Nemesis
07-26-2004, 05:59 PM
news.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10257283%255E421,00.html)
By Amanda Banks and Simone Pitsis
July 27, 2004
THE reliability of DNA evidence being used in prosecutions against Aboriginal people is being tested in the rape trial of a prominent Perth Aboriginal.
The defence in the case of Robert Bropho argued that the evidence was unreliable because it was difficult to compare an Aborigine's DNA with that of the general population.
Mr Bropho has pleaded not guilty to five charges of rape and indecent assault of a teenager in the 1970s.
Opening the Crown case in the Perth District Court yesterday, Kevin Tavener said the prosecution would rely on DNA evidence to help prove that one of the rapes had led to the teenager's pregnancy and the birth of Mr Bropho's son.
Mr Tavener said DNA showed the probability of Mr Bropho, 74, being the boy's father was very high.
The court was told by prosecution witness and forensic scientist Laurence Webb that the second of two sets of tests on the DNA of Mr Bropho, the woman and the child had not excluded the possibility that Mr Bropho was the natural father.
But defence lawyer Richard Utting argued it was dangerous to estimate the probability of an Aboriginal sub-group's DNA profile using the same hypothesis that was used to test the general population.
In the general population, the Harvey Weinberg Equilibrium theory is applied to determine the probability of a randomly chosen person in the community having the same DNA profile as another person.
Mr Utting said this theory was not reliable when applied to the Aboriginal community because there was not random mating among Aboriginal groups.
Judge Robert Mazza had earlier heard the pre-recorded evidence of the woman, who said she was 13 or 14 when Mr Bropho allegedly raped her in bush and under a bridge in the eastern Perth suburb of Guildford.
The woman, who was staying with Mr Bropho and his family at the time, said on each occasion Mr Bropho had paid her between $20 and $50 after the sex.
The woman, now aged 42, claimed she was too frightened to report the offences and did not reveal them to her family until her daughter's funeral in 1999.
She said she had not wanted to have sex and had felt dirty afterwards.
She believed another man, not Mr Bropho, was the father of her child, but denied being pressured to give evidence.
The court was also told the woman had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had experienced alcohol-induced hallucinations.
Mr Utting said a social worker's report completed while the woman was in custody in 2002 revealed she was worried Mr Bropho was disguised as a guard and trying to get into prison to harm her.
Mr Utting said the defence case would argue that the woman's evidence of incidents dating back 30 years was unreliable, given her mental background.
The trial continues.
The Australian
By Amanda Banks and Simone Pitsis
July 27, 2004
THE reliability of DNA evidence being used in prosecutions against Aboriginal people is being tested in the rape trial of a prominent Perth Aboriginal.
The defence in the case of Robert Bropho argued that the evidence was unreliable because it was difficult to compare an Aborigine's DNA with that of the general population.
Mr Bropho has pleaded not guilty to five charges of rape and indecent assault of a teenager in the 1970s.
Opening the Crown case in the Perth District Court yesterday, Kevin Tavener said the prosecution would rely on DNA evidence to help prove that one of the rapes had led to the teenager's pregnancy and the birth of Mr Bropho's son.
Mr Tavener said DNA showed the probability of Mr Bropho, 74, being the boy's father was very high.
The court was told by prosecution witness and forensic scientist Laurence Webb that the second of two sets of tests on the DNA of Mr Bropho, the woman and the child had not excluded the possibility that Mr Bropho was the natural father.
But defence lawyer Richard Utting argued it was dangerous to estimate the probability of an Aboriginal sub-group's DNA profile using the same hypothesis that was used to test the general population.
In the general population, the Harvey Weinberg Equilibrium theory is applied to determine the probability of a randomly chosen person in the community having the same DNA profile as another person.
Mr Utting said this theory was not reliable when applied to the Aboriginal community because there was not random mating among Aboriginal groups.
Judge Robert Mazza had earlier heard the pre-recorded evidence of the woman, who said she was 13 or 14 when Mr Bropho allegedly raped her in bush and under a bridge in the eastern Perth suburb of Guildford.
The woman, who was staying with Mr Bropho and his family at the time, said on each occasion Mr Bropho had paid her between $20 and $50 after the sex.
The woman, now aged 42, claimed she was too frightened to report the offences and did not reveal them to her family until her daughter's funeral in 1999.
She said she had not wanted to have sex and had felt dirty afterwards.
She believed another man, not Mr Bropho, was the father of her child, but denied being pressured to give evidence.
The court was also told the woman had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had experienced alcohol-induced hallucinations.
Mr Utting said a social worker's report completed while the woman was in custody in 2002 revealed she was worried Mr Bropho was disguised as a guard and trying to get into prison to harm her.
Mr Utting said the defence case would argue that the woman's evidence of incidents dating back 30 years was unreliable, given her mental background.
The trial continues.
The Australian