Deceased/Not Found Canada - Alvin, 66, & Kathy Liknes, 53, Nathan O'Brien, 5, Calgary, 30 Jun 2014 - #26
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MistyWaters
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Do each of the three pieces of paper appear to you to be the same length in the photo?
The piece by the "larger" shoe print also seems to me to be longer, indicating the reason both the paper and the shoe print appear larger is possibly just due to photo distortion, considering closer proximity to the camera.
Power of Two
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I feel certain that matou is correct. In medicine we have packages of disposable rulers. Like sticky notes with measurements on it. They are used to measure the length and sizes of wounds and bruises, etc. in metric measurements. They have space on them to write details of names and dates and such. These white strips look much like them.
http://www.procarenow.com/Wound-Measuring-Paper-Rulers-Box-of-250_p_9469.html
MistyWaters
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While I might come across as defensive, I believe Garland has total competence in the defence services received from Kim Ross and team. But if anyone might wonder, just google his name. Us, the general public at this point in time have been given only mere snippets of this case, by way of tweets and a few photos by the media.
But for the fact that the defence chose no defence in my opinion is a statement towards the seriousness of a crime that simply lacked any reasonable defence. Calgary police and prosecution worked hard to leave no gaping loopholes. That Garland will be prosecuted for his crime (hopefully) is a great example of the justice system at work.
While we might wonder why Garland didn't plead guilty, we could look at it the other way. Only because he pled Not Guilty were we given an opportunity to glimpse all that goes into solving a crime of this type, plus the intensity of the work performed by the CPS and all the other witnesses. Their work was absolutely amazing in my opinion, and Garland gave them the opportunity to illustrate it through their testimony.
While that doesn't bring back the victims, I can only imagine it's also heartwarming for the family to hear testimony of that high level of diligence that was put forth by CPS and partners, on the behalf of Alvin, Kathy and Nathan. As a result the family is able to receive closure of some sort.
IMO
But for the fact that the defence chose no defence in my opinion is a statement towards the seriousness of a crime that simply lacked any reasonable defence. Calgary police and prosecution worked hard to leave no gaping loopholes. That Garland will be prosecuted for his crime (hopefully) is a great example of the justice system at work.
While we might wonder why Garland didn't plead guilty, we could look at it the other way. Only because he pled Not Guilty were we given an opportunity to glimpse all that goes into solving a crime of this type, plus the intensity of the work performed by the CPS and all the other witnesses. Their work was absolutely amazing in my opinion, and Garland gave them the opportunity to illustrate it through their testimony.
While that doesn't bring back the victims, I can only imagine it's also heartwarming for the family to hear testimony of that high level of diligence that was put forth by CPS and partners, on the behalf of Alvin, Kathy and Nathan. As a result the family is able to receive closure of some sort.
IMO
Tealgrove
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There is no doubt in my mind that Kim Ross is doing the best job possible based on the circumstances. You cannot defend when there is no defence. It's not like he's got a lot to work with. All you can do is make sure DG gets a fair trial and that evidence that is presented was collected within the law. He has done that.
I've never thought that Kim Ross was doing a poor job. I guess my only surprise in this is that Kim Ross took the job in the first place. It's not like he needs to make a name for himself as he's quite well known.
The defence lawyers I have met are a very different breed of lawyer. IMO, they aren't doing it to make a name or to be famous or because they believe in the innocence of their client etc. They believe purely in every defendant's right to a vigorous defence. They are kind of like a priest to the accused - they are not judgmental, they don't say "oh, you're too creepy or evil for me to defend" - they are often the one and only person or team prepared to stand with the loathsome accused.
I am acquainted with a family whose adult child was accused and convicted of a terrible crime. We knew the accused very well, and the accusation came as a big surprise to us, and certainly to the parents. They had a very good defence lawyer who accompanied them through a very bewildering, scary experience.
The accused is always someone's son or daughter, and believe me, if it was your child accused, even if you are very sure of their guilt, you would seek the best legal representation possible, and you would be grateful for this strange breed of lawyer fully prepared to stand with despicable criminals to see their rights are fully represented.
