A police expert compared the prints of 14 people to the latent evidence at the scene of Dennis Lewis' killing but concluded that only one person's palm could have left the bloody impression on the victim's wall: his twin brother, Derris.
"A latent print is a chance print," Mark L. Bryant testified today in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. "Every finger and palm print is different, and no two prints have ever been found to be alike."
He said he and three other Police Division examiners came to the same conclusion: Derris Lewis left his palm print in blood on the victim's bedroom wall between the time Dennis Lewis went to bed and 1:30 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008, when a gunshot ended Dennis' life.
A match to a latent print must conform on at least eight points of comparison, Bryant said. He found 16 in the palm print at the Lewis home.
"There is no doubt it belongs to Derris Lewis," he said.
Patrol officers testified that they secured the house and did not let anyone in or out after they arrived.
Bryant said he took the extra step of asking Derris Lewis to resubmit to finger and palm prints, which he willingly did.
Lewis, now 19, is charged with aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and kidnapping. Although he is the only person charged, prosecutors said others could have been involved.
The twins' mother, April Lewis, testified Tuesday that at least three masked men forced their way into her living room at 1161 Loretta Ave. that morning and demanded money. Then she heard a gunshot and found Dennis dead in the hallway.
Her testimony and autopsy photos of his dead brother, shown to jurors today, brought tears to Derris Lewis' face at the defense table.
Despite evidence of a fight between Dennis Lewis and whoever attacked him, all of the blood found in the house belonged to the identical twins, who share DNA, a crime-lab analyst testified.
"Blood is probably the best source of DNA," said Debra Lambourne. She tested 10 of the 15 blood samples taken by detectives and found that all were a match to the twins.
Detective William A. Snyder said he used a saw to cut two pieces of drywall from the victim's bedroom because he noticed "ridge detail" in the blood and did not want to disturb the palm print.
"The only way to leave a fingerprint (in blood) is to have blood on your hand and press your hand against the wall," Snyder testified.
April Lewis testified that the wall was clean before Dennis went to bed.
Defense attorney Adam Lee Nemann told jurors that his client wasn't in the house that morning. He suggested that another man could have committed the crime but said he was not investigated properly by police. But Bryant said that the prints of Nemann's uncharged suspect were not found among the 68 submitted by detectives.
A ladder under a bathroom window indicated where intruders entered, and cabinet doors left open in the basement were evidence of a search for valuables, Nemann said.
Snyder said Dennis Lewis was supposed to have $1,000 in cash in a dresser drawer, but no money, drugs or weapons were found at the crime scene.
Assistant County Prosecutors Doug Stead and Tim Mitchell contend that one brother was shot by the other, possibly over money Dennis had been saving for a car.
The trial began Monday in the courtroom of Judge Guy L. Reece.
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