JLM *GUILTY* in 2005 Fairfax County Rape Case #2

Conductor71

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Judge David Schell has granted the motion filed by media to unseal court documents on the Fairfax rape case but only on a partial basis. From the Washington Post:



Media outlets and the public will have access to court documents related to the Fairfax County sexual assault case...

On Friday, Fairfax County Circuit Judge David S. Schell scaled back a previous ruling that sealed the bulk of the court papers in the case of Jesse L. Matthew Jr., 33. The judge ordered that only certain pretrial documents, such as responses to discovery requests and law enforcement notes, would remain sealed. Those documents could also become publicly available if they become part of the actual trial proceedings, Schell ruled.



Federal judge revises ruling....


Bessie,

can we start a new thread based on this news?
 
The link is fine, JDauxa. The docs aren't up yet, but I would think that once they're unsealed they will be available on the court's site.
 
Snipped,

Matthew will also stand trial in a separate case in Fairfax County for charges of attempted capital murder, sexual penetration with an object and abduction with the intent to defile a Fairfax woman. The two week trial — originally scheduled to begin on March 9 but delayed at the request of the defense — will begin June 8.

Also snipped from above the other snip ;

The Albemarle County Circuit Court scheduled a three-week jury trial Wednesday for Jesse Matthew on murder charges against second-year College student Hannah Graham. The trial will take place from June 29 to July 17.

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2015/02/jesse-matthew-trial-date-set
 
The link is fine, JDauxa. The docs aren't up yet, but I would think that once they're unsealed they will be available on the court's site.

Thank you for the heads up you both and snowblossom2 too http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts...thew-jr/commonwealth-v-jesse-l-matthew-jr.htm

List of Docs

3/4/2015 Transportation Order Order
2/13/2015 Continue Trial Date to 6/8/2015 Order
2/06/2015 Continue Trial Date Order
1/14/2015 Expert Funds Order
1/14/2015 Preclude Extrajudicial Comments Order
1/14/2015 Sealing and Protective Order
1/14/2015 Video Cameras During Trial and Related Proceedings Order
1/09/2015 Discovery and Inspection Order
1/05/2015 Commonwealth's Response Re: Media Request Response
1/05/2015 Public Defender's Response Re: Media Request Response
12/23/2014 Media Request to Continue Electronic Coverage Motion
11/14/2014 Set Trial Date Order
11/10/2014 Media Access for 11/14/2014 Hearing Order
10/31/2014 Arraignment Order
10/30/2014 Media Access for 10/31/2014 Arraignment Order
10/23/2014 Bench Warrant Bench Warrant
10/20/2014 Indictment Indictment
 
Highlights from a little more informative article from VA local CBS station:

Details on assault:

JM allegedly choked victim and sexually assaulted her with his hand.

Evidence details:

- the ONLY evidence the prosecution has is DNA based from fingernail scraping
- DNA from cigarette butt collected as evidence ashows no match to JM
- Defense argues that the only evidence the prosecution has is a 9 year old cold hit.

CBS Article

The defense hired a prominent criminal DNA expert Dr. Krane of Wright State University who has testified in high profile cases and worked for the Innocence Project. https://science-math.wright.edu/people/dan-krane

We are also involved with the use and development of computer-based tools to evaluate DNA evidence associated with criminal investigations. My consulting company, Forensic Bioinformatics (www.bioforensics.com), reviews DNA testing results from hundreds of court cases around the world each year. The large amounts of data associated with those reviews lends itself to meta-analyses that allow us to develop tools and approaches that make forensic DNA profiling more reliable and objective.



Victim is expected to return from India, but it says nothing about any sort of identification of JM.

I hope whatever the outcome in this case that it will help educate people in the complexities and need for more objective standards in the role of criminal DNA use in our courts.
 
I would think having the victim identify her attacker would be rather strong evidence, especially when looking at the 9-year-old sketch of the suspect, which bears a striking resemblance to the defendant. While having the victim ID her attacker isn't foolproof, by any means, I would think that combined with the DNA evidence and the sketch, it should be a slam dunk.
 
Hm. So what was all of the hoopla about the cigarette butt?

So why would the woman have a scraping of his DNA under her fingernail?

So he raped her with his hand. Interesting.
 
Hm. So what was all of the hoopla about the cigarette butt?

So why would the woman have a scraping of his DNA under her fingernail?

So he raped her with his hand. Interesting.

I'm thinking he was either interrupted before he could finish or he couldn't get it up (just that time or all the time)? IMO
 
Hm. So what was all of the hoopla about the cigarette butt?

So why would the woman have a scraping of his DNA under her fingernail?

So he raped her with his hand. Interesting.

She likely fought back, scratched him, and his DNA got under her fingernail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would think having the victim identify her attacker would be rather strong evidence, especially when looking at the 9-year-old sketch of the suspect, which bears a striking resemblance to the defendant. While having the victim ID her attacker isn't foolproof, by any means, I would think that combined with the DNA evidence and the sketch, it should be a slam dunk.


Victim identification in this case is not very reliable IMO.

Nine years have passed.
The assault took place at night; if you look at original reports of assault, race of the attacker could not be determined. It could only be determined that he had dark skin.
Witness testimony by victims ls not considered very reliable especially when traumatic experience takes place.

This is documented in articles by Courteney Stuart who covered the story in the Hook.

