The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

A FORENSIC BIOLOGIST yesterday denied knowing there was a possibility that Tryphemia Ferguson was not the mother of the unknown male child that was found dead on September 28, 2011, and that the child found was not Marco Archer.

Kofhe Goodman’s lawyer, Geoffrey Farquharson, suggested to Sheria King, Head of the Forensic Biology Unit, that she knew that the body found was not Marco Archer and was not “Tryphemia child”, based on DNA evidence she received from Fairfax Identity Laboratories.

However, Ms King denied the assertion and said based on the evidence she read, the DNA clearly points that Tryphemia Ferguson is the mother of the male child who was found dead.

Kofhe Goodman, 37, of Yorkshire Drive, faces a murder charge, which he denies.

It is claimed that between September 23 and 28, 2011, he caused the death of Marco Archer, 11, who disappeared from Brougham Street and was found dead days later.

Goodman is represented by Mr Farquharson.

Garvin Gaskin, deputy director of public prosecutions, Neil Braithwaite and Darell Taylor are prosecuting the case, which began on April 19.

In yesterdays proceedings, Ms King was recalled to the witness stand. However, her evidence was objected to by the defence, which claimed she and Fairfax laboratories attempted to deceive the court by omitting important DNA evidence.

Mr Farquharson claimed that Ms King knew that the lab took out and did not test “two locations that prove the body was not Tryphemia’s child.”

He accused her of lying under oath, because, he said, if the samples were tested it would prove that Tryphemia was potentially not the mother. He said she abetted the laboratories in their deceit by failing to mention it in her report.

Ms King, however, said the evidence proves that Tryphemia is the mother of the child based on the findings of the report.

In fact she said, the reports states the probability that Ferguson was a biological relative of the male profile identified was 99.43 per cent.

Ms King testified that she did her duties correctly and there was nothing in the report that caused her concern.

Mr Farquharson attempted to ask the witness a series of other questions that dealt with the DNA findings, however Justice Turner advised him that she could not answer the questions because she was not a DNA expert.

Mr Farquharson then accused the judge of “assisting the prosecution and preventing the defence from conducting a proper case.”

The jury was dismissed early yesterday for legal submissions. The case will resume today at 10:30am.