Saami Shaibani

Dr. Saami Shaibani was, according to the State of South Dakota, falsely accused of lying about his credentials, specifically his affiliation with Temple University.

Michael Iver Peterson murder trial
Dr. Saami Shaibani was an expert witness in the murder trial in Durham County, North Carolina. During the trial he was accused of perjury.

A letter dated September 27, 2001, Edward Gawlinski, then Chair of the Department of Physics at Temple University, said “there is no such position in our department as a ‘Clinical Associate Professor of Physics’, nor was there during the early 1990s when Mr. Shaibani (perhaps) had a loose affiliation with us.” It was later found that Dr. Saami Shaibani was, in fact, appointed as 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.

Official Temple Appointment for Dr. Shaibani

David Aesoph murder trial
Dr. Saami Shaibani was also 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.
David Aesoph filed a habeas appeal contesting the creditability of Dr. Saami Shaibani. A hearing was held on September 10, 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.
The state contends Shaibani's statement about his affiliation with Temple University has not been definitely established to be false.
David Aesoph has the option to file for a federal appeal.

David Aesoph, Habeas Corpus Appeal
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 was “shocked” when her letter had been introduced into evidence in the Michael Peterson murder trial.
Flick also explained that she had found additional documents in 2004 which related to Dr. Shaibani’s affiliation with Temple University. Flick also indicated that she had discovered a July 25, 1995 appointment letter for Dr. Shaibani at Temple, as well as a 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 testified that her search for information on Dr. Shaibani in response to a 2004 subpoena in Aesoph’s post-conviction action “was like looking for a needle in a haystack” because Temple University never had a file on him and some documents “had been misfiled” or could not be located. Flick also found that Dr. Gawlinski remembered receiving Shaibani’s status-report letters. She also indicated that Dr. Gawlinski had put Shaibani’s letters “in file cabinet 13, or the wastebasket”. Flick further confirmed that she had a “vague recollection” that the handwritten note to “Mary” at the bottom of habeas exhibit A-18 (which asked for “an honorary title on a more-or-less permanent basis”).

South Dakota Office of Attorney General - David Aesoph habeas appeal decision

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