Lake Co. Prosecutor Ignores DNA Evidence

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Dec 15, 2008 7:45PM

Although Michael Mermel is head of the Criminal Division at the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, he does not seem to understand what DNA is. The Tribune looks at three different cases where Mermel continues to prosecute the suspect, even though DNA evidence indicates that the person is not a viable suspect.

In justifying the continuation of the prosecution of these cases Mermel suggests alternative stories that could render DNA evidence irrelevant. One of these theories is that an 11-year-old girl may have had consensual sex. He also suggests that semen found inside a 68-year-old woman’s underwear was not indicative because it was not found inside her, just in the underwear. Best of all, Mermel also suggests that an 8-year-old may have gotten DNA (aka semen) inside her body while playing in the woods fully clothed in an area where people apparently go to have sex.

Generally, prosecutors abandon cases when DNA evidence eliminates a suspect from contention, mainly because it is a waste of time and money to continue to attempt to convict them. Oh, and there is also that possibility that these suspects could still be found guilty and could wind up going to jail for crimes they didn’t commit. If he wants to convict someone that badly, I’m sure we could think of someone he could take off our hands.

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