Court Opinion

ID: 9932678
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:41:03.777556+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:55:08.771517
License: Public Domain

Although I agree with the majority's conclusion that the State established the reliability of the Perkin-Elmer test kits, I believe it was unnecessary, as a matter of law, to subject the kits to an analysis to determine their scientific reliability. The test kits do not present a new scientific technique; rather, they use the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing method, which is generally accepted by the scientific community. See, e.g., People v. Hill, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 110,89 Cal.App.4th 48, 59-60 (2001) (specifically discussing Perkin-Elmer test kits); and Lemour v. State, 802 So.2d 402, 407 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 2001) (following the reasoning of Hill in holding that it is unnecessary to subject test kits using the PCR testing method to an analysis to determine the scientific reliability of the kits). See also Turner v.State, 746 So.2d 355, 362 (Ala. 1998) (citing the holding in UnitedStates v. Beasley, 102 F.3d 1440, 1448 (8th Cir. 1996), that in future cases judicial notice could be taken of the reliability of the PCR testing method); and Simmons v. State, 797 So.2d 1134, 1146
(Ala.Crim.App. 1999) (holding that the PCR testing method is generally accepted by the scientific community). The test kits "do not represent a separate part of the typing process, but rather, simply contain materials for beginning the PCR process. See People v. Shreck, 22 P.3d 68, 81
(Colo. 2001). Therefore, . . . `questions as to the reliability of the particular type of . . . kit go to the weight of the evidence, rather than its admissibility.' Id." United States v. Trala, 162 F. Supp.2d 336, 346
(D.C. Del. 2001). The test kit is "simply one tool for carrying out generally accepted PCR methodology." State v. Russell, 125 Wn.2d 24, 55,882 P.2d 747, 768 (1994). See also Trala, 162 F. Supp.2d at 346. Moreover, "the forensic community and those quarters of the scientific community that have used [the test kits] uniformly assert [their] reliability." State v. Butterfield, 27 P.3d 1133, 1144 (Utah 2001) (citing scientific literature and numerous validation studies that conclude that the Perkin-Elmer test kits are scientifically reliable and holding that it is appropriate to take judicial notice of the inherent reliability of the test kits). Because I believe the majority unnecessarily subjects the test kits to an analysis to determine their scientific reliability, I concur only as to the result.
Moore, C.J., concurs.