DNA were there, their test would not be sensitive enough even though there was DNA there). However, a private lab may be able to test as low as 35 pieces (because financial constraints are usually less in the private sector and they had better equipment), for a price, usually $15,000 or more, so we used that sparingly for budgetary reasons.

All I can say is that there are several methods, and even newer/better methods now, to obtain evidence but a lot of that depends on factors may be out of the control of the test. If DNA is there, then someone else handles the same place, you risk contamination and damage. If police personnel mishandle evidence, you risk contamination and damage. Even the simple act of transporting evidence in some sort container can, and does, obliterate all kinds of evidence.

Sorry to get all preachy, but what you see on CSI does not work in the real world. There are so many factors that pertain to this type of problem. (Also, if this was already mentioned I apologize. Didn't read all 1600+ posts).

[Skiprr]

Welcome, sfemti33. And thanks for contributing your expertise.

[sfemti33]

Welcome, sfemti33. And thanks for contributing your expertise.

Good to be here. I lurk daily but thought I should try and be more active on the board.

[C-dub]

Welcome, sfemti33. And thanks for contributing your expertise.

Good to be here. I lurk daily but thought I should try and be more active on the board.

Also welcome. My knowledge of the collection of DNA is limited and my knowledge of the handling and testing is old. I did a little back in the middle 90's and almost took a job at a DNA lab in the late 90's, but I got a better offer from a different kind of lab, which took my career in a slightly different direction.