John Curry: Dear Ohio GOP
From John Curry, September 29, 2010
Dear Mike DeWine,
I have received a colorful Mike DeWine flyer in my mailbox today and want to discuss with you a half truth that it contains.
Half truth in your glossy ad:
"Under Attorney General Richard Cordray, evidence testing delays can last nearly a year."
Fact:
(as verified by Politifact.com)
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2010/aug/09/mike-dewine/gop-challenger-mike-dewine-says-bci-tests-delayed-/
BCI statistics provided by Cordray’s office show a small portion of DNA cases cases do drag on "up to six months" and even longer. Those records also show, though, that it's far from typical. The average turnaround time in processing DNA evidence has dropped from 100 days in 2009 to 71 days in 2010."
Sixty-five of 854 current DNA cases -- 7.6 percent -- have gone beyond the "up to" six months mark cited by DeWine. Of those 65 cases, 62 involve work being done by outside laboratories, which Cordray's office argues shouldn't count on their tally.
We also asked DeWine's campaign for evidence of "up to" six month delays. They pointed us to a trio of examples detailed in media reports.
We tossed out one because the case predated Cordray's time in office by six months.
The second was described March 26, 2010, in the Marietta Times. The article describes how the arrest of a suspect in the rape of a college student was delayed for nearly a year because of a backlog at the BCI lab.
Acting Chief Jim Weaver of the Marietta College police confirmed that "we got our match right around a year from when we gave the sample." The DNA evidence was sent to BCI on April 3, 2009, and returned to his office on March 16, 2010.
Weaver, the lead detective on the case, said BCI officials told him the 50-week delay was because "we didn't have anyone in custody and we didn't need it to keep anyone in jail, so it kept getting pushed back."
The third example from a WTOL-TV report May 3, 2010, focused on a lengthy delay in DNA evidence processing in the murder of 91-year-old Grace Kennedy in Bryan, Ohio.
Bryan police Capt. Paul Zawodny told us that the crime scene DNA evidence was received by BCI just hours after the Dec. 23, 2009, murder was discovered. The first DNA results came back April 5, 2010, a span of about four and a half months, Zawodny said.
The officer said part of the reason for the lag time was that prosecutors had to give the BCI lab permission to use all of a suspect's DNA sample while doing the testing.
DeWine's campaign sought to bolster its case by putting us into contact with Union County Prosecutor David Phillips, a Republican, who said that DNA evidence has recently taken longer than six months to be processed by BCI."
On average, we are waiting a long time -- sometimes even over a year for DNA evidence -- and during that time the case is just sitting there," Phillips said. The county prosecutor since 2005, Phillips said "I wouldn't say it's gotten any worse under Cordray's watch, but I wouldn't say it's gotten any better."
Phillips said his most recent DNA evidence-based case was a rape case where a suspect had been arrested, triggering a 90-day clock (about three months) under the constitutional provision for a speedy trial. He said he was on the phone "a lot" pressing the BCI lab to meet the 90-day window, which they did by only 10 days causing his office "anxiety" that the deadline would be missed freeing the suspect.
We find that DeWine’s statement is accurate when he states that the processing of DNA evidence is currently taking "up to six months," as at least the Marietta example far exceeds that window. Even Cordray's own statistics show that processing of DNA evidence stretches beyond six months in about 7 percent of cases, including at least three cases not shipped to an outside lab.
But the BCI statistics Cordray’s office provided show that more than 90 times in 100 the processing time falls somewhat short of "up to" six month mark cited by DeWine. Cordray’s staff also cites records that show that the turnaround time has dropped by about one-third. That's clearly additional contextual information not given by DeWine that tends to undercut the clear inference of his statement -- that DNA cases are dragging on for long stretches of time under Cordray.
Therefore, we rate DeWine's statement that DNA evidence is currently taking up to six months to be processed by the BCI crime lab to be Half True.
So, Mr. DeWine, when you only tell half truths, it will continue to come back and bite you in the butt because some people do take the time and trouble to investigate your allegations. By the way, you forgot to tell the good people of Ohio (in your flyer) that Mike DeWine hasn't prosecuted a case in a courtroom for over 30 years, did you? You also failed to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars that Richard Cordray has recouped for Ohio's public pension systems, didn't you? Funny how you leave things like that out, isn't it?
Next time, save your postage and send your bogus campaign flyer to someone who won't check out thevalidity contained therein. My mailbox deserves much better and....so do the people of the State of Ohio!
John Curry
Wapakoneta, OH
P.S. I also sent this to my fellow public educator retirees so that they will be informed of this half truth. They also appreciate our current Attorney General because of what he has done for us and for all of Ohio.
