Can DNA evidence be wrong? You bet. Although it is a sophisticated science, it is still performed by human beings. Sometimes, people make mistakes – and some people make more mistakes than others. At issue is a Texas crime lab that “so consistently and egregiously...
DNA evidence
Should the police be allowed to access newborns’ DNA?
Our DNA contains a tremendous amount of sensitive, personal information. Not only about us, but about our family members. It can tell us who we’re related to, whether we have genetic disorders and even how likely we are to get certain cancers. According to one study,...
Judge in ‘Serial’ murder case orders new DNA tests for defendant
In 2000, Adnan Syed was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and burying her body in a park in Baltimore. Although he was just 17 at the time of his girlfriend’s death in 1999, he was sentenced to life in prison. He has argued that he is innocent, but Maryland’s...
2 states pass laws to limit police use of genealogy data
Did you know that taking a genetic genealogy test could result in your DNA being uploaded to a national, searchable database that police could use to accuse you of a crime? Worse, it’s not just you who is at risk. The entry of your DNA into such a database exposes...
Why do states resist posthumous DNA tests to exonerate people?
Ledell Lee always insisted on his innocence. He was convicted of a shocking murder – the 1993 strangulation and bludgeoning of a 26-year-old woman, but he always denied that he had been the perpetrator. His sister has been fighting for years to prove his innocence, as...
Eyewitness testimony is frequently unreliable
You might not think six eyewitnesses could all be wrong, but they were. The case was a 2010 murder. A man named Aaron Scheerhoorn was stabbed to death outside a nightclub in Houston. A crowd gathered, and six people told detectives that Lydell Grant was the murderer....
Should police be allowed to collect your ‘abandoned’ DNA without your consent or a warrant?
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by government agents such as police. It is among our primary sources of constitutional protection against government overreach and surveillance. This is because, in criminal...
Do jurors fall for the ‘CSI effect’?
Forensic science isn’t nearly as straightforward and foolproof as it seems on television crime shows like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Unfortunately, many jurors may not know that. Are they expecting results like those produced on the show? Can they disregard...
Is collecting DNA evidence that easy?
Recently, a New Mexico newspaper and the Associated Press covered what sounded like a light-hearted story. Apparently, someone attempted an armed robbery a Pizza Hut store in Las Cruces.The police reviewed surveillance tapes but were apparently unable to identify the...
Genetic genealogy database leads to exoneration of Idaho man
We've discussed on this blog how genealogy databases like GEDmatch warehouse the DNA results of huge numbers of people who have taken part in genetic testing for genealogy purposes.GEDmatch and similar databases collect DNA profiles from 23andMe, Ancestry.com and...