Scientist's Cases Under Review After DNA Clears Man

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By Associated Press

Published: 01/02/2003

In court on that day, Jimmy Ray Bromgard couldn't believe what he was hearing.
On the witness stand, a forensic expert told jurors that hairs found in the bedroom of an 8-year-old rape victim matched Bromgard's hairs. The chance they belonged to anyone else, the expert said, was less than 1 in 10,000.
For the next 15 years, Bromgard sat in prison knowing the expert was wrong. In October, he finally was freed after DNA evidence proved he was innocent.
'I always figured there was no way they could put me in prison because I didn't do anything,' Bromgard said. 'His testimony convicted me. He should be made to answer.'
'He' is Arnold Melnikoff, a former director and 19-year veteran of Montana's state crime lab.
Bromgard's exoneration has prompted a call for an audit of other cases Melnikoff was involved in -- both in Montana and in Washington state, where he works now. An audit may yield more cases of wrongful conviction, said attorneys for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal group that helped win Bromgard's freedom.
Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the group, said if the claims against Melnikoff's science are valid, then 'any conviction that relies on his evidence has its integrity undermined.'
Citing potential litigation, Melnikoff declined to talk at length to The Associated Press. In October, however, Melnikoff defended his work, saying: 'I did the best I could with the technology that was available at the time.'
Melnikoff, 58, is on paid leave from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab in Spokane pending the results of an audit of his work on up to 100 cases there. An official termed the audit simply precautionary.
Conviction in rape of 8-year-old girl Bromgard was convicted in 1987 of raping an 8-year-old girl in her bedroom in Billings. A police officer believed Bromgard fit the description of the attacker. The victim picked him out of a lineup and also identified him at trial, although she acknowledged she wasn't completely sure.
Melnikoff testified that hairs recovered from the girl's bedroom matched 'characteristics' of Bromgard's hair.
The prosecutor asked how common it was for two people to have 'microscopically indistinguishable' hairs.
Melnikoff, whose resume lists training that included an FBI course on the microscopy of hairs and another course in forensic microscopy, gave his conclusion: It was his belief there was less than a 1-in-10,000 chance that hairs found in the girl's bedroom came from someone other than Bromgard.
Walter Rowe, a professor of forensic science at George Washington University, found that conclusion troubling.
'There's no scientific literature I'm aware of that says you can do that,' said Rowe, who was part of a blind peer review of Melnikoff's testimony in the Bromgard case.
DNA tests were not available at the time, and the combined testimony of the victim and Melnikoff was enough for a conviction.
Dismissal after DNA tests Bromgard was released after the Innocence Project helped arrange DNA tests, which convinced Mike McGrath, the state attorney general, and the Yellowstone County prosecutor to ask a judge to dismiss his conviction.
McGrath said he is willing to review individual cases in which Melnikoff's testimony proved crucial to the conviction. But he remains unconvinced an exhaustive audit is necessary.
'My guess is, there are not a lot of Melnikoff's cases out there,' he said.
His office is reviewing at least one case -- that of Paul Kordonowy. He was convicted of rape and aggravated burglary in 1990. Melnikoff provided hair sample testimony during the trial that was similar to the testimony he provided at Bromgard's trial, according to court records.
Melnikoff also testified about hair samples during a trial of Chester Bauer. He was convicted of rape and aggravated assault, but later had his convictions overturned, in part to DNA testing.
Bauer, who remains in prison for a crime unrelated to his overturned conviction, has filed a lawsuit against the state and Melnikoff.
Kordonowy is serving time for a second rape that he pleaded guilty to, but maintains his innocence in the 1990 conviction, his attorney said.
Jim Hutchison, a former colleague and now chief toxicologist at the state crime lab in Montana, said Melnikoff had 'very high moral standards and was very meticulous in his work.'
'I think it's unjust and unfair to question him as a scientist,' Hutchison said.
Harold Deadman, a forensic scientist who spent 25 years with the FBI in various roles, said that while Melnikoff's conclusions on the probability of hairs matching never should have been given, it doesn't automatically mean Melnikoff did anything fraudulent. Melnikoff simply may not have been good at hair examinations, he said.
'I think it could be a matter of lack of training, lack of testing, lack of experience,' said Deadman, who did hair exam training while with the FBI. 'The problem with hair examiners is, you don't know who's any good at it.'
Bromgard said he has no plans to sue.
But Neufeld said he expects to ask the state Legislature to compensate Bromgard. Other states have provided compensation averaging $100,000 for each year a person was wrongly imprisoned, he said.
McGrath said he believes that there are only one or two other instances in which Melnikoff testified about his conclusions on the probability of hair samples matching; that's based on a review of court records and interviews with crime lab personnel, he said. In both cases, the suspects were acquitted, McGrath said.
Neufeld, though, said he believes there may be more cases.
'I'm disappointed that the powers that be in the criminal justice system here have not immediately understood that there is no choice but to do a comprehensive audit of the cases that Mr. Melnikoff was in,' he said.

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