STATEMENT OF FACTS - University of Illinois Springfield

take into account the recommendations of the National Resource Council when
dealing with population subcultures because she did not think it was necessary
in this case. (Vol. LXIII, R. 2584-87)
After Halverson was not satisfied with her initial results, she went back and
amplified a single loci, PEZ20 and got a fifth loci to match which is how she
arrived at her final figure of 1 in 56,227. (Vol. LXIII, R. 2586-91) The data base
for PEZ20 was limited to 94 pure bred dogs. The 1 in 56,227 would be for dogs
randomly picked from California, Wyoming and Nevada and not Macon, Sullivan
or Moultrie counties, Illinois. Halverson had no knowledge about the dog
population in central Illinois. (Vol. LXIII, R. 2593-96)
Defense Evidence
Christopher Basten is a Research Associate Statistician at North Carolina
State University conducting research in the area of statistical genetics. Dr. Basten
examines genetic reports and arrives at a statistical estimation of the strength of
the evidence. (Vol. LXXI, R. 7) He has testified concerning canine DNA in four
cases.
Basten testified that by using a DNA data base you can estimate how often
you would expect to see each type of allele. (Vol. LXXI, R. 9) He explained that
the bigger the database the more accurate the estimate will be – usually a data
base of 60 can generate good numbers. (Vol. LXXI, R. 9-10) There were 470 dogs
represented in the Celera AgGen database and they were all purebred dogs. (Vol.
LXXI, R. 24)
There are different subgroups among canines and dogs within the same
subgroup are more likely to be related and share more genes. This is especially
true with the inbreeding of dogs. (Vol. LXXI, R. 10) In analyzing the Celera AgGen
database he discovered that, within a certain breed, the dogs were highly
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