IMO
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I am acquainted with a family whose adult child was accused and convicted of a terrible crime. We knew the accused very well, and the accusation came as a big surprise to us, and certainly to the parents. They had a very good defence lawyer who accompanied them through a very bewildering, scary experience.
The accused is always someone's son or daughter, and believe me, if it was your child accused, even if you are very sure of their guilt, you would seek the best legal representation possible, and you would be grateful for this strange breed of lawyer fully prepared to stand with despicable criminals to see their rights are fully represented.
IMO
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MistyWaters
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Thanks. Calgary has also received a fair bit of controversy recently in terms of the quality of policing. I got to say this case left me feeling overall it's in good hands. So I can't help but wonder that CPS didn't mind Garland pleading Not Guilty either, for the benefit of the PR it possiblly may have given them if others feel the same way as me.
PrincessButtercup
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One of my good friends is a prominent criminal defense lawyer in Calgary, we've had this discussion before as I've defended him in public forums before. Knowing him helps me understand why lawyers take these cases. It's their inherent belief in the justice system that makes them take the cases. The belief that it is their job to ensure that LE and the Crown do their jobs well. Can you imagine if LE and the Crown could just do whatever they wanted without anyone to protect the rights of the accused? LE could just barge into your house and search without anyone calling them out. In cases like this lawyers are integral in the process, it lessens the occurrence of innocent people being maliciously prosecuted in the future, it ensures that LE is always making sure that they are conducting investigations with the highest integrity. So when Garland is found guilty we can be confident that the verdict won't be overturned on some stupid technicality.
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I do not think DG appeared (even wearing one of blond wig) at his enemies estate sale while he did not even want talk about Likneses. But even if I'm not sure he would have been welcomed... Allowing to what you are stating we could say the same if his DNA or handprints would have been found... And what if he left his scent somehow on one of bed sheets where the blood of victime (s) was found?
PrincessButtercup
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This prominent criminal also defended a homeless alcoholic who needed to deal with a minor pot and peeing in public charge so he could go to rehab just because I asked for some advice on legal aid. He also provided free legal services to my grass roots homeless organization when we were having issues with the city. He was ready to file and pursue a human rights case for us free of charge.
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MistyWaters
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Good point, possibly why CPS didn't waste time and energy dusting things for fingerprints such as door jams or furniture.
As far as sniffer dogs being used as evidence to demonstrate that someone's scent in the air as being present in a certain location, I'm just guessing but I highly doubt that would be admissible evidence in itself. The air sample would also have to be extremely fresh as air is constant motion, or what if it blew in with the wind? Do each of us have a unique smell? I don't think that's ever been proven.
Otherwise if a dog alerted to, say the presence of an accused, say on bedsheets, then the police would follow up by obtaining DNA. It's something associated to the human that the dog probably alerted to, right? Fingernail, hair, flakes of skin. That's the role of police dogs, they alert (or track) and then police hope to locate evidence in the locations that the dogs identify. But the evidence isn't simply the dog alerting if nothing else is ever found, if I'm making any sense in what I'm attempting to explain.
Air samples sort of remind me of the Casey Anthony case and the sniffer machine that was never proven to be a reliable science.
Added - Tracking dogs do appear to sniff the air, but aren't they actually able to smell the subject from distances away, because of their keen sense of smell?
Answering your question about dogs ability to detect one specific individual:
Among species that show remarkable olfactory detection ability, dogs have long been used in a variety of forensic areas [4–8]. In particular, the ability of dogs to identify and discriminate between human odours has long been documented [9] and numerous experimental studies have shown that dogs are able to detect, identify and memorize the odour of a particular person with high specificity.
Human scent identification is based on a matching-to-sample task in which trained dogs are required to compare a scent sample collected from an object found at a crime scene to that of a suspect. Based on dogs’ greater olfactory ability to detect and process odours, this method has been used in forensic investigations to identify the odour of a suspect at a crime scene. The excellent reliability and reproducibility of the method largely depend on rigor in dog training. The present study describes the various steps of training that lead to high sensitivity scores, with dogs matching samples with 90% efficiency when the complexity of the scents presented during the task in the sample is similar to that presented in the in lineups, and specificity reaching a ceiling, with no false alarms in human scent matching-to-sample tasks. This high level of accuracy ensures reliable results in judicial human scent identification tests. Also, our data should convince law enforcement authorities to use these results as official forensic evidence when dogs are trained appropriately.
