LAS VEGAS -- A young woman convicted not once, but twice for the same crime is again trying to convince the court she is not a killer. Kirstin Blaise Lobato is behind bars for the 2001 murder and sexual mutilation of a homeless man. Yet Lobato insists she didn't do it and she may get another chance to prove it.
Lobato is not without her supporters. Those who think she's innocent spend countless hours recruiting resources to help to her prove it. Most recently, they have attracted the interest of two groups dedicated to freeing the wrongly convicted. With the court's permission, they will examine what may be key pieces of evidence Lobato hopes will identify who she calls "the real killers."
In 2001, Lobato was a scared 18-year-old, accused of the murder and sexual mutilation of Duran Bailey, a homeless man she claims she never met. Despite a lack of physical evidence, jurors convicted Lobato twice for the crime.
Now at age of 28, Lobato again tries to convince the court she's innocent.
"All we're asking of Judge Vega, really, is to give this a fresh look," said attorney Travis Barrick.
In support of that effort, Barrick represents Lobato locally, with assistance from two out-of-state groups, the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted in Canada and the Innocence Project in New York. The Innocence Project has agreed to test and re-test 13 pieces of evidence related to the crime using the latest in DNA technology.
"There were major pieces of evidence that were not disclosed and not presented to the jury, and the theory is if the jury had been presented with the whole apple, they would've never convicted her," said Barrick.
Barrick calls it the perfect forensic murder because not a single piece of physical evidence links Lobato to the crime scene, despite the presence of multiple items like footprints, fingerprints, and DNA.
In a letter to the court, Innocence Project Director Barry Scheck suggests analysis of penile and rectal swabs from the victim, foreign hairs and cigarettes, among other things, may help to identify additional suspects or to confirm Lobato's guilt.
Supporter and author Hans Sherrer helped to secure Scheck's involvement.
"The fact that it's taken the efforts of so many different people to get to this point where it is shows just how difficult it is for someone who is convicted and who in fact did not commit their crime," he said.
A confession Lobato made the day she was arrested, a statement she contends referred to an earlier unrelated rape attempt against her, likely secured her fate. But with the court's permission, the latest in DNA testing may help to ensure it didn't seal it.
"If they find Ms. Lobato's DNA on the scene, that's pretty damaging. So the DNA evidence may confirm the two prior convictions. But if it excludes her, it's a very, very heavy piece of evidence that she is not the one who killed Duran Bailey," said Sherrer.
Judge Valorie Vega postponed a hearing Wednesday to consider several motions in this case, including the request to test the forensic evidence and another to appoint additional counsel for Lobato.
Attorney Travis Barrick is working for free. The new hearing has been rescheduled for early next year.
Kirstin Blaise Lobato
