Importance of DNA Testing in Criminal Cases and Convictions
Recently the Virginia Supreme Court exonerated Gary Diamond, a man who was convicted of abducting a woman and her two children from an Interstate 95 rest stop in Prince William County in 1976. Mr. Diamond served approximately 3 years of a 15 year sentence for two separate abductions a month apart, one of which he admitted guilt and the other where he maintained his innocence. The justices in the case granted Mr. Diamond a writ of actual innocence after DNA testing eliminated him as the person whose bodily fluids were found on the woman’s clothing.
The exoneration came about as the State’s Department of Forensic Science was in the midst of reviewing old cases where biological evidence had been collected prior to the availability of DNA testing. As a result, the mistake was discovered in Mr. Diamond’s case. Mr. Diamond’s appeal attorney of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, pointed out that this is another example of an unfortunate circumstance of an innocent person being found guilty of a crime they did not commit. A total of 8 people have been exonerated in Virginia as a result of these investigations. The Virginia attorney general’s office supported the Diamond petition for writ of actual innocence.
DNA Technology
The use of DNA technology is the preferred method of linking an individual to a crime and is used in many criminal trials. DNA testing in an effective tool in proving the innocence of people who were wrongly convicted. Many old cases are being re-opened to exonerate innocent people. How DNA works is when a blood or hair sample or bodily fluids are taken from a crime scene or victim, they are compared with the suspect’s known DNA. The results can exonerate a person by showing that they are not a match. A DNA expert can testify to this at trial that the person is innocent and should be released. Many people have been exonerated through DNA testing even though they may have served many years in prison or were facing the death penalty.
If you have been charged with a crime in Virginia or have been convicted of a crime that you did not commit, DNA evidence can play an important role in eliminating you as a suspect in that crime or getting you exonerated. A good Virginia criminal defense attorney can help you fight your charges to get the case dismissed on lack of evidence or help you clear you name post -conviction by getting the case reopened and having your DNA tested to prove your innocence.
