Opinion ID: 1894732
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Electrophoretic Testing

Text: Electrophoretic blood testing is utilized in several scientific fields, but has been employed most extensively in the area of criminal forensics. The identification of specific blood characteristics in bloodstains which are part of a criminal investigation is commonly the key to the prosecution's attempt to tie a particular defendant to a particular crime. Electrophoresis is the movement of charged particles through a buffered conducting medium by application of a direct current. The term isozyme is used to describe enzymically active blood proteins which can be identified by their relative mobilities in an electric field. After separation of the proteins into marker bands by application of a current, specific chemicals are applied to make the proteins visible. [Citations omitted] The relative distance of the bands from a common origin is compared with known standards, and evaluated by established guidelines. The results are then compared to population studies which show the known frequency of each factor in a given population. This produces a statistic which is representative of the percentage of the population that has that group and those factors in common. [Footnote omitted] The more genetic markers identified, the smaller the population of persons who might possess a particular combination of factors. People v. Young, ( Young III ), 425 Mich. 470, 515-16, 391 N.W.2d 270, 290-91 (1986) (Boyle, J. dissenting). In State v. Dirk, 364 N.W.2d 117 (S.D. 1985), we found electrophoretic testing to be sufficiently reliable to pass the Frye test. Although the Dirk decision appears to control, the question of the reliability of electrophoretic blood testing continues to be challenged. [3] The 1986 Young decision demonstrates several difficulties in applying the Frye test to electrophoretic testing. As noted above, electrophoresis is most commonly used in criminal forensics. As the Young court noted: The number of scientists not working for a police agency who are familiar with electrophoresis of evidentiary bloodstains is small. Young, supra, 391 N.W.2d at 271. However, where the Young court was not convinced that sufficient significant testing had been undertaken to insure reliability of electrophoresis, we find sufficient documentation of this procedure's reliability for admissibility. [4] We do not interpret Frye to require that the scientific community be restricted to a narrowly defined class of disinterested experts. To do so would question the integrity and commitment of hundreds of criminal forensic experts who have the most practical experience in the area of electrophoresis. We do not question the importance of independent scientific documentation. Instead, we simply refuse to read this requirement into Frye.