GUILTY FL - Christine Franke, 25, UCF student, Orlando, shot in head, 21 Oct 2001 *DNA arrest*

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Monday, April 1st:
*Trial was set to begin-Vacated! – (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (38/21 @ time of crime) arrested & charged (11/2/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Orange County
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch.
11/6/18: Defense files Notice of Intent to Participate in Discovery.
11/21/18: DA re-files charges from 1st degree murder to 2nd degree murder with a firearm (Mandatory Sentence: Life). Arraignment hearing set for 12/10.
12/10/18 Update: Plead not guilty. Next pretrial hearing on 3/19, trial set for 4/1/19.
2/20/19 Update: Motion for continuance of trial granted. Trial moved to 8/19 & will last 2 weeks. Final pretrial hearing on 8/6. No other dates available
 
Valdosta man's search for family's roots leads to arrest in 2001 killing

July 26, 2019

"VALDOSTA — For more than a dozen years, friends and family wondered: Who killed Christine Franke?

The Orlando, Fla., woman died a violent death. Police had DNA evidence, but no leads turned up on law enforcement’s radar.

Then, years later, a Valdosta man wanting to probe his family history unknowingly provided the clue that cracked the case and led to an arrest.

This is a story of death, of advancing technology and family connections...."

Valdosta man's search for family's roots leads to arrest in 2001 killing
 
Sorry a little late - more computer problems...

Tuesday, August 6th:
*Final Pretrial Hearing - (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (38/21 @ time of crime) arrested (11/2/18), charged (11/21/18) & arraigned (12/10/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch
Trial set to begin 8/19 (will last 2 weeks).
11/6/18: Defense files Notice of Intent to Participate in Discovery. 11/21/18: DA re-files charges from 1st degree murder to 2nd degree murder with a firearm (Mandatory Sentence: Life). Arraignment hearing set for 12/10.
12/10/18 Update: Plead not guilty. Next pretrial hearing on 3/19, trial set for 4/1/19.
2/20/19 Update: Motion for continuance of trial granted. Trial moved to 8/19 & will last 2 weeks. Final pretrial hearing on 8/6.
 
Docket:
8/6/2019 Waiver of Speedy Trial
8/6/2019 Defense Motion to Continue

Comments: Granted.


Date Hearing Time Location Pages Doc
10/28/2019 Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

10/15/2019Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

8/19/2019 Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

8/6/2019 Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F (Actual: White, Keith F) 1:30 PM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

link: https://myeclerk.myorangeclerk.com/...2RNpUrmQtiCuQQtNmT3yPeLuOvo88oBbigBqXOQHdMkU=
 
When John Hogan was researching his family tree, he never imagined that paying for a DNA kit from Ancestry could one day help detectives to solve a cold case. The murder suspect turned out to be a second cousin he had never even met.

About 17 years later, Parabon NanoLabs, which provides forensics services to law enforcement organizations, linked the preserved DNA evidence to Hogan's great-grandparents. Orlando Police Department detectives collected more DNA from Hogan's relatives to close the case.

Hogan, a former deputy coroner who lives in Georgia, didn't know about the case until about a month ago. He had used private companies, Ancestry and GEDmatch, to learn more about his family tree. Solving the case was possible, because despite privacy concerns the companies give the government access to DNA data to help solve violent crimes.

When you told me that my DNA helped solve a 17-year-old cold case murder, I just couldn't believe it," Hogan told WKMG-TV in Orlando, adding that he has always been interested in learning more about his heritage.

"We have a huge, huge family," Hogan said. "I've got like 650 fourth cousins and a bunch of second and third cousins."

Hogan's great grandparents, Charlie and Mary Burgman, led detectives to Holmes' mother, Eleanor Holmes, who willingly provided her DNA to detectives Oct. 21. With her DNA profile, detectives narrowed down the list of suspects to him and his brother, Reginal Holmes, who lived in Orlando.
Ancestry customer says he is glad his DNA on GEDmatch led to unknown cousin's arrest for murder
 
Potentially tainted DNA may cause problem for murder trial in Orlando

During a recent court hearing Holmes' private attorney argued the state should pay for a DNA expert to help refute the case prosecutors are building to get a conviction, and a judge agreed.

