I would like to thank those of you who responded to our survey in the last issue. We appreciate the ideas and feedback and will begin to incorporate them in our future newsletters. Among the suggestions to improve the information presented, was the incorporation of specifics on DNA collection. We are including a new section, which will be presented as we come across more information, entitled DNA Collection toward the end of the newsletter.

We have also found that often The DNA Informant is used for reference information and we are glad to be able to compile different topics and cases from the many sources that are out there. One specific topic that was recently used as a reference appeared in our 4th volume in November 2005 under our “Ask the Expert” section, and deals with Hematrace and how it relates to ferret blood. It was brought to our attention that this topic needs further clarification. For more information on this, please go to the end of the newsletter under Clarification.

And as always, we are summarizing recent news events and cases involving the use of DNA evidence.

At a recent AMD Global Vision Conference held on September 18 – 20, Dr. James Watson, spoke about the impacts of technology on DNA sequencing, “that this century will be marked by the coming together of biology and psychology.” James D. Watson is known for his discovery of the structure of DNA, for which he shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins.

“In California twenty-two languishing criminal cases were declared resolved”, and partial credit given to the benefits of Proposition 69. On the other hand, we have also seen recent discussions on the lack of funding sources to support Prop 69.

Following these news stories, you will find a number of new and ongoing cases.

Dr. James Watson reflects on DNA research in the 21st century

One of the highlights of AMD’s Global Vision Conference was an interview Paul Saffo conducted with Dr. James Watson, who along with Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA more than fifty years ago. In this new century, the full fruit of the Watson-Crick discovery is being unleashed in a life sciences revolution. Watson, who at 78 serves as Chancellor of Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, was full of vigor and humor. “At 78, I have probably lost 25 IQ points, so I sort of live off the past,” he quipped. Watson doesn’t use a computer or email, but he is well aware of how technology has impacted DNA sequencing and the practical application of his discovery.  

Watson also proclaimed that he finds it very boring to be with dumb people. “You just go where the excitement is,” he said. On the other hand, he doesn’t necessarily look down on ‘dumb’ people. It may not be their fault that they aren’t clever–their genetic code may limit their capacity to dazzle Dr. Watson.

Watson said that this century will be marked by the coming together of biology and psychology. “The biggest challenge is the human brain, which is psychology,” Watson said. “It may take us a century. We don’t know when we will know how information is stored on the brain.”

He expects over the next 10 to 15 years that we will be able to read human genetic messages. “It will be profoundly interesting to understand why people behave differently and have different capabilities,” Watson said.  “We can dissect the essence of schizophrenia, bipolarism and autism to find out how the brain doesn’t work. The essence of schizophrenia is the brain can’t function. You are seeing the essence of stupidity. The same systems tweaked slightly the other way will be the essence of intelligence. We can find out why some people can play piano better than others—just a better brain, you have to be bright to play Rachmaninoff. My goal would be in ten years everyone with a mental disease would get DNA diagnosis first.”

Watson was asked if there is a dark side to using DNA analysis to identify mental disease. Speaking from personal experience, Watson said, “We made so many mistakes in raising our child who is [mentally] compromised.”

He half-jokingly said that unsuccessful psychopaths are in prison, and the successful ones are in temporary employment agencies. “We could study metabolism and see developmental defects,” Watson said. “It’s not a choice to be a psychopath.”  He went on to say that bad luck and rolls of the genetic dice play a role in how people exist in society. “What if a person is born evil? What do you do? I don’t know. We may get to a point of realizing that some of our problems are due to our genes not working correctly, and that some people don’t fit into society the way they would like.”

Watson also said that he had given his DNA to several companies who say they plan to sequence it. “They can publish the whole thing, except any identifier of Alzheimer’s disease. Since you can’t do anything about it, I would rather have the illusion that I am not going to get it.”

