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| Oklahoma Police Say Execution Evidence Didn't Exist |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 09/10/2001 |
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Some of the evidence used to convict and execute an Oklahoma man for a 1981 rape and murder doesn't exist, even though a controversial police chemist testified it did, according to an Oklahoma City police memo released last week. The memo was the latest official finding to question the track record of long-time Oklahoma City police lab chemist Joyce Gilchrist, who has been on paid leave since an FBI report in April accused her of shoddy work. Gilchrist has denied the allegations. A federal appeals court in Denver on August 13 overturned a death sentence for an Oklahoma inmate because of 'false and misleading' testimony by Gilchrist at the man's trial. Another inmate was freed in May after 15 years in prison when the FBI found he was wrongly convicted of rape based on Gilchrist's work. The latest memo involves the case of Malcolm Rent Johnson, who was executed in January 2000. It marks the first time official questions have been raised about Gilchrist's work in a death penalty case where the convict has already been executed.The memo from a senior police forensics official said that Gilchrist had testified in Johnson's trial that she found semen matching his blood type on the bedspread and pillowcase of his purported victim, Ura Thompson, 76. But an examination of the evidence slides showed no semen at all, the memo said. The police forensics memo was prepared for the city attorney after a defense lawyer filed a lawsuit in July demanding release of records from the Johnson case. |
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