Does new DNA evidence clear a man convicted of a girl’s murder? Judge says no

An attempt to use new DNA evidence to free a man found guilty 21 years ago of murdering 11-year-old Traci Rene Conrad of Hanford has fallen short.

A judge ruled that partial DNA, which was found on some items of evidence and which did not come from Kevin Galik, is probably the result of contamination during handling and examination by authorities, and is not enough to have changed the outcome of the trial.

Additionally, “there was a significant amount of circumstantial evidence” of Galik’s guilt, visiting Superior Court Judge H.N. Papadakis wrote in a decision filed Jan. 22 in Kings County Superior Court.

Galik is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is being housed at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.

The Northern California Innocence Project sought to free Galik based on DNA evidence and testing techniques not available at the time of his trial.

The body of Rene, as she was known, was found inside a kiln in the Galik family’s backyard in 1996. More than a year later, a jury found Galik guilty of murder in the commission or attempted commission of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14.

Kings County District Attorney Keith Fagundes, whose office argued against allowing the new DNA evidence, said the case never relied on DNA in the first place.

“It’s good news,” he said of the ruling. “It’s good for the family and the community.”

The Northern California Innocence Project said it would appeal the ruling to the Fifth District Court of Appeal on grounds that the judge erred in how he applied a new law about newly discovered evidence.

In November during a two-day hearing in Hanford, lawyers for Galik presented evidence and interviewed experts on the stand, as did the prosecution.

In his ruling, Papadakis said duct tape recovered from the victim was found with DNA from at least two people. Lab analysis showed Galik couldn’t be ruled out as a minor contributor, but the major contributor turned out to be an employee working in a state Department of Justice laboratory, he wrote.

Swabs from the victim’s vaginal area were also tested using new techniques not available when the trial was held, which found partial DNA that did not belong to Galik. But that by itself is not enough to exonerate him, the judge wrote.

Testing of the swabs also showed at least three male contributors of DNA, but there’s evidence the samples were contaminated during the autopsy, he wrote.

The Northern California Innocence Project said “there is no innocent explanation for male DNA to be present on this child's genitalia. Despite the contamination by a state employee of one item of evidence, there is no proof that these particular samples were contaminated – there was only speculation.”

This story has been updated.

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Does new DNA evidence clear a man convicted of a girl’s murder? Judge says no."