§ 19-7-46.Evidence at trial

This section tells the court what evidence it can use to decide paternity and how much weight genetic testing carries. Court-ordered medical and genetic test results, including the statistical likelihood of parentage if available, come into evidence without foundation testimony or other proof that they are authentic or accurate. The exception: a party to the test may object in writing at least 30 days before a hearing where the results may be offered. After a timely objection, the results still come in, but only when offered by a duly qualified licensed practicing physician, immunologist, geneticist or other qualified person.

A separate route makes lab records self-authenticating. Court-ordered results in a record signed under penalty of perjury by a designee of the testing laboratory are admissible in any civil action if the documentation contains five things: the name and photograph of each person tested; the name of the person who collected each specimen; the place and date of each collection; the name of the person who received the specimen at the lab; and the date it arrived.

The weight of the evidence comes next. Scientifically credible genetic testing showing at least a 97 percent probability of paternity creates a rebuttable presumption that the man is the father of a child born out of wedlock. The presumption can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence, as the trier of fact decides. Qualifying tests include DNA probes and several older blood-based methods the section names.

Other evidence is welcome too. A refusal to take an ordered genetic, medical or anthropological test is admissible to show the alleged father is not precluded from being the father. Expert opinion on the time of conception is admissible like other expert testimony. Testimony about any person’s sexual access to the mother around the probable time of conception is admissible, and other relevant evidence comes in as appropriate. The section was last amended in 2023.