Kammer v. Young case brief

Kammer v. Young case brief summary
535 A.2d 936 (Md. App. 1988)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellant putative father sought review of a judgment from the Circuit Court for Baltimore City (Maryland), which found him to be the biological parent of appellee mother's child.

CASE FACTS
The mother alleged that the putative father was the only man with whom she had intercourse in the year that preceded her child's birth. The circuit court admitted into evidence the results of a blood test that had been pertained pursuant to Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 5-1029, which established the paternity of the child.

DISCUSSION

• The court affirmed the circuit court's judgment that determined that the putative father was the biological parent of the child. 
• The term "statistical probability" that was used in Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 5-1029(e)(1)(ii)was construed to mean that those in the blood testing community were qualified to conduct the calculations to interpret the blood test results. 
• The putative father's due process rights were not violated when the paternity index was converted to a statistical probability of paternity through the use of Bayes' Theorum with an assigned prior probability. 
• The paternity probability calculations were based upon scientific methods that were accepted worldwide. 
• The putative father's right to a fair trial was not violated by the introduction of "overwhelming" evidence that his paternity was 99.78 percent.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, with costs to be paid by the putative father, that found that the putative father was the biological parent of the mother's child.

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