Governor Gavin Newsom Orders Additional DNA Testing in the Kevin Cooper Case
At one point, Kevin Cooper was eight hours away from execution. Now, he might be closer than ever to being released.
[Kevin] Cooper was convicted of the first-degree murders of Franklyn Douglas Ryen, Peggy Ryen, his wife, Jessica Ryen, their 10–year old daughter, and Christopher Hughes, an 11–year old neighborhood friend of Joshua Ryen, the Ryen’s 8–year old son who was brutally assaulted but lived. Following his conviction, Cooper was sentenced to death.
I’ve been reporting on the Kevin Cooper case since January 2016 when I first noted the parallels between his case and the Steven Avery case, the biggest one being that both men have claimed that the presence of the preservative EDTA in blood found on key items proves that their blood was planted by the police. In the Cooper case, this led to poorly handled blood testing, with a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) concluding that “[s]erious issues remain with respect to the conditions under which the testing was done and the withdrawal of the results that would have been favorable to Mr. Cooper by the state-appointed lab with no possibility for the defense to probe or challenge the reasons or validity of the withdrawal.”
My last report on the Kevin Cooper case came in December 2018, where I noted that outgoing Governor Jerry Brown
ordered new tests of physical evidence in the case of Kevin Cooper, whose high-profile quadruple-murder conviction three decades ago has come into question in recent years.
Brown said in a statement that he was directing “limited retesting of certain physical evidence in the case [a tan T-shirt, an orange towel, a hatchet handle and a hatchet sheath] and appointing a retired judge as a special master to oversee this testing, its scope and protocols.”
Today, new Governor Gavin Newsom went even farther.
Specifically, Newsom ordered additional testing in the Kevin Cooper case:
As noted by the Los Angeles Times:
Newsom’s order requires the DNA testing and analysis of untested hairs from the victims’ hands and the crime scene, a blood vial, a blood drop, fingernail scrapings from the victims and a green button.
“I take no position regarding Mr. Cooper’s guilt or innocence at this time,” Newsom said in the order. “Especially in cases where the government seeks to impose the ultimate punishment of death, I need to be satisfied that all relevant evidence is carefully and fairly examined.”
Like Governor Newsom, I take no position regarding Kevin Cooper’s guilt or innocence. I’m just glad we will have additional testing that can hopefully dispel (or confirm) his guilt.
(For additional reading, I would strongly recommend Nicholas Kristof’s piece on the Kevin Cooper case for the New York Times last May)
-CM