Britain ‘and India,

|
i

THE RECENT acquittal of
Guy Paul Morin, the Ontario
man wrongly convicted of the
murder oof nine-year-old
Christine Jessop. has fueled
discussion on DNA evidence
und has re-ignited the great
Canadian capital punishment
debate,

The young girl was) brutally
killed in 1984. With the communt-
ty up in arms and demanding
results, the police arrested and
charged a Jessop family neighbor,
Guy Morin. :

At his first trial in 1986, Morin
was acquitted by a jury, The matter
was uppealed and a new trial
ordered. This trial took. place in
19923. After an eight-day delibera-
tion, the jury found Morin guilty of
the murder and he was duly sen-
tenced to life in prison.

Fortunately for.Morin, science
has evalved to the point that labo-
ratory. technicians were able to
compare the DNA from a drop of
semen in the murder victim's
underwear to a known sample from
Morin, The. DNA comparison
showed, conclusively, that Morin

“was not the killer of Christine
Jessop. —

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is
often referred to as a genetic fin-
gerprint. The manner of testing and
identification of specific DNA
‘Samples was made famous in
Joseph. Wambaugh’s best: seller,
‘The Blooding..The media farce in
Los Angeles, otherwise known as
the OJ. Simpson. trial, will
undoubtedly raise the profile of
_DNA. testing to an even higher
level.

The plain fact of the matter is
that everyone who walks the face
of God’s green earth has a separate
and specific DNA pattern. No one
else, living or dead will have the
same pattern. Hence the term

_ genetic fingerprint.
’ The loops, whorls and ridges of
;. @-person’s fingerprints have been
_ used in the detection of crime and
identification of criminals since
the early part of the 19th century in
then . under
British administration.
By the middle part of the 20th

century, most countries in the

‘ale ends March 31/95.

crime and
punishment

world had a mutually. cooperative
systen to file and retrieve finger-
print data.

Currently in Canada, everyone
who is arrested for an indictable
(more serious) offence is finger-
printed and photographed by the
police at the time of the arrest.

The prints are forwarded to
Ottawa, where the RCMP maintain
files on all those peuple. Every

time a new set of prints is received, :

they ure searched against the files
held to confirm the tdentity of the
accused person ave! accumulate the
criminal record associated with
that person,

Given the positive nature of the
DNA testing and identification

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accuracy, if would seem la be a
logical extension ta take a DNA
simple as well from the arrested
individual, From a legal point of
view, all that would be required is
wsimple amendment of the federal
Identification of Criminals Act.

The benefit to society would be
huge. In virtually every rape cise,
the suspect leaves behind DNA
simples in the fori of semen,

The police already seize. any
foreign hair or bodily fluid: sam
ples from the doctor doing the
medical exam of a rape victim.
Simply forwarding a sample to a
DNA faboratory would provide a
DNA analysis which could then be
compared to the files held by the
RCMP, much in the way they hold
fingerprint files. A computer

search of those files would, in most .

cases, yield the identity of the
rapist. A warrant would then be
issued to get the offender off the
streets.

This technological advantage
would not be limited to cases of
sexual assault either,

With virtually any crime, the
perpetrator leaves behind some
bodily fluid like blood, semen or

Pine Telephone or
Nightstand

Sided piny proes Vite?

922-3156

1554 Marine Dr., West Vancouver.

ADVERTISING
CORRECTION

DENIM EVENT - PROMO #421.
MARCH 8TH

On front cover - statement “35% to
45% off Prospector boots” is
incorrect as the savings quoted
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Page 2 - Exclusions are not clearly
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Levi's, Guess, Tornmy Hilfiger, Poto,
Dockers, Nautica, Gant, Claiborne
for Men, Alexander Julian and
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Page 3 - The images of the New
Attitude Classic or slim fit jeans
(top left of the page) and Hollywood
sandblasted western slim jeans
(bottom right of the page) have
been transposed.

Page 3 - Exclusions are not clearly
stated. Copy should read: Women's
Jeans* 25% off. Excluding Levi's,
Liz Claiborne, DKNY and Eaton's
Factory Outlet.

Due to supplier delivery problems,
the item listed below is not
available for immediate delivery.
However, orders will be accepted for
delivery by the date shown.

Page 7 - Attitude slide in black,
brown or navy nubuck, will be
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Que to supplier delivery problems,
the following item WILL NOT BE
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Page 22 - Brooks Concept, boys
running shoes.

However, we will substitute this
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Inadvertently, the errors listed
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‘inconvenience or confusion to our
customers,

EATON’S

skin Ussue.

Without geting inte a protract-
ed discussion oi the merits af cup-
ital punishment. it would: certainly

take the wind out af the sails of

those who argue against capital
punishment ciling the possibility
of executing the wrong person for
a crime.

In certain types of homicide
vases, stich as the Clifford Olson
wurders, there would be absolutely
no doubt.

Needless to say, there will be
opponents to this simple idea.
Those whose vested interests are
on the side of maintaining the sta-
tus quo, the obfuscation of facts

and arguing against admiting evi--

dence which would conclusively
prove guilt, would certainly not be
in favor of simplifying the process.

Society has suffered enough at
the hands of cold-blooded killers
and sexual deviants and those who
strive to keep criminals free. This
relatively simple legislative step
would go a long way to protect
Canadians from those who prey
upon the innocent,

986-9177 _

BC Rail,
MILA says

WEST VANCOUVER.
Gacibaldi tidependent: MLA
David Mitchell has cailed for
the privatization of North
Vancouver-based BC Rail as a
provincial debtreduction niva-
sure.

By lan Nable
News Reporter

Mitchell suid the $1.5-billion
company no longer needs state
protection in a March 7 letter to
Finance Minister Elizabeth Cull,

In 1994, net income was $40
million for the company which
runs rail transportation, deep-
sea terminal, telecommunica-
tions and real estate operations, -
said Mitchell.

He said the sate of BC Rail
would reduce the provincial
debt by at least $328 million.

WW. 3rd Street North Vancouver ae