DNA Isn’t the Answer to Everything
by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted May 21, 2007 in DNA and the Law, Personalities with DNA
Who’s the killer? Don’t know. Check the DNA evidence.
Who’s the rapist? Don’t know. Check the DNA evidence.
Who’s the daddy? Don’t know. Check the DNA evidence.
Oops. The suspect has an identical twin? Good luck trying to figure out which one did it.
Raymon and Richard Miller are identical twins who had sex with the same woman on the same day. She claims she got pregnant on that day and Raymon’s the father. Problem? The DNA paternity test can’t distinguish between Raymon and his identical twin brother Richard because they share the same DNA.
Raymon Miller:
They say you have to prove with 98 percent certainty that you’re the father. But since with my brother it’s a 99 percent chance and with me it’s a 99 percent chance — that seems like more of a 50/50. What if there was a rape or murder case with twins? Then they could just go around pointing the finger at the other.
The courts decided that Raymon is the legal father although the judge thinks the brothers should split child support 50-50 since “they both played, so they should both pay.” What do you think?
Update: Steve at Sillydad.com! got a comment from a woman named Kathryne who claims to know the twins and details about the case. She says there’s no way Richard could be the father.
ABC News, May 21, 2007
Tags: raymon, richard miller, twins, identical twins, genetics, genes, dna, paternity test, genome, genomics, weird
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[...] to Hsien at Eye on DNA for pointing us to a similar incident came to the forefront but it wasn’t as serious as murder. Who’s [...]
How would the woman know she got pregnant from Raymon rather than Richard? (The only way would be if one of them used a condom and not the other, but then the guy would know!)
Moral of the story: don’t sleep with the same person as your twin. Especially not on the same day. Even without the mess of the paternity test, it’s weird!
Amélie, You’re thinking about this way too much. Hahahaa And I think it’s safe to assume neither of them were probably any good at birth control measures….
LOL, I agree with Amelie’s “moral of the story.”
I don’t see how the courts, judges, what/whomever could legally make either of them pay for anything, nor do I see how one could be legally deemed the father without proof. Her belief that Twin A is the father is not proof.
And, to get more complicated, if either of them got fed up he could just claim he was lying about sleeping with her. Heck, how could they prove him wrong?
This is just bizarre.
Definitely a messed up story. Without more details we’ll never have any idea how the courts reached that decision. Perhaps they’re relying on eyewitness testimony? Ewwww. Maybe either Raymon or Richard will come and enlighten us.
Oh, eye witnesses, yes…that’s right! Remember, didn’t one twin say she showed up with some friends that night, and they were all drunk? Hmm…
OK, I’ll stop before I turn EyeOnDNA into Jerry Springer, lol.
Isn’t it Maury Povich who’s made paternity test a central focus of his show? Look at all the YouTube videos of Maury talking to some couple or other about the results of their paternity test. Crazee stuff! I blame Steve of Fresh Yields for knowing that bit of trivia.
Yes, you’re right! I guess I thought of Springer because of the whole “Um…wow?!” factor of the twin/girl/twin triangle, haha.
When Anna Nicole’s baby’s paternity mess was going on, I kept saying, “If you’d people just give Maury a call, he’ll have the results in 48 hours!”
Heehee
Wow that is weird. I have heard of cases where an eyewitness was able to tell a twin from another by a tattoo but unless they videotaped the congress, I am not sure how you could get that information.
Maybe someday they’ll be able to tell the difference given that identical twins don’t have EXACTLY the same DNA, but that day ain’t today.
I’m sure there are some epigenetic markers that could be examined but that would be beyond the scope of a regular paternity test and the mother’s budget! In the end, neither of them deserve to be the father. It’s too bad the woman needs the child support. I’d rather do without it and forever cut off those guys’ access to the little girl.
[...] Steve at SillyDad.com! with more thoughts on Which Twin is the Father?, a follow-up on my earlier post. [...]
Heads-up, everybody. Steve got a commenter who says she knows for sure Richard Miller is NOT the father.
[...] dna-isnt-the-answer-to-everything [...]
Interesting case but I do not believe that the twins should split child support. Although their DNA is almost exactly the same only one of them had sex with the woman.
Heads-up! There’s a way to differentiate identical twins and that’s to analyze the methylation patterns surrounding the genomes. It’s not standard practice yet but eventually we’ll get there.
I myself thank that both of the men should take care of the babies. That way you know the fother is in their life.
[...] A DNA fingerprint is a set of DNA markers that is unique for each individual except identical twins. [...]
[...] General Identical (monozygotic) twins Raymon and Richard Miller had better watch out. The two were embroiled in a paternity suit that alleged both had slept with the same woman on the same day and nobody knew which brother had [...]