New twist in killer’s bid for DNA test
A Death Row inmate who claims DNA evidence would clear him of four Southern California murders committed 35 years ago appears to have moved a step closer to testing of his own DNA along with that of another potential suspect.
A lawyer for inmate Kevin Cooper says a second man, whose girlfriend linked him to the possible murder weapon, has made his own DNA available for testing along with Cooper’s. The lawyer, Norman Hile, also says a confidential witness told him the second man has confessed to the killings that sent Cooper to Death Row.
The development comes as Cooper and his lawyer await Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision on their request in February 2016 to approve the testing of Cooper’s DNA.
“We don’t understand why the governor isn’t willing to do what law enforcement would do — test to see who is the actual killer,” Hile said Mon-
day.
Brown has reportedly said he might leave the decision to his successor.
“You’re going to get a guy more liberal than me coming around the corner. Don’t worry,” Brown told New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who reported the comments over the weekend.
Brown was referring to the prospect that Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom would defeat Republican John Cox in next month’s election to succeed the termed-out governor. On Monday, Brown’s press secretary, Evan Westrup, told The Chronicle by email that “the information we receive from both parties will ultimately determine next steps, including whether there will be additional testing.”
Cooper, now 60, was convicted of fatally slashing Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and an 11-yearold house guest, Chris Hughes, in the Ryens’ home in Chino Hills (San Bernardino County) in June 1983. Cooper had just escaped from a nearby prison, where he was serving a sentence for burglary, and had hidden out at a home close to the Ryens.
The Ryens’ 8-year-old son, Josh, was stabbed in the throat but survived. He later testified that he recognized Cooper as the lone attacker. But while being treated for his wounds in a hospital, he communicated to a social worker with hand signals that the assailants had been three or four white men. Cooper is black.
He was eight hours away from execution in 2004 when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called a halt and ordered DNA testing of a bloody T-shirt found near the home. Cooper’s DNA was found on the shirt, and his death sentence was reaffirmed.
But in a 101-page dissent from the appeals court’s refusal to reconsider the case, Judge William Fletcher said Cooper “is probably innocent.” He said there was evidence that officers had tampered with the test to frame Cooper.
Fletcher also said another potential witness had told officers that her boyfriend, a convicted murderer named Lee Furrow, who is white, had worn a T-shirt like the one found near the murder scene and had a hatchet that resembled descriptions of the murder weapon. Police retrieved a pair of bloody coveralls from Furrow but later destroyed them without testing them, Fletcher said.
Cooper’s lawyers also want testing of the hatchet, a towel found near the T-shirt, and hairs found in the victims’ hands. State and local prosecutors’ offices have custody of the evidence, and only the governor can authorize DNA testing, since Cooper has lost all court appeals of his convictions and sentence. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., supports the request for testing, reversing a stance she took when she was state attorney general.
In a letter to both sides in the case in July, Brown’s legal affairs secretary, Peter Krause, said the requests “deserve the serious consideration they have received.” He also asked Hile, Cooper’s lawyer, if he had DNA samples from Furrow or any other alleged suspect, and questioned how tests showing DNA from unknown individuals who may have handled the evidence could resolve Cooper’s guilt or innocence.
Hile said Monday he told Krause he had contacted Furrow, who voluntarily gave a DNA sample. Kristof, who argued in an earlier column that Cooper had probably been framed, also reported the DNA sampling and said Furrow told him he “had nothing to do with the crime,” and wanted the testing “to clear my name.”
But Hile also said a confidential witness, whom he considers a “reliable source,” has told him Furrow admitted that he and two others committed the 1983 murders.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos’ office is due to file his reply to Brown’s office later this week. Separately, Ramos has asked federal courts to clear the way for Cooper’s execution.