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DNA - A Prosecutor’s Practice Notebook Inventory

MtDNA Frequency Estimates

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If the donor of a known reference sample cannot be excluded as the source of (or a maternal relative of the source of) the DNA evidence sample, the prosecutor must then consider the significance of the match by evaluating the upper bound frequency estimate of the particular mtDNA type obtained in the matching samples.

The upper bound frequency estimate is based on the number of times a particular mtDNA type was observed in the SWGDAM population database.

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