SP0R1 KTATE
September 25 , 2003 |THE BATTALION
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Thursday, September 25, 2003
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ne Intercollegiate,
a senior capfe
unishment trimmed for DNA analysts
By Pam Easton
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday's final rour: one - week suspensions.
es off the lead butte
with a 65 that indud
birdies and one eao-
UAB's Chris Cora
first place with lob
136.
jphomore AndrewPr
over his strong pb
season opener, tyio;
with a 75-70-11:
r also tied for fount
HOUSTON — The Houston Civil
Service Commission Wednesday rescinded
the 14-day suspensions and pay loss of two
DNA analysts in the embattled Houston
Police Department crime lab and trimmed
their penalties to written reprimands.
The panel, after hearing appeals from the
analysts at the lab where problems have led
to retesting in hundreds of criminal cases,
said there was no “sufficient basis” for the
pair to be suspended without pay, but said
the written reprimands were warranted.
Fomier Houston Police Chief Clarence
Bradford, who retired earlier this week,
announced the two-week suspensions of
Christy Kim and Joseph Chu in June. At the
same time, two top crime lab officials
resigned rather than face termination and
three other lower-level employees received
s opening tournarrr| of DNA samples,
exico.
gies’ next tournamei
Oct. 6-7 at the CM
Intercollegiate
alif.
Both Kim and Chu served the suspen
sions, which came in the wake of an internal
investigation into the lab, but both appealed
and now will have their pay restored for that
period, attorney Fred Keys said Wednesday.
Keys said Chu has returned to work at
the crime lab, where the DNA section was
shut shortly after an outside audit last
December uncovered serious deficiencies,
including a lack of training, insufficient
documentation and possible contamination
Kim has yet to return as she awaits the
outcome of a pre-termination hearing last
week with her department head based on
other alleged department violations, which
Keys declined to discuss.
“This is the first time that they have had
a chance to tell their side of the story,” Keys
said of the analysts. “They rebutted almost
point-by-point each of the
allegations that was in the
letter of suspension.”
According to the letters of
suspension given in June,
Kim was punished for failing
to conduct and record accu
rate analysis of a DNA pro
file, failing to report the full
set of DNA results in a rape
case, making an incorrect
data entry in a capital murder
case and incorrectly docu
menting the results of DNA
profiles. Chu was suspended
for incorrectly reporting sta-
tistics in a capital murder
case and incorrectly documenting results
and statistics in two rape cases.
“These analysts, who are at the lower
rung of the totem pole, had been trying since
1999 and actually before that.... to get more
training, to get the roof leak fixed, to get
accredited,” Keys said. "The one thing that
they really asked for was a supervisor to
oversee their work. It is so important and it
is so technical and tedious that you need
someone who is qualified to look at your
These analysts...
had been trying
since 1999... to get
more training to get
the roof leak fixed, to
get accredited.
work after it is done.”
Keys said the two had worked without a
supervisor to oversee and train them since
1996. When they took their concerns to
Bradford in 1999, they were told there was
n’t enough money to fill the supervisory
post.
“What more could you do than go to the
highest level?” Keys said of
his clients’ efforts.
Assistant City Attorney
Marcus Dobbs referred all
questions about
Wednesday’s ruling to
police department
spokesman Robert Hurst,
who said the department
does not react to such
rulings.
Retesting in hundreds of
DNA cases first analyzed
by the department’s DNA
section has been under way
since March.
The first retest returned
excluded Josiah Sutton, sentenced to 25
years in prison for rape, as a contributor to
the DNA evidence in his 1998 case. He
was freed on bond days after the retest and
now is seeking a pardon.
Of the 370 cases sent for retesting, 49
have been returned. Of those, 36 con
firmed previous results, one defendant’s
DNA was excluded as contributing to the
evidence against him and the other 12 are
pending.
— Fred Keys
Houston attorney
NEWS IN BRIEF
nabs Big 12
?r of Week
A&M senior Toiif
: named Big 12 Cross
lunner of the Weekofi
after notching his first
tory last weekend,
/on the Texas AM
at, becoming the thiri
win the men's race
; irst since his former
a, Juan DeBastos
3001.
:overed the 8,000'
a in 24:41 andhelpefi
es to a dominatinj
•ry with 27 points, jest
off the meet record
jston in 1992.
a tremendous honor
y," said A&M coaclr
'tman. "He’s a fi
or and he’s worker
to get ready for fits
s country season,
showed in the way fie
aek."
t Saturday’s win,tfie
n’s team debuted if
IDO NCAA Men's
>untry Rankings at
eeps Astros
tral race
DN (AP) - Tfie
\stros were on the
they knew it. Ttierj.
lino came up wittier
at kept them from
iven farther backirj
ntral.
pinch hit in theses
g and singled home
) lead Houston over
San Francisco sol)'
Wednesday,
it today, we were if
uble, but we live to
er day,” Craig Biggie
iously, that was e
which began the
une behind the#
ig Chicago Cubs
four-game losinj
ch had tied a sem
> huge for us. It was
ireak for us," said
ar, who closed with'
ninth for his 44tfi|
7 chances. “We've[
out and hope the)
two. If they winooH
out, then so be I
ut there and tfie
is pumping. We've
his game.”
