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Henry Lee (forensic scientist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisLee.
Henry Lee
Lý xương ngọc
Lee in 2013
Commissioner of the
Connecticut Department of Public Safety
In office
1998–2000
GovernorJohn G. Rowland
Personal details
Born(1938-11-22)November 22, 1938(age 85)
Rugao,Jiangsu, China
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Taiwan
Spouses
  • Margaret Lee
    ​
    ​
    (m.1962;d.2017)​
  • Xiaping Jiang
    ​
    (m.2018)​
Education
OccupationForensic Scientist

Henry Chang-Yu Lee(Chinese:Lý xương ngọc;pinyin:Lǐ Chāngyù;born 22 November 1938) is a Taiwanese-Americanforensic scientist.

Early life and career

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The 11th of 13 children, Lee was born inRugao,then a county in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. He relocated to Taiwan at the end of theChinese Civil War.His father, who was traveling separately from the rest of the family, diasappeared when the passenger shipTaipingsank. Lee graduated in 1960 from theCentral Police Collegewith aB.A.degree in police administration. He worked with theTaipeiPolice Department, where he rose to the rank of captain at age 22, the youngest in Taiwanese history.[1]

Lee relocated to the United States with his wife in 1965.[2][3]In 1972, he earned aB.S.inforensic sciencefromJohn Jay College of Criminal Justicein New York City. He went on to study science andbiochemistryatNew York Universityand earned hisM.S.in 1974 andPh.D.in biochemistry in 1975.

Career

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Lee was chief emeritus for theConnecticut State Policeduring 2000 to 2010, commissioner of Public Safety for Connecticut during 1998 to 2000, and Connecticut's chief criminalist and director of the state police forensic laboratory from 1978 to 2000.

In 2004, a crime documentary series hosted by Lee,Trace Evidence: The Case Files of Dr. Henry Lee,aired on the thenCourt TVnetwork (now truTV).[4]He has appeared on Chinese television and online programs such asKangXi Lai Lein Taiwan, andVoiceandBeyond the EdgeinChina Central Televisionon mainland China.[5][6]

His biography,True Crime Experiences with Dr. Henry Chang-Yu Leewas authored by attorney Daniel Hong Deng ofRosemead, California.

He is the founder of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, affiliated with theUniversity of New Haven.[7]

Famous cases

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He has worked on famous cases such as theJonBenét Ramsey murder case,theHelle Crafts wood chipper murder(the first murder conviction in Connecticut without the victim's body,[8]) theO. J. SimpsonandLaci Petersoncases, the9/11 forensic investigation,theWashington, DC sniper shootingsand reinvestigated theassassination of John F. Kennedy.

Lee investigated theMarch 19, 2004 shooting incidentof Taiwanese PresidentChen Shui-bianand Vice PresidentAnnette Lu.

Following the O. J. Simpson case, Independent CounselKenneth Starrhired Lee to join his investigation of thedeath of Deputy White House Counsel Vince FosterinFort Marcy Parkon July 20, 1993.

He also was consulted on the 1991 death of investigative journalistDanny Casolaro,who died in aWest Virginiamotel room. Initially, Lee said the evidence presented to him by police was consistent with suicide. A few years later when additional evidence from the hotel scene was revealed to him, Lee formally withdrew his earlier conclusion and stated, "a reconstruction is only as good as the information supplied by the police.”[9]

Lee was consulted as a blood spatter analyst for defense during thetrial of Michael Peterson,a fiction writer and politician from North Carolina who in 2003 was convicted of the murder of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.

In 2007, Lee testified as a prosecution expert witness at the first trial ofCal Harris,anupstate New Yorkcar dealer accused of killing his wife on the night of September 11, 2001. Since no body has ever been found, the state's best evidence of foul play was some medium-velocity castoff impact blood spatter on the walls of the house's garage and kitchen. Lee told the jury that it could only have come from someone lower than 29 inches (740 mm) above ground. Harris was convicted at that trial, and a retrial after new evidence emerged,[10]but ultimately acquitted at a fourth trial after his conviction was overturned on appeal.

