Trial hears minutiae of DNA evidence-gathering in Derksen investigation

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This article was published 19/01/2017 (2653 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The nuances of DNA evidence returned to the spotlight on Friday, as the Mark Grant retrial entered its fifth day.

Grant stands accused of second-degree murder for the 1984 abduction and death of 13-year-old Candace Derksen. In 2011, he was found guilty by a jury, but the conviction was later overturned due to an error by the original trial judge.

Now, as his retrial wraps up its first week, the defence’s case before the judge-only trial continues to take shape.

On Friday morning, Grant’s defence counsel Saul Simmonds issued a lengthy, meticulous cross-examination of RCMP forensic scientist Tod Christianson, who in 2001 conducted DNA tests on evidence in the Derksen case.

That evidence included twine that was used to bind Derksen’s ankles and wrists.

Simmonds focused on documenting the minutiae of how DNA evidence is extracted, processed and analyzed. He also raised a point about how the relative DNA knowledge in the 1980s might have led to contamination.

“In the ’80s, the potential for contamination was quite high,” Simmonds stated.

“I would describe it as real,” Christianson replied.

The second witness of the day was Pamela Dixon, a civilian forensic technologist at the RCMP’s national laboratory.

Under questions from Crown attorney Brent Davidson, Dixon explained in painstaking detail the process of extracting DNA from a twine sample. She is expected to face cross-examination on Friday afternoon.