ORDINANCE NUMBER 199, Sixtieth 2008 General Fund Budget Supplemental Appropriation for Expenditures Incurred from Homicide Case

Transcription

1 ORDINANCE NUMBER 199, 2008 Sixtieth 2008 General Fund Budget Supplemental Appropriation for Expenditures Incurred from Homicide Case BE IT ENACTED by the County Council of the County of Erie pursuant to Article II, Sections 3B (1), 3B (2)(b) and Article VIII, Section 8 of the Erie County Home Rule Charter, and certified by the County Executive, that this 2008 General Fund Budget Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of $12,110 for expenditures incurred during the prosecution of a vehicular homicide trail is hereby approved as outlined on the attached Exhibit A. This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon adoption. COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA Date: December Approved by: /~.J(}~~_ / t;.;i-a. Di~- County Executive D ate: jd~_~!._'_i

2 Certificate of the County Executive I, Mark A. DiVecchio, County Executive of the County of Erie, do hereby certify pursuant to the provisions of Article VIII, Section 8, of the Horne Rule Charter for the 2008 General Fund, that there is fund balance in the amount of $12,11 0 which is available for appropriation to the 2008 general fund from expenditures incurred from homicide case County Executive.11 (J t Date

3 Exhibit A 2008 General Fund Budget Supplemental Appropriation for Expenditures Incurred from Homecide Case Account Title Account Number Amount Total Revenue Fund Balance Appropriated (12,110) Total Revenue (12,110) Total Expenditures Prosecution Fees Witness Fees ,900 2,210 Total Expenditures 12,110

4 ROBERT A. SAMBROAK,JR. First Assistant District Attorney JOHN H DANERI ChiefDeputy District Attorney LARRY1. DOMBROWSKI Chief County Detective County Detectives BRADLEY H. FOULK MATTHEW 1. BENACCI District Attorney oferie County ANTHONY 1. BOZICH Erie County Courthouse ROBERT F. KUHN JON E. REDDINGER SR. Erie, Pennsylvania MARK ROSENTHAL Telephone JENNIFER J. RUNSTEDLER FAX: JOSEPH J. SPUSTA Assistant District Attorneys ROGER M. BAUER MICHAEL E. BURNS ERIN C. CONNELLY LISA R. FERRICK ELIZABETH A. HIRZ PATRICIA KENNEDY CHRISTINE F. KONZEL BRIAN KROWICKI DOUGLAS G. McCORMICK LAURIE A. MIKlELSKI MARK W. RICHMOND RAQUEL L. TAYLOR MEMO TO: FROM: RE: Mark DiVecchio County Executive Bradley H. Foulk District Attorney Request for a Supplemental Appropriation DATE: October 27,2008 At this time, the Erie County District Attorney's Office would like to request a Supplemental Appropriation to cover the unanticipated cost our office has incurred in the prosecution of a vehicular homicide trial. We are requesting $12, to cover these costs. The Erie County District Attorney's Office recently prosecuted a case where the defendant, Wesley Urch, did run over two individuals, causing the death of one of them and seriously injuring the other. After he committed this crime, he left the scene of the accident. We prosecuted this case in September of 2008 and did in fact obtain a guilty verdict for all charges. There are two (2) invoices from Mitotyping Technologies, one is for the initial forensic testing ofevidence including hair strands found under vehicle, which was needed to prosecute this case and totaled $9,900.00, the other invoice is for $2,210.05, which represents the fee for expert testimony at time oftrial. This office did not anticipate this expense for our budget in 2008, therefore, we do not have the appropriate funds and need to request the supplemental appropriation to pay these invoices. I have attached a copy of both ofthe invoices from Mitotyping Technologies. Again, these expenses could not be avoided and were necessary to properly prosecute this case. We are requesting the County grant a Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of $12, to cover these expenses. If you should have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact my office. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. BHF/yad Enclosure

5 Mitotyping Technologies, LLC 2565 Park Center Blvd., Suite 200 State College, Pennsylvania, USA T: F: MIT 0 T Y PIN G TEe H N 0 LOG' E S'~ September 23, 2008 Jack H. Daneri Chief Deputy District Attorney Erie County Courthouse 140 W. 6 th Street Erie, PA Re: Commonwealth ofpa v. Wesley Roger Urch Jr. Invoice for Mitotyping Technologies Case No Invoice for professional services ofcharity A. Holland in the above-referenced case: Testimony and travel, 1 $2000/day Iv. State College, , 8:00 am arr. State College, , 9:00 pm Travel expenses: Mileage 410 miles@ $0.505/mile Parking $ $ $3.00 TOTAL $ Pay~ble on re!.:~:pt. Pkase make payublc to Mrtotyping Technologies, LLC, 2565 Park Center Boulevard, Suite 200, State College, PA EIN

