Opinion ID: 1158185
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Electrophoretic Evidence

Text: (8a) Defendant next challenges the trial court's decision to admit the results of an electrophoretic analysis of semen samples removed from Erin King's clothing and body. [7] The analysis showed the semen to be consistent with defendant's secretor status and phosphoglucomutase type; the People's expert testified that 8 percent of the population shared these particular characteristics. Defendant moved prior to both the guilt and second penalty phase trials to exclude the evidence on the ground that it failed to meet the test of scientific reliability under the Kelly/Frye rule. ( People v. Kelly (1976) 17 Cal.3d 24, 30 [130 Cal. Rptr. 144, 549 P.2d 1240]; Frye v. United States (D.C. Cir.1923) 293 Fed. 1013, 1014 [54 App.D.C. 46, 34 A.L.R. 145].) (9) The rule requires the proponent of expert testimony based on the application of a new scientific technique to satisfy three criteria: (1) the technique or method is sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in its field; (2) testimony with respect to the technique and its application is offered by a properly qualified expert; and (3) correct scientific procedures have been used in the particular case. ( People v. Kelly, supra, 17 Cal.3d at p. 30; People v. Morris, supra, 53 Cal.3d at p. 206.) (8b) At the pretrial admissibility hearing, defendant challenged the evidence solely on the ground that it failed to satisfy the first criterion, general acceptance of the method's reliability in the scientific community. The parties stipulated that the court could rely on the trial record in People v. Reilly, supra, 196 Cal. App.3d 1127, in determining the reliability of electrophoretic testing. In addition, defendant called one expert witness, Dr. Thomas Blake. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found that the People had met their burden and ruled the evidence to be admissible. Defendant renews his challenge here to the general admissibility of electrophoretic testing. We have considered and rejected this contention on several occasions. ( People v. Fierro (1991) 1 Cal.4th 173, 214-215 [3 Cal. Rptr.2d 426, 821 P.2d 1302]; People v. Morris, supra, 53 Cal.3d at pp. 206-207; People v. Cooper (1991) 53 Cal.3d 771, 812 [281 Cal. Rptr. 90, 809 P.2d 865].) [8] Nothing in the instant record causes us to reconsider the matter. Defendant also specifically challenges the reliability of electrophoretic testing of semen. He notes that Reilly was confined to the admissibility of electrophoretic testing of blood, as were our decisions in Fierro, Cooper and Morris. In People v. Ashmus, supra, 54 Cal.3d 932, we upheld the trial court's finding that electrophoretic testing of semen was generally accepted as reliable in the relevant scientific community ( id. at pp. 971-972), but declined to extend our holding beyond the specific record made by the parties. ( Id. at pp. 972-973, fn. 10.) After independent review of the record here, we also conclude that the trial court's ruling was proper on the record before it. Dr. Blake, the only expert who testified, stated that in general electrophoretic analysis of blood and semen are equally reliable. Although he acknowledged that semen samples may degrade faster than blood samples and that semen analysis may be complicated by the admixture of other fluids such as saliva, vaginal secretions and sweat in the test sample, he cited these as facts to be accounted for in the testing procedures rather than as grounds for deeming electrophoretic analysis of semen to be unreliable. The undisputed evidence, therefore, amply supported the trial court's finding that the People had met their burden under the Kelly/Frye rule. [9]