Almost certainly, I was the first lawyer in the country to submit forensic DNA evidence in a trial. This was probably in
1975, when my law practice was in Denver, Colorado, and before anyone, other than a few researchers, had even
heard of DNA.
It happened like this:
One day, a 16-year-old boy and his father came to our law office, then Stapp and Larson, after the boy had
received from the Denver Department of Welfare a summons to appear in court in response to a demand that he
begin paying child support for a newborn regarding whom he was the alleged father.
No way, the boy said, could he be the father, for he had never had sex with the complainant, who apparently
had named him because she had a thing for him and was chasing after him at school.
Almost the same day, one of the Denver daily newspapers carried a story on family gene testing being
conducted at the University of Colorado Medical School. The article mentioned that a likely result of this research
was improved paternity testing.
So, I telephoned the head of that research project and asked if he would like to add my client to his testing,
something he readily agreed to do. He explained that in paternity testing then going on, only three tests are run. If
the results turned out a certain way, that was proof the guy was not the father. But if the tests turned out otherwise,
which was the usual case, the results meant nothing. In the research project 50 tests were run, he said, adding
that the results could show, with 99.9 per cent certainty if the guy was not the father and with 97.9 per cent
certainty if he was. At that time, he said, there were only three laboratories in the country doing these tests. (Now,
of course, there are hundreds, if not thousands.)
So, I called the boy back into the office and repeated what the researcher had told me. I asked if he wanted to
take the new tests. He said he would, for the tests would have to show that he was not the father.
Next I appeared before the judge to request that he order the mother to bring the baby and meet my client at the
University of Colorado hospital for the taking of blood samples. Said the judge: I never heard of this, but I will so
order.
So, mother, baby and putative father assembled to have blood drawn; for the baby, from the jugular vein.
About three weeks later I heard from the researcher, who said: “ I can tell you with 97.9% certainty…” and there
went my case.
Admitted the boy; he and the girl had been shacking up regularly after school. As it turned out, my client was
just the first of thousands of males who have had to make similar admissions following receipt of DNA test results.
1975, when my law practice was in Denver, Colorado, and before anyone, other than a few researchers, had even
heard of DNA.
It happened like this:
One day, a 16-year-old boy and his father came to our law office, then Stapp and Larson, after the boy had
received from the Denver Department of Welfare a summons to appear in court in response to a demand that he
begin paying child support for a newborn regarding whom he was the alleged father.
No way, the boy said, could he be the father, for he had never had sex with the complainant, who apparently
had named him because she had a thing for him and was chasing after him at school.
Almost the same day, one of the Denver daily newspapers carried a story on family gene testing being
conducted at the University of Colorado Medical School. The article mentioned that a likely result of this research
was improved paternity testing.
So, I telephoned the head of that research project and asked if he would like to add my client to his testing,
something he readily agreed to do. He explained that in paternity testing then going on, only three tests are run. If
the results turned out a certain way, that was proof the guy was not the father. But if the tests turned out otherwise,
which was the usual case, the results meant nothing. In the research project 50 tests were run, he said, adding
that the results could show, with 99.9 per cent certainty if the guy was not the father and with 97.9 per cent
certainty if he was. At that time, he said, there were only three laboratories in the country doing these tests. (Now,
of course, there are hundreds, if not thousands.)
So, I called the boy back into the office and repeated what the researcher had told me. I asked if he wanted to
take the new tests. He said he would, for the tests would have to show that he was not the father.
Next I appeared before the judge to request that he order the mother to bring the baby and meet my client at the
University of Colorado hospital for the taking of blood samples. Said the judge: I never heard of this, but I will so
order.
So, mother, baby and putative father assembled to have blood drawn; for the baby, from the jugular vein.
About three weeks later I heard from the researcher, who said: “ I can tell you with 97.9% certainty…” and there
went my case.
Admitted the boy; he and the girl had been shacking up regularly after school. As it turned out, my client was
just the first of thousands of males who have had to make similar admissions following receipt of DNA test results.