He didn’t have kind words for those in power: “We are being run by rich trash without regard for the truth or reality,” he said. Like Lance Armstrong, Watson believes that more focus needs to be placed on curing cancer.  The easiest thing [in the next ten years] would be to stop cancer. We should have a real war on cancer, and we don’t have one now.” He also suggested that researchers focus more on asking why most people don’t get cancer, and finding the natural inhibitors.

Watson was asked for his opinion on the potential to delay the aging process. "It’s been pretty successful through plastic surgery," he joked. On a more serious note, he added, "Unless we deal with Alzheimers, the country won’t benefit from our living much longer."

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref01.html

In California twenty-two languishing criminal cases were declared resolved -- all in one day -- when sheriff's forensics workers obtained DNA matches and broke a previous record, the department announced Tuesday. 

The record on matches set last month was shattered last Thursday, according to Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. 

The 22 cases, now on their way to prosecutors for the filing of charges, include two attempted homicide and stolen vehicle cases apiece; four rape and burglary cases each, one arson case and nine robberies, Amormino said. 

The previous record-setting number of cases resolved on a single day was14, Amormino said. 

Sheriff Mike Carona said matches would only accelerate under the voter-approved Proposition 69, which expanded the gathering of DNA from inmates. 

"With the capabilities of our crime lab and the voter support behind Proposition 69, we see the ability for DNA to prevent future crime by taking career criminals off the street earlier in their criminal escalation," Carona said.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref02.html

California voters were only too happy to go for the quick solution, the idea that the key to thousands of unsolved crimes was to extract DNA samples from just about every felon in the state.

The database has been instrumental in solving some cases and likely will continue to be one of law enforcement's best tools.

However, we warned the measure cast too wide a net and would more than likely collapse of its own weight of evidence collection and processing.

We're not happy to report that it didn't take a psychic detective to unravel the case of the 287,294 samples of unprocessed DNA stacking up at the state crime lab.

As reported last week in the Los Angeles Times, lack of personnel is the main reason for the backlog. That obvious fact is laid at the feet of too little funding, again probably a given.

The measure came with built-in funding, so what went wrong?

Times' sleuths unearthed the reason: Not all counties seem to be following state law in delivering a portion of misdemeanor fines they collect to finance the work.

Clues as to why counties aren't forwarding the money to the "penalty pot" haven't been forthcoming.

We can ferret out motive:

Counties don't want to share the income from such fines. Simple.

How to fix it? Maybe the state's top cop, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, can come up with an arresting proposal on how to get the goods.

Until then, it seems best to delay implementation of the second part of the measure, scheduled to begin in 2009. That involves collecting DNA from every person arrested on a felony, not just those convicted.

That or commit to classifying DNA collection and processing as part of state law enforcement and pay for it through the state's general fund.

After all, DNA matching works and works well, first time, every time. How many other state programs can make that same claim?

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref31.html

New and ongoing cases involving the use of DNA evidence include:

New York - A swab from Martin Heidgen's mouth at the Nassau jail this week contains the DNA of Heidgen and a second man, prompting a Nassau prosecutor to suggest Friday that the defendant tried to beat the test by ingesting that man's bodily fluid. 
 
Prosecutors sought Heidgen's DNA to overcome a judge's decision earlier this week to throw out blood evidence in the case after State Police admitted mishandling it. Prosecutors want to match Heidgen's DNA to the blood so they can prove he was driving with as many as 14 drinks in his system when he crashed head-on into a limousine on the Meadowbrook Parkway in July 2005, killing two. He's on trial for murder.

But Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick told a judge Friday that the saliva swab taken Wednesday night from Heidgen at Nassau County Correctional Center came back with two men's DNA.  
 
Some of it matched what prosecutors say is Heidgen's blood sample, according to testimony outside the jury's presence by Pasquale Buffolino, director of the Nassau County Department of Forensic Genetics.  
 
But in a further complication, most of it belonged to an unidentified man involved in a 2003 statutory rape case, Buffolino said.  
 
The man, who was 17 in 2003, is believed to have had sex with a 13-year-old girl at that time. Though his DNA was recovered from her body, authorities never identified him or charged him with a crime, Buffolino said. 
 
