REAR ADMIRAL DONALD D. CHAPMAN JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S CORPS, U.S. NAVY Rear Admiral Donald D. Chapman, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, was born in Thalia, Foard County, Texas on 9 December 1917. Upon graduation from Thalia High School, he attended Texas Technological College, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1939. He received his Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Texas in 1942. After enlisting in the V-7 program of the U.S. Naval Reserve in January 1942, Rear Admiral Chapman attended the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Northwestern University and was commissioned an ensign in December 1942. He served during World War II as a general line officer, first in USS PC460 in the Caribbean, later in USS PC566 in the Atlantic, and ultimately as Commanding Officer, USS PC792 in the North Pacific. In March 1946 Rear Admiral Chapman entered the Navy legal program, serving his first tour in the District Legal Office, Eighth Naval District from 1946 to 1949. He was assigned as Staff Legal Officer, Commander Amphibious Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet from 1949 to 1951, and spent nine months of that period with the fleet in the Western Pacific. After serving a tour in the Military Justice Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General (1951-1955), he became Staff Legal Officer to Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, a position which he held until 1958, when he was assigned duty under instruction at the Judge Advocate General's School, U.S. Army, Charlottesville, Virginia. Rear Admiral Chapman served from 1959 to 1963 in the Administrative Law Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General, after which he became District Legal Officer, Fourteenth Naval District. Upon completion of that assignment in 1966, he returned to the Office of the Judge Advocate General as Chairman, Board of Review No. 4, a capacity in which he served until 1967, when he became Director, Administrative Law Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General. Rear Admiral Chapman assumed duty as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy on 1 May 1968. The Judge Advocate General (1.) congratulates his new Deputy, RADM Donald D. Chapman, JAGC, USN. LEGION OF MERIT MEDAL AWARDED RETIRING DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL Honorable Charles F. Baird, Under Secretary of the Navy, congratulates retiring Rear Admiral Robert H. Hare, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, after presentation of the Legion of Merit Medal. "For exceptionally meritorious service as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy from 25 May 1964 to 1 May 1968. Exercising competent and resourceful leadership and invariably sound judgment, tempered by the finest sense of balance between the needs and interests of the naval service and the rights of the individual, Rear Admiral Hare supervised and directed some seventeen divisions and branches which constitute the Office of the Judge Advocate General. He constantly reviewed procedures and methods of operation for the development of new ideas and more effective administration of the Office and the military law system of the Navy. Having been delegated the responsibility for the fiscal affairs of the Office, Rear Admiral Hare demonstrated the highest degree of cost consciousness and cost effectiveness. The present fine rapport enjoyed by the Office of the Judge Advocate General within the Navy Department and with other departments and agencies is due in large measure to the efforts and abilities of Rear Admiral Hare. His exemplary leadership and inspiring devotion to duty reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service." Responsibility for paternity out of wedlock is often difficult to establish, but the uncertainties which beset the doubting young man faced with a paternity claim can now, more than ever before, be substantially mitigated, thanks to advances in medical science. The value of blood tests in resolving disputed paternity cases will be apparent to the reader. *This article, originally entitled Blood Tests for Paternity Claims: Are Army Procedures Adequate?, was written by Lieutenant Colonel Frank W. Kiel, MC, U.S. Army, and was published in 38 Military Law Review 165 (1967). Lieutenant Colonel Kiel is the holder of both a Doctor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Laws Degree. Sections I-III appearing herein are, with minor editorial exceptions, as originally published. Paragraphs IV-VII have been amended by Lieutenant Harry F. Day, Jr., JAGC, USNR, to reflect Navy and Marine Corps policy and procedures. The conclusions reached concerning such policy and procedures are those of Lieutenant Day. This article is reproduced in modified form by permission of the Military Law Review and Lieutenant Colonel Frank W. Kiel, MC, U.S. Army. The views stated herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Judge Advocate General or any other governmental agency. **Lieutenant Day is currently Head, Promotions and Non-Disability Retirements Branch, Promotions and Retirements Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, having received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1963 and his Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1966. Lieutenant Day is a member of the Bar of the State of North Carolina and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Military Appeals and the U.S. Court of Claims. though never so innocent." This characterization is applicable equally to paternity claims, particularly where the alleged father concedes having had sexual relations with the claimant mother. The problem is of particular interest to the military, as the serviceman is often the target of a paternity claim, probably due to his relatively young age, often unmarried or unaccompanied status, and necessary peregrinations. Undoubtedly a certain number of military members are falsely accused, for they are not really the true fathers of the children in question. Fortunately, medical science has made considerable progress in recent years in the use of blood tests to study the father-mother-child genetic relationship. The results of these tests often may be helpful in resolving the issue of parenthood. This article will discuss the various systems of blood testing which may be useful in paternity cases, including the evidentiary 1. Hale, Pleas of the Crown, 635, 636 (1620). value and treatment of the results in the courts. Finally and, perhaps, more importantly herethere will be an examination of the current Navy and Marine Corps attitudes toward paternity claims, as reflected in current regulations, to determine whether procedures are adequate to avail the serviceman of the possible benefits of these scientific advances. II. