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                            The Associated Press

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

                    December 15, 2002, Sunday, BC cycle

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 1055 words

HEADLINE: Scientist's cases under review in 2 states after DNA clears man of
rape

BYLINE: By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: BILLINGS, Mont.

BODY:
In court on that day, Jimmy Ray Bromgard couldn't believe what he was
hearing.

On the witness stand, a forensic expert told jurors that hairs found in the
bedroom of an 8-year-old rape victim matched Bromgard's hairs. The chance
they belonged to anyone else, the expert said, was less than 1 in 10,000.

For the next 15 years, Bromgard sat in prison knowing the expert was wrong.
In October, he finally was freed after DNA evidence proved he was innocent.
"I always figured there was no way they could put me in prison because I
didn't do anything," Bromgard said. "His testimony convicted me. He should
be made to answer."

"He" is Arnold Melnikoff, a former director and 19-year veteran of Montana's
state crime lab.

Bromgard's exoneration has prompted a call for an audit of other cases
Melnikoff was involved in - both in Montana and in Washington state, where
he works now. An audit may yield more cases of wrongful conviction, say
attorneys for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal group that helped win
Bromgard's freedom.

Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the group, says if the claims against
Melnikoff's science are valid, then "any conviction that relies on his
evidence has its integrity undermined."

Citing potential litigation, Melnikoff declined to talk at length to The
Associated Press. In October, however, Melnikoff defended his work, saying:
"I did the best I could with the technology that was available at the time."

Melnikoff, 58, is on paid leave from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab
in Spokane pending the results of an audit of his work on up to 100 cases
there. An official termed the audit simply precautionary.

The case recalls others in which the work of a scientific analyst in a
criminal trial has been called into question.

In Oklahoma City, police chemist Joyce Gilchrist was fired last year after
an FBI report claimed she did poor work and provided false or misleading
testimony. She denied wrongdoing.

Fred Zain was facing fraud charges stemming from his career as an analyst at
the West Virginia State Police crime lab when he died this month. That
state's Supreme Court had said earlier that Zain may have lied or fabricated
evidence in dozens of cases.

Bromgard was convicted in 1987 of raping an 8-year-old girl in her bedroom
in Billings. A police officer believed Bromgard fit the description of the
attacker. The victim picked him out of a lineup and also identified him at
trial, although she acknowledged she wasn't completely sure.

Melnikoff testified that hairs recovered from the girl's bedroom matched
"characteristics" of Bromgard's hair.

The prosecutor asked how common it was for two people to have
"microscopically indistinguishable" hairs.

Melnikoff, whose resume lists training that included an FBI course on the
microscopy of hairs and another course in forensic microscopy, gave his
conclusion: It was his belief there was less than a 1-in-10,000 chance that
hairs found in the girl's bedroom came from someone other than Bromgard.

Walter Rowe, a professor of forensic science at George Washington
University, found that conclusion troubling.

"There's no scientific literature I'm aware of that says you can do that,"
said Rowe, who was part of a blind peer review of Melnikoff's testimony in
the Bromgard case.

DNA tests were not available at the time, and the combined testimony of the
victim and Melnikoff was enough for a conviction.

Bromgard was released after the Innocence Project helped arrange DNA tests,
which convinced McGrath, the state attorney general, and the Yellowstone
County prosecutor to ask a judge to dismiss his conviction.

McGrath said he is willing to review individual cases in which Melnikoff's
testimony proved crucial to the conviction. But he remains unconvinced an
exhaustive audit is necessary.

"My guess is, there are not a lot of Melnikoff's cases out there," he said.

His office is reviewing at least one case - that of Paul Kordonowy. He was
convicted of rape and aggravated burglary in 1990. Melnikoff provided hair
sample testimony during the trial that was similar to the testimony he
provided at Bromgard's trial, according to court records.

Melnikoff also testified about hair samples during a trial of Chester Bauer.
He was convicted of rape and aggravated assault, but later had his
convictions overturned, in part to DNA testing.

Bauer, who remains in prison for a crime unrelated to his overturned
conviction, has filed a lawsuit against the state and Melnikoff.

Kordonowy is serving time for a second rape that he pleaded guilty to, but
maintains his innocence in the 1990 conviction, his attorney said.

Jim Hutchison, a former colleague and now chief toxicologist at the state
crime lab in Montana, said Melnikoff had "very high moral standards and was
very meticulous in his work."

"I think it's unjust and unfair to question him as a scientist," Hutchison
said.

Harold Deadman, a forensic scientist who spent 25 years with the FBI in
various roles, said that while Melnikoff's conclusions on the probability of
hairs matching never should have been given, it doesn't automatically mean
Melnikoff did anything fraudulent. Melnikoff simply may not have been good
at hair examinations, he said.

"I think it could be a matter of lack of training, lack of testing, lack of
experience," said Deadman, who did hair exam training while with the FBI.
"The problem with hair examiners is, you don't know who's any good at it."

Bromgard said he has no plans to sue. But Neufeld said he expects to ask the
state Legislature to compensate Bromgard. Other states have provided
compensation averaging $100,000 for each year a person was wrongly
imprisoned, he said.

McGrath said he believes that there are only one or two other instances in
which Melnikoff testified about his conclusions on the probability of hair
samples matching; that's based on a review of court records and interviews
with crime lab personnel, he said. In both cases, the suspects were
acquitted, McGrath said.

Neufeld, though, believes there may be more cases.

"I'm disappointed that the powers that be in the criminal justice system
here have not immediately understood that there is no choice but to do a
comprehensive audit of the cases that Mr. Melnikoff was in," he said.

GRAPHIC: AP Photo MTBIL399 of Dec. 13

LOAD-DATE: December 16, 2002