- DNA tests are to be performed on 62 dogs after the death of Elisa Pilarski.
- The amount of the quote prompted the examining magistrate to bring competition into play.
- The police and gendarmerie laboratories are not equipped for this type of service.
Justice, yes, but not at any cost. Thursday, France Info revealed that the DNA analyzes on 62 dogs requested by the investigating judge in charge of the Pilarski case had not been carried out. In question, the very high price of the estimate established by a specialized laboratory in Bordeaux. If the magistrate intends to bring competition into play, she must nevertheless expect to have to pay a substantial sum.
Elisa Pilarski died last November in a forest in the Aisne region, following numerous dog bites. As part of the investigation, the investigating judge requested that DNA analyzes be carried out on sixty dogs, five of which belong to the victim and the others constituting a pack with hunting hounds.
Samples were taken from the animals in question as well as from the body of Elisa Pilarski, more than 300 in all, according to a source familiar with the matter. Placed under seal, the samples were sent to the forensic hematology laboratory in Bordeaux, one of the most renowned with which the police and gendarmerie services usually work.
No choice but to go through a private laboratory
According to sources, the amount of the estimate established by the private laboratory is between 100,000 and 200,000 euros. "It is a sum which may seem high indeed, but it all depends on the analyzes that will be carried out", confides to 20 Minutes a source within the scientific police. According to this same source, the prices charged by the National Institute of Scientific Police (INPS) for DNA analyzes vary from 22 to 37 euros, 67 euros for emergency treatment. So why is the magistrate not using their services? "We do not perform this type of analysis on animals because we do not have the necessary equipment," said one to the INPS. Ditto for the IRCGN, the equivalent for the gendarmes: "It is under development with us but the process is not yet operational," explains a source of gendarmerie to 20 Minutes .
The investigating judge has no choice but to turn to the private sector and its unregulated prices. The magistrate however does not intend to pay an astronomical sum, her budget is not unlimited. If the funds for the functioning of justice are allocated each year by the ministry, the budgets are regionalized. The tribunal de grande instance (TGI) of Soissons, where the Pilarski case is being heard, depends on the Court of Appeal of Amiens. The latter was endowed with a budget of seven million euros for the legal costs of seven TGI distributed in the Somme, Aisne and Oise.
Mass appraisals not always conclusive
A competitive quote was therefore requested by the magistrate from another laboratory, the name of which was not disclosed. She also reaffirmed on Thursday that "DNA expertise has not been abandoned. "There are other possibilities to lower the bill, according to our source at the INPS:" We sometimes proceed with the snail technique, by carrying out assessments on a small number of samples and then expanding as needed . "
Not the past, there have been precedents for investigations requiring mass DNA testing. The first dates back to 1997, after the murder of Caroline Dickinson. Over 4,000 DNA tests had been carried out to reach the arrest of Francisco Arce Montes. There have been others since, including the Estelle Mouzin case in 2003. More recently, in 2014, around 500 students and staff from a high school in La Rochelle had been subjected to a DNA sample after the rape of a student on the premises of the establishment. The analyzes had produced nothing.
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