DNA Expert Discredited, Barred From Testifying At Denver Trial
DENVER (CBS4/AP) - Prosecutors say a man who has testified as a DNA expert in the Casey Anthony trial and helped overturn the murder conviction of Timothy Masters wasn't allowed to testify at a trial in Denver this week after they say he was discredited.
The Denver District Attorney's Office says Denver District Court Judge Brian Whitney barred Richard Eikelenboom from the stand during a sex assault trial after a prosecutor got him to admit he had no direct DNA extraction or analysis experience and that his lab hasn't been accredited.
"A Denver prosecutor got Eikelenboom to admit that he had no direct DNA extraction or analysis experience, that he operates a lab that has not been accredited, that he personally failed his basic proficiency tests in 2011 and 2012, and admitted that he was 'self-trained' in running DNA profiles," Lynn Kimbrough with the district attorney's office said in a statement.
Eikelenboom had been called to testify in a 2013 sexual assault case involving two co-defendants. The defendants, Temesghen Gebreyohannes, 33; and Maicle Abraha, 26; were found guilty of two counts of sexual assault.
"A 22-year-old woman was in lower downtown Denver at a work-related Christmas party when she became inebriated and then got separated from her friends. The victim woke up the next morning in a motel room with no recollection of how she got there; she had been sexually assaulted," Kimbrough said.
DNA linked Gebreyohannes and Abraha to the attack. They face life in prison when sentenced in November.
"I appreciate Judge Whitney recognizing that Mr. Eikelenboom's opinions about DNA have no basis in science and that he was not qualified to testify as an expert," Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said.
Eikelenboom's testing helped win the release of Masters. His attorney, David Lane, says it's not unusual for the competence of expert witnesses to be questioned.
LINK: Transcript From The Trial
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