Influence of testimony by chemist downplayed State says wrongful deaths 'absurd'

Prosecutors call it "absurd" that any of 10 men convicted in Oklahoma County were wrongfully executed because Oklahoma City police forensic chemist Joyce Gilchrist was involved in their cases.

Gilchrist is the subject of investigations by the FBI and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation after being accused of misidentifying evidence and giving improper testimony in several cases.

Prosecutors say that no innocent individuals have been executed as a result of Gilchrist's forensic work or testimony.

A secret FBI report, disclosed Wednesday by The Oklahoman , stated that Gilchrist gave testimony "that went beyond the acceptable limits of forensic science" or misidentified hair and fibers in at least six criminal cases.

Forensic work and testimony by Gilchrist, a 21-year employee of the Oklahoma City Police Department, has been criticized for years by defense attorneys and appellate judges.

The FBI has recommended a review of all cases where Gilchrist linked hair or fibers with a suspect or victim and the evidence "was significant to the outcome of the trial."

Gilchrist's attorney, Melvin Hall, has said his client stands behind her work and will be vindicated. He did not respond to requests for comment Thursday and Friday.

Prosecutor David Prater is reviewing those cases for the Oklahoma County district attorney's office.

"I've looked at all 10 cases where prisoners have been executed. The evidence is overwhelming, absent any involvement of any police chemist," Prater said.

"The evidence is so that no reasonable jury wouldn't have convicted these prisoners and sentenced them to death.

"The district attorney's office absolutely does not believe anyone has been executed based on the testimony of the forensic chemist."

Doug Parr, board member of the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, doubts the district attorney's office could have conducted an adequate review of those cases.

"It cannot be done in a short period of time," he said. "They do not have the manpower or the time to review all of the trial transcripts, the trial evidence and evidence that developed during post-conviction appeals."

Prater said the district attorney's investigation is ongoing.

"The standard I looked at was: Would it have made a difference if the forensic science were absent?" Prater said.

The FBI was checking Gilchrist's work at the request of Oklahoma City Police Chief M.T. Berry. She is on paid administrative leave.

State Attorney General Drew Edmondson is reviewing death penalty cases that Gilchrist worked on. Edmondson has asked the OSBI to determine whether any state law was violated.

Parr said the defense attorney's association is planning its own review of the cases. An independent agency also needs to review them because the district attorney's office repeatedly sponsored Gilchrist as a witness despite harsh criticism of her testimony by judges and forensic experts, he said.

"That's the only fair and appropriate way to do this," Parr said.

Prater pointed out that the 10 cases involving an execution have been repeatedly reviewed on appeals.

"All of these people have been scrutinized over and over in the state and federal appellate courts," Prater said. "There are safeguards."

Jim Bednar, head of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, said he is more concerned about the cases Gilchrist worked on that didn't involve the death penalty. Death penalty cases are closely scrutinized by appellate courts but lesser crimes are not, he said.

"Once they get convicted, they don't get much of a look," he said.

Gilchrist has worked on as many as 3,000 criminal cases in her career, Bednar said.

Bednar has asked for $1 million from the state Legislature for the Indigent Defense System to investigate Gilchrist's forensic work.

Appellate courts often have criticized Gilchrist, saying she gave improper testimony. At least three defendants' convictions have been overturned because of her testimony, but all were convicted of other crimes or retried and found guilty of the same charge.

However, one inmate against whom Gilchrist testified soon may win his freedom after 15 years because of DNA testing. The FBI recently found that Gilchrist misidentified hairs in the rape case of Jeffrey Todd Pierce, and DNA tests of sperm samples show it wasn't his semen collected from the victim.

Gilchrist linked Pierce's pubic hairs with hair on the victim and her skirt. Gilchrist also said 28 head hairs found on the victim matched Pierce's.

The FBI discovered the pubic hairs do not exhibit the same microscopic characteristics as Pierce's pubic hairs. Several of the head hairs were examined and were not associated with Pierce's hair sample.

Pierce was convicted in 1986 of rape, sodomy, burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to prison for 54 years.

Gilchrist's involvement varies in the 10 death penalty cases where executions have occurred. In some, she gave key testimony that was criticized during the appellate process.

Prater contended Friday that there was plenty of nonforensic evidence against the executed defendants.

Gilchrist did the forensic work in the case where a Moore teacher was killed but Roger James Berget pleaded guilty to the crime.

"Obviously, if he pleaded guilty, an innocent man wasn't executed," Prater said.

In a case where Gilchrist was scolded by appellate judges, the chemist linked hair and blood evidence at the crime scene to murder defendants Mark Andrew Fowler and Billy Ray Fox - men who were convicted in the slayings at the Wynn's IGA in Edmond.

Gilchrist testified that a hair on the victim's ring matched hair from Fox, but a defense witness - a forensic expert from an independent lab in Chicago - testified at the trial and disagreed with Gilchrist's analysis of the evidence, particularly the hair on the ring.

Prater contends there was still overwhelming evidence against the men. Fowler claimed Fox committed the murders. A roommate testified Fox admitted killing "some people" and Fox led detectives to the knife used in the slaying and stolen items, according to the trial testimony.

Fowler's father is convinced that Gilchrist's improper testimony may have led to his son's execution.

"Had she not given the testimony that she gave, maybe they wouldn't have given my son death," said Fowler's father, Jim Fowler. "They'll do anything for a conviction. Oklahoma has got the lynch-mob mentality. It's barbaric."

Fowler and Fox were executed earlier this year.

CONTRIBUTING: The Associated Press

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