Twin murder cases

[Oriole]

Is it possible for a twin to be released on a count that they are not the only one with their DNA? Say if the twin committed a murder, yet the other stands by him, the jury has a 50/50 doubt that the crime could of been comitted by either one of them, so they release them both. Does that actually happen?

[sbrad]

Is it possible for a twin to be released on a count that they are not the only one with their DNA? Say if the twin committed a murder, yet the other stands by him, the jury has a 50/50 doubt that the crime could of been comitted by either one of them, so they release them both. Does that actually happen?

I'm no DNA expert, but I don't think twins have identical DNA.

[Scruit]

Identical twins do, I thought. There are from the same egg, so all the genetic material is identical.

[Barenaked]

They do have the same DNA. And I guess it would depend on if the case was proven soley on DNA.

[Oldbillplod]

We get DNA hits back on jobs we've attended, and it gives us the chance of it being the person responsible, i.e 1 in 20,000 chance of it being the person responsible.

[mcsap]

The required standard for the police/DA to prove is beyond reasonable doubt. If the defense can raise ANY issue that causes at least one juror to have REASONABLE doubt then they must find the accused not guilty.

If the reasonable doubt were to come from DNA evidence resulting in two possible suspects ( twins) and there was NO other corroborating evidence, the case could be dismissed. If the police/DA could place ONE of the twins at the scene and or place the other somewhere else at the time of the crime then it wouldn't be much of an issue.

[Tankus]

....twins DO have identical DNA......'cos when the egg divides, so does the DNA.....this is why twins look the same.

i guess one of the other ways is to try and get prints.....'cos although the dna is the same...their fingerprints are not!!!

[Jcrazy]

I thought their was a test that could be done to tell the defference even in twins but it is really involved. Don't know where I heard that, might not be true.

[greenlead]

As previously stated: DNA testing does not look for exact matches. It is all about probability. They cannot say, this person committed this crime. DNA testing is supportive evidence; It is not developed yet to the point where it can be used as primary. All DNA testing does is to say that, out of a thousand, this person is 98% likely to have committed the crime.

[HiTechCj]

Greetings:

Yes, Twins DNA is identical and is introduced into court as a probability. However, the fingerprints of twins are not identical. Fingerprints are different because of the way they are formed. A substantial part of fingerprint formation is environmental conditions within the womb. For instance, pressure from the embryonic fluid is primarily responsible for the formation of ridges and valleys that make up our fingerprints. The fetus’ DNA gives it a disposition toward certain fingerprints, but the pressure within the womb interacts with that pre-disposition, giving us fingerprints. Now, the pressure within the mother’s womb varies depending on what the mother is doing AND the position of the fetus. Of course, two fetuses can not occupy the same space at the same time – therefore, they are subject to different (albeit slightly) environmental conditions which results in different fingerprints.

The ONLY thing cooler than cop work is science

Both issues (Fingerprints and DNA) are covered in “Police Technology (Prentice Hall, July 2004). http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/acad...149571,00.html

Keep Well

Raymond
www.hitechcj.com