07-25-2012, 07:07 PM
prosecution rested. could have closings tomorrow! wow.
13abc video report.
http://www.13abc.com/story/19114147/dna-...Id=7543502
It is Day 3 of testimony in the Springfield Township murder trials.
Samuel Williams and Cameo Pettaway are charged with the brutal killings of Lisa Straub and her boyfriend Johnny Clarke a year and a half ago.
13 ABC's Christine Long is covering the Williams capital murder trial.
Wednesday the jury in the Williams trial heard from several experts analyzing cell phone records, as well as DNA evidence from the crime scene.
Out of all the evidence the prosecution is presenting in the murder trail of Samuel Williams, item number 107 took center stage in Judge Dean Mandros' courtroom on Wednesday.
That is the cigarette butt found inside the Straub family home on Longacre Lane in the hallway that leads to the attached garage.
"The DNA profile from the cigarette butt is a mixture consistent with contributions from Samuel Williams and Cameo Pettaway," says Casey Agosti, a forensic scientist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
Statistically Agosti estimates the likelihood that anyone else besides Williams and Pettaway could be a DNA match is one in 546 million.
Defense attorney John Thebes cross examined Agosti and she agreed she cannot say who's DNA was on the cigarette first or when it was placed on the floor inside the Straub home.
Agosti said it is even a "possibility" two people could share a cigarette, throw the butt away, and someone else can pick it up and place it somewhere without the third person's DNA being discovered.
Defense attorneys also raised the question of the quality of the evidence collected when Detective Phil Williams with the Lucas County Sheriff's Office took the stand. Det. Williams took approximately 50 photos at the crime scene that January night in 2011. One of the photos was of that cigarette butt on the floor. Another investigator took a photo of that butt as well. Defense attorneys say the photos show the cigarette butt was moved.
Defense: "You wouldn't know if that's the photograph you took, correct?"
Detective Williams: "Yes."
Defense: "But it's possible that could be the photograph?"
Detective Williams: "I don't believe it is."
No other evidence collected at the scene matches Williams' DNA or fingerprints.
In fact, the defense highlighted a DNA profile which became known as "Unknown Female Number One" by several of the BCI experts which was found on Johnny Clarke's sweat pants and sweatshirt.
"Item 155-3 is a mixture consistent with contributions from Lisa Straub, John S. Clarke, Unknown Female #1, and an unknown individual," says Stacy Violi, a forensic expert with BCI.
Analysts said DNA from the same "Unknown Female Number One" was also found on the duct tape on the ankles of Johnny Clarke.
Williams has pleaded not guilty. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
13abc video report.
http://www.13abc.com/story/19114147/dna-...Id=7543502
It is Day 3 of testimony in the Springfield Township murder trials.
Samuel Williams and Cameo Pettaway are charged with the brutal killings of Lisa Straub and her boyfriend Johnny Clarke a year and a half ago.
13 ABC's Christine Long is covering the Williams capital murder trial.
Wednesday the jury in the Williams trial heard from several experts analyzing cell phone records, as well as DNA evidence from the crime scene.
Out of all the evidence the prosecution is presenting in the murder trail of Samuel Williams, item number 107 took center stage in Judge Dean Mandros' courtroom on Wednesday.
That is the cigarette butt found inside the Straub family home on Longacre Lane in the hallway that leads to the attached garage.
"The DNA profile from the cigarette butt is a mixture consistent with contributions from Samuel Williams and Cameo Pettaway," says Casey Agosti, a forensic scientist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
Statistically Agosti estimates the likelihood that anyone else besides Williams and Pettaway could be a DNA match is one in 546 million.
Defense attorney John Thebes cross examined Agosti and she agreed she cannot say who's DNA was on the cigarette first or when it was placed on the floor inside the Straub home.
Agosti said it is even a "possibility" two people could share a cigarette, throw the butt away, and someone else can pick it up and place it somewhere without the third person's DNA being discovered.
Defense attorneys also raised the question of the quality of the evidence collected when Detective Phil Williams with the Lucas County Sheriff's Office took the stand. Det. Williams took approximately 50 photos at the crime scene that January night in 2011. One of the photos was of that cigarette butt on the floor. Another investigator took a photo of that butt as well. Defense attorneys say the photos show the cigarette butt was moved.
Defense: "You wouldn't know if that's the photograph you took, correct?"
Detective Williams: "Yes."
Defense: "But it's possible that could be the photograph?"
Detective Williams: "I don't believe it is."
No other evidence collected at the scene matches Williams' DNA or fingerprints.
In fact, the defense highlighted a DNA profile which became known as "Unknown Female Number One" by several of the BCI experts which was found on Johnny Clarke's sweat pants and sweatshirt.
"Item 155-3 is a mixture consistent with contributions from Lisa Straub, John S. Clarke, Unknown Female #1, and an unknown individual," says Stacy Violi, a forensic expert with BCI.
Analysts said DNA from the same "Unknown Female Number One" was also found on the duct tape on the ankles of Johnny Clarke.
Williams has pleaded not guilty. He could face the death penalty if convicted.