– This trial is the fight of a lifetime for Johny Vassbakk. This is how Stian Bråstein defended his proceedings in the Gulating Court of Appeal on Tuesday. – The charges will depend on whether the court finds it proven that microscopic findings of what the prosecution believes is Vassbakk’s sex chromosome in trace sample A-12-F were deposited during an act of murder. The court must be absolutely sure that all other possibilities can be ruled out, continued Bråstein. A-12-F was the conclusive evidence against Vassbakk when he was sentenced to 17 years in prison in Haugaland and Sunnhordland District Court in February. This constitutes the Y-DNA from Vassbakk that was found high up on the pantyhose, a few centimeters below the waistband. The defenders stated in the proceedings a number of other alternatives which they believe appear more likely, or at least cannot be ruled out as contrived and theoretical. They believe it is incomprehensible that no more trace material from Vassbakk has been found at the scene if he is supposed to have killed Birgitte. – The prosecution has locked in In the procedure, the defenders went through all conceivable possibilities for how Vassbakk’s DNA could have ended up on the pantyhose through a transfer via objects, clothes or other people. They expressed strong criticism of the routines for track protection in the case as far back as 1995. Stian Kristensen (right) and Stian Bråstein. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – We believe the case is characterized by several findings that are not favorable to the prosecution being explained away. The prosecution has locked in its interpretation of the trace image. None of the experts in the case conclude that the trace material from A-12-F, and possibly sample 55, must have been deposited during the act of murder. On the contrary, they warn against drawing such conclusions, said the other defender Stian Kristensen. The Birgitte case Johny Vassbakk is accused of having killed Birgitte Tengs on Karmøy on the night of 6 May 1995. In the Haugaland and Sunnhordland District Court, Vassbakk was sentenced to 17 years in prison on 6 February. He has always denied criminal guilt. Currently, the appeal process is ongoing in the Gulating Court of Appeal in Stavanger. The case ends with proceedings on 23 and 24 October. Judgment in the case falls on 5 December. Kristensen questioned who actually added the gender marker in A-12-F. According to the defenders’ interpretation, this is a mixed profile. – There is also a possible mtDNA (mitrochondrial) from a third person in this profile, said Kristensen. – More men in the samples According to the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), which carried out new DNA analyzes after the district court verdict was handed down in February, a match that matches Vassbakk’s DNA profile has also been found in five out of nine samples where traces of male DNA were found. This was on the left knee and thigh of Birgitte’s pantyhose. In one of these samples, numbered 55, only DNA from Vassbakk, in addition to Birgitte herself, has been found. In the prosecution’s procedure, it became clear that it is this one test that the prosecution places emphasis on from the new analyses. The defense strongly warned the court against using sample 55 as evidence against Vassbakk. – DNA from several men has been found in almost all the samples. If DNA from Vassbakk has been absorbed into the fabric of the tights, this must also apply to trace material from other, unidentified men, pointed out Stian Bråstein. In order to be characterized as a “match”, the institute’s criterion was that at least two out of four repeated tests gave an identification. They termed this the “consensus method”. – The court is not bound by the consensus method, but must assess this against criminal law evidence requirements, according to the defender. – Does not have murder mode Stian Kristensen was concerned in his procedure that Johny Vassbakk does not have mode as a rapist or murderer. – His mode is primarily exposure. The scroll consists of many embarrassing episodes, but few cases of violence. None of the many hitchhikers he picked up described violent behaviour, although there was no shortage of rejections from the girls he had in the car. The same applied to former cohabitants. Nobody has told about violence, he accepted a no, Kristensen pointed out. Stian Kristensen touched on the most serious relationship on the record, when Vassbakk almost strangled his own psychologist with a piece of rope in 1990. The rope finally broke, and this probably saved her life, according to experts. – Vassbakk was actually on his way out. Then the psychologist surprised him when she entered the bedroom while he was sitting on the bed masturbating. He then became afraid that she would report him. Then he pulled the cord around her neck, Kristensen said. He emphasized that Vassbakk remembered all this today, and was not in a blackout situation at home with the psychologist. – He could have continued after the cord broke, if it had dawned on him. If he wanted to commit an assault, he could well have done so by using violence. He never did this, but left her home, Kristensen said. Stian Kristensen also said in the procedure that the court cannot disregard the significant resources that have been spent on hair analyzes in the investigation. – None of the hair analyses, not even from hair attached with blood to Birgitte’s hand, can be linked to Vassbakk. This is something the court must take into account when they are now assessing the evidence in the case. You cannot simply skip over this, as the prosecution has established. If any of the hairs could have been linked to Vassbakk, I am absolutely certain that the prosecution would have attached great importance to it, said Kristiansen. Judgment in the case will come on 5 December.
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The defenders warn the court against judging Vassbakk on the basis of DNA or modus operandi – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
