from ex ISP forensics lab manager, Rylene Nowlin:
"7. The phrase “touch DNA” is widely used in the forensic DNA community and was used in Dr. Ruth Ballard’s expert witness disclosure for this case when referring to the DNA on the knife sheath. It is typically used to describe DNA collected from items of evidence in areas on the item that would most likely be touched by the user of that item.
8.
The term “Trace DNA” implies amount. The word trace is defined as a very small amount and is used in the scientific literature
when describing evidence samples with low amounts of DNA that do not yield a profile or only a partial profile.
I would not be willing to use that term and it would be inappropriate to apply that term to the DNA on the knife sheath because a trace amount of DNA is not what was detected on Item 1.1, and referring to it as trace DNA would be misleading to the trier of fact. "