Opinion ID: 1119842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Trace Evidence

Text: The State presented expert testimony by members of the Washington State Crime Laboratory (crime lab) on microanalysis and blood comparison analysis. Microanalysis is the identification and comparison of minute particles and objects. In this case, hair, fibers, metal fragments, paint chips, wood chips, charcoal, and plaster were analyzed. The blood was typed using electrophoresis. The presence of seminal fluid was detected using an acid phosphatase test. Hair and fiber comparisons were done with a comparison microscope, which consists of two microscopes connected by an optical bridge with a single set of eyepieces. Paint chips and metal fragments were tested with infrared spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescent spectroscopy, epi-illumination microscopy and a microspectrophotometer. [3] Lord claims that none of these tests were independently validated as generally accepted in the scientific community and, thus, do not meet the standards of admissibility as set forth in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013, 34 A.L.R. 145 (D.C. Cir.1923) (adopted by this court in State v. Woo, 84 Wn.2d 472, 473, 527 P.2d 271 (1974)). Frye requires that novel scientific evidence be based on scientific principles and methods which are sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the scientific community. Frye, at 1014. [4] The scientific principles and methods used by the crime lab for blood comparison and microanalysis are generally accepted and are admitted regularly in courts all over the country. Evidence of blood typing using electrophoresis has been admitted in most courts long before the Lord trial, as well as since. See, e.g., People v. Smith, 215 Cal. App.3d 19, 25, 263 Cal. Rptr. 678 (1989) (not error for trial judge to take judicial notice of previous findings of acceptability of electrophoresis); Santillanes v. State, 104 Nev. 699, 703-05, 765 P.2d 1147 (1988) (there was sufficient evidence of the test's trustworthiness and reliability to permit results); State v. Adams, 418 N.W.2d 618, 621 (S.D. 1988) (sufficient documentation of reliability and criticism of test goes to credibility, not admissibility); People v. Partee, 157 Ill. App.3d 231, 261-63, 511 N.E.2d 1165 (1987) (forensic serologist's testimony of results of electrophoresis admissible, and reliability is question of weight), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1072 (1988); Graham v. State, 168 Ga. App. 23, 23-26, 308 S.E.2d 413 (1983) (testimony of expert admissible); Robinson v. State, 47 Md. App. 558, 574-76, 425 A.2d 211 (1981) (electrophoresis found to be accepted in scientific community of forensics). But see People v. Lewis, 160 Mich. App. 20, 27, 408 N.W.2d 94 (1987) (electrophoresis has not achieved general scientific acceptance (relying on People v. Young, 425 Mich. 470, 391 N.W.2d 270 (1986))). The acid phosphate test is a regularly accepted procedure for determining whether sexual activity has occurred. It is used in rape cases routinely. See, e.g., Evans v. State, 547 So.2d 38, 39 (Miss. 1989) (acid phosphate test part of rape evidence kit collected by examining physician); State v. Neal, 535 So.2d 757, 760 (La. Ct. App. 1988) (testimony of criminalist); Commonwealth v. Willie, 400 Mass. 427, 430, 510 N.E.2d 258 (1987) (testimony of serologist); Andrade v. State, 700 S.W.2d 585, 586 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985) (testimony of county medical examiner), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1112 (1986); State v. Singleton, 102 N.M. 66, 68, 691 P.2d 67 (Ct. App. 1984) (testimony of forensic serologist); State v. Harper, 637 S.W.2d 170, 171, 173 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982) (court ordered defendant to submit to acid phosphate test and a police serologist testified as to the results). In State v. Fagundes, 26 Wn. App. 477, 483, 614 P.2d 198, review denied, 94 Wn.2d 1014 (1980), our Court of Appeals allowed expert testimony as to the presence of acid phosphatase. The expert witness from the crime lab, who was also called at the Lord trial, testified extensively about her testing methods and their general acceptability in the scientific community. Dr. Edward Suzuki testified at trial that infrared spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescent spectroscopy are widely accepted in the scientific community. See State v. Ford, 110 Wn.2d 827, 835, 755 P.2d 806 (1988) (scientific principles of infrared spectroscopy established and accepted). These methods of microanalysis have also been generally admitted in court. See, e.g., Irvin v. State, 28 Ark. App. 6, 12, 771 S.W.2d 26 (1989) (testimony of criminologist regarding x-ray fluorescence); State v. Crabb, 107 Idaho 298, 305, 688 P.2d 1203 (Ct. App. 1984) (testimony of criminalist regarding infrared spectroscopy); State v. Needs, 99 Idaho 883, 887, 591 P.2d 130 (1979) (x-ray fluorescence evidence admitted); People v. Trock, 45 Ill. App.3d 294, 297, 359 N.E.2d 836 (1977) (testimony of FBI crime lab employee on testing of bone with x-ray fluorescence); Commonwealth v. Shea, 28 Mass. App. Ct. 28, 545 N.E.2d 1185 (1989) (infrared spectroscopy used in drug identification); People v. Jones, 118 Misc.2d 687, 688-94, 461 N.Y.S.2d 962 (Albany Cy. Ct. 1983) (Intoximeter 3000 breath test based on infrared spectroscopy admissible); State v. Dorsey, 58 Or. App. 521, 523, 648 P.2d 1304 (1982) (intoxilyzer test based on infrared spectroscopy admitted (relying on State v. Moore, 307 A.2d 548, 549 (Del. Super. Ct. 1973))). Although