Post by batman on Sept 26, 2007 12:24:38 GMT -5
BRIGHAM CITY — The judge in the Glenn Howard Griffin murder trial has blocked a defense tactic that attempted to undermine DNA testing by claiming it contradicts
scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
DNA evidence is key in the death penalty case against Griffin, charged with murdering Bradley Newell Perry in 1984.
The DNA results that police say linked Griffin’s blood to the crime scene led to his June 2005 arrest, 21 years after the slaying. His monthlong trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 11.
Defense attorneys had hoped to claim some DNA testing has established that American Indians descend from Asian or Sibe- rian ancestry.
The LDS Book of Mormon teaches early Americans’ ancestors are ancient tribes of Israel.
“Because orthodox members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claim to have a spiritual witness, or revelation, concerning the truthfulness and historicity of the Book of Mormon, (defendant) will argue, expressly or implied, that it is … DNA that must be wrong and, therefore, rejected,” prosecutors claimed in a motion to ban the tactic.
In his order issued Wednesday, 1st District Judge Ben Hadfield granted the prosecution motion, writing, “The line of questioning as outlined herein will not be allowed.”
The judge ruled the conflict between DNA results and “the Book of Mormon’s position on aboriginal Americans” is irrelevant under rules of evidence.
“Defendant’s cross-examination approach appears not to be a genuine challenge to either the scientific methods or techniques used in the DNA testing process, the results of the testing or the testimony of the state’s (DNA) expert,” he wrote.
“Rather, it appears to be an attempt to indirectly instill doubt by demonstrating, not that there is a rational basis for disbelieving the expert’s testimony about DNA testing, (but) that the testimony and results are inconsistent with the tenets of a religious text.”
The judge called such an approach “fundamentally at odds with the proper adjudication of guilt or innocence.”
He also called it “no different than seeking to cast doubt upon an issue or testimony in a case by appealing to jurors’ emotions or political views.”
The judge’s order prohibits any reference at trial to DNA/ Book of Mormon contradictions.
It also specifically bans referencing various religious artifacts relating to, or mentioning the remains of, “Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, any alleged child of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene or any other woman, or James the brother of Jesus Christ or any other related person or topic.”
A gag order on the case has been in effect since March. No comment was available, nor phone calls returned, by the deputy Box Elder County attorneys prosecuting the case — Tom Stevenson and Brad Smith — or the Ogden law firm of Richards, Caine and Allen, Griffin’s defense counsel.
Stevenson requested the gag order. It was supported by defense attorneys Randy Richards and Dee Smith, who even suggested in supporting papers that Hadfield might have authority to gag the press.
Griffin’s case file has grown to six volumes, making a stack 10 inches tall, because of the flurry of motions any death penalty case draws.
Richards and Smith filed two new motions Thursday. One seeks the state and federal criminal records of 50 people named on the prosecution’s witness list.
The other would block the testimony of Griffin’s co-defendant, Wade Maughan, also facing the death penalty, and three “jailhouse snitches.”
Maughan is expected to testify against Griffin. At a Jan. 5, 2006, preliminary hearing, a detective read into the record Maughan’s statement describing Griffin’s attack on the 22-year-old Perry in a 4 a.m. argument over change at the gas station where Perry worked.
Perry was bludgeoned and stabbed to death May 26, 1984, at the Texaco Short Stop, now a Sinclair station on U.S. 89 just south of Brigham City.
The defense motion to keep Maughan off the stand next month claims his account was coerced by police first threatening him with the death penalty, then enticed by officials promising to set the death penalty aside in return for his testimony.
As to the three snitches, the motions state, “These are individuals of the lowest moral caliber that have been known to lie, cheat and steal in order to gain any kind of advantage. … The defendant respectfully requests that this court exclude (their testimony) and testimony from any other snitch the state is able to pluck from the dregs of society.”
The defense lawyers also write that “it is interesting to note that these individuals had known the defendant for at best a couple of weeks when he supposedly gives his confession. Yet the defendant made no mention of any involvement in the particular crime to longtime acquaintances, spouses and family over a 21-year period prior to his being charged with the crime.”
activepaper.olivesoftware.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=U1NFLzIwMDcvMDkvMTUjQXIwMDEwNA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
DNA evidence is key in the death penalty case against Griffin, charged with murdering Bradley Newell Perry in 1984.
