Negligent use of DNA in Australia

A young Victorian man is free tonight after serving 16 months for a crime he always maintained he did not commit. He was released after severe doubts were cast about the reliability of the DNA evidence that convicted him. The man may now seek compensation for his prison ordeal, but the case also raises much wider questions about the handling of DNA evidence in Victoria.

In July last year, 22-year-old Farah Jama was sentenced to six years in jail for the rape of a 48-year-old woman in a Melbourne nightclub. No-one, including the complainant, witnessed the rape and the conviction relied solely on DNA evidence. Today the court of appeal overturned the conviction.

Mr Jama says it was a long 16 months and he got through it by keeping to himself. "I feel really angry and depressed," he said. "Just not to tell what they accused me for, that's the way I survived there."

Mr Jama's DNA was on police record because a sample was taken for an unrelated investigation where no charges were ever laid. It has now emerged the same forensic officer who took the sample from Mr Jama took one from the alleged rape victim within 24 hours. The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine told the court the swab may have been contaminated during the examination of the alleged rape victim.

The court of appeal also heard there is now doubt over whether the woman in the case was actually raped.

Chief Justice Marilyn Warren ordered a verdict of acquittal be entered.

Mr Jama has always maintained he was innocent. His lawyer Kimani Boden says there were other factors which should have raised doubts. "Mr Farah was 19 at the time of the incident. The nightclub was a nightclub which only admitted people above the age of 28," he said. "Farah Jama had just finished year 12 when he was arrested for the rape and he is now thinking about compensation."

Mr Jama was also represented at his appeal by lawyer Hina Pasha. Ms Pasha says the case should be a lesson to prosecutors. "Now obviously it's in the Crown's favour for future cases to be able to rely on that sort of evidence, and perhaps sometimes that sort of evidence alone," she said. "But I think that this is a clear case of you can't, and if there's a potential for human error then that should be taken into account by the courts and by the prosecution."

DNA cases reviewed

The mix-up which led to Mr Jama being jailed is just the latest bungle involving DNA evidence in Victoria. Only last month the case against an armed robbery suspect was suspended because of fresh doubts over DNA evidence. And last year Victoria Police dropped double murder charges after admitting the DNA evidence they had used was contaminated.

Ms Pasha says it is time to consider greater legal protection. "We are seeing a problem in Victoria definitely but I think in terms of DNA testing worldwide, I think this is a warning sign," she said. "And in terms of how it reaches into the legal system, I think that there should be some sort of boundaries."

Victoria's director of Public Prosecutions recently announced a review of all cases in the past five years, to ensure the DNA evidence was still considered reliable.

The president of Liberty Victoria, Michael Pearce SC, says today's development is further evidence of an over-reliance on methods which were once believed infallible. "I think there is a strong case building for some kind of a warning to juries about not placing too much reliance on DNA evidence," he said. "So you've got, I guess, two sets of implications. One is for what's happened in the past and whether people who shouldn't have been convicted have been convicted. "Then we need to get things right in the future and we need to guard against these sorts of errors being made in the future by overreliance on DNA evidence."

Mr Jama says he is still hoping to go to university and he never lost faith in the legal system that sent him to jail for nearly a year and a half. "I know that the truth always will come out one day and everybody will see that I'm innocent," he said.

The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, which provides testing for Victoria Police, says it acknowledges the wrongful conviction and it has launched an inquiry into the case.

Original report here



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