6 Mitotyping Technologies, LLC 2565 Par'~ Center Blvd., Suite 200 State College, Pennsylvania, USA T: F: MIT 0 T Y PIN GTE C H N 0 LOG I E SCM May 27,2008 Case 2813 Lt. Chris Crawford Erie Bureau ofpol ice 626 State Street Erie, PA Re: Erie Police Case # ; Property # Test Report for Mitotyping Technologies Case No Items of Physical Evidence and Background On May 7,2008, Mitotyping Technologies, LLC, received via US Priority Mail Certified Mail # , from Lt. Chris Crawford of the Erie Bureau ofpolice the following items: I) One evidence tape sealed manila envelope labeled in part "EPD # Attn: Charity Holland" containing: a. One unsealed manila envelope labeled "EPD # P# Tag 8A Cut piece of blue jeans wi blood stain". This item was not tested. b. One evidence tape sealed manila coin envelope labeled in part "P# Tag 11A Hair on frame in front ofrt. rear axle ". A 2.5 cm portion of the 5 cm hair from this package was taken for testing and designated 2 813Q 1. c. One evidence tape sealed manila coin envelope labeled in part "P# Tag lib Hair cab comer pass. side bed oftrk ". A 2.5 cm.portion of the 5 cm hair from this package was taken for testing and designated 2813Q2. The remaining 2.5 cm of this hair was taken for testing, consumed, and designated 2813Q3. d. One stapled manila envelope labeled in part "E.P.D # P# Head hairs (standard) From: Caldwell, Steven" and bearing a yellow tag labeled in part "Property Tag No. 13", A 2 cm portion of one 5.5 cm hair in this package was taken for testing and designated 2813K 1. e. One evidence tape sealed manila envelope labeled in part " Tag 15" and "Dried blood sample prepared from the whole blood sample from Terri Peoples". This sample was designated 2813K2. It was requested that this laboratory develop mitochondrial DNA profiles on the two questioned hair samples and compare the profiles to the mitochondrial DNA profiles of Steven Caldwell and Terri Peoples to determine if either of these individuals could be excluded as the contributors of the questioned hairs.

7 Case 2813 Mitochondrial DNA (mtdna) Analvsis The 2813Ql and 2813Q2 hair samples were analyzed before opening or handling the 2813Kl and 2813K2 known samples. All samples were analyzed according to standard protocol. All reagent blank negative controls and PCR negatives that accompanied the samples throughout testing remained free of contamination, with the exception of a single reagent blank negative that accompanied the 2813Ql sample. This reagent blank contaminant was different in sequence from that of the questioned hair sample, therefore the data from the 2813Q 1 hair could be reported. The 2813Q2 hair contained a mixed profile which included the technician's profile. Therefore, this sample was not reported and was retested as 2813Q3. For the 2813K 1 and 2813K2 samples, a complete mitochondrial DNA profile was obtained, comprising nucleotide positions (hypervariable region 1; HV 1) and nucleotide positions (hypervariable region 2; HV2). For the 2813Ql hair, a partial mitochondrial DNA profile was obtained, comprising nucleotide positions (complete HV1) and nucleotide positions (partial HV2). For the 2813Q3 hair, a partial mitochondrial DNA profile was obtained, comprising nucleotide positions (complete HV1) and nucleotide positions (partial HV2). Table 1 shows the nucleotide substitutions with respect to the standard published reference sequence for the samples in this case. Table 1. Case 2813: Nucleotide substitutions in HVI and HV2 for samples 28l3Ql, 2~1}Q3, 28l3Kl, and 28!1K2...~_ HVI Sample HV2 (-) means that at this position in the published reference (Standard, top line) there is no nucleotide and the sample has an insertion. (.) means that the nucleotide at this position is the same as in the Standard. (Y) means that both C and T were observed. (nd) means not determined. 2

8 Interpretation of Results Case 2813 The mitochondrial DNA profile of2813ql is the same as the mitochondrial DNA profile of28l3k2. The mitochondrial DNA profiles of2813q3 and 2813K2 share a common nucleotide at all positions common to and compared between these samples. Therefore, Terri Peoples and her maternal relatives are not excluded as the contributor ofthe 2813Ql and 2813Q3 hairs. The mitochondrial DNA profiles of2813ql and 28l3Q3 are different from the mitochondrial DNA profile of 28 13K 1. Therefore, Steven Caldwell and his maternal relatives are excluded as the contributor ofthese hairs. The SWGDAM database ofhuman mitochondrial DNA sequences (The mtdna Population Database: An Integrated Software and Database Resource for Forensic Comparison, Keith L. Monson, Kevin W. P. Miller, Mark R. Wilson, Joseph A. DiZinno, and Bruce Budowle, 2002, Forensic Science Communications, Vol. 4, No.2) was searched for the profile in common to the 2813Ql and 2813K2 samples. This sequence has been observed three (3) times in the current database, which includes 4,839 sequences ofnorth American forensic significance. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have questions regarding this report. Unless other arrangements are made in advance, we will return all remaining evidence from this case to the submitting agency within 30 days via FedEx. Sincerely, ~Hd1-( Chanty A. Holland, MPH Quality Manager Forensic Examiner ~~.Ht&~, Terry Melton, PhD Laboratory Director Forensic Examiner End of Report. Enclosure: Invoice. 3

9 Mitotyping Technologies, LLC 2565 Park Center Blvd., Suite 200 State College. Pennsylvania. USA T: F: MIT 0 T Y PIN GTE C H N 0 log I E S'M Case 2813 May 27,2008 Lt. Chris Crawford Erie Bureau of Police 626 State Street Erie, PA Re: Erie Police Case # ; Property # Test Report for Mitotyping Technologies Case No Invoice for mitochondrial DNA analysis in the above-referenced case: Three hair $2,800 $8,400 One known blood $1,500 $1,500 TOTAL $9,900 Payable on receipt. Please make payable to Mitotyping Tecbnologies, LLC, Suite 200,2565 Park Center Boulevard, State College, PA EIN