Paternity trick
ER doctors often get to know local police officers because they frequently are in the emergency department for a variety of reasons. Since we're so accessible to them, officers often ask ER docs various medical questions. Most of these questions are routine, such as “Does this spot look like skin cancer to you?” but I had one question that quickly caught my attention.
“Hey, Doc, how long does sperm live if it's left in a condom?”
“Assuming that it doesn't dry out, I think it's about four to six hours, why?”
“My Uncle owns a ski resort, and he's a single guy, so he really gets around. Anyway, one of his housekeepers is saying that he got her pregnant, and she is demanding a lot of money. At first, my Uncle was not worried because he never had sex with her, but now he's sweating bullets because he is wondering if she retrieved one of his condoms from the trash and used his sperm to get herself pregnant. That can happen, can't it?”
“Very easily.”
“Is there any medical way to prove that he didn't have sex with her?”
“No. In a disputed case such as this, a court would look to a DNA test to establish paternity. If she were impregnated with his sperm, no matter how it got inside her, the court would rule that it's his child.”
“So there is no way to fight it?”
“I don't know. I'm not an attorney.”
“It's going to be tough, I can see that now. Since my Uncle is such a womanizer and that housekeeper is a pretty little thing, I don't think any judge or jury is going to believe that he didn't do it. Doc, did you ever hear of a case like this before?”
“Not exactly, but somewhat similar. I had a patient a few years ago who extracted semen from her boyfriend's condom and then impregnated herself so that he would marry her. She had been pressuring him for years to get married, but he kept putting her off. She pulled that trick when she realized he'd never willingly marry her.”
“They got married?”
“No, he killed himself. I saw her in the ER because she was depressed and distraught about what had happened.”
“My Uncle sure won't kill himself. I guess he will just have to pay her off.”
Because DNA evidence seems so watertight, some devious people are devising ingenious ways to use it so that people reflexively jump to the wrong conclusions. If you think that ski resort housekeeper was crafty, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
I know of another case in which a convicted rapist packaged his semen in a ketchup packet so it could be smuggled out of prison. He then had a friend smear it on herself and call the police to report that she had been raped. The impression he was trying to create in the minds of the authorities was that some other rapist with virtually identical DNA was committing rapes and therefore may have raped the woman whose rape resulted in his incarceration. In lieu of other incontrovertible facts, the DNA evidence could not prove that the correct rapist was imprisoned. Therefore, there is a reasonable doubt, and consequently he should either be released or given a new trial and a chance to befuddle 12 jurors. In reality, there are an essentially infinite number of ways in which DNA evidence can be used to lead police and prosecutors down the wrong track. If you are an aspiring novelist or screenwriter who is searching for a fresh theme, with some knowledge of DNA and a bit of creativity you could come up with something that is very intriguing.
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How to Lose Weight Without Dieting,
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