In addition, studies have shown that human scent can persist and maintain its main chemical features for a significant period of time in a particular place or/and on an object that was manipulated by a subject [12–15].
Exploiting the fact that a person’s odour is left at every location, object or pathway with which the person has come into contact [21], the uniqueness and persistence of human scent have been used forensically, in line-ups, to identify particular human scents found at crime scenes.
If the target scent of the suspect in the line-up matches the evidence scent, the dog shows a typical conditioned response (usually, sitting or lying down) at the target station.
[h=3]Judicial cases (court cases)[/h]Judicial cases identification task.
About 15 minutes before the start of the judicial case task, human olfactory matching-to-sample performance was evaluated on a pre-case proficiency test. For this, dogs were tested on 3 line-ups of human odours with a procedure similar to continuous training. All dogs present in the French DTSP facilities (Ecully, France) since 2007 underwent this test, and those that showed 100% accuracy ([CRs + Hits] / total) in correct responses were enrolled in the judicial case identification task.
The purpose of the identification task was to make a match between a TS collected from a crime-scene object and the scent collected from a suspect or victim (BS or TS). The general procedure was similar to continuous training except that 2 matching combinations were used: TS/BS (79.8% of cases) and BS/TS (20.2% of cases). Probe tests were inserted between trials. Positive identification was noted in the official report when the dog lay down in front of the jar containing the matching odour. In that case, the line-up was repeated by the dog and the trial was recorded by a video camera. In case of a Miss, the trial was considered negative and the technician noted absence of identification. A Miss response meant that the dog did not match the sample with the target, but did not necessarily imply that the target scent was not present in the sample or that the suspect was not present at the crime scene. Hits and Misses were always confirmed with 100% consistency by the other dogs working on the same case (the same day or some days later). When the dogs completed all of the tests, the scent identification was officially validated and the report indicated whether an association had been made between the scent from the suspect and the collected evidence scent.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146963
And that's a good question! It was said it was about the patent, DG not being paid for his work on the pump and that Allen and Alvin stole the property from the farm (apparently the pump prototype). If I recall that well Allen in his testimony said that Alvin said to DG that he was too slow so they gave up on him and that he was paid for his job. But the truth is that the only person who knows exactly what was DG upset about with Likneses is DG himself.
MistyWaters
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Marmo14 in regards to sniffing odours related to this case, are you aware of any one Canadian or U.S. Police Force with a dog that's proven reliable in sniffing out the guilty by odour alone? Because I'm not, regardless of tests or studies seemingly completed in France.
Most certainly Calgary doesn't have one. That's not to take away the credit owing to Sully, who alerted to various key locations on the Garland acreage where evidence was then found.
I have to say I certainly hope the day never comes where proving a case is a simple matter of a dog pointing out who's guilty based on sniffing a crime scene.
Most certainly Calgary doesn't have one. That's not to take away the credit owing to Sully, who alerted to various key locations on the Garland acreage where evidence was then found.
I have to say I certainly hope the day never comes where proving a case is a simple matter of a dog pointing out who's guilty based on sniffing a crime scene.
K9 Suspect Discrimination: Training and Practicing Scent Identification Line-Ups by Adee Schoon and Ruud Haak. Calgary, AB: Detselig Enterprises. (HV 8025 S365 2002)
http://www.jibc.ca/sites/default/files/library/pdf/Police_Dogs_-_JIBC_Library.pdf
MistyWaters
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Perhaps you might explain the purpose of your link and it's connection to this particular case?
It was the CCTV of the truck, published in the media, noticed by Garland's sister as matching her brothers that resulted in the identification of Garland as a possible suspect.
Had that not occurred, and instead the CPS chose the route of a lineup (if that's what you're suggesting???...), CPS would've had no reason to include Garland in it, regardless of how any possible suspects in the lineup were identified.
Wow, excellent eye Marmot, in noticing the seemingly different sizes of the left and right suspect shoes! As another poster mentioned, I too thought it was just the camera distance which was making the one 'appear' to be larger. I turned the pics though, and it is very clear that the two shoes are very differently sized. How bizarre!
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