What do you think of the "inventor of DNA fingerprinting" backing the McCanns?

Question

"The inventor of DNA fingerprinting has offered to act as an expert witness in the Madeleine McCann case.Sir Alec Jeffreys said DNA matches alone did not establish guilt and all Madeleine's genetic characters would be found in at least one family member."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6992372.stm

This guy must know what he's on about...

They said precisely the same thing about looking for Madeleine.

I'm not sure whether I believe them or not but to get the support of an exceptional forensic expert is a big thing.

Smilingireland: I have no idea. I'm not claiming that they are innocent.

HORSEMANSPAL - the NEWS is that they have been offfered support from the person who established the practice of DNA fingerprinting.

Are you qualified to argue with Sir Alec Jeffreys? I sure as hell am not.

...and NO, I am not a pro-mccann, before the idiotic assumptions start.

Liberty and justice - you make a vry good point on my phrasing, but how many words can one fit into a question title to explain the whole case?! it wasn't intentionally misleading.

Answer 1

The McCanns are sure getting desperate...and are doing everything to avoid the inevitable jail.

Answer 2

Oh dear. This is just the sort of question that distorts what has been said.
Expert witnesses are often used and always used for defence and prosecution sides in cases such as this. Yes, Prof Jeffreys has offered to act as an expert witness but that is not the same as 'backing' the McCanns.

His reputation is excellent and he will be concerned with the fair and rigorous interpretation of data. I saw the original interview that he gave, where he was offering his expertise in the form of an expert witness, to either side. Presumably the British police haven't approached him (but I can't say that for sure). The McCanns have the right to a fair and equal trial, should they be charged.

Our legal system has been found to be corrupt/wrong in the past too. Unfortunately ,sometimes legal cases are a battleground for proving who has the best lawyer/legal team, rather than the pursuit of 'truth' per se. An unpalatable statement, but a true one.


sorry, jumpingonmytutu.
didn't mean to sound offensive. I find the whole case scary. In an ideal world, justice and absolute truth would prevail. If only. I have no idea what to think, but if I were the McCanns, I'd want Prof Jeffreys on my team. He has great integrity and will be fair, honest and represent his field in an unparallelled way.
That would put the DNA evidence under great scrutiny, which is crucial

Answer 3

precisely! There may be DNA from all seven infants, and that they could have examined the youngsters to coach this, yet i do no longer think of there is any way that they might teach the DNA grew to become into left there THAT nighttime. DNA isn't time particular, as far as i'm conscious. additionally, as reported in yet another question - If there grew to become into different info interior the condominium, at the same time with youngster's toothbrushes, cuddly toys or 7 unmade beds, actual this would have come out by ability of now, regardless of the secrecy rules. the Mccann's and acquaintances would desire to no longer have lied approximately this, this is would be too obtrusive if it have been real.

Answer 4

Strange that we have always heard that DNA is the best thing since sliced bread and now all of a sudden it is not to be relied upon.
What about the body fluids (not necessarily urine but decomposing body fluids were found UNDER the boot carpet and none on the carpet itself.
It is now clear that the whole case has been buried. It seems that all "experts" and "famous" people are coming to the aid of the McCanns. Good luck to them. The Portuguese and their police are happy to be rid of them and the problem they caused. Let's not forget that (1) the PJ-GNR does not care to ask them anymore questions but (2) the McCanns remain official suspects for all time.

Answer 5

I don't know if this family is Guilty or not. Unfortunately the Closest to an Individual is always the first Suspect when someone disappears. Alot of Children disappear everyday in the World, and normally a relative is involved in about 67% of the cases, but theres also 33% that are Stranger Abductions, so I will just choose to keep an open mind, and Hope for the best..

Answer 6

DNA evidence on it's own will not solve a case - it is down to where it was found, in the case of fluids such as blood it's down to the pattern marks in its dispersal. If you have very scant material from which to take DNA from then this evidence isn't as great as if you have a large amount of it. They wouldn't need this guy to argue the conclusivity of forensic evidence, it could be done by any forensic scientist as the details and facts and figures and levels of probability just blow the minds of most juries, if they don't get it then they tend to disregard it in their minds. All humans share different aspects DNA, more so within family groups so it's more a case of what they have to work on, if they are claiming that it was sweat off a flip flop but the evidence shows a pooling of fluids in the car then obviously things arent ringing true but if you're talking about a miniscule amount of evidence then who can argue?
http://science.howstuffworks.com/dna-evidence.htm
I am worried by the amounts of 'celebrity' type witnesses/assistants this couple seem to be surrounded by, these pepole like us don't know for sure that these people aren't responsible for the death of that little girl - they have no proof, in the same way it appears the police are lacking proof that they did. What I do know is that at the point where large sums of money become involved in a trial integrity starts to go out of the window, not refering to this case in particular but from previous events.
All he has to do is walk in to the court room and say yes, these traces of this childs DNA could have been left by transfer and there is your doubt. It doesn't mean that they were though.

Answer 7

If all genetic markers would be found in at least one family member,how do they differentiate between the two family members using DNA? I'm not challenging the expert,just puzzled.There could be a hell of a lot of appeals based on his testimony if the McCann case goes to trial.

Answer 8

I understand wanting to see some facts before we decide that hounding these parents is OK. As a mother I see a huge problem in what the McCain's have done. The following comments should be at least enough to give you a dose of suspicion. It is enough to get my yes they are guilty vote.

Why did the McCain's leave Maddy alone if they had nothing to do with it?
If your child had been kidnapped in a foreign country don't you think that you would have hope that she was alive. If you had nothing to do with her disappearance you would still be in denial. You would still be holding out hope that she were coming back to you. That being said, would you go home to your home country effectively leaving her alone in a strange country with strangers that mean her harm or would you be out walking the streets looking in every passing car, every store front ,every shop hoping to catch her in the corner of your eye? I know which one I would be doing. What is wrong with these picture?

Answer 9

This is true. In fact, if you have a family member who is in trouble with the Law and gives a DNA sample, and then you commit a crime leaving DNA, in the UK, the DNA will hit a match or incredibly close . The UK will then investigate the family members of the original DNA donor. They are trying to get this passed in the US as well. It works quite well.

Answer 10

Well you cant get a better witness than Sir Alex Jeffreys. Nobody really knows the answers to this. There may be other evidence that we have not been told about. I think the most important issue is not whether or not the parents are guilty or not but to find little Maddie. Just hope that if they do find her she is alive.

Answer 11

The McCanns are innocent.

Now lets find Maddie.