NCJ Number
246518
Journal
Forensic Science International: Genetics Volume: 10 Dated: May 2014 Pages: 49-54
Date Published
May 2014
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper examines situations where forensic samples contain DNA evidence from a mixture of individuals that may be related.
Abstract
Mixture evidence refers to cases in which the biological stain, or stains, recovered from a crime scene, may contain DNA evidence from several individuals. This paper examines situations in which the forensic samples contain DNA evidence from a mixture of individuals that may be related. Currently the statistical methods that are used for analyzing mixture evidence assume that the individuals who contributed to the sample(s) are all unrelated. Building on the existing methods, this paper analyzed three samples, two hypothesized samples and one real sample, in order to develop a method for analyzing mixed samples. Freely available, open-source software was also used to analyze the samples. The results of the analyses of the three samples indicate that the approach presented in this paper for analyzing mixed evidence containing DNA from related contributors can be used to successfully identify the contributing individuals, and it can handle situations where the opposing parties in a court case propose different family relationships among the contributors. 4 figures, 2 tables, 1 appendix, and 22 references