Calling All Forensic DNA Enthusiasts
It’s no secret that DNA has rearranged the playing field of crimefighting. Just ask any detective, patrol officer, or sheriff’s deputy and they’ll tell you that it greatly enhances their ability to identify perpetrators of crimes. In addition to crime scene data collection of DNA evidence, DNA data across the globe is now stored in mass. For example, the Innocence Project* reports that the USA currently stores DNA information on more than 15 million offenders and INTERPOL’s international DNA database contains data on approximately 280,000 individuals across 90 countries. These storage systems link law enforcement agencies together, which increases their effectiveness in identifying criminals at home and abroad. Last, but certainly not least, DNA evidence has exonerated numerous wrongfully convicted individuals of crimes, some of which were punishable by death. Again, the Innocence Project* states that their organization alone has used DNA evidence to exonerate 203 individuals (see innocenceproject.org/exonerations-data/). This week’s article focuses on DNA evidence, but in a somewhat different angle. Check out this ARTICLE and share your thoughts.
*www.innocenceproject.org
It is quite astonishing to consider the sheer volume of individuals’ DNA stored in databases. The Innocence Project, an organization based in California, utilizes its expertise and laboratory resources to re-examine cases of individuals accused of a crime and those who continue to maintain their innocence while incarcerated. This initiative aims to ensure the justice system is fairer and more accurate by leveraging DNA technology advancements to exonerate the innocent and bring the truly guilty to justice. Like Marcellus Williams, who requested DNA evidence, Scott Peterson from California has also been seeking DNA verification in his accusation of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson. I don’t see how allowing the DNA evidence to prove his conviction or his innocence in either case would hurt.
Wow, haven’t followed the Peterson case in a while. Yeah, it seems like Peterson should have access to such testing. Nice comments.
Reading about DNA evidence and the Innocence Project draws into question the ethics of the death penalty. The clock continues to tick down until the scheduled time for Marcellus William’s scheduled execution, and his only chance at freedom was sabotaged by others mishandling and contaminating key evidence in his case. I am sure that many other individuals have claimed innocence and wrongfully been sentenced to death by the justice system in America. Regardless of personal views on the death penalty, reading a case like this highlights the need for more checks and balances within the system to prevent wrongful death sentences.
I think this field of research is so interesting especially considering how impactful scientific discoveries and advances have been in this area. Sometimes it is difficult to see the impact these advances make, but with DNA testing in the criminology field it is undeniable! I think that the DNA database is truly incredible, but many people don’t know that the reason this data base is so large is because if you do personal DNA testing kits you are signing saying you are allowing them to send your DNA to the government thereafter. This is something I was unaware of until my recent Biology class and I think is something important to note about this! Though in that situation, DNA testing may not seem to be the best it is still beneficial in many ways! Thank you for this information!
Working in a jail for almost 1.5 years now, I have seen the mysterious ways that DNA collection from arrestees works, and it blows my mind every time we get a hit on it. I don’t remember the month and year exactly, but we had a subject in custody for a continuous cycle of abuse of his daughter. This subject had not been in CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), so we gathered a DNA saliva swab from him. We sent it to the CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation), like we do every DNA swab, and a few weeks later an agency in Maryland was able pin him to an armed home invasion from the early ‘90s, due to DNA they found at their scene. It was not until this moment that I realized that the use of DNA gives law enforcement across the country an advantage in pinning to people to crimes, even 25-30 years later.
Yeah, it is quite fascinating.
After reading the article, I am shocked at what goes on in the justice system. While one will never know if Marcellus Williams truly is innocent, his story was quite interesting. I think that the use of DNA databases and information is a gamechanger in terms of forensic justice. DNA databases can provide concrete proof of innocence or guilt, and this is based off of universally unique nucleotide sequences that reside within each and every one of our cells. In relation to Marcellus Williams’ case, I find it maddening that by touching the one piece of evidence that could potentially exhaunerate Williams, Williams was no longer able to prove his innocence. Prior to reading this article, I had always thought that there could be many people’s DNA mixed together, and one would still be able to differentiate between each person; however, it seems this is not true. I also found it crazy that a potentially innocent man could be locked up for so long without further investigation into his case, until recently.
