State forensic chemist Annette Box found herself under a fierce attack Wednesday when the defense attorney for a Baltimore man charged in a 2002 rape suggested she refused to look at DNA data that might have cleared his client.
The omission of DNA data from a case violated standard operating procedures, said attorney Jeffrey Gilleran, whose client, Kelroy Williamson, 39, of Baltimore, appeared frustrated in Anne ArundelCounty Circuit Court.
“Ms. Box has her own interpretation of what she has to turn over and what she was to put in the case file, but ours is different,” Gilleran said.
Box countered sharply.
“It is our policy not to put all data in the case file, only what is used for results,” Box testified. “Only those used to make a final conclusion.”
Box said DNA taken from a 19-year-old rape victim matched Williamson.
But Gilleran said Box did not include about two-thirds of the DNA data in the case file, which was then used to charge Williamson with the rape.
Gilleran bombarded Box with questions about why she did not include all data in the file but was met with the same answer. She only included what was necessary to make a conclusion, and the rest of the information was redundant, she said.
Circuit Judge Paul Hackner finally had enough.
“You can cross-examine her until the cows come home, but that?s her opinion,” Hackner told Gilleran.
“She may also not have included the DNA from her peanut butter sandwich, but that doesn?t make it relevant. … There is no legal significance, and you?re doing nothing but confusing the jury.”
Box was analyzing DNA from open, cold cases last year when she mistakenly checked evidence from a case closed 12 years ago and found a match for Williamson in the rape of a 19-year-old Russian exchange student.
The defense also argued that the victim?s description did not match Williamson.
The trial is expected to continue today.
