Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FBI Fights Testing For False DNA Matches

Posted by timothy on from the grassy-knollers-know-it's-easy-to-blame dept.

Statesman writes "The Los Angeles Times reports that an Arizona crime lab technician found two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles, so similar that they would ordinarily be accepted in court as a match, but one felon was black and the other white. The FBI estimated the odds of unrelated people sharing those genetic markers to be as remote as 1 in 113 billion. Dozens of similar matches have been found, and these findings raise questions about the accuracy of the FBI's DNA statistics. Scientists and legal experts want to test the accuracy of official statistics using the nearly 6 million profiles in CODIS, the national system that includes most state and local databases. The FBI has tried to block distribution of the Arizona results and is blocking people from performing similar searches using CODIS. A legal fight is brewing over whether the nation's genetic databases ought to be opened to wider scrutiny. At stake is the credibility of the odds often cited in DNA cases, which can suggest an all but certain link between a suspect and a crime scene."

7 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. Re:well, well... by Hojima · · Score: 5, Funny

    but one felon was black and the other white

    Well according to statistics it was clearly the black one
    (note to mods, this is a joke)

    --
    Help fight spam
  2. Re:well, well... by jd · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can see it now. Sparticus II: "We Are Sarcasticus!"

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  3. Re:Transparent government by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    If everything is out in the open, there can be no hiding.

    Everything, I suppose, but your nic.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  4. Re:You're all missing the point! by Ihmhi · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're making the mistake that racists use logic.

    They'd probably say the black guy stole the DNA.

    --
    Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  5. Re:So, the 1:113 Billion estimate is wrong by dotancohen · · Score: 2, Funny

    What they're doing is an admission of guilt to anyone with three brain cells.

    Not a problem when their jurisdiction is composed of citizens with an average of 2.71828 brain cells.

    --
    It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  6. Re:well, well... by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 4, Funny

    white guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    white guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    white guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    white guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    white guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    white guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    black guy: "I'm sparticus!"
    police officer: "That's the one, crucify him"

    *How spartacus would have ended if the Romans were the LAPD*

    --
    What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
  7. Irrelevant by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 3, Funny
    > but one felon was black and the other white

    And this is relevant how? You've already told us they were distinct people, this doesn't make them more distinct.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.