Broward Public Defender Questions Crime Lab's DNA ID Process
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBSMiami/AP) — Questions have come up over the way DNA has been identified at the Broward Sheriff's Office crime lab - prompting a call for a grand jury investigation and a second look at closed cases.
In a letter to Broward State Attorney Mike Satz on Thursday, Public Defender Howard Finkelstein called the process used by the crime lab is "tantamount to junk science."
He said prosecutors should stop using DNA mixture results in all pending criminal prosecutions "to prevent wrongful and unjust convictions."
The Sun Sentinel reports defense lawyers and a DNA expert say the lab's procedures have led prosecutors to rely on inconclusive DNA to convict defendants.
Sheriff's officials stand by the lab's procedures, but say remedies are in motion, including the July 1st suspension of testing of "complex DNA mixtures."
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