Opinion ID: 1609020
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Foundational Reliability

Text: We next address whether the second prong of the Frye-Mack test foundational reliabilityis met. In Schwartz, this court noted that [r]eliability is particularly important in a criminal proceeding because a suspect may face the loss of liberty due to DNA identification. 447 N.W.2d at 426. Moreover, we recognized that specific DNA test results are only as reliable and accurate as the testing procedures used by the particular laboratory. Id. Thus, in determining the foundational reliability of a laboratory's DNA testing methodology under the Frye-Mack standard, this court looks at whether the laboratory conducting the tests in the individual case complied with appropriate standards and controls. Roman Nose, 649 N.W.2d at 819. In this case, the district court found that the standards of the DNA Advisory Board (DAB) have superseded the previously recognized Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (TWGDAM) guidelines and thus are the appropriate standards and controls a court should examine in determining foundational reliability. The court further concluded that the BCA was in full and total compliance with the DAB standards. We review the court's determinations for abuse of discretion. Goeb, 615 N.W.2d at 815. The first issue we must address is what are the appropriate standards and controls that a laboratory's DNA testing must comply with in order to ensure reliable results. To begin our examination, we review the purpose and history of the DAB standards and the older TWGDAM guidelines, which were the standards and procedures this court has looked to for guidance in past cases. TWGDAM first met in November 1988 and consisted of 31 scientists from 16 forensic laboratories in the U.S. and Canada and two research institutions. The purpose of TWGDAM was: (1) to pull together a select number of individuals from the forensic science community who are actively pursuing the various DNA analysis methods; (2) to discuss the methods now being used; (3) to compare the work that has been done; (4) to share protocols; and (5) to establish guidelines where appropriate. Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (TWGDAM) and California Association of Criminalists Ad Hoc Committee on DNA Quality Assurance, Guidelines for a Quality Assurance Program for DNA Analysis, 18 Crime Laboratory Digest, No. 2, 44, 46 (1991). At the group's first meeting, a subcommittee was formed to establish suggested guidelines for a quality assurance program in crime laboratories that were conducting RFLP DNA analysis. These guidelines, called the TWGDAM guidelines, were initially published in 1989 in the April-June issue of Crime Laboratory Digest and later supplemented in the July 1990 issue. In the introduction to its 1989 guidelines, TWGDAM noted that [t]hese guidelines represent the minimum [quality assurance] requirements for DNA RFLP analysis and are intended to serve only as a guide to laboratory managers in establishing their own [quality assurance] program for DNA RFLP analysis. Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (TWGDAM) and California Association of Criminalists Ad Hoc Committee on DNA Quality Assurance, Guidelines for a Quality Assurance Program for DNA Analysis, 18 Crime Laboratory Digest, No. 2, 44, 46 (1991). TWGDAM also recognized that [t]hese guidelines    are subject to future revisions as the state of the art and experience dictate. Id. In 1991, TWGDAM released revised versions of the guidelines noting that [t]he revised [quality assurance] guidelines    build on the foundation established by the original TWGDAM guidelines and address the technical issues related to the next generation of DNA typing methods based on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Id. at 47. The guidelines were again revised in 1995 based on proposed changes submitted to and voted on by TWGDAM at a January 1995 meeting. TWGDAM continues to exist today, though its name has changed to Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM). In 1994, Congress passed the DNA Identification Act of 1994. Pub.L. No. 103-322, §§ 210301-06, 108 Stat. 1796, 2065-71 (1994). The Act gave the Director of the FBI the authority to create national guidelines for crime laboratories in the United States that conducted DNA testing and to appoint a DNA Advisory Board to develop and recommend quality assurance standards to the Director. Id. at § 201303(a)(1)-(3), 108 Stat. at 2068 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 14131(a)(1)-(3)). The Act provided that DAB was to exist for five years but gave the Director the authority to extend the duration of the board if necessary. Id. at § 201303(b)(4), 108 Stat. at 2069 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 14131(b)(4)). Last, the Act provided that the TWGDAM guidelines would serve as the standards until the Director approved the DAB standards. Id. at § 201303(a)(4), 108 Stat. at 2069 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 14131(a)(4)). DAB began meeting in 1995 and met two or three times a year for five years. One of the members of DAB, Dr. Budowle, the senior scientist in the laboratory division of the FBI, was also the chair of TWGDAM. When called as a witness in this case, Dr. Budowle testified that TWGDAM became the working arm of DAB in that during the time that DAB was in existence, TWGDAM continued to meet and develop recommended quality assurance standards for DAB. These recommended standards were then submitted to DAB, which in turn submitted its recommendations to the Director. A letter to all CODIS laboratory managers stated that the Director approved the standards recommended by DAB on July 15, 1998, and that they were effective October 1, 1998. Dr. Budowle testified that all crime laboratories performing DNA testing that were involved in CODIS or subject to federal standards were required to comply with these DAB standards. The DAB standards provided that as long as DAB was in existence, it could continue to recommend revisions to the standards to the Director. After DAB ceased to exist, the DAB standards permitted TWGDAM to recommend standard revisions to the Director as necessary. Dr. Arthur Eisenberg, the chairman of DAB for two years and a member of TWGDAM, testified that the TWGDAM guidelines were replaced by the DAB standards and he believed compliance with the DAB standards was essential to demonstrate that the work performed on DNA testing was reliable. Gross, the BCA representative to TWGDAM, also stated in her affidavit that the DAB standards superseded the TWGDAM guidelines and were adopted by the BCA in October 1998 as the