Murder conviction nixed in ‘junk science’ bite mark case
PITTSBURGH – A judge overturned a Pennsylvania woman’s conviction and 15- to 30-year prison sentence in a 2001 murder after the bite mark expert who testified against her at trial told the judge his findings were “junk science.”
Fayette County Judge John Wagner issued that decision Thursday in the case of 38-year-old Crystal Dawn Weimer, of Connellsville.
She was convicted of third-degree murder in 2006 after a man imprisoned in the January 2001 beating death of Curtis Haith testified that Weimer lured Haith to his fatal beating. A dental expert, Dr. Constantine Karazulas, also testified that a bite on the victim’s hand matched Weimer.
The witness has since recanted and the dentist said he’s changed his mind, too, saying bite mark evidence can only be used to rule out suspects, not conclusively match them to bites.