Friday, April 21, 2017

Mark Carver: North Carolina: Positive Development: The convicted murderer of a University of North Carolina student has won his application for updated DNA testing: "Attorneys for convicted murderer Mark Carver say the case that led to his 2011 conviction for strangling a UNC Charlotte student already hung by its fingertips – and a disputed thread of DNA. Based on a judge’s ruling Thursday, they say, that grip may have been loosened further. Superior Court Judge David Lee ordered that DNA evidence collected in 2008 from the scene of Irina Yarmolenko’s killing – evidence that played a major role three years later in Carver’s first-degree murder conviction – undergo updated state lab analysis. Lee, of Union County, issued his order at the request of Carver’s defense team. Chris Mumma and Cheryl Sullivan, both of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, are seeking a new trial for Carver, 48, a Gaston County man now serving a life sentence without parole. New, improved DNA testing methods had gone into effect before Carver’s original trial, the attorneys say. But they were not used at the time the evidence against Carver was analyzed or presented to the jury. Expert witnesses for the prosecution said only that Carver’s DNA was among those found on the door of Yarmolenko’s car, which was wedged down an embankment of the Catawba River near her body. Mumma, executive director of the innocence center, said the actual DNA test results purportedly placing Carver at the murder scene were far less conclusive. She predicts that after new testing, prosecutors “will not be able to show that Mark Carver’s DNA was on that car.”


STORY: "Man convicted in killing of UNCC student gets closer to chance of a new trial," by reporter Michael Gordon, published by The Charlotte Observer on April 20, 2017.


Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article145749169.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article145749169.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;