The DNA of a man accused of raping his wife was most likely found inside a skirt the woman was wearing, a forensic scientist has said.
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Dr Jessica Chang told a Ballarat jury on Wednesday the accused man was 100 billion times likely to be a contributor to a sample taken from the complainant’s skirt.
The complainant was wearing the skirt, which was shown to the jury, on February 7 when the man allegedly raped her at their former family home.
Dr Chang said there were four contributors on the sample taken from inside the back of the skirt and the accused man could not be excluded.
She said the verbal equivalent the man was 100 billion times likely to be a contributor was extremely strong.
“It’s more likely to be from a primary transfer but I could not exclude a secondary transfer,” Dr Chang said.
The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the complainant’s identity, is accused of raping his wife of 10 years over three days in February 2017 during a marriage break-down.
He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape.
Dr Chang told the County Court at Ballarat the results of a vaginal and anus swab taken from the complainant just before midnight on February 7 showed the accused man was not a contributor.
“The DNA results indicated that (the accused) is excluded from the sample,” she said.
But in answering Crown prosecutor David O’Doherty question if the results meant the accused had no contact with the complainant’s body parts, the doctor said no.
She said it was possible there had been contact, but due to a number of variables, they were not revealed in the results.
“The fact that he is excluded doesn’t mean he has had no contact with the anus area,” Dr Chang said.
During cross-examination, defence barrister Alan Hands suggested the DNA sample taken from the skirt was from a secondary transfer, including a toilet.
But Dr Chang said it was more likely the DNA was detected by a primary transfer.
Forensic medical officer Adam Straub told the jury the complainant had no injuries other than a two-centimetre scratch on her perineum, which could have been caused by a fingernail.
A recorded interview with one of the couple’s children was stopped on Wednesday afternoon after the accused man broke down in tears.
The trial will continue before Judge Bill Stuart on Thursday.
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