- Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
Jamaica has seen a vast increase in DNA testing for use in rape, murder and other criminal cases.
Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
ADVANCES IN science and technology have armed local crime fighters with the means to bring more criminals to book using forensic evidence.
The Government Forensic Laboratory is now in the process of establishing a database of DNA profiles that will give analysts a list of subjects with which to compare samples in order to identify a suspect. Head of the DNA section of the laboratory, Compton Beecher, said the database will allow the lab to significantly narrow down the list of suspects in a case.
"Whatever profile that we get from the evidence that comes in we will put that on a database and when we do get samples from an accused, we may run it against the database to see if there is a match," Mr. Beecher explained.
Using DNA profiling, investigators can now pinpoint whether an individual was connected to a crime, by testing a piece of chewing gum or even a cigarette butt. The presence of DNA, which is unique to each individual, significantly reduces the number of probable suspects.
DNA evidence is playing an increasingly crucial role in the local judicial process, with more than 1,000 samples passing through the Government Lab each year. In recent years, Jamaica has seen a vast increase in DNA testing for use in rape, murder and other criminal cases, as well as to determine paternity. In one of the most recent cases, DNA evidence has formed part of the prosecution's case against Paul Gooden, who is accused of killing his wife, Ingrid Andrade-Gooden, the daughter of former Director of Public Prosecution, Glen Andrade, in November last year.
"The type of evidence that can now be analysed is also a lot more because whereas you used to just concentrate on a blood stain or semen or saliva stain anything that had any contact with that individual so the scope for it has widened in terms of the type of evidence that can be examined," Mr. Beecher told The Sunday Gleaner.
Critical to the process of DNA is the collection and preservation of the evidence by the police before it reaches the lab. In local crime-fighting, investigators collect all evidence at a crime scene, and turn it over to the lab for analysis. However, according to Mr. Beecher there are certain conditions in which samples must be stored in order to preserve them to obtain a proper DNA profile. These include refrigerating or air drying a wet sample such as blood, and sealing the samples to keep out environmental factors such as heat or bacteria. In all cases the samples should reach the lab as quickly as possible.
"That's very critical to our operations because unless the sample is intact, you won't get a DNA profile from it, or you will get a limited profile," he explained.
The local DNA testing process is comparable to international standards, since Jamaica operates according to international guidelines set for the industry. In addition, he said, the Government Forensic Lab employs strict quality control measures, also in accordance to international guidelines.
