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Finding Truth in DNA Mixture Evidence

M.W. Perlin, "Finding truth in DNA mixture evidence", Innocence Network Conference, Advanced DNA, Charlotte, NC, 20-Apr-2013.


Talk

PowerPoint presentation of Innocence Network Conference 2013 talk.

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Description

This session will address innovations in DNA testing of interest to Network members. Suggestions and questions from Network members can be sent to greghampikian @ boisestate.edu

Topics include:

  • How computer Expert Systems can analyze "Inconclusive," "Low Template," and "Complex Mixture" DNA without the need for new laboratory DNA testing.
  • How low can we go? New improvements (and risks) in Low Template DNA analysis.
  • Familial Testing: does it work?
  • Bias
  • Can we determine surnames from DNA profiles?
  • CODIS: what are the rules, and what is changing.
  • Your questions mailed to greghampikian @ boisestate.edu

Dr. Mark Perlin is Chief Scientific and Executive Officer at Cybergenetics. He has twenty years experience developing computer methods for information-rich interpretation of DNA evidence, and providing TrueAllele® products and services to the criminal justice community. Dr. Perlin has reported on objective computer DNA match statistics in over a hundred cases, providing both defense and prosecution with accurate interpretation results when human review cannot. He holds doctoral degrees in Mathematics (City University of New York) and Computer Science (Carnegie Mellon University), and a medical degree (University of Chicago). His email address is perlin @ cybgen.com, and his phone number is 412.683.3004. Cybergenetics (www.cybgen.com) is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Greg Hampikian, Ph.D. is a professor in the departments of Biology and Criminal Justice at Boise State University. He is the Director of the Idaho Innocence Project, the DNA expert for the Georgia Innocence Project, and has assisted Innocence Network members in over a dozen exonerations. Dr. Hampikian has also helped launch Innocence Network organizations in Ireland and France, and worked on Amanda Knox's case in Italy. His research laboratory at BSU works on a wide variety of forensic DNA and molecular biology projects, and Dr. Hampikian was recently inducted into the National of Academy of Inventors as a Charter Fellow. He is the author of Exit to Freedom with Exoneree Calvin Johnson, and is a contributor to the New York Times, the Hartford Courant, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among others. His email is greghampikian @ boisestate.edu.

Andrea Borchardt-Gardner is a Supervisor of Forensic Casework at Bode Technology. Her team at Bode specializes in cold case and Innocence Project testing and has worked on post-conviction cases in more than 25 states over the past three years. The team handles the most difficult and complex forensic cases, often utilizing innovative testing methods to recover DNA from challenging evidence items. Notable cases tested by her group include the Phillip Thurman exoneration, JonBenet Ramsey murder, the West Memphis Three case, the Donald Gates exoneration and the Kirk Odom exoneration. Ms. Gardner was previously an adjunct instructor at the Virginia Commonwealth University where she taught Forensic Molecular Biology. She holds a Master of Science degree from the Johns Hopkins University. Her email is Andrea.Borchardt @ bodetech.com.


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