CAC: California Association of Criminalists.
CACLD: California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors.
CAP: College of American Pathologists. Supplies proficiency tests to forensic and parentage testing and medical laboratories.
Capias: A civil arrest warrant ordering the sheriff or other officer to take a person into custody and deliver him to court. This procedure is used when a party refuses to appear in court.
Ceiling Principle:An extremely conservative method of calculating the estimated occurrence of DNA profiles in forensic samples. It’s purpose is to compensate for any undetected substructure that may exist in the populations that have been sampled.
Cell:The smallest unit of life that is capable of independent reproduction by the process of cell division. There are approximately 100 trillion cells in the human body almost all of which contain an identical complement of DNA known as the human genome.
Child Support: Court-ordered payments from the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent that are not tax deductible by the non-custodial parent, nor includable in the custodial parent’s taxable income.
Child–Guidelines: State guidelines requiring the non-custodial parent, under normal circumstances, to pay child support based on a percentage of income.
Child Support Recovery Act (1992): Makes it a federal crime to fail to pay child support for a child living in another state.
Chromosome: A thread like structure found in the nucleus of the cell that carries genetic information arranged in a linear sequence. It consists of a complex of nucleic acids and proteins. At certain times during cell life chromosomes appear as distinct units. In humans there are 46 in the nucleus of every nucleated cell arranged in 23 pairs.
Cloning: The procedure for purifying and reproducing in the laboratory specific small identical DNA sequences.
CODIS: Combined DNA Identification System, the FBI’s database of DNA profiles of convicted offenders supplied to them by the states.
Complementarity: The characteristic of DNA resulting from the base pairing rules. If it is known that one strand has the sequence, GATC, then the sequence of the other complementary strand, CTAG, will also be known.
Controls: Test samples for which the results are know. They are of two general types positive and negative. A positive control is used to confirm that the test worked correctly and a negative control to detect contamination. If a control test result does not meet specifications then the entire test can be rendered invalid.
Codominant: Two alleles that are both seen in one individual. Example: AB blood type (see dominant and recessive).
COLA: Cost of living adjustment.
Combined Paternity Index (CPI): The product of the individual PI values calculated for each independent test. The CPI is the ratio based on the testing of the probability that the alleged father is the biological father (x) to the probability that a random man is the biological father (y). This value is calculated when the alleged father can not be excluded on a minimum of 2 tests.
Complainant: Also known as “plaintiff,” the person bringing the complaint.
Complaint for Support/Custody/Visitation: Legal action brought to establish support, custody and/or visitation.
Complaint to Establish Parentage: A formal written document filed in court whereby the person initiating the action provides the names the parties involved, the allegations, and the request for relief sought; the initial pleading, sometimes called the petition.
Consent Agreement: A voluntary written admission of paternity or responsibility for support.
Contempt of Court, Complaint for: Legal action brought when the plaintiff/petitioner alleges a willful failure to obey a court order or judgment.
CTS: Collaborative Testing Services, a commercial laboratory headquartered in Arlington, Virginia that supplies proficiency testing samples to forensic laboratories.
Custodial Parent: Usually refers to the parent with whom the child(ren) reside(s), i.e., the parent with Physical Custody or Primary Physical Custody.
Custody–Legal: A legal status or “custodianship” vesting authority to approve all major decisions affecting a minor child. “Joint,” “split,” and “shared” legal custody require both parents’ approval of all major decisions.
Custody–Physical: Relates to the physical location of the child. The adult with whom the child resides is said to have physical custody. Such terms as “sole,” “primary,” “shared,” and “joint” are used to describe various parenting and visitation plans.
Cytosine: An organic base, one of the four monomers or building blocks from which DNA is made.
