Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the subject of interpretation of “trace-DNA” evidence. The definition of “trace-DNA” is associated with the uncertainty of the relevance of the DNA evidence relative to the crime event itself. There is an extended discussion on the causes and implications of contamination at the crime scene and in the laboratory. Background contamination exists at the crime scene before the crime event has occurred. The challenge is to distinguish between the crime-event DNA vs. the naturally occurring background DNA–it may not be possible to distinguish between them. The concept of the “statement of limitations” is introduced as the baseline. A number of common fallacies/errors that are primary causes of miscarriages of justice are highlighted: “the association fallacy,” “the hidden perpetrator effect,” “the naïve investigator effect,” “the serial error effect,” “the compounded error effect,” and confirmation bias.
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