 The trial of Janet and Malcolm Collins, a couple accused of robbery in 1964 Los Angeles, illustrates how the lack of independence between events can be overlooked. The couple was identified based on features at the time considered unusual. The prosecutor called an expert witness, a college mathematician, to the stand, and asked him to consider the following features and assume they had the following probabilities: black man with a beard (1 in 10), man with a mustache (1 in 4), white woman with blond hair (1 out of 3), woman with a ponytail (1 out of 10), interracial couple in a car (1 out of 1000), couple driving a yellow convertible (1 out of 10). The mathematician, correctly, calculated the probability of a random couple displaying all these features on the assumption of independence: 1 in 12 million (assuming the individual probability estimates were correct). Relying on this argument, the jury convicted the couple. If those features are so rare in Los Angeles and the robbers had them—the jury must have reasoned—the Collins must be the robbers.