ON Wednesday Superintendent Sharlene Otto, chief forensic analyst from the police forensic science laboratory in Cape Town, testified in the rape trial of 18-year-old Mzukisi Litye in the regional court.
Litye has been charged with raping a 42-yearold woman from Zolani on the night of 19 January 2008 when he was 16.
ON Wednesday Superintendent Sharlene Otto, chief forensic analyst from the police forensic science laboratory in Cape Town, testified in the rape trial of 18-year-old Mzukisi Litye in the regional court.
Litye has been charged with raping a 42-yearold woman from Zolani on the night of 19 January 2008 when he was 16.
He has also been charged with housebreaking and rape to which he pleaded not guilty. Otto testified that semen found on a vaginal swab as well as on the victim’s panties matched the DNA of a blood sample taken from Litye by the district surgeon.
She said that the chances of two people having the same DNA are one in 121 trillion. “If you think you only need to choose six numbers out of 49 to win the lotto, matching nine DNA markers is a lot more difficult,” she said.
Under cross-examination by defence attorney John Porter, Otto conceded that she was not present when the seals of the sexual offense crime kit were broken.
The kit contained vaginal swabs and a pair of panties stained with semen. She could therefore not rule out contamination of the samples.
This was the second day of the trial. The first day of the trial was held on 26 November 2009 where the complainant testified and was crossexamined in camera.
When she woke up during the night of 19 January 2008, the man who was lying next to her in bed was not her husband. She realised this when she reached out and felt his dreadlocks.
She had left the front door to her home unlocked as her husband was visiting his aunt a few blocks away. Expecting his return, she went to bed.
The stranger next to her held a knife to her throat and then raped her. The trial has been postponed to 4 May for further state evidence, which is expected to include that of laboratory assistant Sergeant Neelofar Parker from the forensic laboratory who was responsible for the preliminary analysis of the forensic samples.
The state prosecutor, Johan Conradie, refused to comment, citing that he does not speak to the press.
