|
Abstract: Many anticipate that DNA typing will revolutionize law enforcement. It is argued that DNA evidence offers certain proof instead of probability in the paternity law context. But surely, in any particular case, the genetic evidence might amount to something less than conclusive proof either because the laboratory personnel have not found what they think they’ve found, or because the findings, while accurate enough, do not justify the inference of paternity with certainty. This article addresses the question of whether accurate DNA testing, alone or in combination with other genetic tests, can prove that a defendant in a paternity action is the biological father of the child. Undeniably correct findings consistent with paternity may also be consistent with some residual doubt about paternity. While DNA analysis can supply very powerful evidence for or against paternity, there is no single “DNA test.” The probative value of the DNA findings depends both on the procedure employed and the genetic composition of the people tested. This article describes the power and limitations of DNA testing by surveying the underlying genetic principles of DNA testing, outlining the emerging methods of DNA analysis, and analyzing the problem of interpreting the test results from these methods paying particular attention to their impact on the probability of paternity. Some of the probabilities that have been presented in court are derived from highly simplified models in which crucial quantities are not known with the precision implicit in the presentation of the results. Nevertheless, while the popular accounts of DNA testing may be overbroad and slightly premature, the day of potentially overpowering scientific evidence is at hand.
|