mirage, there is a margin of error in DNA testing but it is very small as long as the lab tech is good and samples are not contaminated. We learned in the OJ trial that a lot of labs are "dirty," including the FBI lab, but these are getting cleaned up after a lot of cases have been dismissed because of bad lab techniques. Both Congress and state legislatures started having independent exams of their crime labs after the OJ case and what they learned wasn't pretty. This isn't "CSI Miami" where everything that comes out of the lab is reliable.
Sometimes lab techs are untrustworthy too. Last month the Colorado State lab fired a tech who admitted "boosting" BAC levels in drunk driving cases. He claims he was pressured by cops but nobody cares. He lied on lab reports and a lot of convictions may have to be overturned because of it.
I will freely admit that any trial lawyer who is any damned good has a huge ego [I certainly do]. Billy's friend did make a mistake by hiring a small town lawyer. Many of those guys don't like to do jury trials because they lack experience in it and, unfortunately, they pressure clients into plea bargains. The prosecutors know who will, and who will not, take a case to trial and they pressure the non-trial lawyers to take deals for as long as they can. This runs the fees way up out of sight too. On a forged prescription case like the one billy described, a well known trial lawyer could have had it dismissed in a fraction the time and even though his hourly rate would have been much higher than the small town lawyer's, I can't imagine that the total fee would have been more than $20K to $25K and certainly not $50K. Just today, one of the guys in my office who is a highly respected trial lawer, went to the DA's office on a serious felony assault case. He said to the DA, "Gimme a break, you really want to try this case on the evidence you've got?" The DA said, "Nope" [he knows that Bill would take it to trial and clean the DA's clock] and the case was dismissed. Even though the lawyer charges $550 an hour, the total cost to the client was only $2,750.
