Recent DNA Case In West Virginia

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Dec 6, 2023

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1 Recent DNA Case In West Virginia Yikaury Henriquez Criminal Justice, Monroe College 23FL-CJ210-44 – Criminal Investigation Professor Danielle Thomas November 12, 2023

2 Recent DNA Case In West Virginia . In early May, Romine's remains were excavated from a West Virginia cemetery for DNA testing. His DNA matched a sample obtained at the crime scene, proving his involvement. He also matched the description of the suspect given by a witness. Romine has a criminal record in Canada and was convicted of rape in West Virginia. A nearly 50-year-old cold case in Quebec was eventually solved when DNA linked the murder of a 16-year-old girl to a deceased man whose body was buried in West Virginia, almost 800 miles away. On May 2 nd of the year 2023 Franklin Maywood Romine, a West Virginia man, was identified as the murderer in a nearly 50- year-old cold case in Canada. In 1975, Romine raped and killed 16-year-old Sharron Prior. Romine was a resident of Montreal at the time. He had a lengthy criminal past and run- ins with the authorities in Montreal and West Virginia, including at least one rape conviction, but he was not immediately considered a suspect in her killing. He passed away in 1982, at the age of 36. He matched a suspect's description, and his automobile matched tire tracks seen at the area where Sharron's body was discovered. Finally, DNA evidence discovered on a man's clothing used to detain Sharron proved him to be the murderer. The amount of DNA obtained at the scene in 1975 was inadequate to be analyzed or used in court, but it was maintained in the hope that as technology progressed, it may one day be used to identify a match for a suspect. In 2019, the samples were transferred to a laboratory in West Virginia, where they were matched to Romine's family using information from genealogy websites. Once the DNA from the crime site was linked to the Romine family from West Virginia, authorities met with Romine's brothers to collect their DNA. They discovered that their DNA matched that of the genetic material obtained from the murder site.

3 Racicot took up the investigation in December 2021. He was the 14th investigator to try to solve the case that police had been looking into for 48 years. By the time it got to him, 120 suspects had been identified. Racicot was motivated to solve the case using advances in DNA technology. "The more time that passed, the more techniques and more refined that DNA collection techniques and identification recovery became," he said. He sent numerous pieces of Sharron's clothes from the murder scene, including a pair of slacks, to a DNA detection lab. After that, the sample was compared to samples from a genealogy database. Racicot was given a surname because of the research. During the West Virginia court procedures to exhume Romine's remains, the Longueuil Police detective on the investigation, Éric Racicot, testified last month that DNA samples from the murder scene, including the T-shirt, were submitted to a state laboratory in 2019. The DNA samples sent to Quebec's forensic laboratory for comparison showed a match with the family name Romine in June 2022. Longueuil police got DNA samples from Romine's two live brothers in December 2022, who agreed to give them to West Virginia police. Racicot said that both brothers believed their brother committed the crime. Romine appeared in family portraits as a tall guy with reddish-brown hair and a mustache. Romine passed away in Canada in the early 1980s and was laid to rest in West Virginia. Police offer said, “ We have very strong reasons to believe that Mr. Romine is the suspect in this file according to the fact that he was living in Montreal when the crime occurred.” Police officers also said, “He was also fitting the description that the witness gave us and had an extensive criminal record.” The results comparing the DNA found at the crime scene and the exhumed remains took up to three weeks to be released. After obtaining a warrant, Detective Racicot, exhumed Romine's remains from a Putnam County, West Virginia cemetery on May 2, 2023. Detective Racicot was joined by a scientist, who took DNA from the bones and compared it to DNA recovered at the

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4 crime site 48 years earlier. DNA had an impact on the results of the criminal cases of the 1975 murder of Montreal teenager Sharron Prior because officers were able to establish a genetic profile by comparing it to the unknown profile in Sharron Prior’s case. Forensics investigators remarked that the DNA nails were identical, which confirmed that Franklin Romine indeed left his DNA at the scene. In the state of West Virginia, DNA technology is now frequently employed by police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and courts. The criminal justice system in West Virginia and across the country has been transformed by DNA technology. When biological evidence exists, DNA may be used to identify offenders with extraordinary precision, and DNA can be used to clear suspicions and exonerate those who have been wrongfully charged or convicted of crimes. In West Virginia, DNA has altered the criminal justice system in various ways, including CODIS - The CODIS system matches crime scene evidence to a database of convicted offenders' DNA profiles. It can also connect DNA evidence from many crime scenes in order to identify repeat offenders. West Virginia is one of just 15 states that permits defendants who have pled guilty to pursue DNA testing to appeal their convictions at any time. DNA profiling may be used to identify prospective culprits and connect suspects to a crime. It can also improve the precision of the criminal system. West Virginia Supreme Court - The West Virginia Supreme Court was the first state high court to rule on DNA evidence's acceptance. There have been various debates in West Virginia on the usage of DNA, including: Woodall- In this case, the West Virginia Supreme Court was the first state high court to rule on the acceptance of DNA evidence. The court approved the defendant's DNA tests, but inconclusive findings did not exonerate Woodall. Joseph Buffey- The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decided that the State's reluctance to give up favorable DNA evidence violated

