Casey Anthony So Many People Peer-Reviewed Journal

The problem with mitochondrial DNA is that it is inherited only from the maternal side of the family. The hair could have belonged to Anthony, to the victim, to Anthony's brother, or to any of the female ancestors in the maternal side of the family. Because the state could not establish that the victim was the source of this hair, the fact that it could establish that the hair was from a cadaver was not enough to prove that Anthony committed a murder. This is no surprise. The forensics community commonly recognizes that, "in general, the significance of an mtDNA sequence match is dependent on the case in question, and the type of mtDNA involved. In only a restricted set of circumstances can mtDNA matching be considered definitive evidence of identification" (Holland & Parsons, 1999).

The other evidence that the defense questioned was whether scientific tests could determine that decomposition of a human body had occurred in Anthony's trunk. Dr. Arpad Vass, a forensics expert with significant experience in decomposition, was able to determine that the smell coming from Anthony's trunk had the same compounds as those found in the early stages of decomposition of a human body, but could not conclusively state that the odors were caused by the decay of a human corpse.Vass himself acknowledged some of the weaknesses of these investigative techniques (Vass, 2001). His cadaver-sniffing machines may be more practical to use when trying to find bodies than for providing evidence that a body has been in a certain location.

This analysis certainly does not mean that the decomposition science or mtDNA tests are junk science, as they were derided by defense counsel and in the press. They can play a critical role in investigation, and could be pivotal to a prosecution, depending on the state's theory of the crime. However, in a crime like this one, where so little is known about what occurred to the body and the accused perpetrator was a close relative to the victim, they were insufficient to provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt

References

Holland, M.M., & Parsons, T.J. (1999). Mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis- validation and use for forensic casework. Forensic Sci Rev (11), 22-50.

Vass, A. (2001). Beyond the grave: understanding human decomposition.….....