“Juries are beginning to expect DNA evidence in every kind of trial, from murders to burglary. Hence reasonable doubt.”Peter Neufeld says the problem is a mismatch between technological advance and good practice. They did a PCR which did not exclude him and an RFLP test which seemed to place him at the scene The problem was the testing looked sloppy. Problems arise when PCR tests are put to use against suspects on trial.”There are people who want PCR tests excluded from prosecutions if that’s all there is,” says Dr Coyne “In the OJ case, it wouldn’t have made any difference. The more general PCR tests are only reliable when used to exclude a suspect.

The key difference is that RFLP tests are more rigorous and are usually used to suggest a match between a suspect and a forensic sample. Far too many private toxicology labs are under enormous pressure from thousands of police departments. Some cut corners.”Most of us are now familiar with the supermarket-style “bar codes” that represent a suspect’s DNA. A lab will take four or five segments of DNA and compare them to samples from a crime scene The samples can come from blood, skin or semen If the samples don’t match, the suspect is excluded. If they do, the suspect is tied to the crime scene although not necessarily to the crime.”Sounds easy,” says Dr Jerry Coyne, DNA expert at the University of Chicago “Well, it ain’t so. It’s easier to exclude than include somebody in a list of suspects and the two processes involve different methods with varying levels of quality.”DNA can be tested by Restriction Fragment-Length Polymorphisms (RFLP) or with a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). “This is where we refrigerate samples,” says Dr Kardon, the director of MediGene, a forensic toxicology lab in New York.

Pointing to a chest freezer, Dr Kardon says that business is booming “We do DNA tests on behalf of various police departments The test can condemn you or set you free. It can be enormously powerful.”

That’s certainly what Detective Superintendent Tony Bayliss, who is leading the Naomi Smith investigation, believes. To find out who killed 15-year- old Naomi, Mr Bayliss wants to take DNA samples from 800 young males aged 15 to 28. The tests will eliminate suspects and may force the killer to reveal himself.
In the US, DNA testing has been in use since 1985. With experience, lawyers and scientists have identified many of the pitfalls associated with the tests. American lawyers say a mass testing such as the one Bayliss wants would be unthinkable in the US, in part because the tests are now treated with growing suspicion.”You put garbage in and you get garbage out,” says Peter Neufeld, one of two New York attorneys who helped free O.J Simpson.

He said the same thing in the courtroom and won a rebuke from Judge Ito – and an acquittal for his client.Neufeld continues: “There was a mismatch between OJ’s samples and the evidence because of sloppiness in the tests. “Transfer fees and the 120-day rule are being considered by the RFU’s commission, and so the RFU would not discuss the matter until the commission has concluded its discussions,” a spokeswoman said yesterday.State of the union, the full survey, page 30. “I think that we want to try – as no sport has got it right yet – to devise a system where the fees are limited, so the smaller clubs are not cut out of the market.”The issue of transfers and transfer fees has already been discussed by a group of First Division club representatives, set up in response to disquiet over the way the First Division had been excluded from RFU discussions. In a series of recent briefings, the “conference” invited speakers from the football world to explain and discuss their transfer system.The clubs, however, will have to wait for an official stance on fees from the RFU until its commission delivers a verdict, due next week. “Once a player has played for one club, he cannot play for another that season – like a season’s embargo.”A plea on behalf of the First Division’s smaller clubs was made by Dave Taylor, a director of Bristol. “I think we have to learn from the valuable lessons that soccer gives us and if you buy a player from a Third Division club, the club must be reimbursed,” he said.Jeff Probyn, Wasps’ chairman of rugby, called for some restriction on the movement of players.