Holmes' trial is scheduled to start next month.

His attorney is expected to depose the lead detective in the case in a few weeks.
 
Tuesday, October 15th:
*Final Pretrial Hearing - (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (38/21 @ time of crime) arrested (11/2/18), charged (11/21/18) & arraigned (12/10/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch
Trial set to begin 10/28/19. (will last 2 weeks)
11/6/18: Defense files Notice of Intent to Participate in Discovery.
11/21/18: DA re-files charges from 1st degree murder to 2nd degree murder with a firearm (Mandatory Sentence: Life). Arraignment hearing set for 12/10.
12/10/18 Update: Plead not guilty. Next pretrial hearing on 3/19, trial set for 4/1/19.
2/20/19 Update: Motion for continuance of trial granted. Trial moved to 8/19 & will last 2 weeks. Final pretrial hearing on 8/6.
8/6/19 Update: Defense motion to continue trial-granted. Waived speedy trial. Next Pretrial conference on 10/15, trial will begin 10/28. Concerns about potentially tainted DNA may cause a problem for an upcoming murder trial in Orlando. In 2005, eyewitness News and other media reported that containers used to collect and hold DNA samples were contaminated and reportedly arrived that way from the supplier. But by the time the mistake was found, the containers had already been used for at least a dozen murder and rape cases, including Franke's. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said at the time, cases were not in jeopardy because the DNA was reworked and cleaned up. Defense attorney is expected to depose the lead detective in the case in a few weeks.


 
Docket:
Date Description Pages Doc Request
Doc
1/21/2020 HEARING - Trial - White, Keith F

1/7/2020
HEARING - Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F

10/28/2019 HEARING - CANCELED-Cancelled Trial - White, Keith F

10/15/2019 Motion for Continuance 1


Hearings:
Date Hearing Time Location Pages Doc
1/21/2020 Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

1/7/2020 Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

10/28/2019 CANCELED-Cancelled Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

link: https://myeclerk.myorangeclerk.com/CaseDetails?caseId=10769217&caseIdEnc=XDVrJTcvS7F3cMA62nPzofvL7SymWk3z8B+TjSfBRn1agmqszsCk9/9cgd9HFzxuztZQOjV6k4QZ8SgvkJMlEKrO6Rc+u00TMngfhteEHjs=
 
10/28/2019 CANCELED-Cancelled Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

So who knows what this is about? Why is the trial "cancelled" rather than postponed? Don't tell me they are going to let this dirtbag go?
 
Trebor5591 said:
10/28/2019 CANCELED-Cancelled Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

So who knows what this is about? Why is the trial "cancelled" rather than postponed? Don't tell me they are going to let this dirtbag go?
Click to expand...

No, just a motion for continuance. Happens all the time. Defense probably has too much discovery to go thru.
 
Tuesday, January 7th:
*Final Pretrial Hearing - (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (38/21 @ time of crime) arrested (11/2/18), charged (11/21/18) & arraigned (12/10/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch
Trial set to begin on 1/21/20. (will last 2 weeks)
11/6/18: Defense files Notice of Intent to Participate in Discovery.
11/21/18: DA re-files charges from 1st degree murder to 2nd degree murder with a firearm (Mandatory Sentence: Life). Arraignment hearing set for 12/10.
12/10/18 Update: Plead not guilty. Next pretrial hearing on 3/19, trial set for 4/1/19.
2/20/19 Update: Motion for continuance of trial granted. Trial moved to 8/19 & will last 2 weeks. Final pretrial hearing on 8/6.
8/6/19 Update: Defense motion to continue trial-granted. Waived speedy trial. Next Pretrial conference on 10/15, trial will begin 10/28. Concerns about potentially tainted DNA may cause a problem for an upcoming murder trial in Orlando. In 2005, eyewitness News and other media reported that containers used to collect and hold DNA samples were contaminated and reportedly arrived that way from the supplier. But by the time the mistake was found, the containers had already been used for at least a dozen murder and rape cases, including Franke's. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said at the time, cases were not in jeopardy because the DNA was reworked and cleaned up. Defense attorney is expected to depose the lead detective in the case in a few weeks.
10/15/19 Update: Trial has been continued to 1/21/20. Next pretrial conference hearing on 1/7/20.
 
