D'oh!

There are stories in the world that are hard to characterize. They are part gallows humor, part slapstick, part poetic justice, part irony, and part Schadenfreude.

Some of the stories are strange, or candidates for someone's Darwin Achievement Award, Oberman's Worst Person in the World or, my favorite, Stupid Criminal Tricks, but the common thread is that someone gets owned.

I can think of no better description that is both vague and yet says it all than from one of our most astute social commentators, Homer Simpson. Today's D'oh! goes to:

Today's D'oh! goes to: Willie Herman

Court Allows DNA Evidence Against Donor

In 1999, Willie Herman gave a DNA sample after being charged with robbery. He voluntarily submitted the sample through his public defender, and the evidence led to his acquittal on the robbery charge.

After the trial, the district court directed that all of Herman's property be made available for pickup. Herman could not collect his belongings because he was serving time in prison on a different charge. His attorney made no effort to collect Herman's property.

Herman's DNA results were then entered into a criminal database without his knowledge or permission.



In 2000, law enforcement officials retested the blood evidence found at Leslie Carter's murder scene and matched it to Herman's DNA. ---D'oh!

Carter was found dead in a bathroom in a park along the Truckee River. Blood that was not Carter's was found in the bathroom, but no DNA match could be made in the database in 1997.

On appeal, Herman said the DNA evidence obtained at his robbery trial was inadmissible at his murder trial. The Nevada Supreme Court found that prosecutors correctly argued that Herman consented to the use of his DNA sample and so waived any potential privacy interests.

Herman was sentenced to life without the chance for parole for the murder of Leslie Carter in a Reno park in 1997.