Joyce Gilchrist (January 11, 1948 – June 14, 2015)[1] was an American forensic chemist who had participated in more than 3,000 criminal cases in 21 years while working for the Oklahoma City Police Department,[2] and who was accused of falsifying evidence to help prosecutors.[3][4] Her evidence led in part to 23 people being sentenced to death, 12 of whom have been executed.[3] After her dismissal, Gilchrist alleged that she was fired in retaliation for reporting sexual misconduct.[5]

Biography

Gilchrist earned the nickname "Black Magic" for her ability to match DNA evidence that other forensic examiners could not.[3] She was also known for being unusually adept at testifying and persuading juries, thus obtaining convictions.[3][6] In 1994, Gilchrist was promoted to supervisor from forensic chemist after just nine years on the job,[3] but her colleagues began to raise concerns about her work.[3][7][8]

Concerns about Gilchrist's actions were first raised when a landscaper, Jeffrey Todd Pierce, who had been convicted of rape in 1986 largely based on Gilchrist's evidence despite a clean criminal record and good alibi, was exonerated based on additional DNA evidence.

Pierce, a husband and the father of two infant children, was misidentified in a police line-up. After voluntarily giving hair and blood samples to the police investigators in an attempt to clear his name, he was arrested and charged with the rape. Gilchrist claimed his hair samples were "microscopically consistent" with the hairs found at the crime scene. Pierce was cleared of the crime in 2001 after DNA evidence was re-examined, and released after 15 years in prison. Pierce subsequently filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma City, seeking $75 million and charging that Gilchrist and Bob Macy, a now-retired district attorney, conspired to produce false evidence against him.[5][9] The suit was settled for $4 million in 2007, with one Oklahoma City councilman noting that the city could have had to pay much more.[10]

Dismissal

Gilchrist was dismissed in September 2001 due to "flawed casework analysis" and "laboratory mismanagement".[8]

She consistently denied any wrongdoing and was never charged with any crime.

Aftermath

Other cases from individuals convicted on Gilchrist's testimony continue to work their way through the courts.

  • Michael Blair was sentenced to die for the murder of a young girl in 1993.[11] The evidence leading to his conviction included shafts of hair found near the girl's body and in Blair's car.[11] New DNA evidence showed that the hair matched neither the girl, nor Blair.[11]
  • During the early 1990s, Oklahoma state law did not allow defense attorneys to use government funds to hire other forensic scientists to verify Gilchrist's claims. However, during appeals of Malcolm Rent Johnson's death penalty case, two forensic experts hired by the defense were critical of Gilchrist's testimony, particularly as it relied upon several "blue-colored hairs" that seemed too "ubiquitous" to be useful evidence.[12]
  • Curtis McCarty was released in 2007 after spending nearly 20 years on death row. The courts found that Gilchrist acted to either alter or intentionally lose evidence. McCarty sued Gilchrist for her wrongdoing, but his case was thrown out on technical terms,[13] like those of most exonerees.[14]
  • In June 2018, Johnny Edward Tallbear was released after 26 years in jail for a murder he did not commit. Gilchrist testified under oath that Tallbear's blood matched that found at the scene of the crime. DNA testing showed this to be incorrect.[15]

Over 1,700 cases in which Gilchrist's evidence was significant to conviction were reviewed by the State of Oklahoma.[5][9] Gilchrist's attorney stated that, "The criticism of [Joyce Gilchrist] around here is second only to that of Timothy McVeigh."[3] After her dismissal, Gilchrist filed a lawsuit seeking $20.1 million, claiming that her firing was actually motivated by revenge, after she reported sexual misconduct by her supervisor.[5]

The 12th-season Law & Order episode "Myth of Fingerprints" was inspired by Gilchrist's case.[16]

Death

After her dismissal, Gilchrist relocated to Houston, where she worked for a candle-making company. She died in Texas on June 14, 2015.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  2. ↑ Yardley, Jim (May 2, 2001). "Inquiry Focuses on Scientists Employed by Prosecutors". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Luscombe, Belinda (May 13, 2001). "When The Evidence Lies". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  4. ↑ Franklin E. Zimring (2003). The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 0-19-517820-3. Retrieved May 8, 2009. Joyce Gilchrist.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Police Chemist's Suit Says Firing Was Retaliatory". The New York Times. April 26, 2002. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  6. ↑ Fuhrman, Mark (2003). Death and Justice. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-073208-3. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  7. ↑ Dwyer, Kevin; Fiorillo, Juré (2006). True Stories of Law & Order: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show. New York: Berkley Boulevard. p. 220. ISBN 0-425-21190-8. Retrieved May 8, 2009. Joyce Gilchrist.
  8. 1 2 "Police Chemist Accused of Shoddy Work Is Fired". The New York Times. September 26, 2001. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  9. 1 2 David Kohn (July 24, 2002). "Under The Microscope". CBS News. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Man gets $4 million over wrong rape conviction". NBC News. January 24, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 Scheck, Barry; Neufeld, Peter (May 11, 2001). "Junk Science, Junk Evidence". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  12. ↑ Yardley, Jim (September 2, 2001). "Oklahoma Retraces Big Step in Capital Case". The New York Times. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  13. ↑ "FindLaw's United States Tenth Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  14. ↑ "Compensation for the Wrongly Convicted – The Innocence Project". www.innocenceproject.org. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  15. ↑ Schwab, Kyle (11 June 2018). "OKC man walks free after 1992 murder conviction vacated". Oklahoma City Star. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  16. ↑ Harness, Jill (May 23, 2011). "4 Crimes That Inspired Law & Order Episodes". Mental Floss. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  17. ↑ Keaton Fox (August 28, 2015). "Former forensic scientist, accused of forging evidence in hundreds of cases, dies". KOKH. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Graham Lee Brewer (August 31, 2015). "Disgraced Oklahoma City police chemist Joyce Gilchrist dies". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
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