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Previously unusable DNA sample now evidence in the quadruple murder trial of N.J. uncle
Previously unusable DNA sample now evidence in the quadruple murder trial of N.J. uncle
Paul Caneiro’s defense team is challenging a DNA tool known as STRmix, which prosecutors say has been tested and tried across the U.S.
Paul Caneiro at his arraignment at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, N.J., on March 18, 2019.Tanya Breen / NJ Advance Media via AP file
Dec. 27, 2024, 9:00 AM EST
By Tim Stelloh and Brenda Breslauer
Lawyers for a New Jersey man charged with the brutal murders of four of his relatives are challenging the use of an increasingly common tool that has transformed DNA analysis in dozens of labs across the United States, saying the technique hasn’t been properly vetted for use in criminal courts. ... A weekslong pretrial hearing about STRmix, which allows forensic analysts to test DNA samples that most likely would have been considered unusable a decade ago because they were too complex or small, ended this month in a Monmouth County courtroom in the case of Paul Caneiro, who has denied killing his family in 2018.
While Caneiro’s defense lawyers and experts have argued that the software hasn’t been proved reliable in the same way “safety-critical” systems used in cars and airplanes are — and that it could produce false results that could help wrongfully convict someone — prosecutors have argued that STRmix has been tested and tried in labs and courts across the country.
The “motivation is to actually test the software well, try and break it if we can, and, if we miss something, just honestly report what has happened,” one of STRmix’s developers, John Buckleton, testified last month, according to a transcript. ... “I don’t want to contribute to an injustice ever,” he added.
A judge is expected to weigh in on the matter in February. Regardless of the outcome, said Marc Canellas, a public defender in Maryland who specializes in forensics and has handled cases that involve STRmix, the case highlights the long-standing need for stricter rules in an industry that can have accreditation standards but isn’t overseen by a regulatory authority. ... “Even if this judge says that STRmix is completely unreliable, another judge in the same courthouse the next day could say that it is reliable,” he said.
{snip}
Paul Caneiro’s defense team is challenging a DNA tool known as STRmix, which prosecutors say has been tested and tried across the U.S.
Paul Caneiro at his arraignment at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, N.J., on March 18, 2019.Tanya Breen / NJ Advance Media via AP file
Dec. 27, 2024, 9:00 AM EST
By Tim Stelloh and Brenda Breslauer
Lawyers for a New Jersey man charged with the brutal murders of four of his relatives are challenging the use of an increasingly common tool that has transformed DNA analysis in dozens of labs across the United States, saying the technique hasn’t been properly vetted for use in criminal courts. ... A weekslong pretrial hearing about STRmix, which allows forensic analysts to test DNA samples that most likely would have been considered unusable a decade ago because they were too complex or small, ended this month in a Monmouth County courtroom in the case of Paul Caneiro, who has denied killing his family in 2018.
While Caneiro’s defense lawyers and experts have argued that the software hasn’t been proved reliable in the same way “safety-critical” systems used in cars and airplanes are — and that it could produce false results that could help wrongfully convict someone — prosecutors have argued that STRmix has been tested and tried in labs and courts across the country.
The “motivation is to actually test the software well, try and break it if we can, and, if we miss something, just honestly report what has happened,” one of STRmix’s developers, John Buckleton, testified last month, according to a transcript. ... “I don’t want to contribute to an injustice ever,” he added.
A judge is expected to weigh in on the matter in February. Regardless of the outcome, said Marc Canellas, a public defender in Maryland who specializes in forensics and has handled cases that involve STRmix, the case highlights the long-standing need for stricter rules in an industry that can have accreditation standards but isn’t overseen by a regulatory authority. ... “Even if this judge says that STRmix is completely unreliable, another judge in the same courthouse the next day could say that it is reliable,” he said.
{snip}