Calaveras Sheriff’s Department makes an arrest for indecent acts against minors going back to at least 2008.

On December 7th, 2022, 54 year old Michael Allen Kasperson was arrested in Napa, California, on charges involving rape, lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years, sexual penetration with force fear, etc., sodomy and touching a person intimately against their will for sexual arousal. The block below was taken from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s arrest page.

Although arrested in Napa County jail, a quick search for Kasperson, shows a current Valley Springs address on Paloma Road and a prior address on Alder Street. Not Since the George Mulligan case several years ago, have I seen so many charges filed against an individual. In this case are are 68 counts and a large number of enhancements filed against Kasperson for acts going back to 2008. Seven (7) counts are for acts that allegedly took place 3/12/2013, 5/2/2013 11/21/2013. The first two dates framame the April 27, 2013 death of Leila Fowler.

Until the present felony charges filed on 12/8/2022 (Case number 22F8610), Kasperson only had a couple of traffic cases in in Calaveras County.

It is unlikely that DNA or fingerprint samples were entered into any forensic data base as a result of the traffic cases. It will be interesting to see if his finger prints match the as of yet unidentified prints found on the door and door frame leading into the bedroom where Leila Fowler was murdered. It will be at least equally interesting to learn if Kasperson’s DNA matches the unidentified DNA found on Leila Fowler’s body.

As you can see in the booking information provide above, Kasperson is 6’1″, 260 lbs. Isiah Fowler described of the man he said he saw leaving the house on Rippon Road as being big.

If anyone else has additional information about Kasperson you can contact me confidentially through this blog

The DNA “Bio-Bank” you may have contributed to and didn’t even know it.

Since 1983, every child born in California has had a heel pricked and blood drawn, tested and then stored. The process of blood collection, which exists in one form or another in all 50 States, begins as the Newborn Genetic Screening Test (NGST) for dozens of childhood congenital health issues. If treated early enough the diseases can be cured or at least the impact can be lessened. What also happens is that the blood samples may be sold to outside researchers or used by law enforcement to catch criminals.

According to Julie Watts at CBS station, KPIX (https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/california-biobank-stores-baby-dna-parents-unaware/), the length of time the samples are retained and what may be done with them varies from state to state. In California, the samples are kept indefinitely.

Parents sign a waiver before the blood is drawn and they also have the option to have their child’s samples withdrawn after testing. The fact is that during the flurry of things going on at the time of birth, parents are usually unaware of what they are signing.

When I read about this data base, I thought (hoped) it might be a much broader and more fertile version of the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (AKA CODIS.) This system has become extremely well known since it was used in conjunction with Genealogical DNA searches to crack the Golden State Killer case.

In the case of CODIS, DNA samples are taken from a criminal (usually violent offenders) and tested. The results are then put into a huge data base and unidentified DNA can be run against samples to see if they match. If the matches are partial they can also be run against other commercial data bases such as 23 and ME or Ancestry.com to search possible relatives as part of genealogical searches that have cracked many cases.

When I read Watts’ article on the CBS Channel 13, Sacramento website, I got very excited. Two cases that I have spent years being involved with have unidentified DNA that does not match anything in CODIS. I immediately contacted Julie and she tried to let me down gently.

It turns out that the NGST doesn’t work like CODIS. The “Bio-Bank” that is the result of the NGST is a collection on cards with dots of blood on them and they are not tested to develop DNA profiles. These cards are of use to law enforcement if there is genuine suspect who had a child from 1983 to the present. Then law enforcement could ask to take a sample from the blood taken from the child of the suspect to see if it is a partial match to the DNA found at a crime scene or scenes. That would give law enforcement a leg up on using NGST samples to solve a case, but it is less likely for defense team to use the data base to exonerate a client. Remember, it is not the job of defense council to find the real criminal, although in Leila Fowler case and the Shanker Patel it seems that despite the overwhelming paucity of forensic evidence to support the convictions, we will have to walk the real killers right into the courthouse in order to exonerate our clients.

The NGST “Bio-Bank” is maintained in California by the Department of Public Health. You can opt out of the program and the Julie Watts’ article has information on how to do that. (See the link provided above.)

The Tale of Two Tapes

As part of the discovery provided to the defense team in the Leila Fowler murder case there was recording of the 911 to Isiah Fowler from the 911 operator on the morning of April 27, 2013. The recording was accompanied by a written transcript.

