This story was co-published with The New York Times.
Over the past decade, the DNA laboratory in the office of New
York City’s chief medical examiner emerged as a pioneer in analyzing the
most complicated evidence from crime scenes. It developed two
techniques, which went beyond standard practice at the FBI and other
public labs, for making identifications from DNA samples that were tiny
or that contained a mix of more than one person’s genetic material.
As its reputation spread, the lab processed DNA evidence supplied not
only by the New York police, but also by about 50 jurisdictions as far
away as Bozeman, Montana, and Floresville, Texas, which paid the lab
$1,100 per sample.
Now these DNA analysis methods are under the microscope, with
scientists questioning their validity, ProPublica has found. In court
testimony, a former lab official said she was fired for criticizing one
method, and a former member of the New York State Commission on Forensic
Science said he had been wrong when he approved their use. The first
expert witness allowed by a judge to examine the software source code
behind one technique recently concluded that its accuracy “should be
seriously questioned.”
Earlier this year, the lab shelved the two methods and replaced them with newer, more broadly used technology.
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