Opinion ID: 1679655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the pcr dna evidence was properly admitted

Text: The defendant, in his second assignment of error, asserts that the district court committed reversible error by allowing the admission of DNA evidence, and presents two arguments in support of his contention. He asserts that there is insufficient foundation for the reliability of PCR DNA methodology in forensics and that the procedure undertaken in the present case did not conform to the appropriate legal standard for determining the admissibility of DNA evidence. He also argues the absence of a reliable statistical data foundation. In this case, we must consider for the first time the admissibility of evidence arising from the scientific technique of PCR DNA typing in criminal prosecutions. In State v. Houser, 241 Neb. 525, 490 N.W.2d 168 (1992), previously cited and to which we will also refer later, this court dealt with RFLP DNA analysis. The trial court in the instant case did follow the holding of Houser and conducted a Frye hearing. See Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir.1923). Its rulings were based on the Frye test. In order to understand the legal issues relating to the admissibility of PCR DNA typing, it first is necessary to have a basic understanding of the scientific principles and techniques underlying that method. In forensics, PCR DNA typing utilizes a technique in which a known reference sample containing the defendant's DNA is typed and the results are compared with the DNA typing results obtained from the sample recovered from the crime scene. If the results do not match, the defendant is excluded as a possible donor. If the results do match, the defendant is included as a possible source of the evidence sample, and a statistical calculation is made to determine the probability that another individual would also match the evidence sample.