Notes on Kevin Cooper/EDTA tests

Fellow Abolitionists,

As usual, the mainstream news media only tells part of the story. News stories
over the past few days have concluded that "Kevin Cooper was not framed". This
is the interpretation of the CA Attorney General's office, not the court, and
they make this claim despite a number of major flaws in the testing process.

Here are a few notes on the testing process and what has really happened, for
some clarification:

Only one blood stain from the beige t-shirt, which Kevin Cooper's DNA has been
found in previous tests, has been tested. The EDTA preservative tests are to
see if there is a high concentration of preservative, which the defense
attorneys state will prove that it was tampered with. The state has been
resistant to the tests, claiming that no matter what the results it will not
prove anything. They are now using the results of one very flawed test to state
categorically that it proves Kevin Cooper was not framed.

One stain was selected for the EDTA tests. When the t-shirt was sent to the lab
for testing, the selected stain was gone--it had been cut out of the t-shirt!
Another stain was selected, without the input of the defense attorneys. The
defense attorneys have not even been allowed to see this t-shirt. This stain
was tested, although it had never been tested to match Kevin Cooper's DNA. The
prosectution's expert found a high level of EDTA while the defense expert did
not. Now the prosecution's expert wants to withdraw their results.

The hearings will continue to determine what the next steps will be. The
results of these tests are not anywhere near as conclusive as the news reports
make them out to be.

Since Kevin Cooper received a stay of execution, new information and witnesses
have come forth that shed light on his innocence and on prosecutorial
misconduct. These issues are not highlighted in the media reports. The Campaign
to End the Death Penalty is preparing material on all of this information,
please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or want any additional
information.

In Solidarity,

Crystal Bybee
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
http://www.savekevincooper.org
510-333-7966
crystal [at] nodeathpenalty.org




http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/10063058.htm

Posted on Sun, Oct. 31, 2004

Attorneys say DNA tests prove Kevin Cooper was not framed


SAN DIEGO (AP) - New DNA tests on a bloody T-shirt prove that police did not
frame Death Row inmate Kevin Cooper for the 1983 murders of four people,
authorities said.

Special tests were conducted to find the presence of the preservative EDTA.
Cooper's attorneys contend that investigators smeared Cooper's blood on a T-
shirt found near the murder scene.

The presence of the preservative would indicate that it came from a vial of
blood that had been collected from Cooper following the quadruple murders in
Chino Hills.

The state attorney general's office Friday said the results of the DNA tests
show that police did not plant blood on the T-shirt.

One of two scientists who tested the T-shirt also has retracted a report of his
findings that found a high level of the preservative on the shirt.

Gary Suizdak of the Scripps Institute said his results were inaccurate because
the samples he tested were contaminated in his laboratory.

State prosecutors in papers filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Diego
argued that Suizdak's results should be disregarded.

Cooper was convicted of murdering Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old
daughter, Jessica, and an 11-year-old houseguest, Christopher Hughes.

Hours before he was to be put to death in February, a federal appeals court
halted the execution and ordered further review of his claims of innocence.

Cooper's next court hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 15.