PROSECUTORS
VS. SCIENCE

With the evolution of DNA testing, hundreds of convicts have been exonerated for crimes they’ve already served time for and laws have made the books across the U.S. allowing prisoners to request that DNA evidence in their cases be explored. But sometimes proving one’s case has nothing to do with being right—a number of prosecutors are trying to prevent those they’ve already imprisoned from having their second day in court.

A recent analysis out of the University of Virginia School of Law shows that DNA testing in a fifth of the 225 exonerations examined faced staunch opposition by those who’d put the wrongly accused behind bars. Many others were initially opposed before prosecutors finally allowed the testing to be carried out.

Prosecutors argue that courts have to “draw the line somewhere” in order to provide “finality for the victim’s sake.” And rather than muddy waters with the possible discovery of a third-party’s DNA, they feel courts should rely on eyewitness testimony. According to the Innocence Project, an advocacy group that has seen 238 people cleared by DNA evidence, misidentification by eyewitnesses has been the biggest cause of wrongful convictions.

by SCOTT SAXON