In 2008, Lee was involved in the early stages of investigation inOrlando, Floridafor the missing toddlerCaylee Anthony.[11]

Phil Spector trial

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In May 2007, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler, the judge in thePhil Spectormurder trial, said that he had concluded "Lee hid or destroyed" a piece ofevidencefrom the scene of actressLana Clarkson's shooting. Lee denied the allegation, and "when he testified before Fidler, Lee said he was astonished and insulted by claims by two former members of Spector's defense team that he had collected a small white object that was never turned over to prosecutors, as the law requires."[12]University of Southern California law professor Jean Rosenbluth said that Judge Fidler's ruling was "very narrow" and noted that the judge had made no finding that Lee had lied on the stand or acted maliciously.[12]

Allegations of error

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In June 2019, the Connecticut Supreme Court concluded that Lee had erred in the murder-trial testimony of (then) teenagers Shawn Henning and Ralph Birch;[13]Lee said a towel tested positive for blood, but he had not tested it all. Later tests found no blood.The Daily Beastquestioned additional cases in which Lee had testified.[14]At a June 17 press conference, Lee said that he had tested the towel, adding that chemical screening tests for blood had been done at the crime scene on the date of the homicide.[15][16]

In July 2023, a federal court found that Lee had fabricated evidence in the Henning-Birch trial. Lee could be held liable in forthcoming civil suits. Henning and Birch spent 30 years in prison before being cleared of the crime.[17]

Personal life

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Lee resides in Connecticut, where he lived with his wife Margaret Lee, whom he married in 1962, until her death on August 1, 2017. His wife worked as a teacher and then a researcher for theUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsMedical Center inWest Haven, Connecticut.[18]

Lee remarried on December 1, 2018 to Xiaping Jiang, CEO of Jiadi (Hong Kong) Co., Yangzhou Jiadi Clothing Co., Ltd, and Yangzhou Jiadi Senior Care Center.[19]

References

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  1. ^"Mayor honors forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee".Taipei Times.21 December 2004.Retrieved20 January2018.
  2. ^"Letting the Evidence Speak".Taiwan Today.1 April 2015.Retrieved20 January2018.
  3. ^"About Central Police College".Central Police University.October 15, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon October 23, 2008.
  4. ^MCN Staff (2003-09-18)."Court TV Collects Trace Evidence".Multichannel News.Retrieved2024-06-19.
  5. ^"Khai giảng lạp thị tần".CCTV-1.CCTV.Retrieved2017-12-11.
  6. ^"Thiêu chiến bất khả năng đệ nhị quý thủ hiệt".CCTV.Retrieved2017-12-11.
  7. ^"Front Page".The Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science.Retrieved2020-01-25.
  8. ^ The Woodchipper Wife Killer.Crime Stories.2008.
  9. ^John Connolly."Dead Right".Spy.No. Dec 1992–Jan 1993.
  10. ^People v. Harris,2011 NY Slip Op 6045(N.Y.A.D3rd 2011).
  11. ^"Casey Anthony defense team files expert witness list".Orlando Sentinel.December 1, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon October 16, 2023.
  12. ^abCourt TV (December 31, 2007)."Spector murder trial: Misstep could haunt renowned scientist".CNN.
  13. ^Robinson, C. J. (June 14, 2019)."SHAWN HENNING v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION (SC 20137)"(PDF).Connecticut Law Journal.RetrievedAugust 3,2023.
  14. ^"How Many Murder Cases Did Celeb Forensic Scientist Henry Lee Botch?".The Daily Beast.June 24, 2019.RetrievedAugust 3,2023.
  15. ^"Forensic scientist Henry Lee: No false testimony in murder case".New Haven Register.June 17, 2019.
  16. ^"Judge finds forensic scientist Henry Lee liable for fabricating evidence in a murder case".AP.July 21, 2023.RetrievedAugust 3,2023.
  17. ^"U.S. Court: Forensic scientist Henry Lee liable for fabricating evidence that sent two teens to prison for murder".Hartford Courant.22 July 2023.
  18. ^"Wife of Dr. Henry Lee Mourned".Patch.4 August 2017.
  19. ^"Judge Gill back in courthouse to conduct a wedding".Litchfield.bz.December 3, 2018. Archived fromthe originalon 2018-12-09.Retrieved2018-12-09.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related toHenry Lee (forensic scientist).
  • Official websiteof the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven
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