Amaral and the dogs

[pegasus]

The apartment was Harrison's recommendation, but not the villa.

Why would it be?

Madeleine never lived there ....

The villa search warrant dated 2nd Aug authorises the searching for, and removal for investigation, of items. And that is what the search team did. The relevance is that many of these items were at the apartment on evening 3rd May.

[Brietta]

There may have been plenty of compelling circumstantial evidence against Lane, but Morse didn't alert to the sofa on which an unresponsive Bianca was seated prior to being placed in the vehicle. Morse did, however, alert to something non-specific in the bedroom she had been in prior to being placed on the sofa.
No cross-contamination on any clothes Lane was wearing or any other articles. Sound familiar?
http://law.justia.com/cases/michigan/court-of-appeals-published/2014/313818.html

I do think Lane was guilty, though - but not because of the cadaver dog evidence.

I wouldn't have had any compunction about finding him guilty had I been sitting on that jury.

I also am uneasy about the way dog alerts are beginning to be accepted more often in courts (USA and Scotland) almost as stand alone evidence.  Despite the caveats ... people will be taken in by them as more than just indications. 
To be credible they have to be consistent.  I missed the sofa but wondered about the clothes ... so if her scent was detected in the bedroom it had to be on the sofa and on everything Lane touched and wore.

[ferryman]

The villa search warrant dated 2nd Aug authorises the searching for, and removal for investigation, of items. And that is what the search team did. The relevance is that many of these items were at the apartment on evening 3rd May.

Search of the villa was mooted as far back as 23 July:

The output of this process of reconnaissance and review was a written document entitled “Madeleine McCann Search Decision Support Document” (see appendix 2) and submitted to the PJ with copies supplied to Leicestershire Police and NPIA on 23-07-07.
It recommended considering re searching:
 
- All accommodation occupied by the McCann family and their friends as well as any hired vehicles.
- The villa and garden occupied by Robert Murat and any vehicles he had access to.
- Areas of wasteland adjacent to Murat’s and the McCann’s apartment.
- Areas of the beach in Praia da Luz.
- A portion of the coastline east of Praia da Luz.

Why would all accommodation exclude the villa, especially when a prior reference by Harrison (unmistakably his recommendation) mentions only the holiday apartments (occupied by the McCanns and the rest of the holidaying friends)?

[ferryman]

This was Harrison's specific recommendation:

McCann's Apartment.

The apartment in which the McCann's had stayed may present further
opportunities to search. The use of a specialist EVRD (Enhanced Victim
Recovery Dog) and CSI dog (human blood detecting dog) could potentially indicate on whether Madeline's blood is in the property or the scent of a dead body is present. In relation to the dead body scent if such a scent is indicated by the EVRD and no body is located it may suggest that a body has been in the property but removed. This search process could be repeated in all the apartments that were occupied by the friends holidaying with the McCann's.
Murat's House and Garden.

His wording in respect of the villa is completely different: he makes plain that the decision is a collaborative process, rather than his recommendation.

[pegasus]

This was Harrison's specific recommendation:

McCann's Apartment.

The apartment in which the McCann's had stayed may present further
opportunities to search. The use of a specialist EVRD (Enhanced Victim
Recovery Dog) and CSI dog (human blood detecting dog) could potentially indicate on whether Madeline's blood is in the property or the scent of a dead body is present. In relation to the dead body scent if such a scent is indicated by the EVRD and no body is located it may suggest that a body has been in the property but removed. This search process could be repeated in all the apartments that were occupied by the friends holidaying with the McCann's.
Murat's House and Garden.

His wording in respect of the villa is completely different: he makes plain that the decision is a collaborative process, rather than his recommendation.

IMO it was the obvious thing to do, given the new intelligence gained on 1st Aug, to go to the villa and search for and examine items which had been at the apartment on 3 May. This can be compatible with various scenarios in which the parents are completely innocent. They were reportedly pleased that the search team went to the villa

[ferryman]

IMO it was the obvious thing to do, given the new intelligence gained on 1st Aug, to go to the villa and search for and examine items which had been at the apartment on 3 May. This can be compatible with various scenarios in which the parents are completely innocent. They were reportedly pleased that the search team went to the villa

Disagree.

I don't see how examination of a place Madeleine never lived in or went near, ever, could have advanced the investigation.

[Brietta]

IMO it was the obvious thing to do, given the new intelligence gained on 1st Aug, to go to the villa and search for and examine items which had been at the apartment on 3 May. This can be compatible with various scenarios in which the parents are completely innocent. They were reportedly pleased that the search team went to the villa

If they were pleased it was because they thought some progress might be made in finding Madeleine.

[ferryman]

Harrison made plain what he thought of the inspections at villa and gym by dismissing them as PJ exercises.

He did, at least, acknowledge that Grime and his dogs were involved in the inspections of the holiday apartments, which he recommended.

[ferryman]

I will bid you all a very good night (or early morning) 

Hmmmmm!

[pegasus]

Disagree.

I don't see how examination of a place Madeleine never lived in or went near, ever, could have advanced the investigation.

But they were not looking for the missing child there.

[Mr Gray]

Morse gets a fleeting reference in Grime's PdL profile as (then) a pup.

