Fire in NW: Facts Only

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DNA library also includes any military personnel who have served since 1992, and those samples can and are used in criminal and paternity investigations.

Apparently Wint was a marine, so that probably explains his DNA being in the library.

Jeff, the posts about this "library" are both factually wrong in general and complete speculation in this particular case. I'd remove these posts.

I don't know about the library, but a washington post article refers to him as an exmarine

I have no issue with the ex-marine part. It's the DNA database part I take issue with, as I can assure you the posts above are factually incorrect. This is something I know a lot about.

Okay, then maybe you can explain this:

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,FL_dna_041503,00.html

Quote: The lab also sees use during peacetime for identification of military personnel killed in accidents, and is used in some paternity cases and criminal investigations.

I would love to hear that the military DNA database is NOT used for criminal investigations, but that is not the impression that we as active duty personnel have. (USN here.)

[jsteele]

I haven't had time to read this yet, but here is a pretty complete timeline of events before the slaying of the family:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DC_MANSION_FIRE_SLAYINGS_TIMELINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Anonymous]

cnn reports police have talked to his gf in Brooklyn who reports he will turn himself in

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DNA library also includes any military personnel who have served since 1992, and those samples can and are used in criminal and paternity investigations.

Apparently Wint was a marine, so that probably explains his DNA being in the library.

Jeff, the posts about this "library" are both factually wrong in general and complete speculation in this particular case. I'd remove these posts.

I don't know about the library, but a washington post article refers to him as an exmarine

I have no issue with the ex-marine part. It's the DNA database part I take issue with, as I can assure you the posts above are factually incorrect. This is something I know a lot about.

A few minutes' worth of Googling suggests that DNA from members of the armed services is collected and that the police can get access to that collection. However, the hoops required for that access likely mean that this was not how the suspect's DNA was matched. If you know a lot about this, why don't you provide a simple explanation so that we will all be more knowledgeable?

Sure. Just note I'm posting this as a private individual with knowledge gained via my professional work, not as any kind of official representative of the military or government.

Specimens from which DNA can be obtained are indeed collected from U.S. service members, and the collection to which the original poster was referring (primarily bloodstain cards) is held and maintained by the DoD DNA Registry. Actual DNA profiles, however, are only developed from those specimens when it becomes necessary to do so. That is, DNA profiles aren't developed automatically or routinely from those specimens, and therefore a database of all servicembers' DNA profiles does not exist. Nearly always, profiles are developed from the specimens for identification purposes: when a service member is missing or believed killed, and there is an unknown specimen (tissue, bone, etc.) believed to potentially represent that individual to which the known specimen (the bloodstain card card collected originally) will be compared. There is no DNA database or "library" of all service member DNA profiles that can simply be searched. You have to have a name, pull the specimen, and then generate the profile to make a comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DNA library also includes any military personnel who have served since 1992, and those samples can and are used in criminal and paternity investigations.

Apparently Wint was a marine, so that probably explains his DNA being in the library.

Jeff, the posts about this "library" are both factually wrong in general and complete speculation in this particular case. I'd remove these posts.

I don't know about the library, but a washington post article refers to him as an exmarine

I have no issue with the ex-marine part. It's the DNA database part I take issue with, as I can assure you the posts above are factually incorrect. This is something I know a lot about.

Okay, then maybe you can explain this:

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,FL_dna_041503,00.html

Quote: The lab also sees use during peacetime for identification of military personnel killed in accidents, and is used in some paternity cases and criminal investigations.

I would love to hear that the military DNA database is NOT used for criminal investigations, but that is not the impression that we as active duty personnel have. (USN here.)

The specimens are not routinely used that way, because that's not the purpose of the collection. I don't have specific knowledge of how many times it may have been used that way, but I think there are a lot of legal hoops to jump through to make that happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DNA library also includes any military personnel who have served since 1992, and those samples can and are used in criminal and paternity investigations.

Apparently Wint was a marine, so that probably explains his DNA being in the library.

Jeff, the posts about this "library" are both factually wrong in general and complete speculation in this particular case. I'd remove these posts.

I don't know about the library, but a washington post article refers to him as an exmarine

I have no issue with the ex-marine part. It's the DNA database part I take issue with, as I can assure you the posts above are factually incorrect. This is something I know a lot about.

Okay, then maybe you can explain this:

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,FL_dna_041503,00.html

Quote: The lab also sees use during peacetime for identification of military personnel killed in accidents, and is used in some paternity cases and criminal investigations.

I would love to hear that the military DNA database is NOT used for criminal investigations, but that is not the impression that we as active duty personnel have. (USN here.)

The specimens are not routinely used that way, because that's not the purpose of the collection. I don't have specific knowledge of how many times it may have been used that way, but I think there are a lot of legal hoops to jump through to make that happen.

