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Post by Pete Richter on Mar 8, 2007 19:24:17 GMT -4
STATE POLICE CRIME LAB HEAD CAUGHT LYING UNDER OATH.....In the end the taxpayers will pay out of pocket for this behavior..... Along with the innocent caught up in our corrupt system, hundreds of criminals across the country have had their convictions over turned costing the tax payers $ millions. If you have nothing to hide submit to the illegal searches that are condoned by our court system........Taxpayers, better have your seat belts on.
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Post by bchevy on Mar 8, 2007 20:24:34 GMT -4
A little too much caffeine today Pete? Is this MD. State? If so, how could 100's of criminals ACROSS THE COUNTRY have their convictions overturned... please don't answer
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Post by shadow1 on Mar 8, 2007 22:52:47 GMT -4
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Post by Petr Richter on Mar 9, 2007 4:40:07 GMT -4
BCHEVY.......This situation is not unique to MD....Crime lab officials in Texas sent hundreds of innocent men to jail based on lies, and fabrications. It was all over the national news, and 60 minutes did a piece on it.
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Post by BlueMule on Mar 9, 2007 5:27:47 GMT -4
I saw it last night on the news too. It sucks!
From WJZ:
Cases In Question After State Employee's Suicide Kathryn Brown Reporting
(WJZ) New questions are being raised about whether a long-time ballistics employee who testified in some of Maryland's most high-profile criminal cases, was qualified.
As Kathryn Brown reports, not only are hundreds of cases across the state being called into question, but so are the credentials of every crime lab employee working in Maryland.
Joseph Kopera was long considered a qualified ballistics expert who had more than 20 years of experience in state and city police investigations.
But now, police have discovered Kopera lied about some of his prior training.
Last Wednesday, Kopera abruptly retired from his job as a ballistics worker at the Maryland State Forensics Crime Lab.
A day later, Kopera killed himself.
While counseling some of Kopera's co-workers, police say they discovered a shocking secret.
"We found that he in fact listed the University of Maryland and Rochester Institute of Technology as institutions that he enlisted in and got a degree from," said State Police Col. Thomas Hutchins.
But, Hutchins said, "On Tuesday we verified that he did not have a degree from Rochester and yesterday we verified that he did not have a degree from the University of Maryland."
Kopera testified as an expert witness in hundreds of cases, in every jurisdiction in Maryland, as well as many in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia.
He was a key witness in the high-profile murder case against Erika and Benjamin Sifrit, who were convicted of killing a couple visiting Ocean City and then dismembering their bodies.
Kopera's testimony also helped send former Baltimore City Police Officer James Kulbicki to prison. He was convicted of killing a young woman in the early 90s.
"This guy's gone into court for 20, 30 years and essentially lied," said Defense Attorney Thomas Fleckenstein.
Fleckenstein said Kopera's fabricated past opens the door for hundreds maybe even thousands of appeals statewide.
"You're talking about one of the top ballistics experts in the state for 20 or so years and literally this could call into question almost every case he's ever testified in, every examanation he's ever been involved in, and report he's ever written," said Fleckenstein.
Police officials say Kopera's credentials were being questioned by the public defender's office, which is in charge of getting the cases of the wrongly accused overturned.
Investigators think the prodding into Kopera's fraudelent education background may have played a role in his sudden retirement and suicide.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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Post by bchevy on Mar 9, 2007 7:54:21 GMT -4
It's in Md. Pete, and it's Ugly. The guy quit his job and killed himself. Should we dig him up and put him on trial?
Who ever hired him should be fired, the past cases issue will get ugly but guess what? It's got to happen.
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Post by kl on Mar 9, 2007 8:01:35 GMT -4
I agree Chevy. It startled the hell out of me. 20+ years testifying in cases, and no one, I mean no one, ever checked his background? On a side note, with all this Homeland Security, why has the murder rate jumped so high in the past several years?
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Post by ivyswann on Mar 9, 2007 14:36:05 GMT -4
Thanks for the info BlueMule
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Post by outlaw on Mar 9, 2007 14:55:22 GMT -4
What a nightmare. It's unbelievable that his background wasn't checked, or maybe just wasn't revealed, over all these years. Makes me wonder how many other cases there like this. We'll all be paying for this for years.
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Post by BlueMule on Mar 9, 2007 15:28:54 GMT -4
As bad as it is, it could be worse. This guy is/was 'qualified' for ballistics and tool mark forensics. Many of the cases in which he testified were based on piles and piles of evidence other than his area of expertise and won't be impacted.
The odd thing is, when he joined Balto City (or County, I fergit which) Police, the only job requirement was a highschool diploma???
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Post by outlaw on Mar 9, 2007 15:57:38 GMT -4
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billw
Junior Member
Posts: 68
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Post by billw on Mar 10, 2007 8:31:03 GMT -4
dead link above...page cannot be found???
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Post by BlueMule on Mar 10, 2007 13:29:24 GMT -4
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Post by Rich Fisher on Mar 10, 2007 15:25:43 GMT -4
Not sure why the links won't completely highlight - So you'll have to copy/pase them. Sorry.
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Post by bchevy on Mar 10, 2007 16:02:24 GMT -4
Hmmmm.
If you're not qualified for the job, does that REALLY mean you're LYING?
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Post by BlueMule on Mar 10, 2007 16:36:37 GMT -4
The big stink is that he lied about his qualifications, not his evidence analysis.
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Post by bchevy on Mar 10, 2007 17:42:15 GMT -4
Yeah, but they're not distinguishing between the two, if it makes a difference..
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Post by Pete Richter on Mar 10, 2007 18:07:30 GMT -4
BlueMule...........Channel 11 news reported that a Mr. Whitby of the Eastern Shore had his conviction overturned due to the incorrect evidence analysis by Mr. Kopera........You are correct - The big stink is that he lied under oath. - There will come a time when all testimony by law enforcement will be conducted through a lie detector machine. O.J. walked for many reasons, but the main reason was that Detective Mark Furman lied under oath.
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Post by bchevy on Mar 10, 2007 22:15:54 GMT -4
I doubt that lie detector crap. We wont need testimoney as Big Brother will see and record EVERY move we make, they'll deduct penalties straight out of our bank accounts for violations incurred, Murders will be a thing of the past since Big brother will ZAP the killier a split second before he kills, Prisons will be ancient history since we'll have implants that see our thought before we do and change them to conform...........
IIRC Furman lied about using the N word, IF Furman were not WHITE that would never have been an issue so it really shouldn't have been there as "evidence" or testimony.
OJ Walked for another reason, and it wasn't because of his innocence.
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Post by shorti on Mar 13, 2007 15:01:28 GMT -4
Oh no - I have to reply to this!! Although, I do not agree w/ his fabrication of degrees, etc on his resume - how many of you have blown up your resume to get a good job? Also - this man did this work for almost 40 years, it's not like he just started & they found out.
Put aside where he worked & the type of work he did & answer these questions: 1 - how many of you have done the same thing for so long? 2 - do you have a degree in this field and did you have the degree prior to entering the field? 3 - Can you really say that someone who just graduated from college (24-26 years old) is more qualified than someone who has physically done the work for years?
I've been in the accounting field for 12 years or so; I have my AA, but I have been doing the work and am confident stating that I am far more qualified for an accounting position than some kid right out of college just because they have a BA. That's a bunch of BS!
Don't crucify this man cause he "lied under oath". He lied on his resume - shame on those who should have looked into that - but he did his job and i feel experience is far more valuable than any degree. Unfortunately some "Johnnie Cochran" defense attorneys will see this as an out... now how many criminals will we let go because of this?? hopefully there was enough evidence other than ballistics...
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Post by BlueMule on Mar 13, 2007 15:47:04 GMT -4
If someone is 'called' as an expert witness, they state their qualifications under oath in court.
Whether or not that part of the testimony makes a difference, you make the call.
You know any good lawyer will jump on it like a big dog.
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Post by outlaw on Mar 13, 2007 19:09:11 GMT -4
It's much more serious than being creative with a resume. He committed the crime of perjury by lying under oath. He is responsible for the can of worms that has opened up because of his lies. The sad thing is now he's dead, and it sounds like he did know his job.
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Post by falgar25 on Mar 13, 2007 23:21:16 GMT -4
Shorti: For the most part, I agree with the point you are trying to make. I know people without a degree who far outperform people with degrees. It's the person that matters, not the paper.
However, this situation is a little different. While it is quite possible that he was doing a fine job even though he did not have the degree, it is also possible that he was not. The value of his testimony is directly tied to his credentials and his honesty, both of which have been shown to be worthless. Even more, since his credentials were not properly checked by the crime lab, there is now a question about the credentials of everyone else employed by the crime lab.
It is likely that there was evidence presented beyond just the ballistics tests, but that doesn't matter. The jurors would have been charged with considering all the evidence as a whole. Some of that evidence was tainted; it may have been true or false, right now no one knows. Since no one can know for sure what the jurors would have decided if that evidence had not been presented, there's a good argument for appealing the verdicts.
So sure, the lack of a degree does not mean someone is not qualified. But in this case, it is not only the accuracy of the work product that matters but also whether the results can be trusted. All of a sudden, there is a reason to question the results.
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Post by shoreman on Mar 14, 2007 20:45:54 GMT -4
Kind of sounds like a certain county commissioner who had trouble finding his degrees. In reference to this case, I do not see where it has any bearing on a "State Trooper". The Trooper in these cases more than likely collected the evidence along with conducting an investigation. The evidence was then sent to the lab to be analyzed by this person. The Trooper does not have any input into the conclusion of the analysis of the evidence. The physical evidence may or may not support the law enforcement investigation. In cases where the evidence that was analyzed by this particular person was the sole reason a person was convicted, that evidence, if it still exists, will have to be re-analyzed. I would also think that in any high profile case, the defense would have also put on their own expert on to dispute claims made by the police. Again, I don't see how our State Trooper's credibility have been tarnished by this. Now the lab tech who committed suicide, that's another story. Just my 2 penny's worth!
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Post by outlaw on Mar 14, 2007 23:53:17 GMT -4
I heard on the news tonight that they are looking at a cop killer's case which Kopera testified in. The accused got the death penalty due to the fact that Kopera said it was premeditated because the killer chased the cop and shot him, and they claim they have found inconsistencies in his testimony. Very sad for the families affected by this.
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