Abstract
In Kofford v. Flora , the Utah Supreme Court took judicial notice that HLA (or white blood cell) testing is now sufficiently reliable to be admissible as scientific evidence and held that "foundational evidence as to the validity of the basic principles [of HLA testing] may be dispensed with in this jurisdiction in the future. The primary legal significance of this type of evidence is its use in determining paternity. In a paternity action, the defendant is faced with "the imposition of a life-long relationship with significant financial, legal, and moral dimensions." Unlike any other civil judgment, the establishment of a parental relationship has "the potential to set in motion a process of engagement that is powerful and cumulative, and whose duration spans a lifetime." The court recognized in Kofford that HLA testing and the statistical computations involved in interpreting test results are complex." Implicit in the opinion is the seriousness of the consequences if this evidence is misused. Because of a general concern about misleading or confusing the factfinder, the Utah Supreme Court set forth five standards that must be met before HLA test evidence can be presented.
Recommended Citation
Iannucci, Sylvia
(1988)
"Establishing Paternity Through HLA Testing: Utah Standards for Admissibility,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1988:
No.
3, Article 4.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1988/iss3/4