You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know nothing is perfect. So, is it possible dangerous criminals are being released from jail because of inacurate DNA results?
2007-06-12 13:24:50 · 4 answers · asked by nova2fine 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
The irony it's far better at excluding people than saying you've got the right person. Generally you get a situation where the odd are say 1 in 10 million. Then in theory in the US there should be 30 who match. Compared to eye witness who are said to be wrong 5-10% of the time it's pretty good odds. Finger printing is better but mistakes are made, and different people/organizations have different standards. For example the FBI paid 2 million dollars last year for their "100 percent positive" match of a guy to the Madrid train bombings. (In this case he was in jailed for 2 weeks until Spanish Authorities convinced the FBI they were mistaken about the match. The Spanish indeed ID other man who matched the prints.)
On the other hand in is quite possible with DNA to say the sample doesn't match a given person. So in essence the dna evidence is stronger than any other evidence that put the guy in to prison.
PS- Of course there can be other explanations. Say one guy rapes a woman then his friend kills her. Or she has sex with another guy then is raped, and killed by a guy wearing a condon. Hopefully in such case the cops have done a good job, and discovered such events.
2007-06-12 15:00:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since DNA testing is more accurate than any other method (fingerprints, eyewitness testimony, blurry videos taken by cameras), there is no better alternative.
Do you want the method that gets it wrong 1% of the time, or the method that gets it wrong 10% of the time?
Furthermore, if you were a criminal who had spent 10 years in prison, and then were mistakenly released, how eager would you be to do another crime and go back for 10 more years? Not too eager, I think.
2007-06-12 13:31:20 · answer #2 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
here's another point to think of. a lot of criminals are sent to jail because DNA is considered so accurate. if you question it's accuracy in clearing someone, you would cast doubt on it when convicting someone. I don't think anyone wants to open that can of worms...
2007-06-12 13:52:11 · answer #3 · answered by Piglet O 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
99.99% of the time the only way that it would not work would be because of a "chimera"
2007-06-12 13:28:12 · answer #4 · answered by hpgrass92 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