Impact of allelic dropout on evidential value of forensic DNA profiles using RMNE

Motivation: Two methods are commonly used to report on evidence carried by forensic DNA profiles: the ‘Random Man Not Excluded’ (RMNE) approach and the likelihood ratio (LR) approach. It is often claimed a major advantage of the LR method that dropout can be assessed probabilistically. Results: In this article, a new RMNE measure is proposed that like-wise accounts for allelic dropout in an observed forensic DNA profile. We discuss the necessary calculations, underline their simplicity and provide a tool for performing the calculations. Availability: An Excel file with preprogrammed calculations of RMNE probabilities for DNA profiles up to 16 loci and with a maximum of two dropouts is available at: http://www.labfbt.UGent.be/RMNE.php Contact: dieter.deforce@ugent.be