Now the California Supreme Court is weighing the statistical and other concerns raised by cold hit cases -- the highest court yet to consider them. People vs. Nelson, which involves the 1976 murder of a college student in Sacramento, is scheduled for oral arguments Thursday.
It could influence how such cases are tried across the country and undermine an unknown number of convictions in California.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, May 29, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 82 words Type of Material: Correction
DNA evidence: A May 4 article in Section A about the statistical calculations involved in describing DNA evidence in a murder case contained an arithmetic error. It said that multiplying the probability of 1 in 1.1 million by 338,000 was the same as dividing 1.1 million by 338,000. Actually, it's the same as dividing 338,000 by 1.1 million. The answer, a 1 in 3 probability of a coincidental match between crime scene DNA and genetic profiles in a state database, was correct.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, June 01, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 80 words Type of Material: Correction
DNA evidence: A May 4 article in Section A about the statistical calculations involved in describing DNA evidence in a murder case contained an arithmetic error. It said that multiplying the probability of 1 in 1.1 million by 338,000 was the same as dividing 1.1 million by 338,000. Actually, it's the same as dividing 338,000 by 1.1 million. The answer, a 1-in-3 probability of a coincidental match between crime scene DNA and genetic profiles in a state database, was correct.
The stakes are high: There have been 50,000 cold hit cases across the nation, many only now headed to court. And next year, California will begin collecting DNA not only from convicted felons like Puckett but from anybody arrested on felony charges, regardless of whether they are found guilty.
"As these databases grow," said Jennifer Friedman, a Los Angeles public defender who co-wrote a brief in the Supreme Court case, "any of us could find ourselves in the situation Mr. Puckett is in."
'We're making love!'
It was three days before Christmas 1972, in an apartment building near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Helen Nigodoff, the building's landlady, heard thumping and other noises from the apartment above hers.
Nigodoff went upstairs to check on Sylvester. The door to the apartment was open. She saw a bearded man attempting to cover his face with his hand. "Go away!" he screamed, Nigodoff later told investigators. "We're making love!"
Nigodoff returned to her apartment and called police, who found Sylvester's body. There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle.
Initially, police focused on a street artist named Robert Baker, then 32, who had recently escaped from a mental institution. He had been identified as a suspect in a rape that occurred two weeks before Sylvester's killing and four blocks from her apartment.
The victim in that earlier case and a friend identified Baker as the rapist, but for reasons that are now unclear, authorities decided they did not have enough evidence to prosecute him.
Baker also was identified as the man who, four days after Sylvester was killed, harassed a woman and a young girl and followed them to their home a few doors from Sylvester's apartment, police records show.
He was not charged in that incident -- but he was booked for the rape four blocks from Sylvester's apartment.
Police thought he might also be Sylvester's killer.
In Baker's van, police found a parking ticket with drops of blood on it. The blood type was O, the most common, the same as Sylvester's. DNA testing was not available then.
