Court Opinion

ID: 9644731
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:03:09.322521+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:17.231540
License: Public Domain

STEPHENS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
Respectfully, I dissent.
The polestar case that this Court and an overwhelming majority of other Courts follow in determining the admissibility of new scientific tests or evidence is Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir.1923). Frye requires the trial court to find that the tests are “sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.” Id., at 1014.
Harris was a suspect in a rape investigation. He agreed to be subjected to a physical evidence recovery examination. It was determined that the DNA profile of the semen found on the rape victim matched the DNA profile of the blood given by Harris.
Defense counsel made a pretrial motion to suppress the results of the DNA test. At a hearing on the issue, two expert witnesses, Dr. Dwight Adams, a special agent working in the DNA Analysis Unit of the FBI Laboratory and Dr. David Goldman, the Chief of Genetics Research at the National Institute of Health, testified for the Commonwealth. On cross-examination by defense counsel, the trial court did not allow Dr. Adams to state the opinions of those who disagree with the accuracy of forensic DNA analysis. No witnesses were called by defense counsel. The trial court did not call any independent experts to supplement the record.
The trial court ruled the DNA results admissible. At trial the DNA evidence was admitted over defense counsel’s objection.
It is clear that the lower court failed to follow Frye. The trial court heard evidence only as to the accuracy and proficiency of DNA testing. No evidence was presented to rebut the Commonwealth’s witnesses. Because there was no evidence presented which refuted the credibility of DNA testing, the trial court could not make an informed decision that DNA testing is sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.
In admitting the DNA evidence, the lower court did not comply with Frye. Nevertheless, the majority affirms the admission of the DNA testing. This case is particularly disturbing as it will be cited by prosecutors as precedent for the use of DNA evidence without compliance with the standards established in Frye.
To be in compliance with Frye, the trial court should
sua sponte take the responsibility of inquiring not just whether the experts believe the scientific community is generally in agreement, but whether they are in fact aware of any opposing sentiment in the relevant scientific community. The court should then make an effort to ascertain the extent of any opposition so identified, calling its spokesmen as court-appointed experts if necessary.
People v. Kelly, 17 Cal.3d 24, 130 Cal.Rptr. 144, 153, 549 P.2d 1240, 1249 (1976) (quoting Comment, The Voiceprint Dilemma: Should Voices be Seen and not Heard? (1975) 35 Md.L.Rev. 267, 293.). Emphasis in original.
Because Frye was not followed and because the DNA evidence was damaging to Harris, I would reverse and remand, ordering the trial court to use Frye for the *684foundation of determining the admissibility of DNA testing.