SHERIFF'S OFFICE
James Ongley is a man of many professions: doctor, lawyer,
pathologist and professor. On Monday, Ongley will add another title to
his varied resumé: manager of the Broward Sheriff's Office crime lab.
Ongley will succeed Cmdr. John Pennie, 61, who is retiring May 1
after serving almost 35 years with BSO.
Sheriff Ken Jenne selected Ongley, 52, after a national search.
''Jim Ongley is a rare find and I'm proud that he has agreed to lead
BSO's crime lab,'' Jenne wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. ``I doubt there's
another lab in the country run by someone who has experience as an
assistant medical examiner, an assistant public defender, and an adjunct
professor.''
A top notch lab with the latest in forensic equipment can be the key
to solving crimes. Forensics is constantly evolving. In the last 10
years, DNA, the scientific footprint now commonly used in linking
suspects to crimes through hair or bodily fluids, has emerged as one of
law enforcement's top crime fighting tools.
As a former public defender, Ongley knows the power of forensic
evidence. Among his high-profile clients:
• Lucious Boyd, found guilty of the rape
and murder of a Deerfield Beach woman two years ago
• Eulie Polanco, convicted last year of
drowning her 2-year-old daughter in a bathtub.
FASCINATED BY SCIENCE
''In the courtroom, I tried to find fault with hair and fiber
evidence crime scene technicians presented and tried to argue with DNA
evidence,'' Ongley said. ``But you really can't argue against forensics.
The lab provides you with impartial factual evidence, scientific
evidence.''
Ongley laughed as he recalled some of his courtroom strategies trying
to neutralize DNA evidence: ``DNA is two-edged sword. You love it when
it sets your client free, but you hate it when it goes the other way and
convicts your client.''
Science has always held a fascination for Ongley.
The son of a renowned pediatric cardiologist and the grandson of a
New Zealand Supreme Court justice, Ongley weighed his choices: medical
or law school. He opted for medicine. He graduated from the University
of Florida Medical Center and was named chief resident at Jackson
Memorial Hospital.
Ongley worked, along with future Broward Medical Examiner Dr. Ronald
Wright, under the tutelage of famed Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Dr.
Joseph H. Davis. He earned a degree in forensic pathology.
''The medical examiner's office was an eye opening experience,''
Ongley said. ``It's a world, that if you don't know anything about seems
so alien, but it's really exciting.''
While working as a pathologist, Ongley attended law school. Earning a
law degree was a family tradition, like medicine.
After graduating from law school, Ongley found there was no place for
an attorney in the Medical Examiner's Office. Ongley yearned for another
challenge.
''Could I practice law? Could I be a good lawyer,'' he wondered. He
decided he wanted the challenge. Ongley resigned his position in the
medical examiner's office in December 1989. On Aug. 13, 1990, he began
working in the Broward County Public Defender's Office.
Ongley loved the law. He started at the misdemeanor level and 12
years later found himself defending people accused of felony crimes. He
also became an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University Law
School teaching forensic science.
MAN FOR THE JOB
''There's not a greater guy for the job. He's got all this education
-- pathology, professor, licensed lawyer -- all this good stuff and he
keeps on striving for more,'' said Assistant Public Defender Bill
Laswell.
Ongley's dual careers have forced him into some unusual situations.
Several weeks ago the pathologist-turned-public-defender testified
for the prosecution at a penalty phase hearing for Ronnie Keith
Williams, convicted of the 1993 slaying of Lisa Dyke.
Ongley had performed the autopsy on Williams' first victim, Gaynel
Jeffrey.
''He's outrageously good as an attorney and wonderful as a
pathologist,'' said Wright, the former medical examiner. ``He'll do a
dynamite job. And an added plus for him, is that the lab is only one
floor down from where he's used to working.''
Ongley said he never thought of leaving the public defender's office
-- until one day a court reporter, in passing, mentioned that the head
of BSO's crime lab was retiring.
'I said to myself `if I don't try for the job, I'm going to end up
kicking myself,' '' he said.
Ongley is looking forward to Monday.
''There's so many things that have changed since I started as a
pathologist in '83,'' Ongley said. ``We didn't have blood spatter,
cadaver dogs, luminol (a spray that illuminates the smallest blood drops
even after cleaning), DNA, super-gluing for fingerprints. The world has
dramatically changed in the last 20 years. The next five or 10 years
will bring even more exciting changes.''
