Austin Strip Clubs: Judge denies new trial bid tied to DNA lab allegations
Travis County prosecutors won an early victory today in the battle over how much recently revealed problems at the Austin Police Department’s DNA lab will affect criminal prosecutions.
The win came when state District Judge Charlie Baird denied motions for a new trial filed by two men sentenced to decades in prison in May for aggravated robbery.
Joseph Foley, 34, and Michael Cooper, 35, were convicted in part based on DNA evidence found near the scene of a July 16, 2009, home robbery that linked them to the crime. The evidence, including gloves and a bandana, corroborated a co-defendant’s testimony that the men followed two women they thought were strippers from Sugar’s Uptown Cabaret to a nearby house, where they beat, shot and robbed some of the people inside.
Linda Icenhauer-Ramirez and Kiele Linroth Pace, lawyers for Cooper and Foley respectively, argued that the men should have received prior to trial a February memorandum in which Cecily Hamilton, then a police DNA analyst, revealed alleged problems with the lab.
See the full article from “Austin American-Statesman (blog)”