Now, prosecutors believe that man is in the jail after being charged with another crime, and that Heidgen somehow ingested the man's saliva, blood or semen to outwit the DNA test.  
 
"There is no indication that anything in this ... swab was mishandled" by authorities, McCormick said in court. "That is absurd. The inference is that he tried to thwart this test by mixing a sample." 
 
"It's clear that he, at best, swapped spit with another criminal to beat this test, and that's sick," said Neil Flynn, whose daughter, 7-year-old Katie Flynn, was killed in the crash. Also killed was limo driver Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, of Farmingdale.  
 
Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref03.html 

Ohio - DNA tests have helped put a murder victim's family's minds at rest. 

Police said Anthony Apanovitch raped and murdered Mary Ann Flynn at her Cleveland home in 1984. 

Even though a jury convicted him and a judge sent him to death row, Apanovitch has always proclaimed his innocence. 

Now Cuyahoga County prosecutor William Mason says that DNA evidence links the suspect to the crime.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref04.html

Indiana - As a result of new DNA techniques used to process evidence, two men have been charged with killing a Morgan County man in his home on Sept. 4, 1984.

Frederick C. David, 43, was found by his parents stabbed to death in his home at 2980 Townsend Road.

According to Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega, because of the new techniques, along with the work of Morgan County Deputy Sheriff Scott Hamilton and former Morgan County Sheriff Paul Mason, the case can now be closed.

Ronald Glenn, 43, and Alphonzo Easley, 44, were arrested Wednesday in connection with David's murder based on the new tests performed on DNA evidence that was found at the scene of the murder in 1984.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref05.html 

Ohio - Prosecutors have an indictment in a three-year-old murder case.

Thirty-three-year-old Garland Marshall -- a church usher and Gulf War veteran -- died in his Dover Avenue home in September 2003, stabbed to death. 
 
"Garland was murdered and the investigation was stalled," says Mary Ann Kovach of the Summit County Prosecutor's Office. "We did not really have a suspect." 
 
But there was a clue. 
 
"There was a DNA sample taken at the time, back in 2003," Kovach says, "some blood splattering and they just didn't know who it belonged to." 
 
Thirty-year-old Darryl Jackson started serving time at the Richland Correctional Facility for weapons and assault charges last year and his DNA entered the system. Jackson's DNA matched the blood taken from Marshall's home. 
 
Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref06.html

Kentucky - Lexington police this afternoon hailed DNA matching for helping them identify a man who they say is responsible for the brutal killings of three women and the rape of another.

Robert Franklin Smallwood Jr., 32, is charged with crimes spanning 13 years and linked by DNA.

The victims — Doris Ann Roberts, Sonora Lynn Allen and Erica C. Butler — were killed over a span of seven years, beginning with Roberts in 1999. Butler was slain in April.

Police also announced that DNA linked Smallwood to the 1993 rape of Viola J. Greene, 83, a retired schoolteacher, who died in 1998 of natural causes.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref07.html 

California - A Texas man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the murder and rape of a young mother in South Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago. 

Mitchell Ray Brown, 41, was convicted Aug. 30 of first degree-murder for the July 1987 rape and stabbing death of 18-year-old Sandra Marie Beverly. 

Brown was arrested for the murder in January 2005 in Houston, Texas, where he was living with family, after detectives with the Los Angeles Police Cold Case Unit used DNA technology to identify him. 

Detectives Cliff Shepard and Jose Ramirez were able to match DNA from the crime to Brown, whose DNA was in a database following his conviction in 2001 for assaulting a peace officer.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref08.html

Oklahoma - Sapulpa police say D-N-A evidence links a second suspect to a 1987 murder that remained unsolved until an unexpected confession earlier this year.

Police Captain Jeff Gilliland says D-N-A taken from the scene where Rhonda Hardway's body was found links Vincent Partridge of Sapulpa to her killing. Partridge is now charged with first-degree murder. 

