Granted that Seratec PSA Semiquant has false positive issues and is quite
possible that it was a false positive. However, isn't it also possible that
Semenogelin test was a false negative test result. The news article mentions
that Semenogelin is specific to semen, but it is not.. You know what, I am not
even sure if the immunoassay technology is reliable for forensic casework, the
most bizarre one was when RSID Saliva was giving false positive with the buffer
in the kit. How many more may be in jail due to such bizarre results? Does this
mean that many of the sexual assault cases done so far should be looked at all
over again?
________________________________
From:Roger Sealy <roger.sealy@yahoo.com>
To: forens@geradts.com
Sent: Fri, January 14, 2011 1:45:31 PM
Subject: [Forens-l] Man Accused of Sexual Assault Released After 16 months in
Jail: U.S.A. v.s. Theodore Largo
Mr. Stephen D. Aarons (Santa Fe, New Mexico) was the assigned public defender
for a Navajo man named Mr. Theodore Largo. Up until the week of the trial, July
26-29, 2010, Theodore had been sitting in jail for 16 months. In Federal Court,
the FBI crime lab's enormous interpretive flaws were fully dissected in front of
the jury. Mr. Largo was found not guilty on all counts and immediately released.
The prosecution's scientific case was simple: 4 anal swabs had been collected
from a young alleged victim. The FBI lab report stated "….semen identified". Mr.
Aarons contacted SFR to examine the FBI lab report. Dr. Spence immediately asked
Mr. Aarons to request discovery - all of the supporting scientific
documentation. The FBI lab documents pointed to a "Faint Positive" screening
test on two of the four swabs. Defying logic, NO effort was made to identify
sperm cells on the evidence swabs via microscopic searches. Instead, they
proceeded to test ONE of the four swabs for DNA. This strategy revealed NOTHING
suggesting the possible presence of Mr. Largo's DNA. Despite this glaring chasm
in their scientific case, FBI Lab management refused to back off from their
conclusion of "….semen identified".
Dr. Spence informed Mr. Aarons that the FBI lab's conclusions were entirely
unjustified, inappropriate, and an enormous misrepresentation of the scientific
facts. Dr. Spence backed up that opinion by having the swabs tested (Independent
Forensics, Hillside, Illinois) with a more accurate, SPECIFIC screening test for
semen, as well as a more sensitive, more thorough DNA testing strategy. The
independent outsource lab revealed NO indication of semen and SUPPORTED the FBI
Lab's finding of NO DNA linking Mr. Largo to any criminal act.
The screening test utilized by the FBI lab was an ultra-sensitive detection
system for a protein that is abundant in semen, ....prostate specific antigen
(PSA). The error of leaning too heavily on a PSA test is that recent years have
revealed the presence of PSA in body tissues and fluids OTHER than semen. For
the defense, the PSA and ZERO DNA issues were illuminated by Richard Coughlin,
Ph.D. (President/Chief Scientific Officer of Sequela, Falmouth, Maine), Karl
Reich, Ph.D. (Chief Scientific Officer, Independent Forensics), and Michael
Spence (Spence Forensic Resources). Refer to the link for elementary information
addressing the forensic detection of PSA.
The prosecution's entire scientific case hinged upon a $1.05 PSA detection
cartridge produced by Seratec, a German biotech company. Hidden in the FBI's
documentation was the "FT POS" notation, indicating the apparent presence of ONE
protein. NO attempt was made to find any sperm cells, and two laboratories
revealed a conspicuous ABSENCE of any incriminating DNA. It was no surprise that
the jury took only a few hours to grant Mr. Largo his immediate release.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the PSA tests, ....when they are
employed strictly as screening tools, ….pointing the way to the Holy Grail of
Forensic Biology, …….DNA. PSA is anything but THE de facto means to establishing
a crime. Management associated with ANY forensic biology lab (law enforcement or
private enterprises) should interpret certain data with extreme caution.
http://www.spenceforensics.com/fascinatingcases.html
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