By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
A ruling is not expected until at least this spring on whether a Zeeland woman who is serving a life sentence for setting a fire that killed her teenage daughter nearly 25 years ago gets a new trial.
Four days of testimony wrapped up last Friday in the evidentiary hearing for 69-year-old Karen Boes before Ottawa County Circuit Judge Karen Miedema. Boes was convicted of first-degree felony murder in the July 2002 blaze that killed her 14-year-old daughter, Robin, at their home on William Street, and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole.
During last Thursday’s hearing, a former homicide detective and expert in police interrogation practices testified that the method of interrogation used on Boes in the investigation by Zeeland Police could have resulted in her falsely confessing to setting the fire.
James Trainum, a former Washington, D.C. detective who is now a consultant on cases of alleged false confessions, was shown several video clips by the defense depicting Boes being questioned by then-Zeeland Police Chief Bill Olney and an FBI special agent during the investigation. Trainum testified that the interrogation tactics were of an accusatory nature, which he said researchers have shown to produce false confessions.
“These kind of tactics were used throughout the tape (that I watched),” Trainum said.
Trainum testified that police “misrepresented the evidence, either lying about it or misrepresented the strength of the evidence.”
Last Friday, criminologist Matthew DeLisi, a professor at Iowa State University, challenged Trainum’s testimony, saying he did not believe Boes was prone to making a false confession, citing earlier testimony that she denied setting the fire more than 300 times.
Boes filed a motion in 2021 asking for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence that questioned the validity of testimony given by prosecution experts on the origin and cause of the fire that killed her daughter, and the validity and admissibility of statements she made to police during questioning.
However, Miedema in 2023 ruled that any new evidence would not likely have changed the verdict in the case. Boes then took her case to the Michigan Court of Appeals, alleging the court abused its discretion. The appellate court in July of last year ruled in Boes’ favor and ordered the evidentiary hearing be held.
Boes is being represented by attorneys from the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which has worked to reverse the convictions of people believed to have been wrongly convicted. The clinic is affiliated with the University of Michigan law school.
Lawyers from the two sides will now file written briefs with the court, which Miedema will review before issuing a ruling in the case.
Zeeland Record
A ruling is not expected until at least this spring on whether a Zeeland woman who is serving a life sentence for setting a fire that killed her teenage daughter nearly 25 years ago gets a new trial.
Four days of testimony wrapped up last Friday in the evidentiary hearing for 69-year-old Karen Boes before Ottawa County Circuit Judge Karen Miedema. Boes was convicted of first-degree felony murder in the July 2002 blaze that killed her 14-year-old daughter, Robin, at their home on William Street, and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole.
During last Thursday’s hearing, a former homicide detective and expert in police interrogation practices testified that the method of interrogation used on Boes in the investigation by Zeeland Police could have resulted in her falsely confessing to setting the fire.
James Trainum, a former Washington, D.C. detective who is now a consultant on cases of alleged false confessions, was shown several video clips by the defense depicting Boes being questioned by then-Zeeland Police Chief Bill Olney and an FBI special agent during the investigation. Trainum testified that the interrogation tactics were of an accusatory nature, which he said researchers have shown to produce false confessions.
“These kind of tactics were used throughout the tape (that I watched),” Trainum said.
Trainum testified that police “misrepresented the evidence, either lying about it or misrepresented the strength of the evidence.”
Last Friday, criminologist Matthew DeLisi, a professor at Iowa State University, challenged Trainum’s testimony, saying he did not believe Boes was prone to making a false confession, citing earlier testimony that she denied setting the fire more than 300 times.
Boes filed a motion in 2021 asking for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence that questioned the validity of testimony given by prosecution experts on the origin and cause of the fire that killed her daughter, and the validity and admissibility of statements she made to police during questioning.
However, Miedema in 2023 ruled that any new evidence would not likely have changed the verdict in the case. Boes then took her case to the Michigan Court of Appeals, alleging the court abused its discretion. The appellate court in July of last year ruled in Boes’ favor and ordered the evidentiary hearing be held.
Boes is being represented by attorneys from the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which has worked to reverse the convictions of people believed to have been wrongly convicted. The clinic is affiliated with the University of Michigan law school.
Lawyers from the two sides will now file written briefs with the court, which Miedema will review before issuing a ruling in the case.
