Standing on the steps of the Cayuga County Courthouse six weeks ago, attorney Nina Morrison warned the family of convicted murderer Roy Brown that new DNA testing ordered in his case might not find a discernible DNA profile.
That fear came true Tuesday with the report from the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center in Albany that no discernible DNA profiles were found during the lab's retesting of two cotton swabs - or their glass vial containers - taken from bite marks on Sabina Kulakowski's body.
Kulakowski, of Aurelius, was found murdered May 23, 1991, while her Blanchard Road farmhouse burned. She had been stabbed, strangled and bitten several times.
Brown was convicted in a jury trial of murdering the day-care coordinator.
Neither a complete DNA profile matching Brown's DNA or any other person's DNA was obtained in the short tandem repeat (STR) testing of swabs taken from bites on Kulakowski's left thigh and left shoulder blade, the lab reported.
The state police sent its report to Cayuga County District Attorney James Vargason Wednesday, who forwarded the results to Brown's attorneys before releasing the information to the public Thursday. Vargason's release meant the news was breaking publicly before Brown or his family was informed by his legal team.
Brown's family and attorneys had hoped the STR testing - in comparison to the more primitive testing methods of the 1990s - would find a DNA sample on the swabs that might exonerate Brown. A Monroe County Laboratory forensic chemist who tested the samples in the 1990s had said the samples of saliva were consumed while conducting a secretor blood group substance test, a test for blood type. No conclusive results were found from the blood test either.
Morrison, a staff attorney with the non-profit legal clinic, the Innocence Project in New York City, and other attorneys on Brown's legal team will have a conference call today with the state police technicians to see if there are indications of underlying DNA in the tests that could be further tested to “potentially prove Roy Brown's innocence or his guilt or pinpoint other perpetrators,” Morrison said.
At the end of April, Cayuga County Judge Peter Corning granted a motion brought by the attorneys representing Brown and agreed to by Vargason to have the cotton swabs retested.
A 2004 revision to a state law formalized a legal procedure for convicts to have DNA testing completed that might exonerate them.
Morrison said they are hoping to pursue further DNA testing of any interpretable DNA, even though too incomplete to form a DNA profile, of the swabs or to purse the testing of other items in the case, including a red shirt with red-brown stains found 150 feet from Kulakowski's body and other samples taken from other parts of her body.
Vargason said he believes Brown's attorneys will not be able to satisfy the legal burden that there is a reasonable probability an innocent verdict would result for Brown if a retesting order should be issued for the other items. The difference between the saliva swabs and the other items, he said, is that they were handled during Brown's 1992 jury trial and cannot be proven to be in an untainted condition after 14 years.
Vargason said he will likely oppose any motions to retest any other items in the Kulakowski case.
Morrison said she believes the concerns over the contamination can be resolved. “I think the DNA can only add clarity to the case,” she said. “Everyone benefits from further DNA testing.”
Vargason, who tried the Brown case in the first month after he took office as the county's chief prosecutor, said Brown's trial conviction “based on sound evidence” has been affirmed through Brown's numerous appeals.
The trial evidence brought against Brown included the impression of bite marks matched against marks found on Kulakowski's body. The biting evidence was crucial because bloody clothes weren't found in Brown's home, and hairs found on Kulakowski's body did not match Brown's.
But investigators said Brown had a motive: he had threatened the lives of county workers more than once over the placement of his children. He had been released from Cayuga County Jail May 17, 1991, days before Kulakowski was killed.
Brown, currently held in the maximum-security Elmira Correctional Facility, has end-stage cirrhosis of the liver.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
Kulakowski, of Aurelius, was found murdered May 23, 1991, while her Blanchard Road farmhouse burned. She had been stabbed, strangled and bitten several times.
Brown was convicted in a jury trial of murdering the day-care coordinator.
Neither a complete DNA profile matching Brown's DNA or any other person's DNA was obtained in the short tandem repeat (STR) testing of swabs taken from bites on Kulakowski's left thigh and left shoulder blade, the lab reported.
The state police sent its report to Cayuga County District Attorney James Vargason Wednesday, who forwarded the results to Brown's attorneys before releasing the information to the public Thursday. Vargason's release meant the news was breaking publicly before Brown or his family was informed by his legal team.
Brown's family and attorneys had hoped the STR testing - in comparison to the more primitive testing methods of the 1990s - would find a DNA sample on the swabs that might exonerate Brown. A Monroe County Laboratory forensic chemist who tested the samples in the 1990s had said the samples of saliva were consumed while conducting a secretor blood group substance test, a test for blood type. No conclusive results were found from the blood test either.
Morrison, a staff attorney with the non-profit legal clinic, the Innocence Project in New York City, and other attorneys on Brown's legal team will have a conference call today with the state police technicians to see if there are indications of underlying DNA in the tests that could be further tested to “potentially prove Roy Brown's innocence or his guilt or pinpoint other perpetrators,” Morrison said.
At the end of April, Cayuga County Judge Peter Corning granted a motion brought by the attorneys representing Brown and agreed to by Vargason to have the cotton swabs retested.
A 2004 revision to a state law formalized a legal procedure for convicts to have DNA testing completed that might exonerate them.
Morrison said they are hoping to pursue further DNA testing of any interpretable DNA, even though too incomplete to form a DNA profile, of the swabs or to purse the testing of other items in the case, including a red shirt with red-brown stains found 150 feet from Kulakowski's body and other samples taken from other parts of her body.
Vargason said he believes Brown's attorneys will not be able to satisfy the legal burden that there is a reasonable probability an innocent verdict would result for Brown if a retesting order should be issued for the other items. The difference between the saliva swabs and the other items, he said, is that they were handled during Brown's 1992 jury trial and cannot be proven to be in an untainted condition after 14 years.
Vargason said he will likely oppose any motions to retest any other items in the Kulakowski case.
Morrison said she believes the concerns over the contamination can be resolved. “I think the DNA can only add clarity to the case,” she said. “Everyone benefits from further DNA testing.”
Vargason, who tried the Brown case in the first month after he took office as the county's chief prosecutor, said Brown's trial conviction “based on sound evidence” has been affirmed through Brown's numerous appeals.
The trial evidence brought against Brown included the impression of bite marks matched against marks found on Kulakowski's body. The biting evidence was crucial because bloody clothes weren't found in Brown's home, and hairs found on Kulakowski's body did not match Brown's.
But investigators said Brown had a motive: he had threatened the lives of county workers more than once over the placement of his children. He had been released from Cayuga County Jail May 17, 1991, days before Kulakowski was killed.
Brown, currently held in the maximum-security Elmira Correctional Facility, has end-stage cirrhosis of the liver.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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