
Expanded DNA Testing Frees Innocent U.S. Prisoners
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Innovative DNA analysis has exonerated convicts and brought criminals to justice. But genetic science in the courtroom is still a cause for controversy.
30-Second Summary
Courts are increasingly relying on DNA testing, and genetic analysis has helped free 216 wrongfully convicted people across the United States, reports The Economist.
That number may soon rise to 219.
In 1993, the West Memphis Three, a trio of teenagers from West Memphis, Ark., were convicted of murdering three eight-year-old children. Many considered the prosecution’s case weak, and a growing chorus of advocates is calling for a new trial.
Thanks to advances in forensic testing, those calls may be answered.
Recent DNA analysis concluded that a hair from the crime scene could not be from the defendants, but may belong to one victim’s stepfather, and a judge has ordered a new evidentiary hearing.
Dennis Rader was convicted of killing 10 people in Kansas after his daughter’s DNA tied him to the crimes, The Washington Post reports. Unbeknownst to Rader’s daughter, investigators had obtained a court order to examine a Pap smear taken from her at a medical clinic.
Some privacy advocates object that such practices “turn relatives into genetic informants.”
The California Criminal Lawyer Blog reports that emerging “second-generation” DNA tests raise other ethical and legal issues, by seeking to link genetic information to “the biological traits and psychological states of the accused.”
Criminal defense attorney Mary Frances Prévost says such developments raise the question “Can some violent criminals blame their behavior on their genes?”
That number may soon rise to 219.
In 1993, the West Memphis Three, a trio of teenagers from West Memphis, Ark., were convicted of murdering three eight-year-old children. Many considered the prosecution’s case weak, and a growing chorus of advocates is calling for a new trial.
Thanks to advances in forensic testing, those calls may be answered.
Recent DNA analysis concluded that a hair from the crime scene could not be from the defendants, but may belong to one victim’s stepfather, and a judge has ordered a new evidentiary hearing.
Dennis Rader was convicted of killing 10 people in Kansas after his daughter’s DNA tied him to the crimes, The Washington Post reports. Unbeknownst to Rader’s daughter, investigators had obtained a court order to examine a Pap smear taken from her at a medical clinic.
Some privacy advocates object that such practices “turn relatives into genetic informants.”
The California Criminal Lawyer Blog reports that emerging “second-generation” DNA tests raise other ethical and legal issues, by seeking to link genetic information to “the biological traits and psychological states of the accused.”
Criminal defense attorney Mary Frances Prévost says such developments raise the question “Can some violent criminals blame their behavior on their genes?”
Headline Links: DNA testing exonerates and convicts
The Economist reports that in spite of the new forensic evidence, prosecutors say they still believe the West Memphis Three are guilty. But the article predicts prosecutors “will have to make a better case for it” if the conviction is to be upheld. Advances in forensic testing have led some states, such as Texas, to enact legislation allowing convicts access to state-funded DNA testing, if biological evidence is available and there is “a reasonable chance of exoneration.”
Source: The Economist (registration may be required)
The Washington Post reports that for more than 30 years, a suspect eluded police in a killing spree in the Wichita area, murdering 10 people and signing taunting letters with a self-styled monogram: BTK, for “Bind Torture Kill.” Investigation led to Dennis Rader. Authorities were only able to secure an arrest warrant, and ultimately convict Rader, after they got a court order to compare a sample of his daughter’s DNA to that found at several BTK crime scenes.
Source: The Washington Post (registration may be required)
Opinion & Analysis: Forensic advances and wrongful convictions
Criminal defense attorney Mary Frances Prévost examines advances in genetic evidence, including a new set of DNA tests that could connect genes with “biological traits and psychological states.” Legally controversial because of the way they could link violent crimes to inherited diseases, rather than acts of free will, the tests are mostly still research tools “hovering on the margins of admissibility.”
Source: California Criminal Lawyer Blog
The Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, tracks the use of DNA testing in cases around the country, and seeks to apply genetic analyses to help those wrongfully accused of crimes. “In countless cases across the U.S. each year, DNA testing conducted before trial releases an innocent person from jail,” the site’s blog says, “but these cases point to the certainty that innocent people are still being arrested and convicted.”
Source: Innocence Project
Background: The West Memphis Three
TruTV’s Crime Library provides a detailed overview of the case of the West Memphis Three, examining the potential legal shortcomings of the prosecution’s case.
Source: TruTV’s Crime Library
Related Topic: ‘U.S. Expanding DNA Data Collection to All Federal Arrestees’
The legal news and research Web site, Jurist, reported on April 16 that the “U.S. government will begin collecting DNA samples from every person arrested under federal laws … Federal agencies are authorized to collect DNA samples under a 2006 amendment to the Violence Against Women Act, but previously had only collected DNA from people actually convicted of federal crimes.”
Source: Jurist

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