An Australian DNA expert in the Sodomy II trial today disputed medical findings that sperm could still be retrieved from a person’s rectum 113 hours after anal sex.
Dr Brian McDonald said during Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial that it was “extremely rare” that healthy DNA profiles could still be found from a person’s anal region after such a long time.
“In 99.9 per cent (of the cases), you cannot find sperm at all after such long hours. These are the rarest entries reported in (the literature).
“However, this (sodomy) case is the only one (that I know of) in the world where the sperm can be captured after 56 hours and given to the chemist two days later, where you can still find a good DNA sample,” he testified in court today.
“In my experience for the last 20 years, it would give poor results,” the defence expert witness said.
Prosecution lawyers have charged that based on a medical article presented in court, semen can be retrieved from a person’s rectum between four and 113 hours after anal intercourse.
The 1997 article, titled “Sexual assault and semen persistence”, was written by G.M. Willott and J.E. Allard.
The prosecution had previously in the trial cited a separate case where sperm heads were discovered up to 65 hours after sex, shower and defecation.
Doctors from Hospital Kuala Lumpur, who examined complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan two days after the alleged sodomy, have said they managed to obtain DNA specimens from the complainant’s rectum despite a lapse of 56 hours, which has been a key issue disputed by Anwar’s defence team.
Defence lawyer Sankara Nair previously pointed out the integrity of the sperm samples was even more questionable because a total of 90 hours had passed before the specimens were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Australian forensic pathologist Dr David Wells also admitted recently the possibility of finding sperm heads inside a person’s rectum up to 65 hours after sex, but pointed out that a scientific finding could not be based on such a rare occurrence.
Anwar has dismissed his current sodomy trial as a political conspiracy to end his career.
He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted under section 377B of the Penal Code for sodomising his former aide Saiful in 2008.
The trial continues on October 3.
So, let's see what will happen next month! Do leave a comment to share your views. Thanks!
KoSong Cafe In Malaysia boleh system, anything which could convict an opposition leader is acceptable. Forget about innocent until proven guilty. Any authority which helps in the case is relevant and anything which is favourable to the accused is irrelevant. Sodomy I had shown the way it was done, Sodomy II has the same objective with the same target person. Had they learnt the lesson, there would not have been a sequel, but it looks like the end of political survival justifies the means.