Dear Mike DeWine,
I have received a colorful Mike DeWine flyer in my mailbox today and want to discuss with you a half truth that it contains.
Half truth in your glossy ad:
"Under Attorney General Richard Cordray, evidence testing delays can last nearly a year."
Fact:
(as verified by Politifact.com)
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2010/aug/09/mike-dewine/gop-challenger-mike-dewine-says-bci-tests-delayed-/
BCI statistics provided by Cordray’s office show a small portion of DNA cases cases do drag on "up to six months" and even longer. Those records also show, though, that it's far from typical. The average turnaround time in processing DNA evidence has dropped from 100 days in 2009 to 71 days in 2010."
Sixty-five of 854 current DNA cases -- 7.6 percent -- have gone beyond the "up to" six months mark cited by DeWine. Of those 65 cases, 62 involve work being done by outside laboratories, which Cordray's office argues shouldn't count on their tally.
We also asked DeWine's campaign for evidence of "up to" six month delays. They pointed us to a trio of examples detailed in media reports.
We tossed out one because the case predated Cordray's time in office by six months.
The second was described March 26, 2010, in the Marietta Times. The article describes how the arrest of a suspect in the rape of a college student was delayed for nearly a year because of a backlog at the BCI lab.
Acting Chief Jim Weaver of the Marietta College police confirmed that "we got our match right around a year from when we gave the sample." The DNA evidence was sent to BCI on April 3, 2009, and returned to his office on March 16, 2010.
Weaver, the lead detective on the case, said BCI officials told him the 50-week delay was because "we didn't have anyone in custody and we didn't need it to keep anyone in jail, so it kept getting pushed back."
The third example from a WTOL-TV report May 3, 2010, focused on a lengthy delay in DNA evidence processing in the murder of 91-year-old Grace Kennedy in Bryan, Ohio.
Bryan police Capt. Paul Zawodny told us that the crime scene DNA evidence was received by BCI just hours after the Dec. 23, 2009, murder was discovered. The first DNA results came back April 5, 2010, a span of about four and a half months, Zawodny said.
The officer said part of the reason for the lag time was that prosecutors had to give the BCI lab permission to use all of a suspect's DNA sample while doing the testing.
DeWine's campaign sought to bolster its case by putting us into contact with Union County Prosecutor David Phillips, a Republican, who said that DNA evidence has recently taken longer than six months to be processed by BCI."
On average, we are waiting a long time -- sometimes even over a year for DNA evidence -- and during that time the case is just sitting there," Phillips said. The county prosecutor since 2005, Phillips said "I wouldn't say it's gotten any worse under Cordray's watch, but I wouldn't say it's gotten any better."
Phillips said his most recent DNA evidence-based case was a rape case where a suspect had been arrested, triggering a 90-day clock (about three months) under the constitutional provision for a speedy trial. He said he was on the phone "a lot" pressing the BCI lab to meet the 90-day window, which they did by only 10 days causing his office "anxiety" that the deadline would be missed freeing the suspect.
We find that DeWine’s statement is accurate when he states that the processing of DNA evidence is currently taking "up to six months," as at least the Marietta example far exceeds that window. Even Cordray's own statistics show that processing of DNA evidence stretches beyond six months in about 7 percent of cases, including at least three cases not shipped to an outside lab.
But the BCI statistics Cordray’s office provided show that more than 90 times in 100 the processing time falls somewhat short of "up to" six month mark cited by DeWine. Cordray’s staff also cites records that show that the turnaround time has dropped by about one-third. That's clearly additional contextual information not given by DeWine that tends to undercut the clear inference of his statement -- that DNA cases are dragging on for long stretches of time under Cordray.
Therefore, we rate DeWine's statement that DNA evidence is currently taking up to six months to be processed by the BCI crime lab to be Half True.
So, Mr. DeWine, when you only tell half truths, it will continue to come back and bite you in the butt because some people do take the time and trouble to investigate your allegations. By the way, you forgot to tell the good people of Ohio (in your flyer) that Mike DeWine hasn't prosecuted a case in a courtroom for over 30 years, did you? You also failed to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars that Richard Cordray has recouped for Ohio's public pension systems, didn't you? Funny how you leave things like that out, isn't it?
Next time, save your postage and send your bogus campaign flyer to someone who won't check out thevalidity contained therein. My mailbox deserves much better and....so do the people of the State of Ohio!
John Curry
Wapakoneta, OH
P.S. I also sent this to my fellow public educator retirees so that they will be informed of this half truth. They also appreciate our current Attorney General because of what he has done for us and for all of Ohio.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 6:16 PM
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