It is not known for certain the victim is returning to testify. If she does, I do no think one can look at the poster and JM in the courtroom to identify him as her attacker. I am pretty sure, JM has to be identifiied by her in a more objective process like a lineup. I don't see how this can be done given all the pre-trial media publicity.

The DNA evidence is open to interpretation. There are things we do not know like did she have traces of DNA from her boyfriend (if she had one) or any other male she came into close contact with around the same time. We do not know if there was any sort of mixture that can easily cast doubt.

If they could place JM in Fairfax that night by witness, cell phone records, etc. they would have a stronger case IMO.
Without that I still think it will come down to DNA re-analysis by an independent lab.

Should be interesting to see what other evidence, if anything, the prosecution may present.
 
Hm. So what was all of the hoopla about the cigarette butt?


Yeah, I find that interesting too. It was collected as evidence but does not contain any sort of match to JM. However, a tee shirt from 2009 matches fingernail scrapings. I am surprised that Pantera tee is even admissible given it was out on a public square on a campus with thousands of students. I, for one, don't believe that the DNA on the shirt is strong evidence. The sample was a mix of DNA from we don't know how many people and the results say JM "cannot be eliminated as a contributor" that could be simply because of his race. That 1 in 72 billion mumbo jumbo just confuses people; it does not mean that isolates JM's DNA as proof that he is responsible for MH's death. The DNA expert hired by the defense will likely clear all that up. IMO, the DNA from the cigarette butt should match the fingernail scrapings, the Pantera tee shirt, the cigar tip, and the buccal swab. However, it would seem it does not all match. What is up with that?

So why would the woman have a scraping of his DNA under her fingernail?

I think it was reported that she scratched his cheek.

So he raped her with his hand. Interesting.

As he choked her and/or smoked a cigarette? I am trying to figure out how that happened. Maybe choking and sexual assault did not occur at the same time? I recall it was reported the victim was lifted and our dragged, but that would require two hands I would think. Then maybe assault? Not sure how that all went down, but hopefully she will testify or it will be explained in her initial statement to police.

I am going to be riveted by the DNA analysis for sure.
 
She likely fought back, scratched him, and his DNA got under her fingernail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I get that . There is no reason for her to have his DNA under her fingernail. Except for that.

But why the cigarette butt? They had him and could get DNA. Why the cig?
 
Yeah, I find that interesting too. It was collected as evidence but does not contain any sort of match to JM. However, a tee shirt from 2009 matches fingernail scrapings. I am surprised that Pantera tee is even admissible given it was out on a public square on a campus with thousands of students. I, for one, don't believe that the DNA on the shirt is strong evidence. The sample was a mix of DNA from we don't know how many people and the results say JM "cannot be eliminated as a contributor" that could be simply because of his race. That 1 in 72 billion mumbo jumbo just confuses people; it does not mean that isolates JM's DNA as proof that he is responsible for MH's death. The DNA expert hired by the defense will likely clear all that up. IMO, the DNA from the cigarette butt should match the fingernail scrapings, the Pantera tee shirt, the cigar tip, and the buccal swab. However, it would seem it does not all match. What is up with that?

Hello, Conductor71!

Are you thinking accomplice? I go back to one of LE's statements about MH and Anchorage Farms...when he said that the person responsible went back there in times of stress. Perhaps they were referring to cigarette butts found there, and those don't match JM? Maybe that's why they were so hot on that cigar butt, why they felt a need to test that before they got the buccal swab at the time of his arrest (they wanted to find another constant). There are some things that really don't add up here, but since we don't know the equation, what else can be expected?
 
Hello, Conductor71!

Are you thinking accomplice? I go back to one of LE's statements about MH and Anchorage Farms...when he said that the person responsible went back there in times of stress. Perhaps they were referring to cigarette butts found there, and those don't match JM? Maybe that's why they were so hot on that cigar butt, why they felt a need to test that before they got the buccal swab at the time of his arrest (they wanted to find another constant). There are some things that really don't add up here, but since we don't know the equation, what else can be expected?

Ive been gone for awhile as Ive been focusing on my physical recovery from my accident, so forgive me if this has been covered already but wasnt it determined that we were talking about a plastic cigar tip like the kind that is typically found on the end of a swisher sweet or a "blunt" wrapper?

I remember someone saying that that type of tip was frequently kept by those who are involved in the drug culture, so they could avoid other peoples germs/saliva etc as they passed a blunt from one person to the next.

I memory serves me correctly JLM had one in his wallet....and its entirely possible that he would have shared it with a potential victim. I think thats why LE was so hot to test the DNA.

Also, those arent the kinds of butts that would be dropped on the ground like a cigarette butt IMO.
 
Ive been gone for awhile as Ive been focusing on my physical recovery from my accident, so forgive me if this has been covered already but wasnt it determined that we were talking about a plastic cigar tip like the kind that is typically found on the end of a swisher sweet or a "blunt" wrapper?

I remember someone saying that that type of tip was frequently kept by those who are involved in the drug culture, so they could avoid other peoples germs/saliva etc as they passed a blunt from one person to the next.

I memory serves me correctly JLM had one in his wallet....and its entirely possible that he would have shared it with a potential victim. I think thats why LE was so hot to test the DNA.

Also, those arent the kinds of butts that would be dropped on the ground like a cigarette butt IMO.

Welcome back, zapped.

Glad you're standing again and here :)
 

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