5 Buffey's constitutional rights. West Virginia State Police- According to the opinion in this instance, Zain committed acts of misconduct, such as overstating the strength of results and misreporting the number of genetic matches. Other issues surrounding the usage of DNA in West Virginia include the lab's persistent failure to follow acceptable scientific protocols. Errors, including fundamental human error and bias, connect innocent persons to crimes, violate private rights, and increase racial inequities. An independent audit discovered that Virginia's nationally renowned central crime laboratory messed up DNA samples in a high-profile capital murder case. DNA is commonly used to solve crimes in one of two ways. When a suspect is identified, a sample of that person's DNA may be matched to evidence from the crime scene. The findings of this comparison may aid in determining if the suspect committed the crime. In circumstances when a suspect has not yet been identified, biological evidence from the crime scene can be studied and matched to offender profiles in DNA databases to assist in identifying the culprit. Using DNA databases, crime scene evidence may also be connected to other crime scenes.

6 References Advancing justice through DNA technology: Using DNA to solve crimes . (2017, March 7). Department of Justice | United States Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/archives/ag/advancing-justice-through-dna-technology-using-dna-solve- crimes#:~:text=CODIS%20can%20compare%20crime%20scene,scenes%2C%20thereby %20identifying%20serial%20criminals Body of suspect in 1975 Montreal teen killing exhumed in West Virginia . (2023, May 7). CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-sharron-prior-killing-suspect- exhumed-west-virginia-1.6835483 DNA and wrongful conviction: Five facts you should know . (2023, May 2). Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org/dna-and-wrongful-conviction-five-facts-you-should- know/#:~:text=DNA%20testing%20has%20exonerated%2035,evidence%20in%20the %20U.S.%20Mr DNA evidence leads to a suspect in 48-year-old Sharron's prior murder case . (2023, May 8). Montreal. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/dna-evidence-leads-to-suspect-in-48-year-old- sharron-prior-murder-cold-case-1.6388818 The DNA revolution - The DNA wars are over | The case for innocence | Frontline | PBS . (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/case/revolution/wars.html#:~:text=In %20Woodall%2C%20the%20West%20Virginia,and%20robbery%20of%20two %20women

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7 How a detective used DNA technology to identify a teenage girl's killer, 50 years later . (2023, October 21). CT News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/how-a-detective-used-dna- technology-to-identify-a-teenage-girl-s-killer-50-years-later-1.6610588 Opinion, case No.21973 in the matter of West Virginia state police crime lab . (n.d.). West Virginia Judiciary - Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. https://www.courtswv.gov/supreme-court/docs/fall1993/21973.htm Quebec police solve nearly 50-year-old cold case murder of teenager using DNA advancements . (2023, May 23). Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/world/quebec-police-solve-nearly- 50-year-old-cold-case-murder-teenager-using-dna-advancements RUBIN, L. (2023, May 23). DNA testing confirms West Virginia man raped, killed Canadian teen in 1975 . WCHS. https://wchstv.com/news/local/canadian-cold-cash-update-sharron- prior-longueuil-police-montreal-quebec-1975-franklin-romine-exhumation-dna-evidence- kidnap-rape-death-putnam-county-west-virginia Senate judiciary advances bill relating to DNA for arrestees . (2023, January 19). West Virginia Legislature Blog. https://blog.wvlegislature.gov/senate-committee/2023/01/17/senate- judiciary-advances-bill-relating-to-dna-for-arrestees/#:~:text=A%20bill%20passed %20out%20of%20the%20Senate,minor%20victim%20to%20submit%20a%20DNA %20sample (n.d.). West Virginia Judiciary - Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. https://www.courtswv.gov/supreme-court/memo-decisions/spring2023/22- 0245%20md.pdf#:~:text=With%20regard%20to%20those%20grounds%20challenging %20the,provided%20that%20the%20petition%20meets%20its%20requirements

Recent DNA Case In West Virginia

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