Defense says jurors used 'junk science' in conviction

DEDHAM, Mass. --In the age of DNA testing and high-tech investigations, it's not often a murder case hinges on something as simple -- and strange -- as a banana.

But a once-prominent doctor is hoping a banana can help overturn his murder conviction five years after he began a life sentence for the 1999 slaying of his wife.

Dirk Greineder claims the jury performed an improper experiment on a banana during deliberations. His lawyer says jurors made impressions on the banana using a rubber glove that was part of the evidence against the former allergist.

"We can make a lot of jokes about bananas but the reality is that the jury was performing their own junk science," attorney James Sultan said after a hearing Friday in Norfolk Superior Court. "It affected the outcome of the trial."

Two jurors gave testimony Friday confirming the experiment took place. Judge Paul Chernoff did not issue a ruling.

Greineder was convicted of beating his wife, Mabel, with a hammer and slashing her throat in a park near their Wellesley home in 1999.

Gloves that Greineder allegedly wore were found near the murder scene. Their rubber dot pattern appeared in blood on Greineder's coat, though Greineder denied wearing gloves or having any contact with the killer.

Jurors used one of the gloves to make an impression on the banana to see if the same pattern that was on Greineder's coat showed up on the banana.

The banana used is long gone, but its impact may be huge, experts say.

"That's about as odd as it gets," said former prosecutor David Frank, who now writes for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. "It's off the wall. It's a worst-case scenario for the prosecution. It's going to be very difficult for the prosecution to argue that it's not a problem."

David Traub, a spokesman for the Norfolk County district attorney's office, declined to comment, other than to say they oppose the motion for a new trial.

Greineder allegedly killed his wife of 31 years after she discovered his secret life of sex with prostitutes and Internet pornography, prosecutors said during the 2001 trial.

The information about the gloves was revealed by the author of a book about the case, "Murder at Morses Pond." Author Linda Rosencrance interviewed three jurors for the book.

Sultan said the jury disobeyed the judge's instructions to consider only evidence presented in court.

Britt Greineder said after Friday's hearing that she's hopeful her father will be vindicated.

"I'm really hopeful for the first time in a long time that we might actually find who killed my mother," she said. "We might actually bring my dad home."