DNA retesting for murderer completed

RETESTING of DNA material in the case of convicted murderer Shane Sebastian Davis shows it is 45 billion times more likely to belong to Davis than any other Caucasian.

Davis, a Wolston Correctional Centre inmate, was convicted by a Supreme Court jury in November 1991 of the murder of Michelle Cohn in December 1990.

His case was the first such DNA retesting in Queensland and it went ahead only after a successful eight-year campaign by Griffith University's Innocence Project.

Attorney-General Cameron Dick on Thursday said the test results showed DNA samples taken from the crime scene were 45 billion times more likely to have originated from Davis than any other person in Australia's Caucasian population.

"This retesting was allowed to ensure that the interests of justice are maintained and that the integrity of our legal system is upheld," Mr Dick said.

"The government is committed to ensuring that our justice system remains fair, open and accountable, and the retesting of Mr Davis's DNA reaffirms that commitment.

"The implications of the test results are now a matter for Mr Davis and his legal advisers to consider."

Two swabs of blood taken from the crime scene were retested, as was a new DNA sample from Davis.

Mr Dick said the DNA retesting had been conducted between July 8 and July 21 at Genetic Technologies Corporation in Melbourne.

The forensic testing report from Genetic Technologies Corporation states: "these findings, when considered in isolation from other information, provide extremely strong support for the proposition that the DNA profile obtained from both portions of swabs and the reference sample from Shane Sebastian Davis originate from the same source".

New Queensland government policy will be released early next year that will set boundaries on when cases can be reopened.

It comes after the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions reviewed all cases over the past five years because of doubts about DNA tests.

It led earlier this month to the release of Farah Jama, who was sentenced in 2008 to six years' jail for rape.