August 28
CALIFORNIA:
Cooper blood tests to proceed----COURT: The judge orders two sets, from a
scientist with the defense and one with the prosecution.
A federal judge on Friday ordered attorneys in the Kevin Cooper case to
proceed quickly with a set of controversial blood tests, which Cooper's
attorneys contend could exonerate the death-row inmate.
As part of her order, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff allowed Cooper's
attorneys to enlist a scientist she had initially discounted due to
concerns about the scientist's credibility and reliability.
Rather than just have one scientist perform the tests, she ordered 2 sets
of tests: one to be performed by the expert designated by the defense,
Kevin Ballard of National Medical Services in Willow Grove, Pa., and
another one to be performed by a expert chosen by the prosecution, Gary
Siuzdak of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.
"The Court concludes that double blind ... testing by Dr. Ballard and Dr.
Siuzdak may mitigate the concerns over Dr. Ballard's credibility," Huff
said in her order.
Cooper was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to death for the June 4, 1983,
hatchet killings in Chino Hills of Doug and Peggy Ryen, both 41; their
daughter Jessica, 10; and family friend Christopher Hughes, 11.
In February, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay in
Cooper's execution and ordered a hearing in U.S. District Court in San
Diego to review some of the evidence.
Cooper's attorneys assert that law-enforcement officials may have planted
Cooper's blood at the crime scene and on a T-shirt found nearby. They
asked that blood on the T-shirt be tested for the presence of EDTA, a
chemical that prevents blood stored in test tubes from hardening through
coagulation.
A high presence of EDTA could prove that evidence was tampered with,
Cooper's attorneys contend.
"We are very pleased that the EDTA testing process is proceeding,"
Cooper's lead counsel, David Alexander, said by phone from San Francisco.
"And we hope that adequate time will be allowed so it can be done
carefully and accurately."
The judge said she wants the test results in by Sept. 30.
Deputy Attorney General Holly Wilkens, who has described EDTA testing as
"junk science," said she still had reservations about going ahead with the
tests because the results could still be deemed inadmissible.
"We're respectful of her order. We have concerns - they remain - but we'll
go forward with the process," Wilkens said.
Wilkens contends that even if EDTA is found in the blood samples, it is
impossible to say definitively that the EDTA came from a police test tube.
EDTA is also used to prevent food from spoiling and beer from foaming
over. It is also used in laundry detergent.
Since the 9th Circuit Court order for further examination of the evidence,
numerous witnesses have testified in multiple hearings in a San Diego
federal courtroom.
In addition to the theory that police planted evidence, Cooper's attorneys
contend that investigators did a sloppy job of following up on other
leads, including reports that 3 white men covered in blood walked into a
Chino Hills bar the same night of the killings.
More witnesses are scheduled to testify next week.
(source: Press-Enterprise)
