Jackson Defense Highlights the Delayed Testing of Evidence

The jurors in the Michael Jackson trial heard on Thursday that authorities did not perform finger print tests on adult material taken from the entertainers Neverland ranch until long after they were seized. The prosecution brought in two witnesses to testify on the technicalities of performing finger print tests and on examining evidence.Witness Antonio Cantu, chief of forensics for the Secret Service, said he was not aware of the delay in the fingerprint tests and acknowledged it would have been preferable for the tests to have been done immediately. Under direct examination by the prosecution Cantu tried to tell the jury that some fingerprints have lasted as long as 50 years. The comment was stricken from the record because the witness is not a fingerprint identification expert. Rather, as a chemist, he develops methods for detecting fingerprints but does not match prints for identification purposes. Cantu's comments however may have come prematurely as the forensic chief was unaware of the fact that testing was carried out only after one year of seizing the material. Cantu was also unaware of the fact that the finger print testing was carried out only after a grand jury testimony by the accuser in April of 2004, where the boy was allowed to handle the material and, went on to state, "You would expect to do that analysis first," Cantu said upon being cross-examined by Jackson defense attorney Robert Sanger. Sheriff's technician Lisa Hemman, called by the prosecution to discuss methods of examining evidence from Neverland, offered an explanation of why fingerprint analysis was not done immediately. Hemman tried to justify the delay by stating that finger print testing may destroy DNA and hence saw the importance of carrying out DNA testing prior to finger print testing. "We wanted to preserve DNA evidence. Processing for fingerprints could destroy DNA. So you do the testing for DNA before you do the fingerprint testing," she said. The Jackson jury however, have already heard that no DNA evidence was found of the accuser or his family in any of the material seized. Source : AP/MJJForum/eMJey