The 911 operator called Isiah rather than the customary other way around, because Isiah first called his parents and they in turn immediately called 911. Isiah’s parents then provided the home landline number to the 911 operator and the operator called Isiah.

In the recording provided to the defense the 911 operator can be heard to ask Isiah to describe the intruder he claimed entered the house. Isiah can then be heard to say that “he was wearing black.” The accompanying transcript says the same thing. Whoever transcribed the 911 call heard the same thing the defense team did when they received the tape.

When the prosecution made it’s opening statement, it began by simply playing a version of the 911 call that had Isiah saying “he was black.” Not that “he was wearing black.” This caused an immediate controversy.

Both sides retired to the Judge’s chambers and played the copy given to the defense. The judge admitted that he heard Isiah say, “he was wearing black.” The parties then went to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Dispatch center to listen to what the prosecution was the original copy. That version seemed to omit the word “wearing.”

However, the 911 call was taken by the CHP in Stockton and Calaveras County picked up a copy from the source. The source was not Calaveras County Sheriff’s Dispatch Center.

Someone working for the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department or the Calaveras County District Attorney’s office heard the same version of the 911 call provided to the defense and transcribed what they heard as “wearing black.”

That person’s identity was never disclosed and I would like to talk with that person about his or her experience.

If anyone has any knowledge of who transcribed the 911 call or has knowledge of whether or not a copy still exists with CHP please contact me.

The Nature of False Confessions

Confessions are often the foundation of convictions in any criminal justice system. Juries find it difficult to accept that people, regardless of age or mental capacity, will admit to engaging in a crime that they did not commit. Nevertheless, history is replete with examples of that being the case. A podcast hosted by Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin, the co-directors of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, explains just how false confessions occur. (You can also see Nirider and Drizin in the Netflix series, Making of a Murderer.)

The podcast, called Wrongful Convictions: False Confessions can be found by clicking on this link: https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/false-confessions.

If you enjoy crime podcasts, you will enjoy this one.

Sentence Handed Down in the George Mulligan Sexual Abuse of a Minor Case.

As reported by Dakota Morlan of the Calaveras Enterprise, a sentence was handed down this morning for 3 counts of sexual acts with a child under the age of 14 dating back to 2010.

“George Edwin Mulligan will serve 84% of his 15-year sentence, totaling roughly 12-and-a-half years behind bars.

Mulligan was arrested at his home in 2018 and charged in incidents dating back to 2010. He pleaded guilty to three out of 32 counts with which he was initially charged.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Timothy Healy sentenced the defendant to eight years for forcible oral copulation with a minor under the age of 14 in 2010, six consecutive years for oral copulation on a minor under the age of 14 against her will in 2011, and one consecutive year for committing a lewd and lascivious act on a minor under 14 years of age “with the intent of arousing, appealing to and/or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of the defendant, who was at least 10 years older than the minor,” in 2011.

The remaining charges, which included forcible rape and sexual penetration, were dismissed by motion of the Calaveras County District Attorney’s Office.”

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzGkXwDNMlflJPHXKLJXPmKVfMhS

Mulligan Case Update

The 1/25/21 Trial Setting Conference held in the George Mulligan child molestation case was once again continued until Monday, 3/1/21.

Cities of Blood Podcast and the Isiah Fowler Story.

I had the pleasure of joining the attorney who has steadfastly represented Isiah Fowler since 2013 to discuss his case at length on the Cities of Blood Podcast.

You can view the podcast at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Be5rFlQ_aE&fbclid=IwAR2jOvU3YchWC8O-6wX83touXtWSpSCBrhMEBCOp8eUi0Fof9KsWLEfqDVA

Mulligan Sexual Abuse of Minors Trial Update.

A Trial Setting Conference was held on November 16th in the George Mulligan Child Molestation case in Calaveras County. The only posted result is that another Trial Setting Conference was scheduled for December 7th, 2020.

I would be surprised if anything more happens before Christmas.

George Mulligan Sexual Abuse of Minors Case Update

The George Mulligan case involving more than 10 counts of oral copulation with a minor, had a Trial Setting Conference today, 9/21/20 in Calaveras County Superior Court. The result is that another Trial Setting Conference was set for 11/16/20 at 8:30 AM.

George Mulligan Trial Setting Continued

Today’s trial setting conference in Calaveras County Superior court regarding multiple counts of child molestation against George Edwin Mulligan produced nothing of real consequence. The hearing was continued until 8:30 AM on September 21, 2020.