In a message dated 3/30/2002 3:22:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > the opinion of several contemporary county prosecutors from Maryland and > Virginia, certainly strong enough to meet in practice the legal standard > "beyond a reasonable doubt." Professor Hardwick: And as I responded privately, "I know an expert, blah, blah.." is not an analysis or even an argument. Proof of paternity is no longer an issue of "circumstantial evidence," and with the DNA only implicating the Jefferson line to Eston Hemings and not Thomas Jefferson alone, and without the mother, your "prosecutors" need more than Gordon-Reed's book, which by the way, only proposes a probability, not a conclusion "beyond a reasonable doubt." But you are right, all academics are not in the same barrel. The group that comprised the Scholars Commission, some of the most distinguished in Jefferson and colonial history, issued a report that it is unlikely that Jefferson was the father of Eston Hemings. ____________________________________________________________________ Richard E. Dixon Attorney at Law 4122 Leonard Drive Fairfax, VA 22030 703-691-0770 fax 703-691-0978 ____________________________________________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html