Crime Scene Genetic Testing
Television has popularized the idea that genetic testing at a crime scene can miraculously solve cases in only 59 minutes. This is only partially correct.
The Innocence Project often depends upon DNA evidence to confirm or overturn guilty verdicts from years ago. According to the Innocence Project, "More than one-third of the first 250 people exonerated by DNA testing were 22 or under when they were arrested."
A recent controversy involves identifying criminals by the DNA of their relatives. When a rapist or murderer leaves behind DNA evidence, is it right for the police to identify him by noting similarities to the DNA of persons who are related to him?
Police departments around the nation have thousands of un-tested "rape kits," and the genetic evicence in those kits could probably free many men now in jail, and convict other men now living in freedom.
DNA testing is extremely sensitive, so evidence must be collected very carefully. Any contamination, either at the scene or in the crime lab, has the potential to lead to incorrect identifications.