Location: Colorado Auto Dealers Association, 290 E. Speer Blvd., Denver, 80203
Cocktail hour: 6:30, dinner 7 p.m. Program follows.
MENU: Grilled top sirloin, mushroom demi-glace and garlic roasted potatoes with a classic Caesar salad. All meals are served with assorted desserts. Iced tea, water and coffee are included, beer and wine are available for sale. Vegetarian meal available upon request.
Presentation: Forensic DNA
Presenter: Chief Deputy District Attorney John Kellner
The presentation will focus on Forensic DNA in the courtroom from a prosecutor’s perspective and how it has been used it to achieve murder convictions in a variety of cold cases. John Kellner will provide an overview of the common sources of DNA, including some surprising items that prosecutors have been able to pull DNA from in real life. The presentation will cover some different types of DNA analysis including mitochondrial, YSTR, and familial, with real-life examples of how it helped solve crimes or gain convictions.He will also discuss a cold case murder from 1994 in Boulder and the subsequent trial of Michael Clark in 2012, and the 2015 trial of Jon David Harrington for the murder of Carolyn Jansen in 2002. Finally, he will discuss some recent advances in DNA analysis such as rapid DNA testing for use in the field, and phenotyping to generate a composite sketch of a suspect.
John Kellner is a Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the largest and most populated jurisdiction in the state of Colorado. In his most recent assignment he served as the senior deputy for the Cold Case Unit and focused solely on solving and prosecuting murder cases. Some of those cases include the 1996 disappearance of Kimberly Medina and the 2013 trial of Michael Medina in a “no body” homicide case; the 2010 murder of a Sudanese refugee that resulted in three separate murder trials and convictions of gang members in 2015/2016; and the 2015 trial of a man convicted of murdering and hiding the body of Carolyn Jansen in a Rubbermaid container in 2002. In 2016, John was recognized as the Prosecutor of the Year for the entire state by the Colorado District Attorney’s Council.
John also serves as a Major in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He served on active duty for five years and deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan where he assisted local prosecutors with cases against insurgents in the city of Marjah. As a reservist he has travelled across the country supporting military prosecutors in high-profile courts-martials. He is currently assigned to the Staff Judge Advocate’s Office for NORAD-USNORTHCOM as an Operational Law attorney.