Webb seeks acquittal due to missing DNA sample
By Benjamin B. Pulta 10/29/2010Convicted rapist Hubert Webb’s lawyer has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to order his acquittal citing government investigators’ failure to keep the semen specimen for DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) forensic analysis.
In a motion, the son of former Sen. Freddie Webb urged the SC to reverse his conviction in the Vizconde massacre case citing the failure of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to produce the semen specimen taken from the body of one of his victims for DNA analysis.
Defense lawyer Demetrio Custodio Jr. stressed that the semen specimen extracted from the remains of Carmela Vizconde during her autopsy on June 30, 1991 “plays a significant role” in his client’s defense.
“Even if the NBI’s failure to produce the semen specimen were not due to willful suppression but by negligence, the failure to deliver this evidence to appellant Webb for DNA testing denies him a complete defense and violates his right to due process,” Custodio said. “For this reason, he is entitled to an acquittal,” he added.
Custodio noted that a DNA analysis of the semen specimen excluding appellant Webb as the source of that specimen would disprove the prosecution’s evidence against him..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101029hed5.html
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