DNA and the law in Italy: the experience of “the Perugia case”

Today DNA analyses represent a method of exceptional importance for the resolution of judicial cases. On the one hand, they allow courts to secure criminal convictions, while on the other hand they can help exonerate innocent suspects. Unfortunately, DNA analyses are often considered an unbeatable and infallible method to discover the truth, with the consequence that judges feel forced either to “bow to science” or to totally refuse the genetic evidence when it is considered too complex. On the contrary, genetic investigations have limits that must always be considered and properly explained to the fact-finder by the forensic geneticist. Courts need to know what results were observed and how likely it is to observe such results under both the prosecution and defense hypotheses. This may be particularly challenging for low quantity, degraded or mixed genetic material, and is further complicated by the need to take into account the potential of (laboratory) error. Despite such circumstances, the evidence can still be informative although its probative value may be reduced. The murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia (Italy) in 2007 and the case that ensued have highlighted the limits of genetic analyses. Throughout Italy, this case has caused an intense scientific and (through the media) popular debate on the correct application of internationally recommended protocols and procedures as a preliminary quality and reliability guarantee for results presented in court.