DNA Technology in Criminal Justice Applications An Identification Tool

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DNA Technology in Criminal Justice Applications
An Identification Tool

• Introduction
• Technology transitions
• Current applications
• Future directions
• Public policy issues
• Legislative response

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Forensic Evidence May . . .

• Establish a legal element of the crime
• identify the perpetrator
• reconstruct the criminal event
• link the suspect to the victim or the scene
• exonorate innocent suspects

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Why DNA?

• Individually unique (except for identical twins)
• Present in virtually all body tissues (bone,
  hair, blood, saliva and other body fluids and
  tissues)
• Inheritance (Paternity, Maternity, Unidentified
  Remains)
• Crime incidents and scenes (exchange principle)

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Not Guilty
Guilty
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DNA is Only One Pieceof the Crime Solving Puzzle
Tox
Interviews
DNA
SAFIS
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Technology Transition

• DNA Fingerprinting Dr. Alec Jeffreys 1985
• DNA Profiling FBI (RFLP) 1988
• PCR DQalpha Polymarker? 1990
• PCR STRs 1993
• Mitochondrial DNA - 1996
• Multi-plex STRs 1997
• Y-chromosome analysis
• SNPs
• Chips

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Factors Driving the Changes

• Discrimination potential
• Sensitivity
• Reliability
• Ease of interpretation
• Speed of analysis
• Cost

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Standards Development

• Technical Working Group (TWGDAM)
• Federal DNA Advisory Board (DAB)
• Quality assurance standards
• NDIS Standards
• Data compatibility
• FBI approved test methods
• FBI approved test kits

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• Accessible only by authorized users for criminal
  justice identification purposes
• Controls on data permitted in system
• Strict controls on access and dissemination
• Periodic audits

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Data Sharing Standards

• CODIS (Combined DNA Index System)
• Convicted Offender Index
• Forensic Index
• Missing Unidentified Persons
• Data compatibility (13 core loci STRs)
• Data integrity (quality assurance standards)
• Data transfer, retention and access controls

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CODIS the National DNA Database

• Over 1 million DNA profiles of convicted
  offenders
• Over 36,000 forensic profiles
• Participation by 42 States
• Over 5000 investigations aided

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Expanding the Index

• Offenders tend to be versatile rather than
  specialized in offending patterns
• Expanding the index offenses insures early
  intervention
• Future crimes by career criminals may be
  prevented
• Increase the certainty of detection
• Higher solution rate for crimes

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Future Expansion of the DNA Database

• All felons?
• All crimes?
• Suspects?
• Arrestees?
• Juveniles YOs?
• All citizens?

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Public Policy Issues

• Genetic privacy
• Who should shouldnt be in the DNA Database?
• Who should have access to the DNA Database?
• How can the information in the DNA Database be
  used?
• How long is a DNA sample retained?

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Legislative Response

• DNA Identification Act of 1994
• State Legislation
• Federal funding for DNA Databanks

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Current Federal Initiatives

• Funds to states to process offender backlogs
• Funds to states to process backlogged cases that
  have no suspect
• Authorization for states to use federal contract
  labs to process offender specimens (lab must
  comply with FBI standards)
• DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2002
  (S. 2513)

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Other Potential Applications as an Identification
Tool

• Civil paternity
• Hair eye color
• Pedigrees
• Taggants
• Printing inks
• Explosives

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John Hicks Director
Office of Forensic Services
New York State Division of Criminal Justice
Services Albany, New York
[phone]
jhicks_at_dcjs.state.ny.us