Docket:
Date Description Pages Doc Request
Doc
6/8/2020 HEARING - Trial - White, Keith F

5/26/2020 HEARING - Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F

1/21/2020 HEARING - Trial - White, Keith F

1/7/2020 Motion for Continuance 1
1/7/2020 Order Setting Pre-Trial Conference 4
1/7/2020 Defense Motion to Continue
Comments: Granted. FINAL CONTINUANCE


Hearings:
Date Hearing Time Location Pages Doc
6/8/2020 Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

5/26/2020 Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

1/21/2020 Trial-Continued - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

1/7/2020 Pre-Trial Conference -White, Keith F (Actual: White, Keith F) 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Flr

link: https://myeclerk.myorangeclerk.com/CaseDetails?caseId=10769217&caseIdEnc=42Ia49ABuKXCPAo9W+OZ9ffMmn8pw0vY9uoqjKxcfkN6mmP76b8JSyjVkNTHfsV2K/hDghNreLpLFH0pC9huC+D4RaCusCKW6TiDJShZwkY=
 
Police told a mother her DNA would identify a dead relative. They arrested her son instead.

Feb. 22, 2020, 11:00 PM EET

VALDOSTA, Ga. — On an October morning in 2018, Eleanor Holmes and her husband left home to run an errand and found two men inside their front gate. They introduced themselves as detectives from Orlando, Florida, and said they needed the couple’s help.

Standing in the driveway, the casually dressed detectives said they were trying to identify someone who’d been found dead many years earlier, the Holmeses recalled. They were looking for the person’s relatives, and were using DNA and genealogical records to stitch together a family tree that they hoped would lead them to a name. Friendly and businesslike, they said they’d already got DNA samples from Eleanor Holmes’ sister and an aunt. And now they wanted hers.

Holmes already knew about the detectives’ visit to her sister. It worried her that someone in her family had died without anyone knowing about it. She had relatives in Orlando, including a niece whom she hadn’t heard from in more than a decade. So she agreed.
[.....]
n that panicked moment, it dawned on Holmes that the detectives hadn’t told her the truth. They’d used her DNA to help build a case against her son.
[.....]
Benjamin Holmes Jr. and his parents, though, say he is innocent. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial, scheduled for June, may be the first to explore how police conduct investigations using genetic genealogy, a largely unregulated technology that has exploded in popularity in recent years.
[.....]
While American courts have ruled that police are allowed to mislead people to obtain evidence, there’s a debate within law enforcement over how honest police should be in seeking DNA from people who aren’t suspected of a crime.
 
This is still listed as happening today....


Tuesday, May 26th:
*Pretrial Conference Hearing - (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (21 @ time of crime/38/now 39) arrested (11/2/18), charged (11/21/18) & arraigned (12/10/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch
Trial was set to begin on 1/21/20 continued to 6/8/20 (will last 2 weeks)
Court hearings from 11/6/18 thru 8/6/19 reference post #32 here:
FL - Christine Franke, 25, UCF student, Orlando, shot in head, 21 Oct 2001 *DNA*
10/15/19 Update: Trial has been continued to 1/21/20. Next pretrial conference hearing on 1/7/20. 1/7/20 Update: Final motion for trial continuance-granted. Next Pretrial conference hearing on 5/26 & trial will begin on 6/8/20.
5/21/20 Update: Defense files Motion for continuance: there is considerable amount of discovery that needs to be completed; DNA expert still reviewing DNA evidence & waiting on additional info from FPLE. Also the depo of a key witness was cancelled due to COVID; once DNA expert submits a report she will need to be deposed. Waived speedy trial.
 
A few days late - but just wanted to keep this updated on what is happening.

