Opinion ID: 2775227
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Blood on the One-Dollar Bill

Text: ¶ 45 Mr. Griffin claims that defense counsel inadvertently forgot to elicit testimony that because Mr. Griffin was a sheet metal worker in Logan, he frequently had cuts on his hands, which could have introduced his DNA onto the one-dollar bill. He also argues that counsel failed to present exculpatory evidence in the form of an expert opinion that there was no way to determine how or when Mr. Griffin’s blood was transferred to the one-dollar bill. ¶ 46 At trial, Mr. Griffin called expert Dr. James Gaskill, who explained that ―studies reveal that D.N.A. is easily transferred. And that very small quantities of D.N.A. can be analyzed and profiled, extremely small amounts . . . . It’s touch D.N.A. That touch D.N.A. has been found on all sorts of surfaces.‖ Dr. Gaskill further stated that ―any cell that could get on this dollar bill could have D.N.A. on it.‖ For this reason, he explained, bills are particularly ―good candidates for D.N.A.‖ because they ―tend to absorb biological fluids.‖ Dr. Gaskill also testified that he tested six bills he collected at random in the regular course of business, and from two of the bills he was able to detect the presence of DNA. ¶ 47 We conclude that Mr. Griffin has not shown that this allegation could support a determination that his counsel was ineffective. Trial counsel did provide the jury with expert testimony that DNA can easily be transferred to bills in the stream 19 STATE v. GRIFFIN Opinion of the Court of commerce. Thus, evidence that Mr. Griffin was a sheet metal worker would have been cumulative. Moreover, Mr. Griffin’s argument that the blood was transferred at another time contradicts testimony by the students that the blood on the bill was damp when they received it from the suspect. As a result, the jury could discredit his argument altogether. We therefore determine that Mr. Griffin has not demonstrated that his allegation could support an ineffective assistance claim.