Twins and Forensic Science
Prolific authors of formula fiction, sometimes euphemistically known as genre fiction, always eventually run out of ideas. Once an author publishes more than about 50 novels, you often find that the plots become increasingly far-fetched, or that they seem like rehashes of novels that the same author wrote decades earlier. An author under pressure to keep cranking out books because of economic necessity or a need to prove to himself or herself that he or she still has the stamina to keep writing at such a frenzied pace, might write a mystery novel with a twist ending where, after the characters and the audience have become certain that a certain person committed the crime, the author reveal that the suspect has an identical twin who has not thus far been mentioned in the book, although the clues might be in plain sight upon rereading. Approximately one out of every 250 births are identical twins, and people with a twin are no more and no less likely to commit crimes than anyone else. Blaming your crimes on your twin, with whom you have shared a lifetime of experiences, is a level to which few people would stoop, even when faced with felony charges, but whether forensic science can tell identical twins apart is a serious question, and the answer is that it usually can. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains how the mere existence of your identical twin may or may not be enough to establish reasonable doubt about your guilt.
Modern Forensic Science Makes It Less Likely That You Will Be Convicted of Crimes That Your Identical Twin Committed
In the days when eyewitness testimony formed the bulk of evidence presented at criminal trials, there was plenty of room for confusion if the defendant had an identical twin. An eyewitness might claim that he saw one twin at the scene of the crime, and the witness might describe what the witness was wearing, and another witness would claim to have seen one twin somewhere else. To prove that it was the same twin or different twins would require detailed testimony from multiple witnesses.
Today, technology has made it easier to prove that the person who was at a particular place at a particular time was one twin or the other. For example, you can use location data from both twins’ phones. It is much more plausible that your phone was at the scene of the crime with you than that your phone was at the scene of the crime with your twin. Prosecutors and defense attorneys can also use cell phone photos taken by witnesses as evidence. Even if the twins often borrow clothes from each other, you can corroborate an allegation that twin A was wearing a Miami Marlins tank top on the day of the crime with other photos, perhaps from other phones, showing him wearing the same shirt on the same day, as well as photos of twin B wearing a different shirt on the same day.
Can DNA Evidence Tell Identical Twins Apart?
DNA evidence tells us so much that it is easy to fixate on what it cannot tell us. For example, when comparing the DNA samples of two close relatives, without comparing them to the DNA of any other members of their family, DNA tests cannot always be sure whether they are first cousins or half-siblings. While this can make family gatherings awkward, the degree of kinship between two people is not the kind of question that is at hand in most criminal cases. Forensic testing is precise when telling whether a DNA sample matches you or someone else, even if that someone else is your identical twin. Identical twins originate from the same zygote, which means that they start out with the same DNA early in their mother’s pregnancy. DNA mutates quickly. By the time the twins are born, they have both undergone enough DNA mutations to enable DNA tests to tell them apart, even if their physical appearance remains so similar that only people who know them well can easily tell which twin is which. This can mean that a DNA test can exculpate one twin and incriminate the other, but more often, it exculpates both twins.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you cast reasonable doubt about your guilt and about your identical twin’s guilt if you are both facing criminal charges. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Sources:
eurofins.com/media/2448/twin-dna-test-why-identical-criminals-may-no-longer-be-safe.pdf
cbs12.com/news/nation-world/instagram-video-family-felon-twins-brothers-siblings-florida-criminal-record-repeat-offender-ocala-elijah-lee-hanks-joelle-davon-elisha-emmanual-firearms-guns-ammunition-bullets-drugs-marijuana-possession-convicted-rap-song-detective-identify-recognize
