Meredith McCaskill presented DNA findings on Day 6 as the technical reviewer of another analyst's work, reporting no foreign DNA results from Jorge Torres's or Sarah Boone's fingernail samples. On cross-examination, she explained that a DNA match cannot establish how DNA reached an object or how long it had been there.
Expert witnessFlorida Department of Law Enforcement
Meredith McCaskill
Meredith McCaskill is a senior crime laboratory analyst in the biology and DNA section of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando Regional Operations Center.
Appeared2024 Criminal Trial
71 lines·7 proceedings·5 mentions
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Meredith McCaskill testified for the prosecution on Day 6 as an FDLE senior biology/DNA analyst, presenting findings from another analyst's work. She explained that she had technically reviewed the documentation, paperwork, and original report rather than examined the items herself.
McCaskill reported complete reference profiles from samples represented as coming from Jorge Torres and Sarah Boone. Torres's fingernail clippings matched his profile, and Boone's fingernail swabs matched hers; neither person's fingernail samples produced foreign DNA results. She described precautions against laboratory contamination and the sensitivity of PCR testing. She also explained that close contact could transfer an intimate partner's DNA, without saying that such transfer necessarily occurs.
On cross-examination, McCaskill clarified that a profile match does not establish how DNA reached an object or how long it had been there. She confirmed that the only items submitted to the DNA laboratory were a bloodstain or DNA card represented as coming from Torres, buccal swabs represented as coming from Boone, Torres's fingernail clippings, and Boone's fingernail swabs. The State declined redirect, and the court excused her.
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