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref09.html 

Virginia - For four years after the August 2001 rape of a College of William and Mary senior, the case sat inactive and unsolved. Then, in November 2005, a drop of DNA in the state's databank brought it back to life. 
 
On Wednesday, the DNA evidence helped convict 26-year-old Christopher Michael Evans on charges of rape and abduction. A jury of 10 women and two men recommended that he receive life sentences on both counts. 

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref10.html 

Tennessee - A jury on Wednesday convicted a Nashville man of attempted aggravated rape and other charges based in part on DNA removed from bite marks he gave his victim. 
 
It took a Davidson County jury only a few hours to render a guilty verdict against Larry Pinex, who now faces between eight and 60 years for his assault and attempted rape. 
 
The victim was able to fight Pinex off enough to prevent him from raping her. During the scuffle though, Pinex bit the victim several times. His attorney’s claimed the bites were a result of the fight, while the state countered they were the result of the defendant’s sexual gratification. 
 
TBI Special Agent Charles Hardy was able to analyze the saliva preserved in two of those bite marks. Hardy testified the DNA found in one particular bite mark matched that of Pinex without question. 

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref11.html 

Colorado - A man was arrested after authorities said DNA linked him to a cold case from a 1992 sexual assault. 

Michael Hicks, 50, has been charged with first-degree sexual assault in connection with a sexual assault that happened on Aug. 21, 1992, on a 32-year-old woman. 

Denver detectives working on the Cold Case DNA Project recently identified Hicks as a suspect in the case. He is currently serving time in prison for sexual assault and burglary out of Arapahoe County.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref12.html

California - The prosecution contends that blood samples found in an Auburn man's car prove he killed 27-year-old Christie Wilson, but the defense focused its attention on Wilson's boyfriend as the possible culprit during opening statements Monday in the Mario F. Garcia murder trial. 
 
Garen Horst, deputy district attorney for Placer County, said in his opening statement to a jury of 10 men and two women that bloodstains were found on the back seat of Garcia's Toyota Camry. Through DNA analysis the stains tested positive and some are Wilson's. Several of the samples were mixed and were reportedly determined to contain both Garcia and Wilson's DNA, Horst said.

Mario Garcia is the last known person to see Wilson alive. The two were seen leaving the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln around 1:13 a.m. Oct. 5, 2005. Wilson hasn't been seen or heard from since. Garcia was arrested Oct. 14 and later charged with her murder. 
 
Garcia contends that he and Wilson parted ways in the parking lot and Wilson returned to retrieve her cell phone she left inside the casino.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref13.html 

Colorado - Boulder County detectives have matched DNA from a glove found at a crime scene to a 52-year-old Colorado Springs man, allowing them to clear three residential burglaries and closing investigations on three others.

James Eugene Ross currently is in the Park County Jail being held on a warrant out of Adams County.

Boulder County Cmdr. Phil West reported that Ross was arrested by Adams County authorities on another burglary charge and is facing a return to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref14.html

California - The DNA of a USC student was a 99.93 percent match with the newborn baby boy she is charged with murdering, a prosecutor said Friday. 
 
"Based on this comparison, Holly Ashcraft cannot be excluded from being the mother," said Deputy District Attorney Franco Baratta, concluding the first day of a preliminary hearing to decide whether Ashcraft should stand trial on charges of murdering her son.  
 
The 99.93 percent probability that Ashcraft was the mother of the baby described as John Doe .171 -- who was discovered by a homeless man in a box in a trash bin -- was a "conservative" figure, Baratta noted, because it did not take into account the race of the mother.  
 
Ashcraft, 21, from Billings, Mont., has pleaded not guilty to one count each of murder and child abuse in connection with the newborn's death. 

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref16.html

California - San Jose police announced today that they have cracked the 25-year-old unsolved slaying of a young German woman whose bullet-riddled body was found in an East San Jose carport on New Year's Day 1981.

