Page 133 of Witness 8

I held my breath.

He nodded, seemingly in agreement, and returned to the witness stand.

‘Thank you, Your Honor,’ said Bude. ‘Latent print comparison, although sometimes done electronically, is better conducted by sight and measurement. There are at least eleven points of similarity between these two prints.’

‘And what does that mean?’

‘It means that these prints, from an expert point of view, would seem to be a good match at first glance. I would need more time to confirm, of course.’

I leaned over to Kate. She leaned down, worried. She thought I was going to tell her that she had missed out on asking a key question. Her concern faded when I said, ‘Bude seems friendly. When he comes off the stand, ask him if he has any gum?’

‘I’m not going to ask him for gum. I’ll get you gum.’

‘Thank you, Mr. Bude,’ said Kate.

The judge looked to Castro. He was rubbing his temples and staring at the two images. He didn’t want this evidence to settle in front of the jury’s mind, but asking Bude anything else might only give him a chance to confirm the prints were a match. He told the judge he had no questions.

Bude then left the witness stand.

I re-called Dr. Hopkins, Castro’s DNA expert.

A large man with a comfortable suit and comfortable shoes.

‘Dr. Hopkins, you testified yesterday that the DNA you examined in this case was extracted from the latent print examined by Mr. Bude, correct?’

‘That is correct.’

‘And the DNA you extracted from that print did not yield a full set of markers for profile comparison?’

‘Correct, but there were sufficient markers present to conduct a DNA profile analysis. That analysis confirmed, in my mind, the DNA had a high probability of origin from your client.’

Dr. Hopkins wasn’t going down without a fight.

‘Just to be clear, so the jury fully understands. Let’s say there are one hundred markers you could use for comparison purposes. A cent for each one. A dollar would be a full DNA profile. How much did you have to work with the DNA extracted from the lifting tape?’

Some members of the jury nodded, this analogy was easier to follow.

Dr. Hopkins thought for a moment, then said, ‘Around forty-five cents. Close to half.’

‘Thank you, Doctor. You also testified that there was a 3.93 in a billion chance that the DNA you extracted from the latent print came from someoneotherthan the defendant, John Jackson.’

‘Correct.’

Kate was way ahead of me. She already had a piece of paper in her hand. She gave it to me, and I approached Dr. Hopkins.

‘Doctor, the prosecution has been given a copy of this document. Please examine it.’

Hopkins took the page with some mild trepidation, which quickly turned to confusion when he examined it.

‘This is a piece of handprint art. In green paint. It was taken from my client’s refrigerator door last night. Mr. Bude just confirmed to this court that the print pattern on this page matches the latent print taken from the gun. Dr. Hopkins, how much DNA does a child inherit from their father?’

‘Around fifty percent, sometimes more.’

‘So that’s around fifty cents?’

‘Yes.’

‘Doctor, the DNA you extracted from that latent print could have come from someone who shared fifty percent of my client’s DNA, correct?’