I'm back at the courthouse this morning for the first day of the Tim Bosma trial this week. Follow along for updates.
We're starting early this morning at 9:30 for some legal arguments, with open court set to start at 10 a.m.
Though we were supposed to start at 9:30 a.m., we're not underway yet.
Now we're underway in absence of the jury. I'll let you know when the jury is in the room and I'm able to write about the evidence presented.
Open court was expected by 10 a.m., but we're still in legal arguments. Seems like we'll be a little while yet.
Now in a recess. Court is standing down until recalled.
We're back in the courtroom now. Waiting on Justice Goodman -- still no jury yet.
Just told that Justice Goodman won't be back in the courtroom until noon.
Justice Goodman now in the courtroom. No jury yet.
The jury is now being brought in.
Goodman thanks juròrs for their patience while legal arguments happen. "Counsel and I are working very hard to make sure the evidence before you is properly before you," Goodman says.
The next witness is James Sloots, from the Centre of Forensic Sciences.
Sloots is a forensic biologist.
He authored multiple reports on DNA evidence, and examined the Bosma truck, the Eliminator and a set of Nitrile gloves that were found.
Assistant Crown Craig Fraser is now going through Sloots' CV in front of the court to have him qualified as an expert.
Sloots says he has given evidence in court over 35 times.
Sloots is qualified as an expert by the court.
The CFS is a publicly funded lab financed by the province. It exists to examine items sent to them by investigative bodies like police, the Fire Marshal, etc.
They generate DNA profiles from body fluids in order to look for matches.
The CFS is a "world accredited" lab, Sloots says. There are two or three more in Canada.
Defence counsel can also work with the CFS, Sloots says.
Sloots started working on the case in May of 2013. He wrote 12 different reports on it.
The first was written on May 14, 2013. The last was written on Sept. 11, 2015.
Court now seeing a powerpoint presentation Sloots prepared.
Starting with "what is DNA?" It's a "complex molecule," the report says. DNA directs body structure and function, and it's found in the nucleus of every cell except red blood cells.
"it basically defines us as individuals," Sloots says.
DNA is inherited from your parents, the report says. Half comes from your mother, and half your father. DNA is the same from cell type to cell type in a body -- skin and blood from a person will have the same DNA. But no two people, with the exceptions of identical twins, have the same DNA.
Scientists at the CFS use DNA to "determine the source of biological material."
More than 99% of our DNA, Sloots says, is the same -- but one per cent is different. Sources of DNA can be blood, semen, saliva, skin, hair follicles, etc.
To get a DNA profile, scientists have to purify the sample to remove everything but the DNA itself.
If there's sufficient DNA, scientists copy it, amplify and separate the DNA, and then compare it with a DNA profile.
A DNA profile is a set of up to 15 pairs of numbers that describe the DNA at 15 different locations of a persons entire DNA. A partial profile (less than 15 locations) can still be useful, but is less precise.
Sloots likens it to someone seeing a hit and run, but only seeing the first three digits of a licence plate.
Amelogenin is a test scientists use to determine the sex of the individual, Sloots says.
Court now seeing an example of a single source DNA profile diagram.
Sometimes, Sloots says, DNA can be degraded, and that makes identification more difficult.
A DNA profile doesn't describe a persons' entire DNA, the report says. So it's possible -- though "highly unlikely," that two unrelated people would share the same complete DNA profile.
The chance of two unrelated people sharing the same DNA profile (the random match probability) is addressed with a probability statement. An example would be a 1 in a million chance.
Forensic DNA testing can tell you the sex of an individual, if a source came from one person or multiple person, paternity/maternity, etc.
DNA evidence can also show whether a person can or can't be excluded as the source of a sample, Sloots says.
Forensic DNA testing can't tell you the age or race of a source, their physical characteristics other than sex, when a sample was deposited and how a sample was deposited, the report says.
We're now breaking for lunch. Back at 2:15 p.m.
The Castle Meyer is a "very specific" test to find the presence of blood, Sloots says. "It's a very reliable and a very sensitive test for blood."
Apparently one of the only things that can set off that test aside from blood is freshly squeezed sprouts from beans. They'd be green though, and not darker like a bloodstain would be.