Murder charges have been filed in Santa Clara County against Melvin Forte, 50, a convicted felon now in prison for a 1982 homicide and robbery in San Francisco, police said.

Forte is charged in the murder of Ines Sailer, 23, of Germany, who was living in San Francisco in 1980. On New Year's eve, investigators said Sailer went to a party in San Francisco. She left the party at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1981.

Police found her body in East San Jose later that morning. She had been shot multiple times with a small-caliber handgun. Police said she was killed elsewhere.

The case was unsolved until San Jose police investigators decided to conduct new scientific tests on old evidence.

``The big break was the DNA test,'' said San Jose police spokesman Sgt. Nick Muyo, referring to forensic tests that linked Forte to the victim.

Using new forensic technology, Muyo said investigators matched evidence found on Sailer's clothing and body -- police did not say what kind of evidence -- with Forte, whose DNA profile is in a state database.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref17.html 

California - San Diego police say DNA evidence helped them nab a bank robbery suspect nicknamed the ‘Ronald Reagan’ bandit. 
 
Last month, a man wearing a Ronald Reagan mask held up the Bank of America in Grantville. He ditched his getaway car a short distance away.  
 
Last week, Gerald Jones was arrested at UCSD in an unrelated matter. Police say DNA from the mask in the getaway car linked Jones to the robbery. 

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref18.html 

Ohio - A teenager, already serving time in prison for a Kettering rape, has now been linked to another rape attempt in Dayton, police said. 

James Ward, 15, appeared in court Thursday morning to answer to the new charges. 

Ward was already serving a 20-year sentence and is now facing new charges for an alleged attempted rape in the parking lot of Taggerts on Patterson Road. 

Ward was arraigned Thursday morning on charges of attempted rape, felonious assault, gross sexual imposition and abduction. 

Investigators said DNA linked Ward to the rape attempt in the parking lot of Taggerts in September of 2005. 

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref19.html 

California - An inmate serving a drug sentence in prison when his DNA linked him to the rape of a 17-year-old Oroville girl, drew the maximum sentence in the case Wednesday.

The victim and her mother confronted Jamahl Rashad McMillon, 27, telling the judge the assault had devastated their entire family.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref20.html

Massachusetts - A man was convicted Wednesday in the killing of a 75-year-old woman who was found dead after she and her husband briefly separated during a walk in a Walpole park.

Martin Guy, 44, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the Dec. 1, 1998, death of Irene Kennedy of Foxborough and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutor Robert Nelson said Kennedy was stabbed 32 times and strangled. Authorities said Guy left his DNA when he bit both of Kennedy's breasts.

District Attorney William Keating said this was the first first-degree murder conviction made based on evidence from Massachusetts' DNA registry that all convicted felons must submit to.

Guy, currently serving a life sentence on another murder conviction, was charged several years after the slaying.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref21.html

New York - Jeffrey Deskovic walked free for the first time in nearly 16 years after his conviction was thrown out in the rape and murder of a Peekskill High School classmate.

The 32-year-old was cleared in the death of Angela Correa because another man confessed to the crime after more sophisticated DNA testing linked him to the girl's death. Authorities would not identify the suspect but said he is serving a life sentence for his conviction in an unrelated Westchester County homicide.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref22.html

Pennsylvania - Thomas Doswell, who was released from prison after 19 years when DNA tests cleared him of a rape, is back in jail.

Pittsburgh police on Monday charged Mr. Doswell in connection with an Aug. 14 incident in East Liberty in which he allegedly coaxed a 17-year-old girl into his car.

One of the witnesses in the case is Adrienne Young, a local civic activist who dated and supported Mr. Doswell after his release. Their relationship soured after several months, ending with charges of simple assault being filed against him.

In last month's incident, the girl, of Highland Park, said Mr. Doswell prevented her from exiting the vehicle by continuing to accelerate. She said he was trying to caress her when he crashed his vehicle in Larimer, injuring her.

