It was one of my brothers

When DNA evidence is used to implicate a suspect, it may be of interest to know whether it is likely that the suspect's near relatives also share the suspect's DNA profile. In this study we discuss methods for evaluating the probability that at least one of a set of the suspect's full or half-siblings shares the suspect's DNA profile. We present three such methods: exact calculation, estimation via Monte Carlo simulations, and estimation by means of sandwiching the probability between an upper and a lower bound. We show that, under many circumstances, this upper bound itself provides an extremely quick and accurate estimate of the probability that at least one of the relatives matches the suspect's profile.

[1]  Peter Donnelly,et al.  Inference in Forensic Identification , 1995 .

[2]  P. Donnelly Nonindependence of matches at different loci in DNA profiles: quantifying the effect of close relatives on the match probability , 1995, Heredity.

[3]  J. W. Lee,et al.  Paternity probability when a relative of the father is an alleged father. , 1999, Science & justice : journal of the Forensic Science Society.

[4]  David W. Gjertson,et al.  Summarizing DNA evidence when relatives are possible suspects , 1997 .

[5]  D J Balding,et al.  DNA profile match probability calculation: how to allow for population stratification, relatedness, database selection and single bands. , 1994, Forensic science international.

[6]  K. Ayres,et al.  Relatedness testing in subdivided populations. , 2000, Forensic science international.

[7]  Population genetics of DNA profiles. , 1993, Journal - Forensic Science Society.

[8]  Robert C. Griffiths,et al.  A transition density expansion for a multi-allele diffusion model , 1979, Advances in Applied Probability.

[9]  J. Brookfield The effect of relatives on the likelihood ratio associated with DNA profile evidence in criminal cases. , 1994, Journal - Forensic Science Society.

[10]  W. Fung,et al.  Interpreting DNA mixtures with the presence of relatives , 2003, International Journal of Legal Medicine.

[11]  N. Fukshansky,et al.  Biostatistics for mixed stains: the case of tested relatives of a non-tested suspect , 2000, International Journal of Legal Medicine.

[12]  Wing K. Fung,et al.  Evaluating forensic DNA mixtures with contributors of different structured ethnic origins: a computer software , 2003, International Journal of Legal Medicine.

[13]  I W Evett,et al.  Evaluating DNA profiles in a case where the defence is "it was my brother". , 1992, Journal - Forensic Science Society.

[14]  B S Weir,et al.  The effects of inbreeding on forensic calculations. , 1994, Annual review of genetics.