NY - Garrett Phillips, 12, murdered in his Potsdam home, 24 Oct 2011

New Posts

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/La...ld-Affect-Hillary-Murder-Trial-379975931.html

The attorney representing accused child killer Oral "Nick" Hillary says if the governor decides to investigate St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain for possible removal from office, it could end up have some bearing on Hillary's September 6 trial...

"I don't know what it would mean at this point but, again, I think it's worth monitoring and it's worth watching and I think at some point we'll have a better idea depending on what the governor does," said Ward...

A hearing is expected to be held in the coming weeks to determine whether low level DNA evidence taken from underneath Garrett Phillips' fingernails meets the legal standard for scientific evidence and will be able to be used by prosecutors against Hillary at trial.
Click to expand...
 
http://www.mpcourier.com/dco/hillar...-trial-questions-testing-techniques--20160603

The full motion is linked in the article. I had not realized so many swabs were collected (thank goodness.) And I now understand why Hillary obtained an attorney well versed in DNA...it is such a complex science! One thing remains painfully clear; the county prosecutor has gone to great lengths (like 9000 miles) to implicate Hillary, rather than test a single other soul.
 
The trial was scheduled to begin on Jan 27; however, on Jan. 21, Mr. Cyrus pleaded guilty to a reduced count of third-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a class E violent felony, in a plea deal that satisfied the other charges against him. There is no sentencing commitment by County Court Judge Jerome J. Richards and exposes Mr. Cyrus to the possibility of up to four years in prison, one year in St. Lawrence County jail, or six months in county jail and five years of probation. Sentencing is scheduled for April 6.
Mr. Cyrus’s attorney Edward F. Narrow said the case was an old one, dating to Mr. Cyrus’s arrest on Aug. 12, 2012.
“Obviously we are happy to have the case resolved, especially when the defendant has a hand in determining the outcome of the case, other than having a decision forced upon you by a jury over whether you are guilty or innocent,” Mr. Narrow said. “There was a request for the conference with the judge and my client had nothing to lose, so we went in and the offer was made to the defendant that hadn’t previously been made, without explanation. We are not in a position to ask the district attorney’s office why they do what they do.”
As a public defender in Little Rock, Ark from 2006 to 2010 Ms. Ryan said she tried several cases before a jury, including a capital murder, aggravated robbery, and rape.
“It (Mr. Cyrus’s case) was settled without me and five days later I was fired,” Ms. Ryan said. “I felt confident that I could have secured convictions on all 38 felonies.”

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20150128/NEWS05/150128486

Coverage of the CP sting:
http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/5-...ld-*advertiser censored*-Sting-174609251.html

I have to say, it sure strikes me as odd that she'd offer a slap on the wrist to someone who was found with 2 illegal glocks, hollow point bullets, and 128 pieces of child *advertiser censored* in their possession but go after this other accused man so doggedly. The fact that one of the men is white and the other is black certainly isn't a good look here, iykwim
 
GumDrop said:
http://www.mpcourier.com/dco/st-lawrence-administrator-accuses-da-rain-of-abusing-power-20160615

DA Rain is in the news literally every time I look up Potsdam news. Although this one does not mention the case, it is increasingly easier to believe she just might be the type to frame an innocent man. St. Hilaire's letter is linked in the article. If it's all true, this trade has been going on for years.
Click to expand...

She sounds absolutely dreadful and like a very toxic person to be around. I wonder how in the world she was elected DA?
 
DropthePuck said:
She sounds absolutely dreadful and like a very toxic person to be around. I wonder how in the world she was elected DA?
Click to expand...

She was reaping havoc way before she stepped foot in St. Lawrence County. I firmly believe that the only reason she won was because she promised to bring charges against Nick Hillary. Despite any real evidence. She used the murder of an innocent child to gain votes. Truly sickening...
 
Just reading through this thread, it sounds like an attempted sexual assult, possibly gone wrong. The killer left DNA or a fingerprint or fibers. Sometimes it just takes as long as it takes to find the right technology to find the evidence tying the killer to the scene. Maybe the DA is really pushing looking to an upcoming election, instead of letting the evidence lead the case. JMHO.
 
GumDrop said:
She was reaping havoc way before she stepped foot in St. Lawrence County. I firmly believe that the only reason she won was because she promised to bring charges against Nick Hillary. Despite any real evidence. She used the murder of an innocent child to gain votes. Truly sickening...
Click to expand...

She is not the only DA to do this and she won't be the last, unfortunately.
 
