New Twist on DNA
Divorce courts look at DNA as evidence

NA testing, often used in paternity and crime cases, makes its way into divorce courts.

In June, Joel Weissman, a lawyer representing Nanette Sexton Bailey of West Palm Beach, Fla., will attempt to prove Richard Briggs Bailey cheated on his client using DNA testing.

Weissman says the case was the first time a lawyer in a matrimonial case presented DNA evidence to prove adultery. According to Weissman, Sexton added a "bad boy" clause to the couple’s prenuptial agreement in January 1999. Weissman says the clause stated her husband would pay about $20,000 a month in alimony if he was ever mean-spirited toward her or committed adultery.

Weissman says in July 1999 Sexton began to suspect her husband was cheating on her. During a visit to their horse farm in Vermont, she found unfamiliar strands of hair, a nightgown and stained bed sheets, all of which she had sent to a lab for analysis, he says.

"Bailey’s fluid got intermingled with another woman’s [fluid] on the bed sheets," says Weissman about the lab results.

"The adultery charge has been denied by Mr. Bailey," says William Kehoe, a lawyer representing Bailey. "At trial we plan to prove Mr. Bailey’s lack of [mental] capacity when she [Sexton] got him to sign that amendment."

eter Bronstein, a New York divorce lawyer who recently appeared on "Good Morning America" to discuss the application of DNA evidence in divorce courts, says almost every state has no-fault divorce. A no-fault divorce means that neither party is at fault for the failure of a marriage.

"Adultery is way outdated in 2001," says Kehoe. "Judges don’t want to waste their time hearing adultery allegations."

But for states like New York, fault still plays a big role in determining alimony amounts. Bronstein says he tells his clients who suspect their spouse is cheating to send their used underwear to a lab for DNA testing.

"What better way to prove your spouse is cheating, let’s say it’s a woman, than to find sperm in her panties," says Bronstein. "You can draw a pretty good inference from that."

Says Bronstein: "After my segment on GMA, one of the employees on the show said to me: ‘That’s why I don’t wear underwear.’ "

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Demystifying DNA

PHOTO: Corbis

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA codes genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits. A strand of DNA is made up of combinations of four bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. There are approximately three billion bases in a person’s DNA. The order of the base pairs is different for every individual so a person can be identified from a sample of biological tissue (e.g. skin, blood, hair). DNA evidence is now admitted in all the country's jurisdictions. Sources: www.britannica.com; Congressional Digest, Vol. 79 No.11

DNA LINKS

National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence

Human Genome Project