DNA evidence

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Supreme Court Upholds DNA Swabs of Those Under Arrest

Not a violation of 4th Amendment

(Newser) - DNA swabbing the cheek of a person arrested—but not yet convicted—for a "serious offense" is just as acceptable as fingerprinting and photographing that person, the Supreme Court ruled today. Such DNA swabs do not violate a person's Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches, the justices found....

Abducted Woman's Blood Found at Gas Station

DNA evidence gives Jessica Heeringa's family hope

(Newser) - A small amount of blood found at a Norton Shores, Mich., gas station belongs to Jessica Heeringa, the 25-year-old who disappeared two weeks ago while working there, in what police believe was an abduction. The family is actually viewing the newly released test results as good news, Fox 17 reports....

Serial-Rapist DNA Test Leads Cops to Twins

So Marseille police are ordering unusual genetic test

(Newser) - Police in the French city of Marseille relied on DNA evidence to arrest a serial rapist accused of attacking six women, the Telegraph reports. Only problem: His DNA nearly matches his twin brother's, so police hauled them both in. And the victims, unable to tell them apart, positively identified...

NYC: We Bungled DNA Evidence in 26 Rape Cases

Single technician blamed for errors

(Newser) - New York City officials are cleaning up after a lab technician who reportedly bungled DNA evidence in at least 26 rape cases. The medical examiner's office is in the process of reviewing 843 cases; the technician missed biological evidence in 26 of those studied thus far. Officials were able...

Superstorm Ruined Scads of NYPD Evidence

Thousands of barrels of DNA evidence may be irretrievable

(Newser) - Superstorm Sandy left the NYPD with a huge headache by swamping a pair of warehouses holding huge amounts of evidence. The storm surge breached the warehouses and sent some of the thousands of barrels containing DNA evidence into the muck, possibly contaminating some and creating a mess that has made...

Trayvon Never Touched Gun: DNA Test

Only Zimmerman's DNA found there

(Newser) - Only George Zimmerman's DNA was found on the gun used to kill Trayvon Martin, according to test results revealed today. The findings could undermine George Zimmerman's self defense claims, the LA Times reports. Zimmerman reportedly originally told police that Martin went for the gun. The tests prove that...

DNA Links 1987 Killing to Ex-Con

Edwin Alcaide, 53, accused in murder of young woman

(Newser) - The brutal 1987 murder of a young woman in New York City may finally be cracked. DNA found under the fingernails of Lissette Torres has been matched to Edwin Alcaide, 53, an ex-con with a violent history who was an acquaintance of Lissette's then-boyfriend, reports DNAinfo.com . Lissette was...

Murder Case DNA Not From Occupy Protester

Both NYC samples traced to lab worker

(Newser) - The only link between the Occupy Wall Street protests and the unsolved 2004 murder of a New York City student now appears to be sloppy lab work. Matching DNA samples were found on a CD player belonging to 21-year-old Sarah Fox and on a chain used to hold a subway...

Forensics From 10K Criminal Cases to Get New Review

Cases as far back as 1985 to get a second look by Justice Dept, FBI

(Newser) - The Justice Department and FBI have launched the FBI's biggest-ever post-conviction review, taking a second look at thousands of cases to determine whether defendants were wrongly convicted because of faulty forensic analysis. The review will examine all cases involving FBI Laboratory hair and fiber examiners going back to at...

Jennifer Hudson Weeps on Witness Stand

William Balfour murder trial starts with emotional testimony

(Newser) - Jennifer Hudson broke down and wept on the witness stand today as she testified in the trial of William Balfour , the man accused of murdering Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Hudson said she told her sister Julia "over and over again not to marry...

FBI Evidence Screw-Ups Hidden in Hundreds of Cases
FBI Evidence Screw-Ups Hidden in Hundreds of Cases
investigation
Apr 17, 2012 7:58 AM CDT

FBI Evidence Screw-Ups Hidden in Hundreds of Cases

Some defendants left to rot in prison, or executed

(Newser) - Prosecutors have failed to notify hundreds of defendants and their attorneys about faulty FBI forensics work that may exonerate them, according to an in-depth Washington Post investigation. The Justice Department spent nine years—from 1996 to 2004—conducting what it calls an "exhaustive" review of 13 agents' forensic work...

Commit a Misdemeanor? NY to Demand Your DNA

Samples to be required from convicts of all crimes

(Newser) - New York is poised to become the first state in the nation to require people convicted of any crime, no matter how minor, to provide DNA samples for a database. The state's lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on the measure, which would double the size of New York'...

Bite Mark Licks Female Cop in Rival's '86 Murder

DNA evidence returns to bite LAPD's Stephanie Lazarus

(Newser) - As an LAPD officer, Stephanie Lazarus knew how to cover her tracks after murdering the woman who married her ex-lover—but she didn't know DNA evidence would come back to bite her 26 years later. Saliva from a bite mark Lazarus left on her victim's arm yielded evidence...

Va. Clears Innocent Man of Rapes After 27 Years

Thomas Haynesworth never stopped fighting

(Newser) - For 27 years, Thomas Haynesworth sat in prison, learning auto mechanics, welding, and masonry … and fighting to clear his name. That fight paid off yesterday, when a Virginia appeals court declared him innocent, acknowledging that he did not commit the three rapes of which he was convicted in 1984....

DNA Test Frees Texas Man After 25 Years

Michael Morton was convicted of murdering his wife

(Newser) - Another inmate freed by DNA evidence: Michael Morton was formally exonerated today by a Texas appeals court for the murder of his wife in 1986, reports AP . Morton, 57, is eligible to get about $2 million from the state, or about $80,000 for each of the 25 years he...

Forensic Expert Defends Knox DNA Analysis

DNA expert threatens to take critics to court

(Newser) - Amanda Knox's appeal of her murder conviction has just gotten harder: A forensic scientist involved in her conviction is promising to refute an independent report that declared the DNA evidence she gave was unreliable , reports the Guardian . "I am angry about the false statements in this report and...

Cops Focus on Levi Aron's Living Room

Investigators search for DNA evidence in grisly murder of 8-year-old boy

(Newser) - Police are focusing on the living room in the Brooklyn home of Levi Aron, who is accused of murdering and dismembering 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky. Investigators in Hazmat suits pulled a couch, two chairs, and a rug from Aron's home today, reports the New York Post . Cops also removed two...

DNA Nails NYC Subway Perv
 DNA Nails NYC Subway Perv 
Jul 13, 2011 3:42 AM CDT

DNA Nails NYC Subway Perv

Sex attacker pounced during rush hour

(Newser) - A man who got his kicks exposing himself and rubbing up against female subway riders left enough of himself behind for police to catch him. Darnell Hardware, who had to submit his DNA to the state databank after being convicted of felony drug possession, has been charged with three subway...

DNA Experts: Knox Evidence 'Not Reliable'

Knox's defense gets boost from DNA report

(Newser) - Independent experts are disputing much of the forensic evidence collected against Amanda Knox, saying in a report today that some of the DNA traces used to convict Knox and Raffaele Sollecito may have been contaminated. Knox's defense had eagerly been awaiting the review's conclusions, and hope it boosts...

DNA Tests Nab Poop-Scoop Scofflaws

Apartment buildings require dog DNA samples for tracking

(Newser) - Here's the scoop: Some apartment complexes are using DNA testing on dog doo to find out who's not cleaning up after their pets. A new complex in New Hampshire, for example, is requiring residents to submit samples from their dogs so DNA profiles can be put on file....

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