Defense lawyers are questioning DNA evidence in Ridgeway case after contamination reported

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 03, 2013 - 1:52 pm EDT

GOLDEN, Colorado — Defense lawyers are questioning the DNA evidence analysis in the case of a teen accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a suburban Denver girl.

Austin Sigg has pleaded not guilty in the killing of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway in October as well as an attack on a jogger five months before.

During a court hearing Friday in Golden, the director of Denver's state crime laboratory testified about DNA contamination in both. Kathleen Fetherston said DNA from the jogger attack was tested in a batch with evidence from other cases. She said some of the others were contaminated but the jogger sample wasn't.

DNA evidence in the Ridgeway case was tested in one batch. There were two memos about contamination about those samples but she didn't provide any details about how the contamination occurred.

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FILE-This undated file booking photo released by the Westminster, Colo., Police Department shows Austin Reed Sigg. Defense lawyers are questioning the DNA evidence analysis in the case of a teen accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a suburban Denver girl. Sigg has pleaded not guilty in the killing of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway in October as well as an attack on a jogger five months before. (AP Photo/Westminster Police Department,File)

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