The Double Helix and the Law of Evidence

by Kaye, David H.

• ISBN13: 9780674035881
• ISBN10: 0674035887
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-01
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

Bridging law, genetics, and statistics, this book is an authoritative history of the long and tortuous process by which DNA science has been integrated into the American legal system.In a history both scientifically sophisticated and comprehensible to the nonspecialist, David Kaye weaves together molecular biology, population genetics, the legal rules of evidence, and theories of statistical reasoning as he describes the struggles between prosecutors and defense counsel over the admissibility of genetic proof of identity. Combining scientific exposition with stories of criminal investigations, scientific and legal hubris, and distortions on all sides, Kaye shows how the adversary system exacerbated divisions among scientists, how lawyers and experts obfuscated some issues and clarified others, how probability and statistics were manipulated and misunderstood, and how the need to convince lay judges influenced the scientific research. Looking to the future, Kaye uses probability theory to clarify legal concepts of relevance and probative value, and describes alternatives to race-based DNA profile frequencies.Essential reading for lawyers, judges, and expert witnesses in DNA cases, The Double Helix and the Law of Evidence is an informative and provocative contribution to the interdisciplinary study of law and science.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Before DNA: Genetic Markers	p. 5
Immunogenetics of the ABO Group	p. 6
Is the Theory Generally Accepted?	p. 7
More Immunogenetic Markers	p. 12
The Thin-Gel-Multisystem Controversy	p. 13
Trial by Mathematics	p. 20
Inclusions versus Exclusions	p. 20
The Admissibility of Percentages and Probabilities	p. 24
The Dawn of DNA Typing	p. 36
Genes, Chromosomes, DNA, and Sex	p. 37
From Protein Polymorphisms to Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms	p. 40
Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms	p. 43
Multilocus Variable Number Tandem Repeat Probes	p. 48
The Probability of Individuality	p. 52
Forensic Applications	p. 54
DNA Evidence circa 1986	p. 57
The Emergence of VNTR Profiling	p. 58
Into the Courtroom	p. 60
The Double Murder and the Handyman	p. 65
The Pretrial Hearing	p. 66
The Aftermath	p. 71
Castro's Progeny	p. 74
The Intensifying Debate over Probability and Population Genetics	p. 79
The Aversion to Numbers	p. 80
The Validity of the Numbers	p. 84
The Match Window	p. 84
Allele Frequencies	p. 87
The Basic Product Rule for Combining Allele Frequencies	p. 89
Threats to Independence	p. 91
The Lewontin-Hartl Article	p. 95
The National Research Council Speaks	p. 98
The Initial Reaction to the 1992 NRC Report	p. 105
The Initial Reception of the NRC Report in the Courts	p. 106
Hitting the Ceiling	p. 112
Evaluating the Population-Genetics Debate	p. 114
Ending the Debate over Population Genetics	p. 132
Lobbying the Academy	p. 133
The NRC Speaks Again	p. 137
Simpson Meets His Match	p. 140
Boodles and Louder	p. 154
The Second NRC Report in the Courts	p. 158
Moving Back to Errors and Relatives	p. 161
Proficiency Testing and Error Rates	p. 162
The Evil Twin and Other Relatives	p. 170
Moving on to Short Tandem Repeat Loci	p. 178
The Polymerase Chain Reaction	p. 179
Early PCR-Based Discrete-Allele Systems	p. 180
More PCR-Based Systems: Short Tandem Repeats and Alphabet Soup	p. 187
Transcending Race and Unscrambling Mixed Stains	p. 192
Deracializing DNA Statistics	p. 192
Unscrambling Mixtures	p. 197
Outside the Nucleus: Mitochondrial DNA	p. 213
The Ordeal of Clara and Emmanuel Rojas	p. 115
The Ghost of Corleone	p. 217
The Last Tsar	p. 218
Stray Hairs	p. 226
Ware's Hair	p. 227
Saving Simpson's Scalp	p. 230
A Connecticut Yankee in Court	p. 232
An Experiment in Delaware	p. 238
Learning from DNA	p. 243
Payment	p. 246
Selection and Cultivation	p. 248
Exposure	p. 250
Neutral Expertise	p. 252
Other Reforms	p. 256
Appendix: Timeline of Selected Developments in or Affecting Forensic Genetics	p. 261
Notes	p. 265
References	p. 293
Cases and Statutes	p. 319
Index	p. 325
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