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Dan Markel— Case Archive
personpersonCarrie RosanaCarrie RosanaFlorida Department of Law Enforcement forensic biology analyst who tested DNA swabs from Dan Markel's car and garage door.← All People
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Carrie Rosana

Courtroom still of Carrie Rosana.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement forensic biology analyst who tested DNA swabs from Dan Markel's car and garage door.

AppearedGarcia–Magbanua
MentionedMagbanua RetrialCharlie Adelson
18 lines·3 proceedings·2 mentions·3 trials

About

Rosana's work is the point at which the forensic biology evidence in the Markel case is settled: the swabs from the vehicle and garage produced nothing usable for comparison. Anyone reading the record to understand what physical evidence did and did not connect a person to the scene will find that answer here, along with her explanation of why touched surfaces often yield no profile at all.

Carrie Rosana works as a crime laboratory analyst in the biology section of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, where she performed the DNA testing in this case. Her work covered four swabs from car door handles on Dan Markel's vehicle and one from the exterior doorknob of his garage. In every instance the material recovered was too limited to interpret or compare against known standards, so no identification could be made. In the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial, she explained the ordinary conditions that determine whether usable DNA is left behind or survives on a touched surface, including ultraviolet light, heat, moisture, the brevity of contact, hand washing, and surface texture. Her testimony established that the absence of a usable profile does not show that no one touched the object, and neither defense team cross-examined her. In the 2022 Magbanua retrial and the 2023 Charlie Adelson trial she did not testify; the same limited, uninterpretable results entered through stipulated facts read to the jury.

Trial Record (3)

GMGarcia–MagbanuaSep 26, 2019 – Oct 11, 2019Called by prosecution

Called by the State on trial day one as an FDLE forensic biology examiner, testified on direct that DNA swabs from Dan Markel's car door handles and garage doorknob yielded no profiles suitable for comparison.

Day 1

DirectCarrie RosanaGeorgia Cappleman4highlights18lines spoken

Summary

FDLE forensic analyst Carrie Rosana testified that DNA swabs from Markel's car door handles and garage doorknob all yielded insufficient results for comparison, leaving no usable DNA evidence linking or excluding any suspect.

Highlights (4)

testimony highlightRosana confirmed that all tested surfaces — four car door-handle swabs and one garage doorknob swab — produced limited DNA results insufficient for comparison, meaning forensic biology contributed no inculpatory or exculpatory physical evidence in this case.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“For the DNA swabs collected from the car, I obtained limited results, which means I did not develop very many DNA types, and because of that I couldn't make any comparisons to those DNA results.”— Carrie RosanaCore negative finding: DNA swabs from the car yielded insufficient profiles for comparison, meaning physical evidence could neither link nor exclude any suspect from contact with the vehicle.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“If DNA had been deposited, then the UV light from the sun, or heat, or moisture can break down the DNA, which would result in limited results.”— Carrie RosanaRosana contextualized the negative results by explaining environmental factors that degrade DNA, offering the jury a framework for why the absence of evidence does not necessarily mean no contact occurred.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
procedural actionNeither Garcia's nor Magbanua's defense counsel cross-examined Rosana, leaving her negative findings and PCR methodology unchallenged by either defense team.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
KMMagbanua RetrialMay 18, 2022 – May 27, 2022

FDLE biology analyst whose inconclusive DNA findings from crime scene swabs were entered into evidence through a joint stipulation read by the judge rather than live testimony.

Day 1

DirectJoanne MalteseGeorgia CapplemanMentioned

Summary

Retired Tallahassee Police forensic specialist Joanne Maltese testified about processing the Trescott Drive crime scene and documenting physical evidence. She described DNA results that were not interpretable, one partial fingerprint not suitable for comparison, no recovered shell casings or projectiles, and a dark mark on Dan Markel's forearm that she believed was stippling.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

CACharlie AdelsonOct 26, 2023 – Nov 6, 2023

Identified in stipulated facts read to the jury as the FDLE biology analyst who tested crime-scene swabs and found the limited DNA data uninterpretable.

Day 1

DirectAnthony ClarkGeorgia CapplemanMentioned

Summary

Forensic pathologist Dr. Anthony Clark testified about Dan Markel's autopsy, two gunshot wounds to the head, their likely sequence, a survival interval, bullets consistent with having been fired from a revolver, and forearm material he thought was probably cylinder-gap soot and said could be consistent with a defensive gesture.

Mentioned in this proceeding.