> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# New DNA evidence stalls Santa Monica kidnapping case
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/new-dna-evidence-stalls-santa-monica-kidnapping-case/
- Published: 2004-12-09T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:47:22.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Sunset Park, #archive-import

*Kidnapping suspect to return to court on Friday*

LAX COURTHOUSE — Olympic silver medalist Danny Harris will remain in jail for allegedly kid-napping an elderly Santa Monica woman, despite DNA evidence released Wednesday that suggests he could be innocent.

Harris, 39, was arrested last month and charged with seven felony counts for allegedly twice kidnapping a 75-year-old Sunset Park woman this fall, robbing her, and threatening to kill her and burn down her house.

Trained bloodhounds led police to Harris using the scent from a wool cap left outside the victim’s house. That scent matched the scent from a shirt discarded by the kidnapper after fleeing the scene, prosecutors said. Both items led to Harris, a resident of the nonprofit Clare Foundation located off of Lincoln Boulevard.

However, lawyers on Wednesday cited lab results showing neither the cap nor the shirt belonged to Harris. Both contained the DNA of a convicted felon who state authorities refused to name, pending the results of a second round of laboratory tests.

Rather than drop the charges, prosecutors convinced Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kath-erine Mader to keep Harris in custody while authorities investigate the new suspect.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday, when Judge Mader may decide if enough evidence exists for the case to go to trial.

Matt Huey, Harris’ public defender, called the decision a violation of Harris’ constitutional rights. He had sought a complete dismissal and, failing that, asked Judge Mader to release Harris without bail while the investigation continues.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking,” he said. “They have evidence that completely exonerates Mr. Harris and yet they want to proceed with this.”

The counts against Harris relate to two separate incidents, one on Oct. 18 and the second on Nov. 4, but police said they suspect Harris in a string of other burglaries in the Sunset Park area. He is being held in lieu of $1.44 million bail.

Deputy District Attorneys Kelly Fritz and Scott Millington said that while the DNA evidence suggested a different suspect, that person may have been working collaboratively with Harris. The victim and eyewitnesses saw only one suspect, but the kidnapper said he had two accomplices who would help him burn down the victim’s house, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also argued Harris may have used a hat and shirt that belonged to another resident at Clare, which serves recovering drug and alcohol addicts. Harris, a standout track athlete who won the silver medal in the 1984 Olympics, wound up at Clare after struggling for years with a cocaine addiction.

“He could’ve borrowed the shirt from someone else who was at this drug treatment facility he was at,” Millington said.

To build their case further, prosecutors pointed to evidence recovered from Harris’ room at Clare that allegedly tied him to the kidnapping, and to eyewitness accounts. Both the victim’s neighbor, who chased the kidnapper off with a handgun, and an eyewitness who saw the kidnapper leave behind the shirt, positively identified Harris in a police line-up.

Found in Harris’ room was a commemorative set of collector coins, a pair of white sneakers and a screwdriver, detectives said. Prosecutors maintained that a set of coins had been stolen from the victim, adding the kidnapper was said to have worn white sneakers and used a screwdriver to threaten the victim.

“We have sufficient evidence,” Fritz told the court.

Huey countered that the coin set recovered at Clare is different than what was described in police reports. What’s more, he said Harris had every reason to keep white sneakers because he worked as a personal trainer at Better Body Maker on Santa Monica Boulevard. As to the screwdriver, Huey said possessing the tool shouldn’t count against Harris.

Judge Mader didn’t comment on the evidence investigators collected at Clare, but said the eyewitness identifications precluded her from releasing Harris without bail. She instructed Huey to subpoena the California Department of Justice for details about the new suspect, and scheduled the case to return Friday.

Asked by Judge Mader if he agreed to postpone his preliminary trial while investigators checked out the other suspect, Harris, who wore a blue, Los Angeles County Jail jumpsuit and black slippers, dropped his head and put his hand to his brow, apparently in frustration.

“Yeah,” he said, after a pause. While Harris waits, Huey said the system had failed.

“They did what they were supposed to do, they took the scientific evidence from the hat, and now they’re saying the hat doesn’t matter,” he said. “They, the government... wants to do a second test. Meanwhile, my client sits in custody.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 9, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/120904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)