appropriate standards and procedures with which the BCA must comply. In determining whether the DAB standards or the TWGDAM guidelines should apply in this case, the court of appeals concluded that the district court erred in finding that the DAB standards superseded the TWGDAM guidelines. Traylor, 641 N.W.2d at 340-41. In looking at this court's prior cases, the court of appeals concluded that we have clearly and unequivocally adopted the TWGDAM guidelines and guarantees of reliability contained therein. Id. In the opinion of the court of appeals, these guarantees are absent from the DAB standards, and thus, the TWGDAM guidelines remain the standard for determining the reliability of DNA evidence. Id. at 341. [7] The court of appeals was partially correct in that in the past we have looked to the TWGDAM guidelines for guidance in determining what standards and procedures a laboratory should implement to ensure reliable results. See, e.g., State v. Schneider, 597 N.W.2d 889, 894 (Minn. 1999); State v. Johnson, 498 N.W.2d 10, 14 (Minn.1993); Jobe, 486 N.W.2d at 419; Schwartz, 447 N.W.2d at 427-28. But while we have looked to the TWGDAM guidelines as the measure against which laboratory protocols could be evaluated, we have never adopted the TWGDAM guidelines as an absolute. In Schwartz, we held that the admissibility of specific test results in a particular case hinges on the laboratory's compliance with appropriate standards and controls,  not a particular set of guidelines. 447 N.W.2d at 428 (emphasis added). Likewise, in Jobe, we noted that [t]his court has recognized [the TWGDAM] guidelines as appropriate for guiding DNA testing.  486 N.W.2d at 419 (emphasis added). We have not held, however, that the standards and procedures laid out in the TWGDAM guidelines were the only standards and guidelines acceptable for forensic laboratories doing DNA testing. Instead, we look to the standards and procedures that are currently accepted by the scientific community for guidance in determining what is necessary to ensure reliable results in DNA testing. Like the court of appeals, Traylor's focus also centers on the TWGDAM guidelines. However, his focus is more on the quality and reliability assurance aspects of the TWGDAM guidelines rather than strict adherence to the rules. Traylor argues that Schwartz endorsed the TWGDAM guidelines because they contained the requirement of open access to all work product and data needed to ensure the reliability of a particular DNA test and that the DAB standards are lacking such requirements. [8] Because the DAB standards do not require as much disclosure of information, Traylor contends that compliance with the DAB standards is not sufficient to ensure reliable results. [9] While recognizing that the DAB standards do not necessarily contain all the disclosure requirements of the TWGDAM guidelines, we also recognize that the standards and procedures must evolve over time as the technology and the knowledge of the experts change. In this case, the extensive disclosure that was originally required may no longer be necessary as the scientific community gains more understanding and familiarity with PCR-STR technology and the kits. We look to the scientific community and the standards and controls that it has adopted to determine what must be disclosed in order to validate a particular DNA testing process or methodology, recognizing that constitutional concerns may prevent the admissibility of the evidence. The record clearly demonstrates that TWGDAM was actively involved in developing the DAB standards and procedures that are now being followed by crime laboratories across the country to ensure reliable results. Further, testimony of the experts involved in the development and implementation of the DAB standards provides additional support that the DAB standards have replaced the TWGDAM guidelines in the scientific community as the applicable quality assurance standards. Accordingly, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the TWGDAM guidelines have been superseded by the DAB standards and that the DAB standards are the appropriate standards and procedures against which laboratories must be measured to ensure the foundational reliability of DNA testing. Having decided that the DAB standards and procedures govern, we turn then to the second issue raised concerning foundational reliability: did the district court abuse its discretion in concluding that the BCA complied with the DAB standards? To show the BCA's compliance with DAB standards, the state presented an affidavit from Gross, a forensic scientist responsible for DNA testing at the BCA. Gross' affidavit documented the BCA's quality control and assurance program, the validation studies performed, and the BCA's compliance with the DAB standards. In her affidavit, Gross stated that the BCA's quality control/quality assurance program consists of five parts: (a) Standard operating procedures [that] have been tested and validated. (b) Controls built into the testing that allow the testing to be monitored throughout each of the PCR typing steps. These include reagent blanks, blind controls, positive amplification and negative amplification controls. (c) Open proficiency testing of all personnel involved in casework. (d) Verification of case results by a second trained DNA scientist. (e) Review of case results by the [Quality Assurance/Quality Control] Supervisor of the Biology Section   . Gross' affidavit also described the ten validation studies performed by the BCA prior to using the PCR-STR and kits for actual casework. Those studies include: (1) a comparison of samples previously run on a 377 DNA Sequencer to samples run on a 310 Genetic Analyzer to verify that results from both machines are comparable, [10] (2) an evaluation of the length of time a capillary could be used and still achieve quality resolution of the DNA fragments, (3) assessment of mixtures to establish a baseline for the interpretation of mixture results, (4) an evaluation of the smallest amount of DNA required to obtain a STR profile and the consequences of going below that amount, (5) re-analysis of results previously obtained using prior testing methodologies, and (6) an evaluation of how STR analysis will be affected when DNA samples are subjected to environmental insults and contaminants. Traylor does not take issue with the state's contention that the BCA complies with the DAB standards. Therefore, given Gross' detailed affidavit documenting BCA's compliance with the DAB standards, the district court had sufficient evidence to conclude that the BCA complied with the DAB standards. Accordingly, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in this regard.