| Judge Al Girolami is leaning toward allowing mitochondrial DNA evidence But he agreed to hear one last argument from each side. Girolami did not say if he intends to issue a ruling when court adjourns for the day at about 4 p.m. A subhearing on mitchondrial DNA testing has been woven into the larger preliminary hearing since it began Oct. 29. The Peterson proceeding is breaking new ground because mitochondrial DNA analysis has never before been used for forensic evidence in California courts. Two FBI experts have testified that such testing is accepted in the scientific community, while a defense expert said it is unreliable and vulnerable to contamination. The issue is important to both sides of the Peterson case. A prosecution theory relies on a test showing that a hair found in Peterson’s boat could have come from his pregnant wife; authorities say the defendant could have used the boat to transport his wife’s body. Peterson is charged with murdering Laci and their unborn son, who was to be named Conner. Girolami, however, said he has “issues” with the relatively small database used by the FBI for mitochondrial DNA analysis. It has only 5,071 samples, with only 1,833 from Caucasians. Also this afternoon, defense attorney Mark Geragos appeared to suggest that a hair from Laci Peterson could have attached to a tracking dog in her home, then fell off in the boat when officers asked the dog to try picking up the missing woman’s scent. The hair has taken center stage of a legal battle, with disputes over whether it broke in two while in police custody or whether another hair was introduced into the original sample. Rodney Oswalt, a state Department of Justice criminalist, acknowledged under questioning by Geragos that he did not conclude that two fragments were parts of the same hair. Prosecutors wrote in court documents that ends of the two fragments “appear to match each other, meaning they came apart in the package.” It was not immediately clear if another expert produced that opinion. PRELIMINARY HEARING INDEX ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS AUTOPSY INDEX HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT AMBER EVIDENCE-NEWS |
| PRELIMINARY HEARING - DAY 9 Friday - November 14, 2003 |
| LACI & CONNER "A million times we think of her" Tribute by Snippy4 |
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