USING A TREE DIAGRAM TO INTERPRET A MIXED DNA PROFILE

A recent case is described where the evidence of bloodstaining on a kn ife suggested that it was a mixture from the two victims. Interpretati on of the evidence in this problem necessitated the formulation of sev eral sets of multiple hypotheses which were analyzed by means of a tre e diagram. The problem was then greatly simplified to one of comparing the two alternative hypotheses of most interest. It was found that re sults were robust to variation in the expert's judgment regarding the possibility that a mixture of blood was present on the knife.