Kulbicki,14 and its story is worth telling. Calling him "evil," a Baltimore County Circuit judge sentenced James Allan Kulbicki to life without the possibility of parole plus 20 years for the murder of a Baltimore woman with whom he had a three-year adulterous affair. . 3d, at 735–736. In testimony of the sort CBLA experts had provided for decades, Peele testified that the composition of elements in the molten lead of a bullet fragment found in Kulbicki's truck matched the composition of lead in a bullet fragment removed from the victim's brain; a similarity of the sort one would " 'expect' " if " 'examining two pieces of the same bullet.' A criminal defendant “shall enjoy the right . Yarborough v. Gentry, 540 U. S. 1, 8 (2003) (per curiam). Given the uncontroversial nature of CBLA at the time of Kulbicki’s trial, the effect of the judgment below is to demand that lawyers go “looking for a needle in a haystack,” even when they have “reason to doubt there is any needle there.” Rompilla v. Beard, 545 U. S. 374, 389 (2005). Around the time when she and Kulbicki resumed their relationship, Ms. Nueslein filed a petition to establish that he was the father and to require him to pay child support. The Court of Appeals opined that this lone finding should have caused the report's authors to doubt "that bullets produced from different sources of lead would have a unique chemical composition," the faulty assumption that ultimately led the court to reject CBLA evidence 15 years later. On November 22, 1995, Kulbicki was again convicted, by a jury, of murder, In testimony of the sort CBLA experts had provided for decades, Peele testified that the composition of elements in the molten lead of a bullet fragment found in Kulbicki’s truck matched the composition of lead in a bullet fragment removed from the victim’s brain; a similarity of the sort one would “ ‘expect’ ” if “ ‘examining two pieces of the same bullet.’ ” 440 Md. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. But which ones? . Kulbicki then filed a petition for postconviction relief, which lingered in state court until 2006 when Kulbicki added a claim that his defense attorneys were ineffective for failing to question the legitimacy of CBLA. police focus on James Kulbicki because he was involved in a paternity dispute with Neuslein. On December 1, 1994, this Court reversed and remanded for a new trial. 1 The evidence supporting that verdict—eyewitness, circumstantial, and forensic—was compelling 2 But that evidence was not flawless. 3d, at 743–744. Id., at 51, and n. 12, 99 A. Around 1992 - 1993 a Police Officer named James Kulbicki was accused of murder, he plead his innocence, and when he went to trial, the state brought in their go to guy Joseph Kopera the bullet expert. While disputing paternity of Neuslein's child, Kulbicki had informed his wife of the affair and had Id., at 56, 99 A. The test indicated a 99.8 percent probability that Kulbicki was the child’s father. ; see Clemons, supra, 369–370, 896 A. At the time of Kulbicki's trial in 1995, the validity of CBLA was widely accepted, and courts regularly admitted CBLA evidence until 2003. Kulbicki's trial counsel did not provide deficient performance when they failed to uncover the 1991 report and to use the report's so-called methodological flaw against Peele on cross-examination. Internet Explorer 11 is no longer supported. 3d 730, 735 (2014). No. Id., at 49, 99 A. . Edit Report This. Yarborough v. Gentry, 540 U. S. 1, 8 (2003) (per curiam). ; see Clemons, supra, 369-370, 896 A. The Court of Appeals opined that this lone finding should have caused the report’s authors to  doubt “that bullets produced from different sources of lead would have a unique chemical composition,” the faulty assumption that ultimately led the court to reject CBLA evidence 15 years later. INMATE INFORMATION. Kulbicki shot his girlfriend during the weekend before a scheduled hearing about unpaid child support. Neither the Court of Appeals nor Kulbicki has answers. The Court of Appeals offered no support for its conclusion that Kulbicki’s defense attorneys were constitutionally required to predict the demise of CBLA. All rights reserved. This week, Reasonable Doubt on Investigation Discovery turns to the 1995 first-degree murder conviction of James Kulbicki, a Baltimore police officer who killed his teenage pregnant mistress in order to keep their affair a secret. He further testified that a bullet taken from Kulbicki's gun was not an "exac[t]" match to the bullet fragments, but was similar enough that the two bullets likely came from the same package. 440 Md., at 50, 99 A. State of Maryland v James Kulbicki 2015. Kulbicki was a 10-year veteran of the police force who lived with his wife, young son, and 18-year old stepson.