By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
A FORENSIC analyst gave evidence yesterday on what she found after testing a number of samples obtained from the scene of a rape and from suspects believed to have been behind the incident.
Marisa Roe, forensic manager of Fairfax Identity Laboratories, testified by video link from Richmond, Virginia, about samples she received from the Royal Bahamas Police Force for DNA profiling on July 17, 2012.
The items included a vaginal swab, a panty cutting, a whole blood sample from the alleged victim and four whole-blood samples from four suspects.
Oscar Ingraham, 30, of Claridge Road, faces charges of burglary, armed robbery and rape in the incident that occurred between 11pm on May 29, 2012, and 5am the next day.
It is alleged that he broke into the woman’s western New Providence home and robbed her of $165 cash and a $200 Nokia cell phone before sexually assaulting her with a gun to her head.
Ingraham has denied the charges, against which he opted to defend himself.
Darell Taylor and Raquel Whyms are prosecuting for the Crown. They intend to prove the charges through DNA evidence.
On Monday, the jury heard from the complainant of how she, on May 29, 2012, had left church around 7:30pm and gone home to watch television when the electricity was cut three hours later.
Having changed into her night clothes she fell asleep in her bedroom where she later “felt a presence”, which she likened to the feeling of being “hagged” by spirits.
She realised someone was actually in her home when a long hand came across her mouth and despite her pleas for him not to rape her after she told him she had no money, he sexually assaulted her with a gun to her head.
However, the complainant was unable to identify her attacker other than the fact that he was lean and had a cornrow hairstyle.
Yesterday, the forensic analyst said that DNA profiles of the four other men she had received samples for could be excluded from the vaginal swab and panty cutting she had examined for sperm fractures.
She also said that Ingraham’s profile could be excluded from the vaginal swab.
She noted, though, that there was a mix profile on the panty cutting, the major DNA contributor belonging to that of the complainant in the case and the minor contributor “was consistent” to the reference sample of Oscar Ingraham she had previously received for profiling.
However, Roe said that the minor contributor she found from the tests she conducted were not sufficient to obtain a full DNA profile.
In cross-examination, Ingraham asked the analyst if, during her testimony, she was referring to himself or the name on the label alleging to be the blood of said person.
She replied that it was the name on the label of the items sent to her.
He asked if she could say that it was his blood she examined. The analyst replied the name was on the label, but she could not say whose blood it was because she was not present for the extraction.
When asked if his blood sample had been one of the items she received in July 2012, she said no. “Not in this case number,” she added.
The trial resumes today before Justice Carolita Bethell.
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