DNA Evidence in Criminal Cases Can Be Falsified and Manufactured

A new article in the New York Times outlines how comparatively easy it is to falsify DNA evidence in criminal cases. DNA evidence has always been considered the “gold standard” of evidence in criminal cases. DNA recovered from crime scenes decades ago before such testing was available has been used many times to overturn convictions,and  free the wrongly imprisoned and identify the true criminals.

On TV, if anyone starts talking about DNA samples, it is used as shorthand for “incontrovertible evidence”.

But new reporting explains just how easy it is for a forensic technician with a little skill to manipulate, and even manufacture false evidence. Experts claim that DNA is “much easier to plant than fingerprints”.

According to forensic scientists who analyze DNA for a living, there are at least two possible methods to create false evidence. You can capture real DNA in the form of hair, skin, or other cells, and plant it at the scene of a crime. Or it may be possible to actually manufacture false DNA, or at least DNA with deceptive markers.

It’s easy to see how this could be used in all kinds of nefarious ways. The most dramatic scenario would be that planted evidence could be used to frame an innocent person.  But more simply, it’s easier to imagine planting misleading DNA samples that a defense attorney could use to establish reasonable doubt about what happened and who was there.

This really shows how important the process is in criminal cases. As the Melendez-Diaz decision has established, everyone has a right to fully evaluate and directly confront evidence against them. And it’s not just about slick defense lawyers trying to muddy the waters, it is a necessary and essential fairness in a system where every citizen is innocent until proven guilty.

About David Matson