Yesterday, armed with DNA test results showing that semen had been found on Laura Hobbs's clothing and inside her body, Hobbs's defense attorney appeared in court to ask that Jerry Hobbs (pictured above) be released on bond. Charged with capital murder in the deaths of his 8-year old daughter Laura and her 9 year old friend Krystal Tobias, Hobbs has been locked up for over three years. Bond was denied. The result is not surprising given that prosecutors opposed bond, citing the fact that Hobbs's confession -- which is looking less and less reliable in the face of DNA evidence -- will be admissible at his trial. But what is surprising is the explanation being offered by Lake County prosecutor Mike Mermel for why semen was found on one of the victims. The amount of sperm found in the semen sample is too small to have come from sexual contact (but what if the assailant pulled out or used a condom), said Mermel. Mermel then stated that she probably picked up the semen in a casual way by touching something she came into contact with: "People have sex in the woods." Unbelievable. Unfortunately for Hobbs, the profile of the man whose semen was left on his daughter was not matched to someone in the state and national DNA databases. Judge Fred Foreman ordered the State to resubmit the profile in the CODIS database and set the case for a status in late December, after the Christmas Holidays. 
