California Cold Cases Reopened: Alameda County Police announced Tuesday that convicted murderer Eugene Protsman, 56, currently serving a life sentence for the brutal 1997 murder of a Southern California woman, is now eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted on the latest charges he faces for two Northern California cold cases. Investigators believe Protsman stabbed Alameda residents Manuel Garcia, 59, because he thought he was a police informant, and Diane Ely, 54, during an attempt to steal her car. Protsman became a suspect in the case after he used the name of Ely's fiance as an alias, but it was Sgt. Kevin McNiff's reopening of the case last year and new DNA evidence that allowed authorities to link Protsman to the crimes. AP reports in the SF Chronicle.
New DNA Analysis Technology is Faster and Cheaper: Justin Fenton of the Baltimore Sun reports the Baltimore Police Department is taking part in a program that could significantly speed up DNA analysis time and use less resources. The device will indicate to lab techs which samples are worthy of further analysis and will more quickly distill crime scene samples into categories, such as blood or sweat. The technology is at least a year away from being usable and won't be implemented for cases during the pilot phase, but officials hope it will be cleared for use if successful. The technology uses "microfluidics," an area of emerging research that has been used in academia and the private sector, but not yet in police labs. The type of DNA testing conducted will not be compatible with the FBI's Combined DNA Indexing System database, but experts say technicians could move forward with such comparisons after screening results.
Cyberbulling to be same as Manslaughter in New York: Bradford Schmidt of Newsmax reports on legislation presented by New York State Sen. Jeffrey Klein that would expand the definition of third-degree stalking to include cyberbullying, which it defines as "causing fear of harm or emotional distress using electronic communications to a person under 21." It would also add to the definition of second-degree manslaughter the crime "Bullycide," or cyberbulling that pushes someone to commit suicide.
New DNA Analysis Technology is Faster and Cheaper: Justin Fenton of the Baltimore Sun reports the Baltimore Police Department is taking part in a program that could significantly speed up DNA analysis time and use less resources. The device will indicate to lab techs which samples are worthy of further analysis and will more quickly distill crime scene samples into categories, such as blood or sweat. The technology is at least a year away from being usable and won't be implemented for cases during the pilot phase, but officials hope it will be cleared for use if successful. The technology uses "microfluidics," an area of emerging research that has been used in academia and the private sector, but not yet in police labs. The type of DNA testing conducted will not be compatible with the FBI's Combined DNA Indexing System database, but experts say technicians could move forward with such comparisons after screening results.
Cyberbulling to be same as Manslaughter in New York: Bradford Schmidt of Newsmax reports on legislation presented by New York State Sen. Jeffrey Klein that would expand the definition of third-degree stalking to include cyberbullying, which it defines as "causing fear of harm or emotional distress using electronic communications to a person under 21." It would also add to the definition of second-degree manslaughter the crime "Bullycide," or cyberbulling that pushes someone to commit suicide.
Leave a comment