Mr. Doswell, 47, faces charges of reckless endangerment, unlawful restraint and luring a child into a vehicle.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref23.html

Indiana - The Marion County prosecutor says DNA technology has provided new evidence that led to an arrest in Florida in the 1989 strangling death of an 18-year-old Indianapolis woman.

Forty-six-year-old David Ashworth was arrested Monday in Lakeland, Florida. He's awaiting extradition to face charges in the death of Lisa Summers.

Investigators say Ashworth and another man reported finding the body. His wife said he was at home at the time of the murder, but later recanted.

Last year, detectives compared a DNA sample taken from Ashworth in 1992 to blood on Summers' clothing and saliva on a cigarette butt found near the body.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref24.html

Illinois - Better technology for processing DNA samples and the involvement of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children helped the Fulton County Sheriff's Department resolve a 23-year mystery in the disappearance of a female Canton teen. Questions that remain, however, are whether foul play was involved and the cause of death. The case remains open, Sheriff Dan Daly said Tuesday during a press conference held at the Fulton County Courthouse. 
 
What has been resolved is that remains found in 1989 were those of Kim McClaskey, who at age 17 had disappeared six years earlier. She was last seen walking along Route 116 about one-half mile east of London Mills on July 14, 1983. The next day, persons camping along Spoon River a mile southwest of London Mills saw clothes and personal items strewn along the river.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref25.html

Wisconsin - A 23-year-old woman avoided sexual assault by screaming and kicking her attacker. The scuffle knocked off the assailant's glasses and forced him to flee, leaving behind the glasses and a portion of his shirt, which the woman clutched in her hand.

The glasses and the shred of shirt, along with a cigarette discarded during a police interview, provided DNA evidence that linked 33-year-old Paul C. Aud to the Aug. 23 attack at the woman's Langdon Street apartment building.

Aud was charged Monday with kidnapping, attempted second-degree sexual assault and misdemeanor battery.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref26.html

Virginia - DNA found during two burglary investigations in Bedford County earlier this year led to the arrest of a Lynchburg man last week.

Bedford authorities arrested Kevin K. Coles, 34, last Tuesday, charging him with the February burglaries of Rehabilitation Associates of Central Virginia and Central Virginia Orthopedics.

Both businesses are located in Forest.

The charges come after a state forensics lab provided a “cold hit” on DNA evidence gathered at the crime scenes that was matched to Coles through a statewide databank.

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref28.html

Washington - The police don't know his name. But they think they know what he did.

The alleged rapist left behind enough evidence seven years ago for investigators to learn the man's genetic profile.

Last week, Snohomish County prosecutors took the unusual step of filing rape charges against the unknown suspect, filing the case not under his name, but instead using his genetic code.

The Snohomish County Superior Court papers list the suspect as "Individual A." The documents say the man's real name is unknown but he is "identified by unique genetic sequence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)."

Prosecutors said they filed the case the way they did to avoid problems with statute of limitations on the 1999 attack of a young woman along I-5.

Defense attorneys say the case raises concerns, in part because it makes anybody who may share the genetic profile a defendant in a criminal case.

The charging papers contain an arrest warrant for the man who matches the genetic profile, deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said.

"We know a crime has been committed. We have evidence of who committed the crime and we want to do anything in our power to alert all police agencies who we're looking for," Stemler said. "The only way to do that was to put the suspect's DNA markers in the (charges) so that will be in the system."

Such charges against an unknown defendant are sometimes filed in cases where the statute of limitations is about to run out, and the only way to preserve the possibility of prosecution is to file charges against the DNA, lawyers said.

That was on the mind of prosecutors, said Craig Matheson, who heads the Snohomish County prosecutor's Special Assault Unit. In this case, there's a 10-year statute of limitations, the time in which the government is obliged to file a charge or it cannot proceed.

"We don't want the statute of limitations to run (out) on it," Matheson said. "We want something in the system so we don't lose track."

Source: http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_28_oct_06/vol28_ref29.html

DNA Collection

The information below was presented atthe DNA/body fluids workshop given at the Forensic Science Society AGM in November 2005. 
 