Monday, June 8th:
*Pretrial Conference Hearing - (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (21 @ time of crime/38/now 39) arrested (11/2/18), charged (11/21/18) & arraigned (12/10/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch
Trial was set to begin on 1/21/20 continued to 6/8/20 (will last 2 weeks), but continued. No further dates as of 6/13.
Court hearings from 11/6/18 thru 8/6/19 reference post #32 here:
FL - Christine Franke, 25, UCF student, Orlando, shot in head, 21 Oct 2001 *DNA*
10/15/19 Update: Trial has been continued to 1/21/20. Next pretrial conference hearing on 1/7/20. 1/7/20 Update: Final motion for trial continuance-granted. Next Pretrial conference hearing on 5/26 & trial will begin on 6/8/20.
5/21/20 Update: Defense files Motion for continuance: there is considerable amount of discovery that needs to be completed; DNA expert still reviewing DNA evidence & waiting on additional info from FPLE. Also the depo of a key witness was cancelled due to COVID; once DNA expert submits a report she will need to be deposed. Waived speedy trial.
6/8/20 Update: Motion for trial continuance-granted. Deposition for Marisa Kuzma on 6/11/20; Supplemental discovery: (jail calls (2/19/19-2/28/19); Bloodstain pattern Analysis report. 6/11/20: Supplemental discovery: FDLE DNA report (6/9/20) & jail calls (11/3/18-1/31/19). No further dates on court site.
 
Docket:
Date Description Pages Doc Request
Doc
10/26/2020 HEARING - Trial - White, Keith F

10/13/2020 HEARING - Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F

7/6/2020 Order Setting Pre-Trial Conference 5


Hearings:
Date Hearing Time Location Pages Doc
10/26/2020 Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

10/13/2020 Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

6/8/2020 Trial - Cancelled White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

link: https://myeclerk.myorangeclerk.com/...JyQ2BspAWUBDD0d8j3FdI8FjV4xeNJsKRLgsZYbuaZZU=
 
Tuesday, October 13th:
*Pretrial Conference Hearing - (@ 9am ET) – FL - Christine Franke (25) (Oct. 21, 2001, Orlando, shot in head) - *Benjamin Lee Holmes, Jr. (21 @ time of crime/38/now 40) arrested (11/2/18), charged (11/21/18) & arraigned (12/10/18) with 2nd degree murder with a firearm & robbery with a firearm. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot DNA Phenotyping & GEDMatch
Trial was set to begin on 1/21/20 continued to 6/8/20 but continued to 10/26/20 (at least 3 weeks).
Court hearings from 11/6/18 thru 8/6/19 reference post #32 here:
FL - Christine Franke, 25, UCF student, Orlando, shot in head, 21 Oct 2001 *DNA*
10/15/19 Update: Trial has been continued to 1/21/20. Next pretrial conference hearing on 1/7/20. 1/7/20 Update: Final motion for trial continuance-granted. Next Pretrial conference hearing on 5/26 & trial will begin on 6/8/20.
5/21/20 Update: Defense files Motion for continuance: there is considerable amount of discovery that needs to be completed; DNA expert still reviewing DNA evidence & waiting on additional info from FPLE. Also the depo of a key witness was cancelled due to COVID; once DNA expert submits a report she will need to be deposed. Waived speedy trial.
6/8/20 Update: Motion for trial continuance-granted. Deposition for Marisa Kuzma on 6/11/20; Supplemental discovery: (jail calls (2/19/19-2/28/19); Bloodstain pattern Analysis report. 6/11/20: Supplemental discovery: FDLE DNA report (6/9/20) & jail calls (11/3/18-1/31/19). 6/8/20 Update: Notice of pretrial conference hearing on 10/13/20 & trial has now been set to begin on 10/26/20.
10/8/20 Update: Motion for trial continuance filed.
 
Docket:
Date Description Pages Doc Request
Doc
10/26/2020 HEARING - Trial - White, Keith F

10/13/2020 Notice of Supplemental Discovery 1

10/13/2020 Notice of Filing 1

10/13/2020 HEARING - Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F



Date Hearing Time Location Pages Doc
10/26/2020 Trial - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

10/13/2020 Pre-Trial Conference - White, Keith F 9:00 AM Room 6-A On the 6th Floor

link: https://myeclerk.myorangeclerk.com/...fHVmUWPWp70Du50/0jo5vVe53KE2GwveXTyHEVLrLYeo=
 
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