research did not reveal any cases dealing specifically with epi-illumination microscopy, this method of analysis is also valid. It utilizes a microscope with illumination coming down from the side of the sample and reflected off the sample, rather than passing light upward through the sample as regular microscopes do. It is helpful in analyzing nontransparent particles such as paints and metals. The general acceptability of microscopes is unquestionable. Spectrophotometers are also widely used in criminal cases to examine evidence. See, e.g., State v. Anderson, 41 Wn. App. 85, 99, 702 P.2d 481 (1985) (criminologist testified as to use of spectrophotometer to chemically compare red markings on shell casings), rev'd on other grounds, 107 Wn.2d 745, 733 P.2d 517 (1987); Williams v. State, 251 Ga. 749, 756, 312 S.E.2d 40 (1983) (results of fiber comparison using microspectrophotometer admitted); State v. DeMille, 763 P.2d 5, 8 (Hawaii Ct. App. 1988) (instrument used in blood alcohol analysis); State v. Lawson, 393 So.2d 1260, 1266 (La. 1981) (expert testimony concerning results of mass spectrophotometer test performed on drugs admitted); Munson v. State, 758 P.2d 324, 329 (Okla. Crim. App. 1988) (testimony of criminalist who used spectrophotometer in metal comparison), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1019 (1989); State v. Dorsey, 58 Or. App. 521, 523 n. 2, 648 P.2d 1304 (`spectrophotometers are routinely used by chemists to test for the presence and quantity of certain compounds' (quoting Dayton v. Schenck, 63 Ohio Misc. 14, 16, 409 N.E.2d 284 (Dayton Mun. Ct. 1980)), review denied, 294 Or. 295 (1982); Commonwealth v. Seville, 266 Pa. Super. 587, 589, 405 A.2d 1262 (1979) (spectrophotometer used in enzyme analysis to show blood alcohol content). Lord contends that the trial judge erred in allowing the witnesses to testify that particular items of trace evidence could have shared a common source or that they had similar characteristics. This speculative testimony, claims Lord, violates his equal protection and due process rights. Lord's arguments amount to a claim that, notwithstanding the general acceptance of the methods used here, the trace evidence was inadmissible because the conclusions testified to by the expert witnesses were not sufficiently reliable. [5] Lord cites no authority establishing that criminal and civil litigants are similarly situated for the purpose of equal protection analysis. Accordingly, we decline to reach this issue. See State v. Dennison, 115 Wn.2d 609, 629, 801 P.2d 193 (1990). [6] As for Lord's due process claim, we note that expert testimony couched in terms of could have, possible, or similar is uniformly admitted at trial. The lack of certainty goes to the weight to be given the testimony, not to its admissibility. This is so, in part, because the scientific process involved often allows no more certain testimony. In State v. Batten, 17 Wn. App. 428, 563 P.2d 1287, review denied, 89 Wn.2d 1001 (1977), the defendant argued that the could have language of the expert witness's testimony pertaining to hair analysis lacked sufficient certainty to give efficacy to the witness's opinion. The Court of Appeals held that the conclusion offered by the witness reflected the state of the art of scientific comparison of hair. Batten, 17 Wn. App. at 437. See A. Moenssens, F. Inbau & J. Starrs, Scientific Evidence in Criminal Cases § 8.09 (3d ed. 1986) (no known way of positively identifying hair as having come from a particular individual). See also State v. Bernson, 40 Wn. App. 729, 736, 700 P.2d 758 (an expert's use of could have or possibility has been allowed in cases where less than an exact scientific process is involved), review denied, 104 Wn.2d 1016 (1985). The weight to be given the expert's conclusion is generally left to the jury. Batten, 17 Wn. App. at 438. See also United States v. Brady, 595 F.2d 359, 363 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 862 (1979); United States v. Oaxaca, 569 F.2d 518, 526 (9th Cir.) (necessarily imprecise nature of the hair identification went to the weight of the testimony, rather than its admissibility), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 926 (1978); United States v. Cyphers, 553 F.2d 1064, 1072-73 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 843 (1977); United States v. Baller, 519 F.2d 463, 466 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1019 (1975); Jent v. State, 408 So.2d 1024, 1029 (Fla. 1981) (that hair analyst could not positively identify hair as defendant's went to weight, not admissibility), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1111 (1982); People v. Novak, 94 Ill. App.3d 1024, 1028, 419 N.E.2d 393 (1981) (testimony of microanalyst that hairs similar admissible and not too speculative, but weight up to jury); Paxton v. State, 159 Ga. App. 175, 179, 282 S.E.2d 912 (1981) (expert testimony that hairs could have common origin not pure speculation and question was not of admissibility but weight), cert. denied, 248 Ga. 231, 283 S.E.2d 235 (1981), aff'd, 735 F.2d 1306 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 935 (1984); People v. Allweiss, 48 N.Y.2d 40, 50, 421 N.Y.S.2d 341, 396 N.E.2d 735 (1979) (generally conclusive results are not required and value of hair analysis, with its limitations, is recognized). In sum, the methods used by the Washington State Crime Laboratory are generally accepted within the scientific community. Further, an expert's lack of certainty goes to the weight of the testimony, not its admissibility. Accordingly, we conclude that the trace evidence was properly admitted.