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DNA and twins

Interesting story out of Michigan about an alleged rape where the prosecutor is having a tough time determining which twin brother to charge with the rape. Both brothers have submitted DNA samples, but current technologies have been unable to isolate the alleged contributor of the semen found on the alleged victim. Orchid Cellmark, a testing lab, donated their services to try an experimental testing procedure, but word is now back that the new test failed to distinguish between the brothers.
That case reminds me of Richard v. Richard , another case involving identical twins, this time in a paternity dispute. The case is memorable for the following line of questioning, reprinted in the reported case:
Q. Okay, have a seat and tell us what your name is please.
A. Charles Arthur Richard.
Q. And, Charles, [ ] you’re the brother of Carl, is that right?
A. Twin brother.
Q. You go by Charlie? People call ya? Is that right?
A. Yeah. You call me Chuck and I’ll slap ya.
Q. Okay. Charles is that what you want to be called, is that right? Charlie?
A. Yeah, Charlie.
Q. Okay. Now, Charlie, [ ] do you know Carmen? Carmen Richard, do you know her?
A. How many times do you think I bred her?
Q. How many times what?
A. Do you think I bred her?
Q. Okay how many times did you bred (sic) her?
A. Ask her.
Q. No, I’m asking you.
A. About ten (10).
Q. And where did you have sex with her?
A. Well, I was out in the feed room and she came out and put it in her mouth and then I bent her over and stuck it in her.
Q. Now, when did that happen?
A. About ten (10) times or so.
Q. Not … not …
A. But I … I don’t know the precise date.
Q. Okay. How …
A. It could have been about nine (9) months before she had that [C.R.R.] kid.
Charles was a partially disabled farm worker making about $100 per week. His brother Carl was a much better off shareholder in the same farm operation. The DNA test came back 99.999% for Carl and 99.995% for Charles and the court picked the wealthier brother as the father.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 21st, 2005 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Criminal Times. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

No Responses to “DNA and twins”

  1. Doug
    June 21st, 2005 17:00
    1

    I wonder if the Michigan story is where Law & Order: SVU got a recent story line involving twins, duplicate DNA, a couple of murders, and — for good measure — a sex change operation performed on one of the identical twins shortly after birth.

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