CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3A
Tuesday, January 24, 1995
Simpson trial spotlights legal issues
DNA could spell defendant's doom
By Kellie Tompkins
Kansan staff writer
Prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson trial are expected to rely on DNA samples to link Simpson to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
But what is DNA?
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, carries the genetic information that determines individual hereditary characteristics. Samples can be taken from any living cell, including hair, blood and semen.
DNA tests are used in information reports about prison inmates in some states, including Kansas.
Dean Stetler, director of KU's undergraduate biology program, said that if DNA samples of the suspect didn't match those taken from the crime scene, the individual was no longer a suspect in most cases.
Stetler has served as an expert witness in court cases in which DNA samples were used. He testifies in 10 to 20 cases a year.
Explaining DNA testing to jurors can be difficult, Stetler said. The best results occur when four or five samples can be taken. With that many samples, the probability of two people seeming to have the same DNA fingerprint is one in a million. But when only one sample is used, the probability of two people seeming to share the same DNA
fingerprint can be as high as one in five.
"When I'm involved,I'm more concerned with contamination and technician error." Stetler said.
Stetler said that an example of an error would be investigators swabbing areas at a crime scene and putting all the swabs in the same bag. Leaving a suspect's blood sample on the same bench as a blood sample from the crime scene is another possible error, he said.
Richard Gomulliewicz, assistant professor of systematics and ecology, said caution should be used with DNA testing.
The defense should look for similar errors during Simpson's trial, Stetler said.
"My personal feeling is that DNA-typing evidence, all by itself, is insufficient," Gomulkiewicz said. "But the situation changes if there is any kind of physical evidence."
Both professors were reluctant to give an opinion about the Simpson trial. But, Stetler said, he thought that DNA testing should be used in the Simpson case.
"In a case where there is no eye witness and there are blood and hair samples, it will be helpful," Stetler said. "If one does find Simpson's DNA pattern in the samples, one has to consider explanations for that being there other than him committing the crime."
The case: KU professors students look for answers
By Brian Vandervliet Kansan staffwriter
It has been seven months since the nation watched as O.J. Simpson fled from authorities in his friend's white Ford Bronco. As the murder trial finally begins, professors and students at the KU School of Law will be watching with particular interest.
Howard said he thought that the defense team would stress that there were no eyewitnesses, thus making the evidence circumstantial. He said that they would use a strategy that would try to neutralize the significance of the evidence against Simpson, such as the bloody glove and DNA evidence.
"It's the most sensational trial this country has ever been associated with," said Roscoe Howard Jr., associate professor of law. "It's uncanny."
Howard, who was a federal prosecutor for 10 years, said that the evidence at this point favored the prosecution.
"If you've got Ron Goldman's blood on the inside of the Bronco, every juror is going to think that unless Simpson was there to kill this guy, how else did it get there?" he said.
Howard said that the prosecution also had a difficult task before them because of Simpson's popularity. All 12 members of the jury had to be convinced that Simpson was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to
prevent a hungjury.
"Essentially what they are trying to do is put away one of the most popular sports figures of their lifetimes." Howard said.
Tom Stacy, associate professor of law, said that he planned to follow the trial. Stacy, who was a defense attorney for two years, said that Simpson's defense team had used the media successfully to plant seeds of doubt about the evidence. He said that strategy would not be as effective now that the jury had been selected and members were keen away from recent trial news.
"In the early stages, they thought that every prospective juror would come into contact with publicity," he said.
Stacy said that the DNA evidence was compelling and that he had seen cases that were successfully prosecuted with less evidence. But Simpson's defense team might be able to confuse the jury.
Stacy said that based on the evidence he had seen, he felt that Simpson was guilty. He was unwilling, however, to predict the outcome of the trial.
"The thing about juries is that they are quite unpredictable," he said.
Jonathan Brzon, third-year law student,
said he expected a hung jury.
"Despite the overwhelming physical evidence, they have such a good defense team that they'll be able to raise doubt in at least one juror's mind," he said.
PROPOSAL: Classified employees could run for election
Continued from Page 1A.
has successfully passed in both houses. Mike Auchard, president of KU's Classified Senate, has lobbed against the current law for almost three years.
He said that the law had grown out of an attempt to keep state civil servants from exerting influence on state laws.
But, Auchard said, the law is severely
outdated and unfair to classified employees.
"It's infringing on their freedom of expression," Auchard said. "That's a whole segment of society that isn't being heard from."
State Rep. Ballard, D-Lawrence, agrees that classified employees should be represented and allowed to run for office without losing their jobs. She is a co-sponsor of the bill proposed by
Sloan.
"I think we need to work on equity here," Ballard said.
Ballard said that, as an unclassified employee, she took a leave of absence without pay or benefits from the University while the Legislature was in session.
say while the negotiation was in session.
She said classified employees should be allowed to do the same. But just having the right to run without losing one's job isn't enough, Ballard said. Even if
the law is overturned, classified employees will still need to work out a mutual agreement with their employers before running for office, she said.
Sloan anticipated that committee hearings on his bill would begin in the next few weeks.
If the bill passes in the Governmental Organization and Elections Committee and is approved by both houses, it could become law by July 1995.
Student recalls audition process for "Real World"
Heidi Snyder, Tulsa, Okla., junior, stirred some interest in Music Television circles when she removed her prosthetic foot on videotape for the casting directors.
Snyder was one of several KU and Haskell Indian Nations University students who made videotapes in November to try out for MTV's real-life soap opera "The Real World." Snyder was the only applicant from KU to make it past the first cuts, but she will not appear on the fourth season of "The Real World." About 22 students from KU and Haskell applied for the show.
Junior is only KU student to get past first cuts for MTV show
MTV sent Snyder a 12-page application to fill out and send in after they viewed her tape. Then Laura Folger, the show's casting director, called Snyder on Dec.2 and interviewed her while some of Snyder's friends videotaped her on the phone. Snyder sent MTV the videotape.
By Paul Todd
Kansan staff writer
"A lot of people had high expectations," she said. "People I didn't even know were talking about it at bars."
Bonnie Graham, "The Real World" talent coordinator for Lawrence, helped students film audition tapes in November.
Graham said that MTV planned to call the people whose tapes they liked. MTV then planned to set up personal interviews with them in Kansas City. If an applicant got a call after the interview, he or she would have made it onto "The Real World."
MTV will not be auditioning around Kansas again for a couple of years, Graham said. They usually only pick an area for auditions every other year.
She did not hear from MTV for several weeks, she said.
"That gives them a chance for a new crop," Graham said. "People from the area can grow up."
But Stryder never met any MTV people face to face. She made it through three rounds of the application process before she finally received a letter from the producers saying it was over.
Snyder was not too upset.
The letter said that out of about 6,000 applicants nationwide, only a handful of people had progressed as far as she did and that, at this point, finding the right blend of people was more important than evaluating individuals.
"I was glad I got the letter," she said. "I think very few people got to the stage I did, so I feel a little better."
Snyder will graduate in May with a degree in broadcast management and plans to put "The Real World" behind her.
"I did what I could," she said. "I was just myself, and that's all they want."
MTV plans to begin filming in London late this month.
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