COA Reverses Oakland Circuit on Right to DNA Testing
Yesterday, the Michigan Court of Appeals rendered its published opinion in People v Gilbert Lee Poole, Jr. , Docket No. 315982 , holding that Poole was entitled to DNA testing of blood samples preserved from the scene of a 1988 homicide. The interesting aspect of the case is the fact that, in Poole's 1989 trial in Oakland County, blood typing of blood found at different areas of the scene had already excluded Poole as the source of the blood, and the jury was informed of that fact. Yet the jury still found him guilty of the murder. Poole has a fairly rare blood type of AB, which represents only about 3% of the population. The victim's blood type (O) was found in many areas of the crime scene, and the investigators found no type AB blood. However, one blood sample, found on a rock in the victim's pants, was type B, matching neither Poole nor the victim. Poole had petitioned the trial court on two separate occasions for DNA testing of the blood samples, and eac...