Have you ever been arrested because your DNA was found at a crime scene? Are you wondering whether it is possible to prove your innocence despite the DNA evidence? Read on and discover some reasons why DNA evidence may not prove that someone is guilty of committing a crime.
Transference of DNA
It is possible for your DNA to be linked to a crime even if you did not commit that crime. This can happen when your DNA is inadvertently transferred to a crime scene that you have never visited. For example, if you were involved in a motor accident, the paramedic that attended to you before rushing off to a crime scene may have touched the victim with an instruments (such as a stethoscope) that still contained your body fluids (such as sweat or urine). Thus, your DNA was transferred to the victim and can be erroneously used to link you to the murder.
Kinship
DNA evidence can also be challenged if someone is arrested based on having the same DNA profile as another family member who may have committed a crime. For example, your twin brother may have urinated at a roadside where a murder victim was later found. You may therefore be arrested for having a DNA profile that is close to the profile of the DNA sample that was taken from the crime scene.
Testing Errors
Several errors can be made during the testing process. For example, a laboratory technician can label another person's DNA sample with your name while storing the DNA profile in a database. When that other person commits a crime, the police will arrest you because the mislabeled profile in the database points to you as the perpetrator of the crime.
Tampering With the Crime Scene
Another explanation for why you may be erroneously arrested for a crime based on DNA evidence is if your DNA is deliberately placed at a crime scene in order to implicate you. Someone can take a lock of your hair and place a strand under the fingernails of a murder victim. The police may discover that strand of hair and conclude that the victim was struggling with you before he or she died.
You should not resign yourself to a long jail term just because your DNA links you to a crime. Hire a criminal lawyer from a company like Russo Lawyers, and that professional will explore all options to prove your innocence.
