ORLANDO, Fla. – Concerns about potentially tainted DNA may cause a problem for an upcoming murder trial in Orlando.
Benjamin Holmes is charged with killing a University of Central Florida student in 2001.
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Orlando police said they used DNA to connect Holmes to the crime and got hits on him twice.
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The case likely won’t get tossed out, but it will be a major issue for prosecutors who, so far, are relying on the DNA to prove their case.
Orlando Police said while DNA was used to help build a profile, it was eventually sent back to them and stored in property and evidence.
Christine Franke was a semester away from graduation at the UCF when she was found shot in the head inside of her apartment.
Orlando Police announced in November, 17 years later, they had finally arrested a suspect leading to unexpected closure for the family.
“I honestly, never thought they would find him,” Christine’s mother Tina Franke said.
Since then, Holmes has been sitting in the Orange County Jail, but now his attorney questions whether the DNA used to tie him to the case can be trusted.
Orlando Police said Holmes’ DNA from 2001 was sent to a private company called GEDMatch, which is a voluntary DNA database people use to trace their family tree.
But police also obtained new DNA from Holmes to be sure he was a match.
“There’s nothing else at all that links him to this crime, but the DNA, the contaminated DNA,” said attorney Jerry Girley. “So I would go in the other direction and say they’re grabbing at straws.”
In 2005, Eyewitness News and other media reported that containers used to collect and hold DNA samples were contaminated and reportedly arrived that way from the supplier.
But by the time the mistake was found, the containers had already been used for at least a dozen murder and rape cases, including Franke’s.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said at the time, cases were not in jeopardy because the DNA was reworked and cleaned up.
“I confess that I don’t have the technical or professional scientific knowledge to know how or if DNA, once contaminated, can be reworked,” Girley said. “But we certainly, before it’s all said and done, we will know all the answers to those questions.”
During a recent court hearing Holmes’ private attorney argued the state should pay for a DNA expert to help refute the case prosecutors are building to get a conviction, and a judge agreed.
Holmes’ trial is scheduled to start next month.
His attorney is expected to depose the lead detective in the case in a few weeks.
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