The CMPD Crime Lab has just completed a new catalog of all DNA evidence dating back to the 1970's. This information could help break cold cases wide open. Also, the unexamined DNA evidence may give convicted felons a second chance to prove their innocence.The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police crime lab stores over 3,000 cases worth of evidence. “Bone samples, pieces of tissue, blood stains, the insole of a shoe,” according to lab manager John Donahue. Much of the evidence came from cases before the era of modern DNA testing. So the crime lab made a list of everything they had, looking for old evidence that could yield clues with today's DNA testing.
DNA is being tested for the convicted criminals first. “It not only ensures that we have the right person in prison if we can do testing,” Chris Mumma from the NC Chief Justice’s Criminal Justice study commission said. “But it also gives confidence to the accusations that there was a wrongful conviction.”
And the cold case investigations are continuing too, police say, with more evidence than ever to crack cases. “The cataloging has helped them significantly, because they may not know, the detectives, what kind of evidence is up here,” Donahue said. Police say they started the cataloguing project when cold case detectives discovered there was no standard way keeping track of DNA evidence.Source: WCNC