Washngton – A few days before the start of a murder trial of Washington, the prosecutors decided that the evidence they had against the accused – who was in detention for more than five years – was not good enough, and the victim’s family still wants an explanation.
When John Pernell was shot in Nelson Place in July 2010, witnesses told the police that the retired protection services officer fought with one of the four men trying to deprive him and others. Pernell and his friends created their barbecues for a traditional July 4 meeting when the men jumped a fence and announced a flight.
The investigation went nowhere until 2019, when a witness told the police that he should examine a man named Kavon Young.
According to a document deposited at the Superior Court of DC, the police said that DNA had discovered under Pernell’s nails corresponded to the DNA profile of Young. The probability that DNA did not belong to Young was one in 3.4 billion in the African-American population of the United States.
But this DNA proof – presented in court as a match in 2019 – suddenly became a gap two days before the trial. Prosecutors of the American lawyer’s lawyer, defense lawyers and the private laboratory who have done the original tests will not say why.
“It’s shameful. We have the right to know what happened,” said Pernell’s daughter Yolanda Pernell-Vogelson.
Two days before the start of the trial, Pernell-Vogelson and his sister, Ayana Pernell, say they have received a call from Michael Spence, the prosecutor in the case, who told them that the initial calculations were wrong.
“To date, [we] did not receive a complete and understandable explanation for the reason why it happened, “said Ayana Pernell.” I mean, we are also victims. “”
The judicial files show the private laboratory that has carried out the tests, Bode Technology Group Inc., lost the evidence and it cannot be retest. The judge told the accusation and the defense that, at the trial, the jury would be informed “the laboratories and / or the government agencies have negligently lost the DNA extract in this case” just before the start of the trial.
In a file of April 9, the prosecutors noted again that DNA “corresponded to the accused” “as reported by Bode technology” – The prosecutors relied on five and a half years until the trial was without verification, it was not reliable.
Bode Technology Group refused to comment. Young was released in April and NBC Washington could not reach the lawyers who represented it.
Pernell’s daughters said they were writing letters to all city legislators.
“We present our condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Pernell, including his daughters,” the deputy mayor of Washington for public security, Lindsey Appiah said on Wednesday. “I contacted them for his case, and we are investigating the question to see if there is something more than the district can do to be useful to ensure justice.”
