March 11th, 5pm, Room G.107, Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester.
Tea and coffee from 4.30 pm.
ROBERTO PUCH-SOLIS (Forensic Science Service)
Weight of Forensic DNA Evidence

Consider the situation where someone has broken into a house. The perpetrator forced the door open and stole valuables from the premises. A neighbour saw the perpetrator trying to open the door by forcing the door handle. The police, using a cotton swab, retrieved organic material from the door handle and a DNA profile was obtained from the swab. After a tip off, the police arrested Mr X and a reference profile has been obtained from him. The profile obtained from the door handle and the suspect, Mr X, are similar. The courts in the UK expect a number that summarises the evidential value of the DNA findings.

In this talk the following topics will be discussed:

• interpretation framework for DNA profiles currently used in the UK courts, for cases like the one outlined above;
• statistical model used within this framework at present; and
• current statistical challenges due to an increased sensitivity in the analysis of DNA profiles

Meeting contact: