71 Nod to Nostalgia

UNDERSTANDING DNA

Jason Murakami and Ron Behlau* examine the significance behind the Commission of Inquiry into DNA testing in Queensland.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT in June by Premier Palaszczuk of a Commission of Inquiry into DNA testing in Queensland is one of the most significant justice inquiries in this State for the past 20 years. The Government's decision to establish the Inquiry followed a first-time joint campaign by scientists such as Dr Kirsty Wright, journalists such as The Australian's Hedley Thomas and Sky News' Peter Gleeson; and lawyers from the Griffith University Innocence Project and culminated in the Inquiry being announced less than three weeks after the Innocence Project's written submission to the Government calling for the all-important Inquiry.

Former Court of Appeal President Walter Sofronoff QC has been appointed Commissioner of the Inquiry and will examine primarily whether the collection, testing and analysis of DNA has been reliable and conducted in accordance with best international practice methods in this State.

The Griffith University Innocence Project has been shining a light on the use of DNA in our justice system for the past two decades, having negotiated Australia's first post-conviction DNA testing guidelines in 2009 and staging the nation's first public ‘Understanding DNA’ forum in 2016 as well as working on hundreds of cases involving the use of DNA by State prosecution authorities.

To appreciate the significance of the pending Inquiry, it is timely to understand the development of the use of DNA testing in our justice system.

In 1984 Dr Alec Jeffreys from Leicester University in the UK stumbled onto the differences in individual’s genetic information, which could be used for identification.

Dr Jeffrey adopted a process of identifying, what he called, an individual's ‘DNA sequence’ by measuring an area on it which he called minisatellites and later called alleles.

He determined that the differences in the minisatellite/alleles measurements were particular to each individual.

This method of DNA identification was first used in a criminal justice system in the mideighties in the UK to identify Colin Pitchfork as the killer of two girls after crime scene biological material was compared with Pitchfork's biological material sample.

By the early 1990s, Dr Jeffrey's identification techniques became the foundations of the science of DNA profiling as we know it today.

As a result of the high demand by policing authorities around the world standardised systems to highlight individual minisatellites/alleles for comparison were developed.

One of the most widely used earlier systems was called the ProfilerPlus DNA identification system.

The ProfilerPlus DNA identification system was the market leader and was used throughout the common law jurisdictions by the majority of staterun scientific departments.

Its primary use was for testing crime scene biological product such as blood, saliva, skin, semen, hair, fingernails etc.

Essentially the ProfilerPlus DNA identification system would test crime scene biological samples and an individual's biological sample by measuring eight locations on the samples' respective DNA sequence.

If the measurements at the eight locations on the crime scene biological sample was the same as the eight locations on the individual biological sample, then it was considered a match.

During this period, scientists also created what was termed a partial match.

Because a partial match was not an eight locations match, this meant scientists needed to use statistical mathematics to present the probability of a match.

It is the partial match which attracts the probability statistics such as 4,000,000 to 1, which is often scripted for television and screen.

In the mid-2000s, police departments around the world lobbied for a change from the crime scene biological sample testing process to a more expansive regime of Touch DNA testing.

Unlike crime scene biological sample DNA testing which uses blood, saliva, semen, hair, fingernails etc, Touch DNA testing only requires a minimum of biological product such as a human cell left on an object after it has been touched or casually handled, such as a doorknob.

The desire by international policing to move to Touch DNA testing was obvious in that they believed its adoption would cast a greater net for potential perpetrators.

No longer would they need blood, hair, skin or semen at a crime scene.

They could just rely upon human cells being located on a door handle, a tap or a windowsill.

Touch DNA has been criticised for high rates of false positives due to contamination.

For example, fingerprint brushes used by crime scene investigators can transfer trace amounts of skin cells from one surface to another, therefore meaning any Touch DNA could consist of several human cell contributors and thus potentially several DNA profiles.

This is known as a mixed profile.