Texas No-Call list
unaffected by ruling
DALLAS (AP) — Texas resi
dents won’t be affected by a
federal judge’s ruling that sided
with telemarketers’ claims that
creating a national “do not call”
list was beyond the authority of
the Federal Trade Commission.
“That ruling has no effect on
the state no-call law. The feder
al judge was addressing the
new federal law,” said Terry
Hadley, spokesman for the
Texas Public Utilities
Commission, which enforces
the state law.
Texas’ no-call list became
effective July 1,2002. Because
it is a state law, it does not fall
under federal jurisdiction.
On Tuesday, U.S. District
Judge Lee R. West in
Oklahoma City ruled that the
Federal Trade Commission
overstepped its authority in cre
ating a national “do-not-call” list
against telemarketing calls. The
ruling was in response to a law
suit brought by telemarketers
who challenged the list of 50
million people who don’t want
solicitation calls.
It is unclear how Tuesday’s
ruling will affect the national list,
which was to go into effect Oct.
1.The judge had not issued an
order directing any action by
the FTC.
Software co. seeks boost in politics
By David Koenig
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — A Texas soft
ware company is counting on
Howard Dean’s surging presi
dential bid to lift it from obscu
rity in the tough niche industry
of raising money for organiza
tions over the
Internet.
From its
beginning in
1999, Convio
Inc. hadn’t
turned a profit or
attracted much
notice until it
began process
ing credit-card
transactions and
building person
alized Web
pages for volun
teers of the Democrat.
“It has clearly raised the pro
file of the company,” said chief
executive Gene Austin. “I’ve
had meetings where prospects
mentioned the Dean site in the
first minute.”
Convio officials estimate the
Dean campaign will account for
less than 2 percent of the com
pany’s revenues this year.
Convio, based in Austin,
received $30,776 from Dean
through June 30, the latest fig-
Tve had meetings
where prospects
mentioned the Dean
site in the first
minute.
ures available.
Austin said the publicity has
led to discussions with a dozen
new clients who could bring in
an additional $1 million. One of
them, a nonprofit group, has
signed up, a Convio spokes
woman said, but she would not
identify the client or disclose
terms of the
contract.
The bulk of
Convio’s busi
ness comes from
nonprofit organ
izations, includ
ing Easter Seals
and Mothers
Against Drunk
Driving.
Dean
Convio’s
nology
process
— Gene Austin
Convio, Inc. CEO
uses
tech-
to
credit-
card transac
tions, an important component
of online fund-raising. Dean
raised $7.6 million in the sec
ond quarter — half of it over the
Internet — more than any of his
Democratic rivals.
Its software also runs per
sonalized Web pages by “Dean
Team Leaders,” about 1,600
volunteers who raise cash for
the candidate.
Nicco Mele, Dean’s web
master, credits Convio for some
of the campaign’s successes —
though he spread the credit to
others including meetup.com, a
site that helps supporters gather
in places like coffee shops, and
its own Web log journal.
Convio also supplies soft
ware to the campaigns of
Democratic Sens. John Kerry
and Joseph Lieberman, neither
of which would comment.
Mele, however, said he worries
whether Convio is big enough
to simultaneously help several
campaigns prepare federal elec
tion-financing reports.
“We’re growing beyond
them for some things ... but we
wouldn’t have gotten to where
we are without them,” the Dean
webmaster said.
The company’s experiment
in politics has produced a few
setbacks.
A political consultant who
hired Convio two years ago
gives it low marks. Convio’s
founder, Vinay Bhagat, touted
the consultant as a reference,
but the man, who spoke on con
dition of anonymity, told The
Associated Press that the soft
ware was balky and he wouldn’t
use it again.
The company also is being
sued by a larger rival, San Diego-
based Kintera, which claims
Convio stole the software that
runs sites for Dean supporters.
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Records of deferred adiuication are not
automatically off vour record. However, a new state
^Jaw allows them to now be sealed in many instances^
For more information contact
Cameron Reynolds
Attorney At Law
Licensed by the Texas Supreme Court. Not Board Certified
Class of‘91
Jim James
Attorney At Law
Board Certified Criminal Law
Class of‘75
979-846-1934
e-mail: jim@jimjames.com or Cameron@jimjames.com
website: http://jimwjames.wld.com
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