To add: Note that the quote you posted states "The lab" not "The specimens". The referenced lab itself has done non-military DNA casework at times - 9/11 identifications, space shuttle Columbia, commercial aircraft crashes, etc.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
The DNA library also includes any military personnel who have served since 1992, and those samples can and are used in criminal and paternity investigations.


Apparently Wint was a marine, so that probably explains his DNA being in the library.


Jeff, the posts about this "library" are both factually wrong in general and complete speculation in this particular case. I'd remove these posts.


I don't know about the library, but a washington post article refers to him as an exmarine


I have no issue with the ex-marine part. It's the DNA database part I take issue with, as I can assure you the posts above are factually incorrect. This is something I know a lot about.


Okay, then maybe you can explain this:

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,FL_dna_041503,00.html

Quote: The lab also sees use during peacetime for identification of military personnel killed in accidents, and is used in some paternity cases and criminal investigations.

I would love to hear that the military DNA database is NOT used for criminal investigations, but that is not the impression that we as active duty personnel have. (USN here.)


The specimens are not routinely used that way, because that's not the purpose of the collection. I don't have specific knowledge of how many times it may have been used that way, but I think there are a lot of legal hoops to jump through to make that happen.


To add: Note that the quote you posted states "The lab" not "The specimens". The referenced lab itself has done non-military DNA casework at times - 9/11 identifications, space shuttle Columbia, commercial aircraft crashes, etc.

Convicted criminals in Maryland have their DNA collected by the state. The DNA can be used to eliminate or include family members of the convicted criminal even if they the family members did not give DNA.

For now, Md. police can take DNA from charged criminals, Supreme Court says
Police in Maryland can resume collecting DNA from suspects charged — but not yet convicted — in violent crimes, and the U.S. Supreme Court might be inclined to let them do so permanently.

U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued an opinion Monday saying there is a “fair prospect” the court will overturn the Maryland Court of Appeals controversial Alonzo Jay King Jr. v State of Maryland decision, which prohibited DNA collection from suspects charged — but not yet convicted — in violent crimes and burglaries. And until the nation’s highest court can more thoroughly consider the issue, Roberts put the King decision on hold — meaning police in Maryland can resume collecting DNA.

“This stay will allow Maryland the uninterrupted use of this critical modern law enforcement tool that helps police and prosecutors solve some of Maryland’s most serious violent crimes,” Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler said in a statement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/for-now-md-police-can-take-dna-from-charged-criminals-supreme-court-says/2012/07/30/gJQAKUwSLX_story.html
The military lab does not do criminal work.

[jsteele]

Okay, I think we have settled the DNA question and should probably get back to facts only.

[jsteele]

Some interesting information from the AP and, Jesus, check out who his attorney was:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suspect-named-killing-wealthy-dc-family-housekeeper-31198569

Also in 2010, Wint was arrested outside the American Iron Works headquarters while carrying a 2-foot-long machete and a BB pistol, but weapons charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to possessing an open container of alcohol in a retail area, court records show.

Attorney Robin Ficker, who defended Wint in other cases, said he didn't seem violent or capable of murder.

"My impression of him — I remember him rather well — is that he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's a very nice person," Ficker said.

[Anonymous]

Oh my. Robin Ficker. Oh my.

[Anonymous]

Mind explaining why Robin Ficker as the attorney is noteworthy? Wikipedia isn't giving me much to explain these reactions.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:Some interesting information from the AP and, Jesus, check out who his attorney was:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suspect-named-killing-wealthy-dc-family-housekeeper-31198569

Also in 2010, Wint was arrested outside the American Iron Works headquarters while carrying a 2-foot-long machete and a BB pistol, but weapons charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to possessing an open container of alcohol in a retail area, court records show.

Attorney Robin Ficker, who defended Wint in other cases, said he didn't seem violent or capable of murder.

"My impression of him — I remember him rather well — is that he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's a very nice person," Ficker said.

from the Wikipedia page of Ficker:

In 1996 Ficker was acquitted of destruction of property in a 1995 traffic incident and saw battery charges dropped by the State's Attorney after a jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal. Ficker had been convicted in a non-jury District Court trial but appealed for a Circuit Court jury trial.[45][46] In the traffic incident the driver of the car Ficker hit reported that he struck her in the face, breaking her glasses

[Anonymous]

Robin Ficker, heckler: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/05/12/robin-ficker-heckles-roy-hibbert-into-a-big-game-against-the-wizards/
Robin Ficker, lawyer for the poptart/gun kid: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/examiner-recommends-school-board-uphold-pop-tart-suspension/
Robin Ficker, perennial candidate: http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/08112010/germnew174517_32544.php
Robin Ficker, suspended lawyer: http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/060807/montnew223755_32426.shtml

[Anonymous]

Robin Ficker has just certified that he is a complete moron.

[Anonymous]

SUSPECT IN CUSTODY per News4