The Transfer and Persistence of Biological Material underneath Fingernails 

Dr Peter Hau gave a presentation on research into persistence of DNA material under fingernails which was carried out by the employees of the Forensic Science Service. Initial experiments into efficient material recovery showed min-pointed swabs to be three times more efficient than cocktail sticks. The research also looked at persistence and showed that after a period of 24 hours no material was recovered and that overall the percentage recovery dropped from 66% at 0 hours to 11.7% at 12 hours. 

The quantity of material introduced was varied and showed that profiles were not obtainable when less than 100 cells were introduced and little difference in recovery was noticed between 100 and 400 added cells.

There were very few third party profiles obtained. All profiles obtained from introduced material were low level minor components of mixtures with the recipient/complainant as the major component of the profile.

Nail length seemed to have no effect on recovery. The research then went on to look at actual scratching rather than introducing of cellular material and showed profiles still to be unobtainable after 12 hours. In summary the research showed that material of evidential value is obtainable from fingernail scrapings, but efficient and rapid recovery is essential. 

Source: The Forensic Science Society Interfaces - Number 44 Oct - Dec 2005

Clarification

As mentioned in our introduction, we have been made aware that the information in this question/answer section found in Vol. 4 of The DNA Informant (http://www.dnalabsinternational.com/email_newsletter/vol_4_nov_05/newsletter.htm)

was misleading. The question and answer, as they appeared in this past issue were as follows:

Question 1 

With regard to Hematrace (the mobile monoclonal Antibody test for the presence of hemoglobin), our validations and readings show that only human blood and ferret blood will give a positive presumptive test for blood, along with a positive Hematrace test.  Is this what you have found?  Also, it seems like you should be able to say that a positive presumptive and a positive Hematrace confirm the presence of human or ferret blood, correct???

Answer 1

 
Validation studies have shown that they react not only with human blood but primates and with blood from some members of the Mustelidae family. For the few of you that do not watch Jeopardy, the Mustelidae family refers to animals like ferrets (positive reaction), skunks (positive reaction), weasels (negative reaction), and marten (negative reaction).

Luckily for us there are no known cases of ferrets breaking into peoples’ cars and homes!

Because tests like Hematrace are not 100% human specific, most labs refer to them as presumptive tests for the presence of blood.

To clarify this answer:

The HemaTrace is an immuno-chromatographic assay for the forensic identification of human hemoglobin. There have been many peer-reviewed articles on this scientific technique. The accuracy, efficiency and ease by which the HemaTrace test is performed enhance its suitability as a presumptive test for the detection of human blood. 

The response in the newsletter is incorrect as it stands. We should have said:  

Because tests like Hematrace are not 100% human specific, most labs refer to them as presumptive tests for the presence of HUMAN blood.  

Due to the fact that literature has shown the test to cross-react with some members of the Mustelidae family, some laboratories do not consider it a positive test for human blood.  The Hematrace test is a positive test for the presence of blood. 

Please feel free to contact us if you need further clarification. 

The DNA Informant is a free bi-weekly email newsletter, published by DNA Labs International. 

DNA Labs International is a private, ISO 17025 Accredited, Forensic Serology and DNA Identity Testing Laboratory, founded in 2004 by a Board Certified Fellow in Molecular Biology with over two decades of experience in Forensic Serology and DNA Analysis in United States Crime Labs.  Our primary mission is to help our clients identify criminals within their jurisdiction by providing timely, accurate and cost effective DNA testing results.  To do this we created an organization based on industry best practices from over 20 State Crime Labs around the United States.  We are located in Deerfield Beach, Florida, just minutes from the Fort Lauderdale airport. 

DNA Labs International’s services are now available for individual cases and outsourcing contracts.  Please keep us in mind as you start to consider your outsourcing needs, regular and rush cases and DNA case review.   
 

Editor: Karen Daurie

Karen.Daurie@DNALabsInternational.com  

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