From: Olga Bourlin (fauxever@sprynet.com)
Date: Fri Aug 17 2001 - 11:37:10 MDT
In your opinion, is this stealing DNA? (my apologies if this case has already been posted - I accidentally deleted a few emails about the "stealing DNA" discussion):
Nation & World : Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Rapist snared with a sleight of straw - and his DNA
By Christine Hanley
Los Angeles Times
SANTA ANA, Calif. - A suspect who was tricked by a police detective into leaving his saliva on a straw at a Taco Bell pleaded guilty to two rape charges Monday in a case that even his lawyer said represented a legitimate yet unusual use of DNA evidence.
Brea, Calif., police Detective Susan Hanna had been working on the case for months and thought Robert William Bradford Jr. was the culprit when she invited him to a Taco Bell, saying she wanted to pick his brain about the case.
After Bradford finished his soda, Hanna got him a refill, replacing his straw and, on her way out, handing the old straw to a detective disguised as an employee.
The straw was sent to a crime lab for DNA testing, which connected Bradford to the rapes.
"It was a shot in the dark," Hanna said. "It paid off."
And despite the detective's ploy, Bradford's attorney said Monday he thinks the evidence was gathered legally.
Police "did not unreasonably seize or delay Mr. Bradford. He voluntarily had the soda with the cops. They were tricky. But they weren't illegal," Donald Barkemeyer said.
Bradford was sentenced Monday to two life terms in prison plus 52 years for attacking a 24-year-old woman at her Brea home in 1998 and a 19-year-old woman at an apartment complex in 2000. In each case, he slipped through an unlocked door at night.
Hanna said she linked the two rapes after the second victim said her attacker reeked of smoke and also recalled how a chain-smoker who lived in the same apartment complex frequently stared in the direction of her home.
After identifying Bradford as the suspect, Hanna discovered he used to live in the neighborhood where the other attack took place. That woman confirmed her attacker was a smoker.
Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company
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