DNA Evidence

DNA is rock solid evidence that convicts the guilty and exonerates the innocent.

 

 

Chewing gum, saliva, hair and even cigarette butts left at a crime scene can lead detectives to the right suspect. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a unique genetic fingerprint found in every cell of the human body. A trace can yield a DNA profile, which is compared to DNA samples from known criminals or other evidence.

 

SBI agents use DNA to solve crimes without an apparent suspect. In a rape case, a victim may be unable to identify the attacker. But a sexual assault kit collected from the victim often yields the attacker’s DNA profile.

 

This evidence is compared through the state and national DNA database of convicted criminals, the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. If the comparison yields a match, the rapist can then be brought to justice.

 

 

DNA Emphasis Solves Cases

SBI analysis of DNA evidence has aided more than 2,100 investigations, helping local law enforcement officers solve hundreds of murders, rapes, robberies and other crimes across North Carolina.

 

Attorney General Roy Cooper and the SBI have led a dramatic increase in the use of DNA technology by:

 

1) expanding the DNA database to include all convicted felons, not just violent ones, and certain arrestees;

2) searching no-suspect rape cases against the DNA database to pinpoint suspects;

3) speeding the review, audit, and uploading of convicted offender samples into the DNA database.

 

SBI  Forensic Biology and DNA experts  used the expanded DNA database to help catch more murderers, rapists and other criminals last year alone than in the first ten years of the DNA program combined.