by Matt Clarke
Millions of people have submitted oral cheek (buccal) swab samples to companies like 23andMe and Ancestry hoping to use their DNA to trace their ancestors and locate relatives in a process known as genetic genealogy. By comparing their DNA to that of other customers, the companies can determine whether, and to what degree, two customers are related. By comparing the DNA to that of known historic figures and their descendants, the companies can determine whether a customer has a famous ancestor. It is also possible to determine what geographic regions the customers’ ancestors came from and susceptibility to some diseases.
More recently, law enforcement has been using the information in the same genetic genealogy companies’ databases to establish the identity of unidentified human remains (“UHR”) and identify suspects using DNA collected at a crime scene. This “off-label” use of genetic genealogy, known as forensic genetic genealogy (“FGG”) or investigative generic genealogy, has been used to solve decades-old cold cases. FGG has also raised a red flag about the privacy of information stored in massive databases by internet-based companies
What Is DNA?
DNA is a complex molecule made up of chemical units known as nucleotides. Only four ...
by Matthew T. Clarke
A report published in January 2024 by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey School of Law revealed that false positives in presumptive field test used in drug arrests are one of the most common, and possibly the most common, cause of wrongful arrests and convictions. The report, entitled “Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Field Drug Tests and Wrongful Convictions,” utilized a nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies and forensic drug labs to make its determinations.
Using data from the survey and national estimates of drug arrests, the report estimates the impact of (1) false positives in field drug tests on wrongful arrests, (2) racial inequity in arrests, (3) the subsequent prosecutions, and (4) criminal convictions. It reported that approximately 773,000 of the over 1.5 million annual U.S. drug arrests involve the use of color-based presumptive field tests. Although the exact error rate for the tests is unknown because they require a subjective determination by the arresting officer, available data suggest around 30,000 people are arrested in the U.S. each year due to false positives of the field tests.
“Presumptive field drug test kits are known to produce ...
by Matt Clarke
The National Institute of Justice and independent research consultant Dr. John Morgan collaborated “to analyze and describe the impact of forensic science on erroneous convictions that the National Registry of Exonerations classified as being associated with ‘false or misleading forensic evidence.’ … Findings from this work led ...
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine reversed a defendant’s domestic violence conviction after finding her attorney was ineffective for opening the door to prejudicial evidence about her parenting and failing to object to the prosecutor’s improper introduction of evidence about having a child removed from her home. ...
by Matthew Clarke
The Supreme Court of Nebraska held that a term of probation cannot be extended beyond its expiration date based on the mere fact that an Information for Revocation of Probation (“IRP”) had been filed and a revocation hearing could not reasonably be scheduled prior to the expiration ...
by Matt Clarke
The Court of Appeal of California, Sixth Appellate District, issued an opinion reversing a trial court’s refusal to apply Senate Bill (“SB”) 483 to a previously-remanded sentence. It also held that the trial court was not required to strike a prior serious felony enhancement.
An 86-count indictment ...
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the policies and practices of Wayne County, Michigan, in pursuing the civil forfeiture of vehicles seized by police violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because prosecutors took months to decide whether to proceed with forfeiture ...
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Indiana held that civil forfeiture triggers the right to a jury trial.
As Alucious Kizer fled from a traffic stop, he discarded 74 grams of methamphetamine, 67 grams of fentanyl,12 grams of cocaine, and 10 grams of crack cocaine. Police recovered the drugs ...
by Matt Clarke
In the early 20th century, mass production of automobiles caused a fundamental shift in American culture. One aspect of the emergent Car Culture was an increased number of interactions between police and the public that was largely absent during the horse-and-buggy era. Many of the police interactions ...
by Matt Clarke
Improper forensic evidence played a part in 1 out of 5 wrongful convictions listed in the National Registry of Exonerations as of September 2023. Studies show that jurors cannot distinguish between low-quality and high-quality forensic testimony. Yet, those same jurors are overconfident in believing they understand the ...
