Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Case Review Mjb topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DFS project identifies 7,572 cases worked by analyst Mary Jane Burton; notifications underway for convicted individuals
Summary
The DFS and the Virginia Crime Commission identified 7,572 unique cases listing Mary Jane Burton as examiner; the review team has confirmed 946 convictions to date and has sent notifications to incarcerated individuals and affected jurisdictions while continuing verification of thousands more cases.
Amy Jenkins and Dr. Christina Arrington updated the Scientific Advisory Committee on the ongoing review of cases where analyst Mary Jane Burton is listed as the examiner. Arrington said the Department and Crime Commission collapsed DFSrecords into 7,572 unique cases, of which 3,391 contain a named suspect; across those cases staff identified 4,191 named suspects.
Arrington provided current status counts: 946 confirmed convictions, 321 non-convictions and about 2,124 cases with conviction status still to be determined. She said 65 individuals across 75 cases have been confirmed as currently incarcerated and have received notification letters; notifications included hard copies of certificates of analysis and case lists mailed June 12 to 174 law-enforcement agencies covering 125 localities.
Jenkins described extensive outreach to stakeholders and the verification process: DFS and the Crime Commission have worked with the Virginia Department of Corrections, Commonwealths attorneys and circuit court clerks to verify conviction status; some jurisdictions have hired temporary staff or interns to support the review because agencies received hundreds of case requests. "We thought that they would get more information by seeing the actual hard copy of the certificate of analysis than what they may get from just a plain list of cases," Jenkins said about the June mailing.
The department has also initiated inmate-wide notifications to identify previously unlisted affected individuals; 27 inmates contacted the review team and five were added to the review after verification. Jenkins said the department will continue notifying convicted but not incarcerated individuals after completing conviction-status verification and will send a single notification letter encouraging recipients to consult counsel and explaining DFS cannot provide legal advice.
DFS said it will provide copies of files and results to interested defense organizations working with affected individuals and will proceed with DNA testing or reanalysis where evidence remains available and where parties agree or courts order additional work. The committee was told the project remains resource-intensive and a work-in-progress as staff verify jurisdictions, convictions and identify valid addresses for notifications.