And here is an article from the Detroit Free Press and the Bianca Jones case:

ugust 24, 2012
The Detroit News
Christine Ferretti

Detroit — A canine expert whose dog allegedly detected a cadaver scent in the home of a missing toddler will be allowed to testify at the murder trial of the girl's father, a judge ruled Friday.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda R. Evans made the ruling after attorneys for D'Andre Lane spent more than two hours trying to discredit the relatively new scientific method. Lane is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Bianca Jones

"I believe the evidence offered is sufficient to go forward. The people should be allowed to demonstrate to a jury that your client was implicated in this particular murder," Evans told the defense. "I think your argument is to weight as opposed to admissibility."

The court Friday also denied a defense motion to halt proceedings in the case while the state Court of Appeals evaluates efforts by Lane's attorneys to have the case tossed out. The attorneys said they also plan to appeal Friday's ruling.

Two forensic canine experts testified Friday before Evans ruled to admit at trial the potential evidence, which is key for prosecutors in the case against Lane.

Danian Woodson, an attorney for Lane, tried to argue against the cadaver dog evidence. But Evans cut her off and denied the motion.

After the hearing, Woodson said the alleged evidence is "not admissible, not relevant, highly prejudicial and should be excluded."

Lane has claimed Bianca was in the back seat of his 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis on the morning of Dec. 2 when he was approached by armed carjackers near Brush Street and Grand River.

The vehicle was found shortly after, but the child was not inside. Her body has not been found.

Forensic canine expert Martin Grime testified Friday and at Lane's prior preliminary examination that he brought in his victim recovery dog, Morse, two days after the girl went missing. He said the dog detected a cadaver scent inside Lane's car, on the child's blanket and car seat, and in the girl's bedroom and Lane's home.

Grime said the dogs detect only the generic scent of human decomposition. The dogs, he said, cannot determine identity, age, race, gender or the rate of decomposition.

Grime testified in court Friday that Morse has never had a false positive response, and that testing done just prior and after the dog worked in the Jones case was successful.

"I believe that the testimony, his conclusion is based on principles and methods that have been in place for several years," Evans said of Grime.

Also Friday, Rex A. Stockham, a special agent for the FBI who oversees its forensic canine program, said the agency has been studying the science for about a decade.

The FBI began testing contract and volunteer teams for the human scent detection program in 2008, Stockham said. The agency has three full-time dogs working in the country.

The dogs are tested annually to ensure they meet best practices standards. Morse has only been tested one time, Stockham said.

Prosecutors allege Lane beat the toddler to death with an 18-inch stick with a towel wrapped in duct tape at the end over a potty training incident.

Lane's attorney, Terry Johnson, contends Lane did "spank" the child with the stick, but that there was no evidence of child abuse or murder since the girl's whereabouts is unknown.

Lane told Detroit Police he left his home around 7:45 a.m. Dec. 2. He dropped his nephew and 8-year-old daughter off before visiting a gas station, Wayne County Community College in Detroit and, with a friend, near the Greyhound bus station on Howard Street. The carjacking, Lane claimed, occurred just afterward, with only him and Bianca in the vehicle.

FBI agent Christopher Hess testified at Lane's preliminary examination that the defendant was unable to explain where he was for a 45-minute window around the time his daughter disappeared.

Lane's girlfriend, Anjali Lyons, has testified she awoke Dec. 2 to Bianca's screams as Lane used the stick to beat the toddler for urinating in bed. Later the same morning, Lane carried a silent Bianca to his car. She was covered with an animal print blanket.

Lane's trial is slated for Sept. 18.

so is Grime saying that Morse did detect cadaver scent or is it just poor reporting in this case

[ferryman]

But they were not looking for the missing child there.

If they were looking for anything at all, they would have been looking for a cadaver scent, but remember, uncorroborated dog alerts are not admissible as evidence in court.

So what would have been the point?

[ferryman]

so is Grime saying that Morse did detect cadaver scent or is it just poor reporting in this case

No, that's not poor reporting. 

The uncorroborated alert of Morse was accepted as evidence of death, that was the whole point of the controversy in the Bianca Jones case.

That is not standard US procedure; rather, one adopted by the US forensic canine program, by dogs, I believe, desensitised to the scent of blood.

ETA: the other safeguard in that case was that the car seat was taken out of D'Lanes car, wrapped in brown paper and hidden in offices for Morse to sniff out a second time, which he did.

D'Lanes clothes were similarly treated, but NOT found by Morse.

[slartibartfast]

In a nutshell, the handler of a dog trained to alert to the scent of dead bodies says that the dog alerted in places in 5a and a dog trained to alert to the scent of blood did not alert in the same place.

[ferryman]

I wouldn't have had any compunction about finding him guilty had I been sitting on that jury.

I also am uneasy about the way dog alerts are beginning to be accepted more often in courts (USA and Scotland) almost as stand alone evidence.  Despite the caveats ... people will be taken in by them as more than just indications. 
To be credible they have to be consistent.  I missed the sofa but wondered about the clothes ... so if her scent was detected in the bedroom it had to be on the sofa and on everything Lane touched and wore.

I Scotland (I think) uncorroborated dog alerts are accepted as evidence, but not as stand-alone evidence.

There must be other, corroborating, evidence, rather like DNA.