In or around 2010, South Australian scientists developed a new DNA identification system which was marketed as a system that could locate and test Touch DNA even if there existed a mixed profile.

This system is called the STRMix DNA identification system.

In 2012 the Queensland Government retired the ProfilerPlus DNA identification system and replaced it with the new STRMix Touch DNA identification system.

This system provides that between eight and 22 cells are required to perform DNA identification testing.

Dr Kirsty Wright's damning criticisms of Queensland Health and Forensic Scientific Services receipt, storage, testing and measurement of DNA in this State will be the critical issues the subject of the Commission of Inquiry.

Whilst it is true to say failed DNA testing can and has led to failed prosecutions, it is equally true to say failed DNA testing can and has also led to failed acquittals.

At stake is the public's confidence in our justice system and the rule of law which is a tenement of western democratic philosophy under which we all live.

* Jason Murakami is an Adjunct Professor of Law, Founding Executive Member of the Innocence Project and Partner at Behlau Murakami Grant; Ron Behlau is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer of Law, Co-Executive Director of the Innocence Project and Partner at Behlau Murakami Grant.

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NOD TO NOSTALGIA

Old or New? It’s your choice as Chris Nixon explains.

THE $205MILLION MERC What would you buy with $205 million? A row of Surfers Paradise tower blocks? A mega-mega yacht? A couple of Picassos?

Or an old Mercedes?

Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest car maker, stunned the car collector movement recently when it sold a 67-year-old 300SLR sports coupe for that price in an ultra-exclusive Sotheby’s auction in Stuttgart.

That’s said to be a record price for a car, by a margin of around $136 million.

The sale made headlines in a classic car world already used to prices in the tens of millions for old Ferraris, Jaguars or Bugattis.

Experts put it in the all-time Top 10 of auction records and noted a motor car now stood shoulder-toshoulder in esteem alongside the greatest artworks ever to change hands for money. $205 million! What is this car?

The rakish 300SLR was derived from Mercedes’ all-conquering W196 Formula 1 racer, but its own racing future was stymied when the company withdrew from all motorsport at the end of 1955.

Featuring those unique ‘gullwing’ doors and a straight-eight engine with bellowing trumpet side exhausts, only two of this type were made.

Way back in 1955, they were capable of reaching 180 miles an hour, tested occasionally on the autobahns by racing drivers Stirling Moss and Juan Fangio and appropriated as a company car by legendary factory engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut.

Rated among the rarest, most beautiful and most desirable cars of all time, the so-called Uhlenhaut Coupes were parked in Stuttgart, expected to remain in Mercedes hands forever.

But imagine the rush if the Louvre revealed there were two Monas Lisas.

Mercedes-Benz decided to part with one of the pair – the one with red upholstery, not the blue – and did so with utmost discretion.

Just a handful of bidders was invited to the secret auction by RM Sotheby’s at Mercedes’ Stuttgart headquarters.

Virtually nothing has been revealed about this historic sale, except the opening bid was $76 million.

To be a fly on the wall of history might have revealed if the bidding was fast or slow or intense, dignified or rowdy and indeed the identity of the buyer, so far unknown.

But the new owner has confirmed the 300SLR will be made available for display, giving the public a chance to see one of the most desirable and exotic pieces of automotive art ever created, its lustre only polished by the story of its extraordinary sale.

THE GRENADIER COMES MARCHING IN As the song says, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.

Car makers certainly understand the meaning of that phrase and, when all creativity fails, resort to retro-themed models to keep their markets afloat.

Drivers mourned the demise of the Beetle and the Mini, but both returned eventually with new versions leaning heavily on nostalgia.

Land Rover did the same.

No sooner had the Queen’s favourite 4WD ended its extraordinary reign, from 1948 to 2016, than a radical replacement appeared, featuring none of the bone-jarring crudeness of the original but just enough visual connection to make it highly fashionable.

And at that moment, demand for the old square-rigged Land Rover Defender went through the roof and created an opportunity – predictably – for someone to step in and make one just like the original.

