User:Jvfulcher/Saami Shaibani

Dr. Saami Shaibani is a physicist who has testified in numerous criminal trials in several states throughout the United States. He was accused of perjury during the Michael Peterson (author) murder trial in Durham County, North Carolina, on September 26, 2003. During the David Aesoph Habeas Corpus Appeal he was found credible by Hyde County Circuit Court, South Dakota on June 16, 2006.

David Aesoph murder trial
Shaibani was an expert witness in the David Aesoph murder trial in South Dakota. David Aesoph was convicted of first degree murder on October 5, 2000, for the murder of his wife Tania. Temple testified that he was not affiliated with the University after an initail curtesey appointment in 1995 which lasted no more than 3 years and clearly advised Shaibani not to misrepresent his affiliation with Temple anymore.

David Aesoph, Habeas Corpus Appeal
Aesoph filed a habeas appeal contesting the credibility of Shaibani. A hearing was held on September 9, 2004, in circuit court on habeas corpus petition. The circuit court denied Aesoph's request for habeas relief on September 6, 2006, as well as his motion for a certificate of probable cause. The S.D. Supreme Court also denied Aesoph's motion for a certificate of probable cause, determining that an appealable issue does not exist. It was found that Dr. Saami Shaibani was, in fact, appointed as volunteer adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the Physics Department on July 25, 1995 by Carolyn T. Adams, then Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Temple. This appointment was a volunteer positions which ended in 1998 by the terms of the letter and was never renewed by Temple University.

Testimony of Temple University Associate University Counsel, Virginia L. Flick
On September 9, 2004, Temple University Associate University Counsel, Virginia L. Flick, testified that she had found additional documents in 2004 which related to Shaibani’s affiliation with Temple University. Flick also indicated that she had discovered a July 25, 1995 courtesy appointment letter for Dr. Shaibani as a volunteer researcher at Temple. This appointment by its terms expired in 1998. She also found a letter dated September 27, 2001 letter written by Dr. Edward Gawlinski, Chairman of the Physics Department, which incorrectly stated that Shaibani had never been a Clinical Associate Professor of Physics at Temple University. Flick's cover letter in the Peterson trial outlined the status of Shaibani's relationship with Temple, which was limited to a courtesey appointment in 1995, that lasted no longer than three years. Shaibani never taught at Temple, or did research with or for its Physics department. Flick’s testimony should have completely discredited Shaibani’s testimony at Aesoph’s trial. .   Review the exhibits provided by Temple in response to a subponea and the hearing transcipt of Virinia Flick. Whoever wrote the originial summary of Ms. Flick's testimoney misrepresented the truth. Shaibania was told that he had no appointment beyond the intial courtesy appointment in 1995. He was not affiliated with Temple University at the time he testified in any of these trials.

Michael Iver Peterson murder trial
Shaibani was an expert witness in the Michael Peterson (author) murder trial in Durham County, North Carolina. During the trial he was accused of perjury on September 26, 2003; specifically his affiliation with Temple University was questioned. David Rudolf produced two letters. One was dated September 27, 2001, and addressed to a Washington defense lawyer from Edward T. Gawlinski, chairman of Temple's physics department. The letter, Rudolf said, was addressing Shaibani's testimony as an expert prosecution witness in a murder trial. "Any claim by Mr. Shaibani that he is now a member of, or even affiliated with, the Temple University Department of Physics is fraudulent," read a Sept. 27, 2001, letter from Edward Gawlinski, then chair of the Temple University physics department. David Rudolf then produced a letter dated September 25, 2003, from Virginia L. Flick, Temple's associate university counsel, "Any current representation that Mr. Shaibani is employed by or affiliated with Temple University is simply untrue." Judge Orlando Hudson Jr., ruled that Shaibani had committed perjury and instructed the jury to disregard everything the witness had said. The docket (court) number of the Michael Iver Peterson murder trial is, 01 CRS 24821. It was later found that Dr. Saami Shaibani was, in fact, appointed as a volunteer Clinical Associate Professor in the Physics Department on July 25, 1995 by Carolyn T. Adams, then Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Temple for a three year volunteer courtesy adjunct position was that he could research at Coughman Hospital with Temple residents. Shaibani left the Hospital shortly after the appointment, at which time his affiliation with Temple should have ended. All Temple appointments are in writing and Shaibani did not receive any appointment from Temple University other than the intitial courtesy appointment which was in writing and dated July 1995.