DA: No DNA tests needed in Wis. homicide cases (AP)

MILWAUKEE – A review of 2,100 Milwaukee County homicide convictions from the past two decades did not find a single case in which DNA testing would be warranted to ensure that an innocent person wasn't sent to prison, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office said Friday.

The review began last June after three people charged or convicted in homicides were exonerated when DNA testing linked the victims in their cases to a serial killer. The findings of the review shocked attorneys for the Wisconsin Innocence Project and for one of the exonerated men.

"While we were encouraged by and commended by the DA's office for undertaking this initiative and for their stated commitment to identifying individuals wrongly convicted, we were really surprised and disappointed by the conclusion that no cases warrant DNA testing," the project's co-director Keith Findley said.

District Attorney John Chisholm said those who conducted the review — a senior assistant district attorney, three interns, a paralegal and multiple victim advocates — whittled it down by first looking at cases in which convicts maintained their innocence and where there was evidence that could be genetically tested.

"We've invested an enormous amount of time and energy into following this protocol and we are just confident to the best of our ability that there are no ... cases that would prompt us to seek additional DNA testing," Chisholm said.

On the second round, Assistant District Attorney Steven Licata examined the complete files of 486 cases, from which 60 were forwarded for additional review by Assistant District Attorney Norman Gahn, a DNA expert, and other members of the committee.

The review was "predicated on the legal presumption in the validity of the past conviction, not a search for doubt," he said. Special attention was given to cases where someone maintained innocence or sought help with the court or another entity like the Innocence Project, according to the review's findings.

Attorney Jon Loevy, whose client William Avery is one of the three exonerated men, said the district attorney's office's decision not to review DNA evidence in a single case is "impossible to understand." Avery served five years in prison for the strangling death of Maryetta Griffin before being released last year.

"Why is the prosecutor's office so afraid of DNA testing? What harm is done by testing evidence that could yield a definitive scientific truth about guilt or innocence? In my opinion, they are afraid of that truth," he said.

The discovery that three men had been charged, and two of them convicted, in killings later linked to serial killer Walter Ellis through DNA testing was embarrassing for Milwaukee County prosecutors and unnerving for the community, and it prompted the review of whether genetic testing might be warranted in other homicide cases since 1992.

Ellis pleaded no contest to killing seven women over a 21-year period and was sentenced in February to life in prison. Three other slayings have been linked to him through DNA, including Griffin's.

Chaunte Ott spent 13 years in prison for the 1995 slaying of the 16-year-old runaway Jessica Payne before DNA testing linked her death to Ellis. Like Avery, Ott is suing the Milwaukee police department in federal court. He says officers coerced two people to give false testimony and failed to intervene when post-conviction DNA testing showed he was innocent.

Another man was charged but acquitted in a third slaying, that of Carron Kilpatrick in 1994, that was later linked to Ellis.

Chisholm said three cases are still active but he couldn't say whether Ellis would be charged with those.

Findley said the project suggested 12 cases to prosecutors early on but never gave them a full accounting of people convicted of homicides in Milwaukee County who had reached out to them.

The office was responsive and open to answering questions for the first few months, but the project has "been in the dark" since January, Findley said.

Findley said at least seven cases met the legal criteria for post-conviction DNA testing, including that the person has maintained innocence, physical evidence exists that had not been tested previously or favorable testing results would have likely caused the person not to be prosecuted or convicted if the results been known.

Chisholm said they reviewed all the cases they requested in a later round of reviews but that none had met their criteria for DNA testing. He said that doesn't mean the project can't do additional testing if they believe it is merited.

Chisholm suggested the Innocence Project could pursue further cases through the normal post-conviction process. Findley said he plans to do that for at least seven cases to seek DNA testing.

"It is consistent with what we have seen nationwide and that is it's very difficult to ask people who have invested in obtaining convictions to recognize the potential exculpatory value of additional evidence," Findley said.

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Self-help author convicted of negligent homicide (AP)

CAMP VERDE, Ariz. – A self-help guru was found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide Wednesday in a case that shined a spotlight on a deadly Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that ended with disoriented and unconscious participants being dragged to safety.

Jurors reached their verdict with remarkable swiftness: They took less than 10 hours to convict James Arthur Ray following a four-month trial that included hundreds of exhibits and countless hours of testimony.

The eight men and four women were given the option of convicting Ray of manslaughter but decided on the lesser charge instead. He faces a maximum of nearly 12 years in prison.

Ray fought back emotion as the verdict was read. His parents and brother sat behind him, while victims' friends and family members held hands and looked on from across the courtroom.

Prosecutors asked that Ray be taken into custody immediately, but the judge denied their request.

More than 50 people participated in the October 2009 sweat lodge that was meant to be the highlight of Ray's five-day "Spiritual Warrior" seminar near Sedona.

Three people died following the sauna-like ceremony aimed at providing spiritual cleansing. Eighteen people were hospitalized, while several others were given water to cool down at the scene.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys disagreed over whether the deaths and illnesses were caused by heat or toxins. Ray's attorneys have maintained they were a tragic accident. Prosecutors argued Ray recklessly caused the fatalities.

Ray used the sweat lodge as a way for participants to break through whatever was holding them back in life. He warned participants in a recording of the event played during the trial that the sweat lodge would be "hellacious" and that participants were guaranteed to feel like they were dying but would do so only metaphorically.

"The true spiritual warrior has conquered death and therefore has no fear or enemies in this lifetime or the next, because the greatest fear you'll ever experience is the fear of what? Death," Ray said in the recording. "You will have to get a point to where you surrender and it's OK to die."

Witnesses have described the scene following the two-hour sweat lodge ceremony as alarming and chaotic, with people vomiting and others dragging "lifeless" and "barely breathing" participants outside. Volunteers performed CPR.

More than 20 people were transported to hospitals. Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee died upon arrival. Liz Neuman, 49, of Prior Lake, Minn., slipped into a coma and died more than a week later.

In court Wednesday, members of Neuman's family and a friend of Brown held hands and smiled when the verdict was read.

"Justice was served in there," Neuman's ex-husband, Randy Neuman, said later.

Ray quickly left the courtroom with his family after the hearing, saying "No, not at this time" when asked if he had any comment.

Ray's attorneys maintained the deaths were nothing but a tragic accident, and said Ray took all the necessary precautions to ensure participants' safety. They contend authorities botched the investigation and failed to consider that toxins or poisons contributed to the deaths and called two witnesses to support that argument.

Prosecutors relied heavily on Ray's own words to try to convince the jury that he was responsible for the deaths. They said a reasonable person would have stopped the "abomination of a sweat lodge" when participants began exhibiting signs of distress about halfway through the ceremony.

Sweat lodges typically are used by American Indians to rid the body of toxins by pouring water over heated rocks in the structure.

Ray became a self-help superstar by using his charismatic personality and convincing people his words would lead them to spiritual and financial wealth. He used free talks to recruit people to expensive seminars like the Sedona retreat that led to the sweat lodge tragedy. Participants paid up to $10,000 for the five-day program intended to push people beyond their physical and emotional limits.

Ray's popularity soared after appearing in the 2006 Rhonda Byrne documentary "The Secret," and Ray promoted it on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Larry King Live."

But his multimillion-dollar self-help empire was thrown into turmoil with the sweat lodge deaths. Ray ended his seminars shortly after but has continued to offer advice throughout his trial via the Internet and social networking sites.

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