Champion judge to decide on witness
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
November 19, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/champion-judge-to-decide-on-witness/article_01169dbc-5b13-11e7-ac88-10604b9f0f42.html
CADIZ — Following a Daubert hearing Friday to determine if testimony from a forensic witness would be admissible at trial in the case against Ryan Champion — an Oak Grove man accused of conspiring to murder his family and killing his alleged co-conspirator — Judge C.A. "Woody" Woodall tabled his ruling until he reviewed the pertinent materials.
Champion, 36, was charged in 2014 with murder, three counts of complicity to murder and one count of kidnapping after the bodies of his father, Lindsey Champion, 62; mother, Joy Champion, 60; sister, Emily Champion, 31; and his alleged accomplice Vito Riservato, 22, were found at the Champion family home on Old Dover Road in Trigg County.
The witness in question was Kentucky State Police forensic scientist Jack Reid, who appeared in court to explain his analysis of duct tape collected from the crime scene.
"Submitted to me was duct tape from the legs of Emily Champion, the hands of Emily Champion, the face of Emily Champion and the duct tape from Ryan Champion," he said. "I also received a partial roll of duct tape (collected) from the kitchen floor and duct tape from behind the table."
Reid, who is a trace supervisor at the KSP forensic lab in Frankfort, said his analysis began with a visual appraisal of the tape.
"I looked at the duct tape from Ryan Champion," he said. "I wanted to see how many sections were there, what the ends looked like, the color of the tape and the overall characteristics. ... Then I wanted to see if the tape could have come from the roll so I looked at the roll of tape microscopically — color, length, width, that type of thing — to see if a physical match could be performed on it."
A physical match, Reid said, refers to the matching of edges.
"In a physical match you're looking at the edges of the tape," he said. "You're trying to put those edges back together to see if they were a single piece. It's the strongest type of match there is."
In this case, Reid said his analysis concluded the tape collected from Ryan and his sister likely came from the same source.
"I determined that a physical match could occur," he said. "The torn edges of the duct tape gave enough points of comparison where I was able to render a conclusion that the two pieces were once a single piece."
In addition to his testimony regarding his analysis, Reid also provided copies of several forensic journal articles and studies that spoke to the methods used in a physical match test and the validity of such testing.
Champion's defense team, which requested the hearing to determine if the science behind the duct tape analysis was sound, questioned the test's reliability, as well as Reid's training and experience.
Reid said he's been employed at the forensic lab about 16 years, and the practice of physical match testing has been used at the lab approximately 40 years.
The defense also raised questions regarding the probability of the test resulting in a false positive, the chances of which, Reid testified, were low.
Also discussed were several motions filed by Champion's defense team, including a motion requesting another postponement of the trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 20.
Woodall set a hearing date for Dec. 19 to address those motions.
In Ann L. Plotkin's case, a trial date was set for Oct. 9.
Plotkin, Champion's co-defendant, was charged in 2015 with three counts of complicity to murder after police said she either helped facilitate the murders or knew of the plan and did nothing to intervene.
Plotkin's defense team also addressed a motion it filed requesting the commonwealth provide a Bill of Particulars, which is basically a detailed statement of charges specifying what Plotkin is accused of having done. Woodall denied that request, stating that information can be found in the discovery already provided by the commonwealth.
Champion, 36, was charged in 2014 with murder, three counts of complicity to murder and one count of kidnapping after the bodies of his father, Lindsey Champion, 62; mother, Joy Champion, 60; sister, Emily Champion, 31; and his alleged accomplice Vito Riservato, 22, were found at the Champion family home on Old Dover Road in Trigg County.
The witness in question was Kentucky State Police forensic scientist Jack Reid, who appeared in court to explain his analysis of duct tape collected from the crime scene.
"Submitted to me was duct tape from the legs of Emily Champion, the hands of Emily Champion, the face of Emily Champion and the duct tape from Ryan Champion," he said. "I also received a partial roll of duct tape (collected) from the kitchen floor and duct tape from behind the table."
Reid, who is a trace supervisor at the KSP forensic lab in Frankfort, said his analysis began with a visual appraisal of the tape.
"I looked at the duct tape from Ryan Champion," he said. "I wanted to see how many sections were there, what the ends looked like, the color of the tape and the overall characteristics. ... Then I wanted to see if the tape could have come from the roll so I looked at the roll of tape microscopically — color, length, width, that type of thing — to see if a physical match could be performed on it."
A physical match, Reid said, refers to the matching of edges.
"In a physical match you're looking at the edges of the tape," he said. "You're trying to put those edges back together to see if they were a single piece. It's the strongest type of match there is."
In this case, Reid said his analysis concluded the tape collected from Ryan and his sister likely came from the same source.
"I determined that a physical match could occur," he said. "The torn edges of the duct tape gave enough points of comparison where I was able to render a conclusion that the two pieces were once a single piece."
In addition to his testimony regarding his analysis, Reid also provided copies of several forensic journal articles and studies that spoke to the methods used in a physical match test and the validity of such testing.
Champion's defense team, which requested the hearing to determine if the science behind the duct tape analysis was sound, questioned the test's reliability, as well as Reid's training and experience.
Reid said he's been employed at the forensic lab about 16 years, and the practice of physical match testing has been used at the lab approximately 40 years.
The defense also raised questions regarding the probability of the test resulting in a false positive, the chances of which, Reid testified, were low.
Also discussed were several motions filed by Champion's defense team, including a motion requesting another postponement of the trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 20.
Woodall set a hearing date for Dec. 19 to address those motions.
In Ann L. Plotkin's case, a trial date was set for Oct. 9.
Plotkin, Champion's co-defendant, was charged in 2015 with three counts of complicity to murder after police said she either helped facilitate the murders or knew of the plan and did nothing to intervene.
Plotkin's defense team also addressed a motion it filed requesting the commonwealth provide a Bill of Particulars, which is basically a detailed statement of charges specifying what Plotkin is accused of having done. Woodall denied that request, stating that information can be found in the discovery already provided by the commonwealth.
