As we know the dog alerts mean nothing at all unless evidence is found which can be led in a court case.
As a complete amateur who knew nothing about cadaver dogs, I ripped the videos of the dogs to shreds in my mind the first time I saw them. Subsequent viewing reinforced that initial reaction, and I have often wondered how they would fare in an open court with an experienced lawyer taking them apart frame by frame.
In 1988 the DNA fingerprint was first admitted as evidence in court in the case of Florida v. Tommy Lee Andrews.
http://education.llnl.gov/bep/socsci/11/tEvi.html Elaine Doyle was murdered before DNA evidence was available for use in court and the contamination of crime scenes was less of an issue.
But that hasn’t stopped the defence team using such alleged mismanagement of the crime scene as part of their case.
A competent defence would in my opinion demolish any evidence collected from 5a, particularly at a remove of three months and when the subsequent occupancy is taken into consideration.
THE SCOTSMAN
Elaine Doyle muder hunt ‘hampered’ by blanket by BRIAN HORNE
Updated on the 03 April
2014 00:08 Published 02/04/2014 17:44
AN ATTEMPT to hide a dead schoolgirl’s naked body from prying eyes was a “potentially catastrophic blunder”, a murder trial has heard.
Elaine Doyle, 16, was found in a lane near her Greenock home more than 27 years ago.
The jury at the High Court in Edinburgh heard the strangled girl was covered with a blanket from a police car before being taken to the mortuary.
Retired detective inspector James Goldie, 76, yesterday vehemently denied he had covered the teenager’s body. “I am desperate to tell you I did not at any time cover the body,” he said.
Mr Goldie also insisted that he had not ordered anyone else to cover Elaine.
Defence QC Donald Findlay described the action as “a humanitarian thought”.
But the lawyer added: “That was a potentially catastrophic blunder by police at the scene.”
Mr Goldie replied: “I agree.”
Mr Findlay added: “It could have blown apart any chance there was of tracking down the real killer of Elaine Doyle.”
Mr Goldie was shown a number of statements he made during the long-running murder hunt. In June 2012 he told detectives that he had been informed residents in a building were looking over the scene.
Two men were also approaching the scene in a lane leading to lock-up garages.
Mr Goldie’s statement continued: “I told him – it was a young male officer – to go to tell the residents to move back into the house. He walked a few yards then turned to say he had some blankets in his panda car so I told him to place them on the garden side [fence] to hide the view of the body.”
Mr Findlay said the jury would hear “100 per cent guaranteed gold-plated evidence” that a blanket had covered the girl. He added: “Somebody should have the guts, the honesty, the integrity to come forward and say, ‘This was my fault’.”
On trial is John Docherty, 49, now of Dunoon, who denies murder. He claims that at the time he is alleged to have stripped and strangled the teenager, he was at home with his parents, who are no longer alive.
Docherty has also lodged a special defence of incrimination suggesting the culprit might be among a list of 41 names taken from files of the police investigation into the murder.
Mr Goldie agreed that police had a responsibility to ensure an innocent person was not wrongly incriminated or accused by corrupted evidence.
Mr Findlay said that whatever the motive was, covering the body was a mistake.
“Not only might it have removed evidence which might point to the guilty person, it might lead to evidence being brought into the crime scene which pointed to an innocent person.”
“Possibly,” agreed Mr Goldie.
The trial continues.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/elaine-doyle-muder-hunt-hampered-by-blanket-1-3362376