What Brooke mentioned, I agree that with personal DNA testing kits, you are allowing them to send your DNA to the government. My grandma mentioned this to me a few years ago and if I hadn’t known before, I would do a DNA testing kit right now. Although without DNA testing, we wouldn’t be abled to catch criminals..its better than nothing. I agree with Kaia that we more checks and balances to prevent the innocence from getting a death penalty.
I have been interested in the DNA database since the Golden State Killer was finally identified. There is so much DNA stored, and it comes from companies like Ancestry or 23 and Me. While it has a lot of benefits, especially in law enforcement, I sometimes worry about what other uses the government or companies can use it for. There is no denying its purpose against wrongful convictions though, so the benefit outweighs the concern at this point. With the advancement of DNA, there is hope that the huge backlog of DNA from sexual assault crimes will start to be investigated.
I think the chain of custody is extremely important in all cases, especially ones involving a murder. I am honestly kind of shocked that even the prosecutor touched the knife without wearing gloves. I would also be curious to know what other evidence they have against Marcellus Williams. If the knife was the only thing that could have set him free and prove that he did not do it, I would think that the court would consider not giving him the death penalty. I think if the courts are going to sentence somebody to death there has to be a great deal of evidence, but for the murder weapon to be mishandled by so many people I do not think Marcellus should be sentenced to death.
The thing that stuck out to me when reading this article, was that 200 people have been exonerated post being put to death. Each one of those numbers was a desperate person who did not get the chance to be believed and set free. I think of the families of these people and how they not only suffered while the person was moving through the criminal justice system but for them missing the person who was put to death. I am so grateful that we have access to the use of DNA now. It’s very hard to argue against something concrete like a person’s DNA. Additionally, the mishandling of the evidence in this case was awful. I am wondering why that in and of itself would not be cause for some sort of resentencing.
I have followed the Innocence Project for quite some time. I love seeing articles that mentions their work such as this one! While it is true that the advancements in DNA evidence have continued to become a powerful tool in investigations and solving crimes, there are always cases like these where I wonder how many times the ball has been dropped by evidence being mishandled or pushed to the side after a few years.
If the weapon has been mishandled by investigators, the question can be raised if him having the death penalty is ethical or even having his sentenced reduced to life.
This reminded me so much of the Cornelius Dupree case, another case that was taken on by the Innocense Project where again, evidence was mishandled, lost, or destroyed. If we can use DNA to convict why is it so challenging for some individual to use DNA to exonerate?
This was a great article to continue looking into the advancements in DNA evidence but also the limitations and where improvements can be made.
It does seem like there’s enough evidence to change his sentence to Life in Prison and then investigate further to see if he should be found innocent.
This case shows the failure of the justice system in my opinion, as well as the importance of having ethical people in our justice system. Marcellus will never get to prove his innocence because of the attorney general. It is so important for the justice system to have integrity, especially in death penalty cases. I don’t understand what the harm would be in seeking justice in this case, especially if there is evidence that could prevent the death of an innocent man.
Also- I love the innocent project and reading stories of these people who were given a chance at life after wrongful convictions. It gives me a spark of hope in the justice system.
The case of Marcellus Williams highlights the alarming potential for wrongful executions in our judicial system, a reality that is devastatingly common. With DNA evidence indicating his possible innocence and significant mishandling of critical evidence by law enforcement, this case raises profound questions about the integrity of the conviction. The political clash between local prosecutor Wesley Bell and Attorney General Andrew Bailey further complicates this situation. The sadness lies in the fact that innocent lives can be at stake, a truth I became aware of through the tragic case of Walter McMillian portrayed in the “Just Mercy” movie and book. His wrongful conviction, and cases like Williams’, is what inspired me to pursue a career in criminal justice and strive for law school, driven by a passion for reform. As calls for justice grow, it becomes increasingly clear that the risks of capital punishment can lead to devastating consequences. These types of cases underscore the necessity for reform and rigorous scrutiny within the justice system to prevent future tragedies.
