This is huge: DNA clears Riley Fox's dad who was accused of her rape and

[wndycty]

. . .murder.

The poor man has sat in jail for a year accused of raping and murdering his daughter, very very sad.

Official: DNA tests clear Kevin Fox

By Deborah Horan
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 17, 2005, 1:13 PM CDT

Charges will be dropped today against Kevin Fox, accused of the sexual assault and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley, according to an official in the Will County state's attorney's office.

"The DNA test results are in, and it looks like it's going to exclude Kevin Fox," said the official, who asked not to be identified.

The results were returned Thursday and are to be disclosed at a 1:30 p.m. emergency hearing requested by the state's attorney's office at the Will County courthouse in Joliet, the official said.

He was not prepared to say if the test data implicate anyone else, noting other DNA tests need to be done.
-snip-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050617fox,1,1726752.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[Nordmadr]

1. It took a year to do a DNA test?

:wtf:

Olaf

[DemNoir]

2. Uh OH

Nancy Grace is not going to like this!

[iconoclastic cat]

3. Great, so now her murderer must be miles away.

That blows.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. Who knows if the real murderer has already struck again? Very sad.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. Good god, the guy lost his daughter and then sat in jail for a year

on a bad conviction.... whoa!

[wndycty]

5. No conviction. . .

. . .awaiting trial.

[BlueEyedSon]

7. i guess thats a bit better

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. Except now he's going to have to explain to potential employers...

...why he was "unemployed" for a year, and know what I do about employers, he will have a very difficult time.

I hope he sues the crap out of them.

[mondo joe]

6. Thank goodness this isn't a case in which they try to keep the charges

against the poor man in place.

I saw one of those on a documentary about DNA evidence - they tried to keep the poor man in jail by insisting there might have been more than 1 rapist so absence of DNA did not acquit him.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. They waited a YEAR?!

Why?! They could've possibly done so much more on finding who really did the crime!!!!!! UGH!!! DISGUSTING!!!!

[wicket]

9. Why the hell did it take them so long to do the DNC test???

All the while this innocent man sat in jail :grr:

[Rainscents]

10. It looks like, Nancy Grace (Witch) is WRONG again!!!

Hahaha

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. Nancy DisGrace is wrong?? Gee....what a complete surprise! NOT.

[BiggJawn]

27. Maybe he can sue CNN for Libel?

Nancy sure does like to try and dispense with the unnessecary problems of a trial before she throws the switch on these men, doesn't she?

But here's a serious question. The Georgia Bar reprimanded her a few times while she was a Prosecutor for the kind of sloppy behavior her fans just love to see on her Teeee-Veeee show. Now, since part and parcel of her shtick is that she was a "successful tough-on-crime" prosecutor in Atlanta, would it be correct to say that she reflects poorly on the Georgia Bar, and could they/would they possible censure or dis-bar her for "conduct unbecoming" or some such?

[elehhhhna]

11. Backlog of DNA test'g may have hurt public (Houston rapist left free 1 yr)

Backlog of DNA testing may have hurt public
Prosecutors say rapist committed another crime during a delay of 1 1/2 years
By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
© HoustonChronicle.com

When Aldo Penaflor raped a 9-year-old girl in Houston's East End nearly four years ago, he left behind a telltale piece of evidence: his DNA.

Soon afterward, an unrelated case landed Penaflor's name and genetic code on file in the FBI's database of 1.6 million criminal profiles, the place police can go to match known criminals with unsolved crimes.

Yet Penaflor remained free for a year and a half because of delays in getting the evidence in his case tested and checked against the massive national database. During that time, prosecutors alleged during his trial last month, he abducted and raped a woman, an 18-year-old who was walking home from school.

The case underscores problems Houston police, like other law enforcement agencies across the country, have in processing DNA evidence: Hundreds of old DNA samples remain untested at the Houston Police Department crime lab, and it can take up to a year from the time detectives identify DNA evidence, such as semen or fingernail scrapings, before it is analyzed, uploaded and cross-checked.

[wakeme2008]

12. pics

[jobycom]

13. Wanna know why? It's even more disgusting

Katherine Zellner, the attorney representing Kevin Fox, said on Wednesday that she believes the timing of Fox's arrest was politically motivated, with the Will County State's Attorney Jeff Tomczak wanting to make a "big arrest" in the midst of a tight race in Will County.

Tomczak is up for re-election in a closely watched race. Prosecutors have charged his father, a former Water Department commissioner, with bribery and fraud, in connection with the Hired Truck scandal.

There have also been recent charges that Tomczak used city workers as campaign volunteers. Just days ago, he responded to those charges in an interview with NBC5's Phil Rogers.

http://www.nbc5.com/politics/3866420/detail.html

The man spent a year in jail and a child murderer is free to prey again, because some jackass was trying to cover a scandal before the election?

[eternalburn]

14. Kevin Fox is Innocent: website link....

http://kevinfoxisinnocent.com/

[Kraklen]

16. I wish people wouldn't believe what they see on CSI.

You can't just put a saliva sample in a machine and instantly see who did it.

[wakeme2008]

19. Well it would help if they SEND the DNA to the right lab..

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/041105_ns_riley_fox.html

April 11, 2005 — Possible DNA evidence that could prove Riley Fox's father guilty or innocent was not tested, a violation of a court order. Kevin Fox has been charged with killing his daughter. The evidence was supposed to be sent to an independent lab for testing but was not.

..more at link....

[wakeme2008]

20. Charges dropped against father in Riley Fox case

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/061705_ns_kevin_fox.html

June 17, 2005 — Confronted with a DNA test that didn't match, authorities dismissed murder charges Friday against a Wilmington man prosecutors had accused of drowning his 3-year-old daughter.

Kevin Fox was released from Will County Jail within an hour of a brief court hearing to drop the charges. Fox had insisted he was innocent in the June 2004 drowning and sexual assault of his daughter, Riley

...more at link...

[lateo]

21. Time for this guy to lawyer up and sue the shit out of them.

[AngryAmish]

23. He is well lawyered up

Katherine Zellnor is one of the best attorneys in the state. And a proud alumus of Northern Illinois University Law School. Anyway, she is one of the few around here who do both criminal and civil cases. I have seen her work in civil cases and she gets 5 stars in my book.

[returnable]

22. Yet further proof that coercion does not produce reliable intelligence...

...hello, Gitmo.

:kick:

[AngryAmish]

25. Not to flame

But torture does work. Morally reprehensible, yes. But it really does work.

[jayfish]

24. Kevin Fox: 'I Did Not Kill My Daughter'

http://www.nbc5.com/news/3876561/detail.html

<SNIP>
"I was kept in a locked area for approximately 14 ½ hours. I was told by the investigators that if I did not give a statement saying I was involved in my daughter's death that they "knew inmates at the jail" that would make sure that I was (expletive) every day I was there."
</SNIP>

Musta learned their tactics at Gitmo.

Jay

[BiggJawn]

26. 14 and a half hours of interrogation, and threats of Rape....

Damn right they learned their trade at Gitmo. Or maybe they were the teachers?

They arm-twist a "confession" out of this guy so the Prosecutor can hold him up as a campaign banner, but he loses. Now the new prosecutor was trying to use him for HIS "Tuff on Crime" poster-boy...

Hope Fox winds up OWNING Joliet. Won't bring his daughter back, but it might make it easier to bear.