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN PATERNITY BLOOD TESTING The A-B-O blood group was discovered in 1901. In the following years other factors were identified in the blood cells and blood serum, until now there are twelve different systems, each of which has actual or potential use in medico-legal matters. All of the systems follow the laws of genetics in relationship to their inheritance by the child from the parents, and thus all are applicable to paternity problems. The following table shows the twelve blood group systems, the typing reagents used in each system, and the probability that each system will exclude a person falsely accused of parenthood. The A blood group can be further analyzed to distinguish variants, the most useful of which are subtypes A, and A, which are occasionally used in medico-legal work. By using them, the investigator is able to identify blood groups A1, A., A, B, A,B, in addition to the standard B and O, making six major groups identifiable in this system. 2. M-N-S System Human blood also falls into these three types: M, N, and MN. In this system. six different kinds of matings are possible, leading to the children shown in Table 3. Table 3. Blood Groups M-N in Parents and Children3 Paternity System Typing Reagents Used Exclusion Anti A, B.. 17% Anti M, N, S. 27% Anti Rh, (D), rh' (c), rh'' (E), hr' (c).. 25% Anti P. 3% 5. Lewis Anti Lea, Leb 5% All human bloods fall into one of four groups: O, A, B, or AB. To gain this characteristic, every person has inherited a pair of genes, one gene of each pair coming from the father and the other coming from the mother. It follows that the blood factors A or B cannot appear in the blood of a child unless they are present in the blood of one or both parents. Conversely, a parent with blood of group AB cannot have a child with blood of group O, and a parent of group O cannot have a child of group AB. Two other blood factors are included in this system: S and s. Antiserums used to test for these factors are scarcer than M and N antiserums, but in selected cases their application for paternity studies can be just as valid. 3. Rh System Another set of blood types, discovered in 1940 and referred to as Rh blood types, is most important because sensitization to them was found to be the most common cause of hemolytic disease 2. Stetler & Moritz, Doctor and Patient and the Law 276 (1962). 3. Id. at 277. of the newborn. Their mechanism of inheritance is the same as for the A-B-O and M-N-S systems, but the situation is complicated by the greater variety of blood factors and also by the fact that there is a controversy among immunohematologists as to their correct nomenclature. For practical purposes, the genetic rules as to this system are: (1) blood factors Rh, (D), rh' (C), rh'' (E), hr' (c), and hr'' (e) cannot appear in the blood of a child unless they are present in the blood of one or both parents; (2) a parent who is rh' (C) negative cannot have an hr' (c) negative child; and (3) a parent who is rh' (E) negative cannot have an hr'' (e) negative child. With seven commonly available antiserums, 28 sharply defined Rh types can be differentiated. In practice, the number of types encountered will be smaller, because there are only nine types with an incidence of 1 percent or higher in the general population.* 4. P, Lewis, Kell, Duffy, Kidd, and Lutheran Systems These systems all contain distinct blood factors, each resulting in two or three identifiable blood types in tested individuals. The antiserums available for use with these systems are often scarce, or have peculiar temperature requirements, or need Coombs' serum as a catalyst for the reaction. Consequently, their use in medico-legal work has been limited, although in selected cases the results could be considered valid.5 5. Xg System The gene for this blood factor has been discovered to be transmitted on the sex chromosome, and the blood factor has been detected in 65 percent of the male population. Still relatively new, its use in medico-legal work is not evaluated yet." 6. Serum (Haptoglobin and Gc) Systems Because of the discovery of the above blood systems in the red blood cell, investigation of genetic serum characteristics receded into the background. Haptoglobins are a type of plasma protein, discovered in serum in 1939 but not effectively studied in regard to hereditary factors until the development of starch electro 4. American Medical Association Committee on Medicolegal Problems, Medical Application of Blood-Grouping Tests, 164 JAMA 2036-44 (1957). 5. Allen, Jones & Diamond, Medicolegal Application of Blood Grouping, 251 New Eng. J. Med. 146-47 (1954). 6. Chown, Lewis & Kaita, The Xg Blood Group System-Data on 294 White Families, Mainly Canadian, 6 Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 431-34 (1964). phoresis in 1955. There are two serum factorsHp1 and Hp-leading to three possible types (with incidence of occurrence in the population in parentheses): Hp1-Hp1 (16%), Hp1-Hp2 (48%), and Hp-Hp2 (36%). These factors have been used in paternity cases in England and Denmark." Another system of inherited serum proteins is coming into use in paternity studies in Sweden. These Gc groups (group-specific components) are independent of haptoglobins but show the same pattern of inheritance, giving three types: Ge 1-1, Ge 2-2, and Gc 2-1. In tests of paternity, 15 percent of wrongly accused men are exonerated by the Gc groups. B. VALUE OF BLOOD TESTS IN PATERNITY CLAIMS 1. Exclusion of Paternity The summary of the twelve blood systems in Table 1 represents all those tests of potential medico-legal value. There are very few laboratories that have the antiserums or professional competence to do them all. Most investigations are limited to two antiserums in the A-B-O system, three antiserums in the M-N-S system, and four antiserums in the Rh system. Thus, in the A-B-O system, it is usually said that 17 percent of falsely accused men could be excluded; with the M-N-S system, 27 percent of falsely accused men could be excluded; and with the Rh system, 25 percent of falsely accused men could be excluded. The chance of exoneration by use of all three systems is not exactly their sum, because of the possibility of exclusion by more than one system. Thus, the chance of exoneration with the three commonly used systems is approximately 55 percent." Tests with antiserums of the other red cell systems and serum systems, although they do not have the medico-legal acceptance that the A-B-O, M-N-S, and Rh tests have, can still provide valuable evidence. In time, most of these serums will be commercially available and will have the requisite genetic family studies published so that they will be generally acceptable in courts. If all the blood systems of potential medico-legal value listed in Table 1 could be utilized, the chance of exclusion of paternity 7. Editorial, Haptoglobins in Evidence, 1 Brit. Med. J. 561-62 (1966). 8. New Paternity Test Harnesses a Protein, 82 Sci. News Letter 256 (Oct 20, 1962). 9. American Medical Association Committee on Medicolegal Problems, op. cit. supra note 4, at 2040. |