So now we have the Ineos Grenadier and you will be able to buy one here before the end of the year.

Ineos is the name of a British petrochemical company and it’s said the boss was in a pub in London, bemoaning the end of the Land Rover Defender, when he decided to build his own.

The pub was called the Grenadier.

Things have moved fast to refurbish an existing car factory in France and complete the design for a five-door wagon with a separate chassis, beam axles and 3.0 litre BMW engine.

Prototypes have been tested extensively in Australia, which the company sees as an important market.

It knows we love the Toyota LandCruiser – and what better benchmark is there?

The Grenadier thankfully is not much like the original except in its utilitarian looks.

It has a modern dashboard, fully-lined cabin and proper seats, rather than canvas slung between metal poles.

There’s a long list of standard equipment, right down to Apple CarPlay, plus a list of adventurer options that would excite Bear Grylls.

Order books are due to open about now, for first deliveries by the end of the year, Ineos says.

Only one version will be offered at first, a fivedoor wagon priced from $84,500 plus on-roads, but others are expected to follow.

These will include a dual-cab.

The Gold Coast dealer is SLRV Expedition Vehicles, in Molendinar.

EV UPDATE There aren’t many electric cars on our roads yet, but the trend seems to be developing faster than the latest gaming app.

While I stand by my advice to step back from the rush and buy carefully unless an electric vehicle is precisely suitable for your needs, the EV movement is fascinating to observe as it not only grows in scale, but also develops in diverse ways.

Some applications of e-power are more sensible than others, for instance Über drivers are flocking to Teslas.

I would have a small electric commercial van today if I ran a business that required lots of short trips within the urban area.

With a range of, say, 300 kms, it could be possible to run a van all day and re-charge it overnight. In traffic, it would be quiet, clean and dart through gaps like a rabbit.

Fewer mechanical parts would mean lower service costs.

Renault’s Kangoo and Master electric vans are coming soon.

Similarly, an electric version of the familiar motor scooter would be a perfect commuter, providing excellent response in traffic and nearzero running costs.

Brisbane company Benzina Zero is moving into this territory.

What the EV market lacks yet is a cheap, small hatchback – an urban shopping trolley on the lines of a little Suzuki, Mitsubishi or Kia.

The popular Fiat 500 is going electric but won’t be cheap.

My tip is to watch the Chinese makes, especially MG and the returning Chery.

Electric buses? They’re already coming on to Australian fleets and make enormous sense.

Less so electric semi-trailers with autonomous guidance, which are being tested in Texas.

And while electric cars for private drivers promise lower operating costs but a high entry price, manufacturers will find unimagined ways to gouge users.

The automotive equivalent of Office 365 comes when manufacturers start charging for over-the-air software updates.

Some do it already, or charge a monthly subscription fee, so your electric vehicle effectively can be ‘controlled’ by a remote third party.

Ford in Europe, maker of the big-selling Transit van, has been part of research into so-called dynamic geo-fencing.

Many northern hemisphere cities, including London, are ringed by low-emission zones which impose an entry charge for vehicles that don’t run below an environmental threshold.

Geo-fencing could switch off the petrol or diesel engine and engage an electric motor inside a low-emission zone.

The latest edition of Apple CarPlay, unveiled recently in the United States, is said to have the ability to manage elements of a car’s computer systems beyond entertainment and communications.

The new system will gain access to all vehicle data – everything from speed to fuel level – while also taking control of features such as cabin climate settings.

I like to think that somehow this last item of news will be a happier note: Honda and Sony are getting into marriage to make electric vehicles.

It’s fair to say both brands have had a reputation for innovative and exquisitely-designed products.

Think Honda Civic and the Sony Walkman (Gen Z-ers, Google it); they’re the Swiss watchmakers of Japanese brands.

A Sonda or a Hony electric car has the promise of something bright and exciting.

Maybe something with a bit of spark …