Rectal swab would show no trace of sperm

KUALA LUMPUR : A consultant molecular geneticist said he would not expect to see sperm on the rectal swab stick sample taken from Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan as bacterial overgrowth would have destroyed it, the High Court here heard today.

Dr Brian Leslie McDonald (pix), 60, from Australia said this when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyer Ram Karpal Singh asked about the condition of the rectal swab stick taken on June 28, 2008.

Ram said the sample was taken from Saiful’s anus 56 hours after the alleged sodomy on June 26, sealed and kept by the investigating officer for two days (in a cabinet) in his office i.e. 48 hours at room temperature, before it was sent to the Chemistry Department for analysis.

“I personally would not see any evidence. Bacterial overgrowth would have destroyed it within 48 hours. I would not expect to see sperm,” McDonald said.

Anwar trial: Sperm can still be obtained after wash or shower

KUALA LUMPUR : A forensic pathologist appearing for the defence in the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial, today agreed with medical findings that samples of spermatozoa could still be obtained, even after an invidual had washed or showered.

Associate Professor Dr David Lawrence Noel Wells, the third defence witness, told the High Court however, that good samples from the anal or rectal area should be collected from between 24 and 36 hours.

Cross-examined by Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohamed Yusof Zainal Abiden who referred to an article in medical journal 'Forensic Science International' that rectal swab could confirm the presence of spermatozoa to up to 65 hours after intercourse, the pathologist said it was the only known case reported in the United Kingdom in 1982.