Malaysia's forensic division's laboratory under the Chemistry Department. came under scrutiny following questionable practices in labelling samples as well as for its lack of proper methodology and accreditation.

brian mcdonald story Such issues were brought to the fore in the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial today when fourth defence witness Dr Brian McDonald ( right ), a consultant molecular geneticist, pointed out faults in chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong's methods which he said could result in her to be "sacked" and "could have killed someone".

This follows the questionable practice of Seah in not swiping the cotton swab of the samples retrieved from Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan to a slide or receptacle to check for sperm under the microscope.

She was also at fault for not checking the labelling of the samples when it was revealed two of the containers containing the said samples were dated June 26, 2008, whereas the evidence shows that the samples were in fact retrieved from Saiful two days later.

Anwar's lawyer Ram Karpal was quick to tackle this issue with McDonald.

Ram: There were errors on the labelling of the date.

Dr McDonald : If we have a mistake, we have to indicate what it was before (the correction) and what it is after. We will identify the exact date when the change was made," said the 60 year old DNA expert.

Ram : Was there any evidence of a record of correction?

Dr McDonald : They still have the date as June 26, 2008 in court. There is no record of a correction. It is not an option to have samples with such errors. It could have killed someone. The person would have been sacked in Australia.

Ram : What would you do to correct it?

Dr McDonald : You must get it from the horse's mouth. You need to change and document it...show the chain of movement of the said evidence. This is fundamental laboratory practice. It is not an option (the lack of correction) to be accepted. If you are aware (of the mistake) you should correct it.

Swiping necessary

The witness went on to testify the need to swipe samples on a slide or receptacle on sexual assault cases to verify the presence of sperm.

This, he said, needed to be done so it can be checked under the microscope to see the presence of sperm. It would also act as a back-up (for the evidence).

Ram pointed out in this case there was no way for sure to ascertain there was sperm.

"It should be looked under the microscope and photographed as proof," said McDonald.

"You need to know what is on the swab when you took it, as this is a sexual assault case."

In Anwar's case, the chemists who checked the samples testified they did not perform these procedures.

Earlier, the defence cast doubts on whether the Chemistry Department's forensic lab used in the testing of samples is internationally accredited.

This follows revelations that it had not received the ISO 17025 international accreditation standard as required under the American Society of Criminal Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).

sankara nair bukit aman teresea kok isa arrest pc 170908 01 According to lawyer Sankara Nair ( right ), all the division has is that it is in the Legacy Programme, a probationary programme.

He showed reporters a copy of the ASCLD's letter to Lim Kong Boon, the Chemistry Department's director-general, verifying that the PJ forensic lab had only been accredited with the Legacy Programme by ASCLD between Sept 19, 2005 and Oct 18, 2010.

"It is not 17025 accredited as required. Furthermore, two extensions were granted since Oct 18, 2010, and this ends this October.

"This shows that in 2008 it was not internationally accredited when tests were conducted on Saiful's samples."

The matter came about during proceedings today when lawyer Ram Karpal showed the letter by ASCLD dated April this year agreeing to extending the lab's status for six months to McDonald.

Solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden objected to the letter being introduced as McDonald is neither the maker nor receiver.

Ram Karpal asked the court to mark it as an identification document first and not as evidence.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah allowed the letter, which is for now marked as an identification document.

Sankara then stated that they will call Lim to testify on this, being the recipient of the letter.

Lim was the chemist who testified in Anwar's Sodomy I trial. He has been issued with a subpoena.

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