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/...inues-to-challenge-forensic-evidence-20160804

Judge Catena has not yet announced a decision on the admissibility of the Aussi lab's findings. Either way, they say the trial will still begin early next month. It's quite interesting that Dr. Buckleton called the results a proposition and not a finding. The prosecution requested that he run analysis for Garrett and Hillary. So that's what the software did. Had they or the defense asked him to run it on other profiles, his program would have looked for alignments for those.
 
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/...-in-murder-of-garrett-phillips-video-20160819

Great article. Not surprising that authorities and family had "tunnel vision" from day one. However, there are two new things I learned from this piece. First, that Jones' DNA was collected voluntarily-if we can believe Lt. Murray. Remember, he is the one who filmed and lied about Hillary limping at the soccer game. If it was indeed collected, it was not tested. Murray also states that Jones allowed himself to be photographed without a warrant. But, most surprising is the notion that the surveillance video from the hospital was tampered with. Apparently one portion, containing Jones and Garrett, was enlarged to the point of obscurity. If true, this is a bombshell, and I hope the defense is able to fix the footage. It might be the reason Rain took so long to hand it over to the defense.
 
DA Fitzpatrick, DNA & race: Blockbuster murder trial of ex-Clarkson coach begins

Concerns about racist remarks and the use of cutting-edge DNA kicked off the long-awaited North Country trial of a former college soccer coach in the strangulation of a 12-year-old Potsdam boy.

The judge estimated the trial will take five to six weeks, including jury selection, opening statements, three weeks of prosecution case, three days of defense case, closing arguments and deliberations.

St. Lawrence County called in 300 potential jurors today to begin the intensive screening process that will lead to 12 trial jurors and four alternates. That's about twice the number of people typically called for jury duty, and more could be called before the court can seat a jury panel.

This morning, the court didn't even get to jury selection. Instead, the judge entertained last-minute concerns from both sides and figured out media arrangements during trial.

Dozens of media are expected to attend, including ESPN, Dateline NBC, ABC's 20/20, the Associated Press, National Public Radio and other local TV and print media. There are so many expected to cover the case that a media parking lot has been designated about a block from the courthouse.
Click to expand...

In court, two major developments came to light:

Prosecution not giving up on tossed DNA: Catena, the judge, has tossed cutting-edge DNA evidence that Fitzpatrick and Rain argued tied Hillary to the murder. The small sample came from underneath the murdered boy's fingernails.

The judge had ruled the new method was reliable, but could not be used because the state laboratory that collected the DNA samples was not approved as reliable in collecting samples for the new analysis.

The prosecution has asked the judge to reconsider. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick tried another approach: He submitted more DNA evidence that he says rules out another prime suspect in the case, a local sheriff's deputy John Jones.
Click to expand...

Racially-charged petition: Defense lawyers for Hillary argued that they were entitled to a list of nearly 2,000 people who signed a petition saying Hillary should be sent to jail with no bail. Those people were clearly biased and should not be jurors, they argued.

Some of the comments on the petition included racial remarks: Hillary, the accused, is black and Garrett, the victim, is white. St. Lawrence County is 95 percent white.

Fitzpatrick did not argue that the list should be turned over. But he said that state troopers ran into a problem tracking down the list: the woman who spearheaded the petition was charged with another crime and has been on the lam.
Click to expand...
 
No jury for ex-Clarkson soccer coach's murder trial in 12-year-old boy's death

Jury selection seemed to be going more smoothly than expected this week in the murder trial of an ex-Clarkson University soccer coach in the 2011 strangulation of a 12-year-old boy.

But in a surprise move, former coach Oral "Nick" Hillary decided this morning he'd rather forgo a jury and have the judge hear the case.

His decision comes as his lawyers expressed concern about racist remarks in a petition circulated against Hillary, who was born in Jamaica. The five-year-old murder has polarized the small North Country community of Potsdam. But the lawyers had also expressed confidence that a local jury could decide the case impartially.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday morning.
Click to expand...
 
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/...tly-tossed-from-hillary-murder-trial-20160909

In the discussion section below the article, Dr. Buckleton himself has engaged in the dialogue. I don't understand how he came to the conclusion...it appears I'm not alone. Despite the mostly hateful remarks toward him, he seems earnest and has answered lots of questions. Notably, he clarified that he was only asked to analyze the questionable fingernail scrapings--and none of the other 140 samples that came up negative for Hillary. He claims to have tested Jones' DNA as well, but again, only in that one spot. We already know the prosecution neglected to test him against all the other evidence.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 152 more.
Total: 2,793 (members: 153, guests: 2,640)

Online statistics

Members online
153
Guests online
2,640
Total visitors
2,793
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,126
Messages
17,963,599
Members
228,689
Latest member
Melladanielle
Back
Top