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A tree’s DNA leads to lumber-related conviction
Welcome to Monday, the 37th anniversary of Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale’s selection of Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, marking the first time a woman’s name was on a major party’s presidential ticket. Here are some news items to get your week started. — DNA again leads to a conviction, though this time the […]
Study: DNA websites cast broad net for identifying people
About 60 percent of the U.S. population with European heritage may be identifiable from their DNA by searching consumer websites, even if they've never made their own genetic information available, a study estimates.
‘Snapshot’ DNA ID tool ready for its closeup
A new technology can take any DNA sample from a crime scene – from a drop of blood to bone tissue – and read tens of thousands of genetic variants to predict a facial image.
Use of genealogy site to catch serial killer raises legal questions
A genealogy website that investigators used to find the former police officer they believe was one of California's most terrifying serial killers had no idea its services were being used to pursue a suspect who eluded law enforcement for four decades.
Lawmakers struck compromise on bill expanding post-conviction relief
ANNAPOLIS — Until two years ago in Maryland, filing a petition for a writ of actual innocence or petitioning to test newly discovered DNA evidence were two ways a defendant could seek post-conviction relief — and potentially win their freedom. But in two Maryland Court of Appeals decisions — Yonga v. State in 2015 and […]
Baltimore biotech firm launches kit for rapid DNA extraction
Circulomics Inc. recently launched a new kit that it said would let scientists more rapidly perform high-molecular-weight DNA extraction.
GPS requires no expert testimony, Md. high court says
ANNAPOLIS – Saying everyone knows what a GPS does, Maryland’s top court has ruled that an expert did not need to testify about the tracking device at the trial of a state transit police officer who was convicted of assault and misconduct in office. In its 5-2 decision, the Court of Appeals rejected Martaz Johnson’s […]
DNA test used by FBI admissible in Md., high court says
If the DNA test is good enough for the FBI, it’s good enough for us, Maryland’s top court says in upholding a double-murder conviction and double-life sentence.
Md. high court: No post-conviction DNA testing for guilty, Alford pleas
People who plead guilty to a crime or concede that the state has enough evidence to convict them forfeit their right to test a later-discovered DNA sample that could prove their innocence, Maryland’s top court has ruled.
Post-conviction DNA law applies to violent crimes, not conspiracy, Md. court says
People convicted of conspiracy to commit a violent crime have neither a statutory nor constitutional right to conduct a potentially exonerating DNA test on evidence in the state’s possession, Maryland’s top court unanimously ruled Tuesday.
Md. high court weighs DNA admissibility in double homicide
A criminal defense attorney urged Maryland’s top court Thursday to overturn a double first-degree murder conviction because it was based on an unreliable DNA test, while an attorney for the state pressed the judges to defer to a trial court’s acceptance of the genetic evidence linking the killer to the slayings.
Md. top court opens term, weighs right to post-conviction DNA tests
Maryland’s top court considers whether a man serving a life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder has a statutory and constitutional right to conduct a potentially exonerating DNA test on evidence the state has.
