LITTLE KNOWN ASPECTS OF DNA ANALYSIS

This also meant that non-fatal cases like rape and assault were billable; the state lab would do them for free, but they also had a 6 month backup.

Timing: Speaking of attorneys, county prosecutors and public defenders are as overworked and underpaid as cops and forensic scientists. We often had last-minute DNA requests by attorneys who did not understand that there was a somewhat inflexible schedule for the analysis, so that, try as we might, the results may not be ready by the time the trial began, even though the homicide was a year old. And judges would be less than enthusiastic about postponing a trial because the attorney had just now realized that the blood on the pillow might be significant! Or to circumvent a defense attorney who would likely claim that the blood on the pillow belongs to The Real Killer. It doesn't matter how old the homicide is, it matters when the attorney's last trial ended, because that was when he began to really think about the case. Do not believe TV shows where cops get the DNA results back in less than a day. They are lying.

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