Science is an ever-evolving practice. There are very few absolutes. Every scientific result we see in the courtroom is qualified, for example, in a DWI case, we often hear the blood-alcohol level for this defendant is .09, +/- .02. In other cases, we hear DNA matches are quantified as not absolute but rather as 1 in a million chance (or some similar number) of this DNA belonging to someone else.
But what happens with the data used to form the scientific result is riddled with error? DPS would have us believe the error is insignificant, but what is “insignificant” when it comes to life, liberty, and justice?
Recently, prosecutor offices around the state have began to disseminate notices related to errors in the FBI database which almost every lab has used since 1999 to calculate their probability results in DNA matches. Just makes you think, how many other errors are there that have not yet been discovered? These errors only took 15 years to come to light…
Maybe DNA is not quite as accurate as we once thought.
You can view and download the FBI and DPS disclosures here:
