DNA evidence has become crucial in modern criminal investigations and court proceedings. Yet, its strength hangs on a web of factors that wield immense influence over its trustworthiness and impact. Understanding these factors is essential to grasp how DNA evidence...
DNA is a like a fingerprint. It is very unique. For this reason, it often becomes the center of criminal cases and serves as rock-solid evidence for prosecutors. However, DNA is not without its flaws. One particular issue is that most people have distinct DNA that...
Recently, the police involved you in a criminal investigation, saying they found your DNA at the crime scene. You may have a loose understanding of DNA fingerprinting, which law enforcement uses to identify individuals using strands of DNA, but do you know its...
When it comes to criminal cases, courts consider DNA evidence as a reliable indication of a person's guilt or innocence. A technician will collect DNA samples at the scene of the crime, take them to a lab, and test them to look for a potential match. When there is a...
While DNA testing is a major component in many criminal trials in Maryland and across the United States, it has not always been a part of the evidence process. Some defendants did not have access to DNA evidence gathered during the case, which could potentially lead...
The most rigorous study ever done on a widely-used forensic technique – bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) – reveals disturbing error rates and disagreements among certified analysts. The study, published in the August edition of Forensic Science International,...
DNA plays a huge role in the modern court system when determining guilt or innocence. It also may be used in appeals or when cracking “cold cases” that investigators could not solve in the past. Experts sometimes refer to “trace” DNA as “touch” DNA. According to...
DNA evidence plays a significant role in the criminal justice system. In some cases, it can convict a person of a crime. In others, it establishes the innocence of a person who has spent years of their life in prison. Because it is a deciding factor in so many...
On June 4, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Hughes v. United States, which held, in a 6-3 Opinion by Justice Kennedy, that a defendant who pleads guilty in a negotiated plea can benefit from later changes in the sentencing guidelines if the district...
Investigators employed a new and vastly more powerful familial searching technology to identify the person now charged as the Golden State Killer. This new technology types over 700,000 locations on the human genome for ancestry and medical information, instead of the...