Friday, March 16, 2007

Oh, but in the Ramsey case there could NEVER be contamination as an explanation...

Pickton's defence has seized on the science behind the investigation.

In a modern trial, DNA evidence is vital. In this trial, the jury has heard that a few key pieces of evidence were contaminated with other DNA.

Buckets containing the human remains of two of Pickton's alleged victims were found with the DNA profile of an unknown man. An investigator's DNA was on a piece of plastic found with a sex toy that also had the DNA of Pickton and another of his alleged victims.

In all, out of more than 600,000 exhibits sent for testing, 80 were found to have been contaminated.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

In all, out of more than 600,000 exhibits sent for testing, 80 were found to have been contaminated.

I'm confused. Doesn't this make the odds of contamination 1 in 7,500? Given a choice between believing there was contamination in the Ramsey case (odds: 1 in 7,500) and believing there wasn't (odds: 7,500 to 1), where would YOU say the weight of the evidence lay?
Best wishes,
Miss Marple

rashomon said...

Miss Marple, when you take into account all the evidence which implicates the Ramseys, this should answer your question as to where the 'weight' of the DNA evidence lays in this case.
Lab contaminaton is definitely a possibility imo. It has happened even in renowned crime labs where all necessary precutions had allegedly been taken - in the Penny Scaggs murder case for example.