Washington V. Cauthron

Richard Cauthron appeals his conviction on seven counts of first degree rape. He argues that evidence of DNA typing was improperly admitted at trial. We affirm the trial court's decision that the scientific principle and the restricted fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method of DNA typing are universally accepted, and therefore admissible. However, we reverse the conviction because testimony that Cauthron's DNA "matched" the perpetrator was admitted in error, in that it was unsupported by valid probability statistics. We remand for further consideration of the statistical evidence in accordance with our opinion.