The DNA results that police say linked Griffin’s blood to the crime scene led to his June 2005 arrest, 21 years after the slaying. His monthlong trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 11.
Defense attorneys had hoped to claim some DNA testing has established that American Indians descend from Asian or Sibe- rian ancestry.
The LDS Book of Mormon teaches early Americans’ ancestors are ancient tribes of Israel.
“Because orthodox members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claim to have a spiritual witness, or revelation, concerning the truthfulness and historicity of the Book of Mormon, (defendant) will argue, expressly or implied, that it is … DNA that must be wrong and, therefore, rejected,” prosecutors claimed in a motion to ban the tactic.
In his order issued Wednesday, 1st District Judge Ben Hadfield granted the prosecution motion, writing, “The line of questioning as outlined herein will not be allowed.”
The judge ruled the conflict between DNA results and “the Book of Mormon’s position on aboriginal Americans” is irrelevant under rules of evidence.
“Defendant’s cross-examination approach appears not to be a genuine challenge to either the scientific methods or techniques used in the DNA testing process, the results of the testing or the testimony of the state’s (DNA) expert,” he wrote.
“Rather, it appears to be an attempt to indirectly instill doubt by demonstrating, not that there is a rational basis for disbelieving the expert’s testimony about DNA testing, (but) that the testimony and results are inconsistent with the tenets of a religious text.”
The judge called such an approach “fundamentally at odds with the proper adjudication of guilt or innocence.”
He also called it “no different than seeking to cast doubt upon an issue or testimony in a case by appealing to jurors’ emotions or political views.”
The judge’s order prohibits any reference at trial to DNA/ Book of Mormon contradictions.
It also specifically bans referencing various religious artifacts relating to, or mentioning the remains of, “Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, any alleged child of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene or any other woman, or James the brother of Jesus Christ or any other related person or topic.”
A gag order on the case has been in effect since March. No comment was available, nor phone calls returned, by the deputy Box Elder County attorneys prosecuting the case — Tom Stevenson and Brad Smith — or the Ogden law firm of Richards, Caine and Allen, Griffin’s defense counsel.
Stevenson requested the gag order. It was supported by defense attorneys Randy Richards and Dee Smith, who even suggested in supporting papers that Hadfield might have authority to gag the press.
Griffin’s case file has grown to six volumes, making a stack 10 inches tall, because of the flurry of motions any death penalty case draws.
Richards and Smith filed two new motions Thursday. One seeks the state and federal criminal records of 50 people named on the prosecution’s witness list.
The other would block the testimony of Griffin’s co-defendant, Wade Maughan, also facing the death penalty, and three “jailhouse snitches.”
Maughan is expected to testify against Griffin. At a Jan. 5, 2006, preliminary hearing, a detective read into the record Maughan’s statement describing Griffin’s attack on the 22-year-old Perry in a 4 a.m. argument over change at the gas station where Perry worked.
Perry was bludgeoned and stabbed to death May 26, 1984, at the Texaco Short Stop, now a Sinclair station on U.S. 89 just south of Brigham City.
The defense motion to keep Maughan off the stand next month claims his account was coerced by police first threatening him with the death penalty, then enticed by officials promising to set the death penalty aside in return for his testimony.
As to the three snitches, the motions state, “These are individuals of the lowest moral caliber that have been known to lie, cheat and steal in order to gain any kind of advantage. … The defendant respectfully requests that this court exclude (their testimony) and testimony from any other snitch the state is able to pluck from the dregs of society.”
The defense lawyers also write that “it is interesting to note that these individuals had known the defendant for at best a couple of weeks when he supposedly gives his confession. Yet the defendant made no mention of any involvement in the particular crime to longtime acquaintances, spouses and family over a 21-year period prior to his being charged with the crime.”
activepaper.olivesoftware.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=U1NFLzIwMDcvMDkvMTUjQXIwMDEwNA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom