Aussie expert: It’s a historic case

Teoh El Sen | September 22, 2011

Dr Brian Leslie McDonald says that the case is 'very unique' as it is the longest time recorded of DNA being retrieved from a victim.

KUALA LUMPUR: Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial has made history by being the first case in the world where DNA samples have been identified in an anus after 56 hours following an alleged sodomy.

Australian DNA specialist Dr Brian Leslie McDonald, the fourth defence witness, said that the case was “very unique” as it was the longest time recorded of DNA being retrieved from a victim.

“It’s not normal or usual according to literature of 40 years. There is only one single case, our case, of 56 hours (and it) is the longest ever of DNA ever been identified,” he said during re-examination by defence lawyer Ramkarpal Singh.

McDonald was commenting on an article from a medical journal the prosecution produced on Tuesday which claimed that sperm cells could be extracted from a rectum even up to 113 hours after sex.

The expert pointed out that even the particular article and another which said sperm could be found 65 hours after anal sex was not commenting about DNA.

“None of the cases referred to me is about DNA. Those studies were simply about the identification of semen.

“In our (Anwar’s) case, there’s a 99.99% chance that it (obtaining sperm or DNA) won’t occur,” told the High Court here.

McDonald said besides the two cases cited by the prosecution, all the research and literature of DNA science showed that in the case of Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the sample taken from his anus 56 hours after the alleged sodomy and only tested for DNA 48 hours after it was “improperly” kept, would have given “very poor results”.

“Degradation is critical in this case so we can identify the credibility of the samples. With a history of 56 hours in the anus, I would not expect to see DNA in ‘pristine’ condition,” McDonald said, adding that DNA testing was an exact science and not “witchcraft”.

Ramkarpal questioned another article – a Thai medical study done by a hospital and written in Thai – which the prosecution had shown to McDonald previously, which stated that sperm cells can be found up to 19 days after a sexual assault.

‘Article has no credibility’

McDonald said that he cannot comment on the article as it is written in Thai. “I think this article has no credibility whatsoever. I don’t think it requires my comment. I’m amazed a document like this made it to a court of law,” McDonald said.

When asked about the prosecution’s accusation that he had previously attempted to mislead the court, McDonald said that he may have made a mistake and had “misread the evidence”.

However, he pointed out that the defence has been denied the “vast amount of evidence” (including medical notes) still held by local chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong.

McDonald today finished giving evidence and the trial will continue from Oct 3-7.

The court has set Sept 29 to hear the application by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor’s application to set aside the subpoenas compelling them to appear in the trial.

Former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan and former Malacca police chief Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof were also subpoenaed.

Other witnesses the defence plans to call are German spine specialist Dr Thomas Hoogland, who performed the surgery on Anwar’s back; and Petaling Jaya Chemistry Department director Lim Kong Boon.

Lim was the chemist who testified in Anwar’s first sodomy trial.