After reading this article, I was curious about the original trial and the evidence that they had against Marcellus Williams. An article from The Hill states that their primary evidence came in the form of eyewitness testimony from two criminals acting as police informants I think this presents a huge ethical issue because the compensation that police informants receive is a potential motivator to lie about what they saw. Additionally, the article reports that the police were unable to match shoeprints, fibers, and hairs found at the scene of the crime to Marcellus. This lack of evidence and shaky eyewitness testimonies, coupled with the mishandling of the DNA evidence, seems as though it should result in compensation for Marcellus. Personally, I do not think that resentencing Marcellus to life in prison is enough.
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4850435-marcellus-williams-missouri-death-row/
I find forensics science to be so fascinating. The technological and scientific advances within the last 3 decades have led us to today where we are able to convict guilty individuals more proficiently and accurately, but due to DNA evidence still being relatively newer it leaves old cases such as Marcellus Williams without any justice. This goes to how the justice system is not perfect and can often fail innocent individuals. Although there is no DNA evidence suggesting that Marcellus didn’t commit the crime there also isn’t any suggesting he did. This leaves us with the question of how can they punish someone to death if they have no actual evidence tying him to the crime? I believe there needs to be more accountability of wrongdoing within the justice system. Sentencing someone to death when their case is composed of tampered evidence and no actual DNA evidence should be a crime within itself and by the sounds of this article Marcellus Williams should not be sentenced to death.
Aside from the DNA evidence not matching Marcellus at all, I find it very crazy that our justice system offers both leniency and compensation to informants to give testimonies. Given their situation, unless they have a very high value on integrity, these people would probably say anything in order to get a better outcome for themselves. The two people who gave their testimonies were known fabricators with legal issues of their own. Combining this with the mishandling of the knife, and the fact that none of the DNA evidence matched up with Marcellus being the killer, I am very shocked that no one has ruled that Mr. Williams had his sixth amendment rights violated. While it may be too late for Williams, hopefully the justice system can avoid these types of mishaps in the future.
https://innocenceproject.org/who-is-marcellus-williams-man-facing-execution-in-missouri-despite-dna-evidence-supporting-innocence/
This is a link the why the innocence project believes Williams was innocent.
Throughout the last two years of college I have been able to learn more about the development of DNA technology. It is one of the greatest tools that have been introduced to the criminal justice system. One specific case that has caught my attention was the case of Dean Cage. The innocence project is what exonerated him. Cage was arrested for raping a 15 year old girl in 1994 and his trial began in 1996. The victim falsely identified Cage in a line up based on the sound of his voice. Over the years we have learned that eyewitness testimonies can be unreliable. Cage was sentence to 40 years in prison. After his trial he filed multiple post conviction appeals until the Innocence project accepted his case in 2005. The DNA evidence from the crime was reviewed and found not to be a match to Cage. Cage was released in 2008 after nearly 12 years in prison. This case proves how important proper DNA testing is. Cage would have served 40 years in prison if the Innocence project had not retest the evidence collected from the victim. I will link the case notes from the Innocence project. Overall, DNA testing has advance the criminal justice system and I enjoy learning about the individuals it has helped.
https://innocenceproject.org/cases/dean-cage/
This topic is so interesting, DNA samples have come a long way. The handling of the samples has needed to change for a long time. There have been vast improvements in the last thirty years, unfortunately, there will always be cases that should have been handled better. The Criminal Justice field has had to change to meet the ever-increasing number of current crimes happening in our world, not to mention the ones from the past. The DNA sampling database is an amazing program in our toolbelt for helping solve cases, as with all cases the people investigating are learning, evolving, and improving.
This case is an example of how the justice system can sometimes fail to deliver true justice. In my opinion, the case of Marcellus Williams is riddled with questionable evidence. It starts with the fact that the DNA evidence found on the murder weapon did not match Williams, and yet he was still sentenced to death, bringing serious concerns about the reliability of the conviction. From my point of view, the decision of the Missouri Supreme Court to allow the execution to proceed is honestly something shocking. It puts on a debate about the commitment of the court to upholding justice and ensuring that the innocent are not wrongly executed, not just in this particular case but imagine if this happens often in the justice system.
After reading the initial article, I found it strange both the prosecution and police chose to use testimony to go after Mr. William’s when there was no forensic evidence to show he committed the crime. Along with this, the evidence being mishandled several times by a former prosecutor as well as an investigator should have resulted in at least a mistrial. If evidence was mishandled and eyewitness testimony was unreliable, he certainly should not be on death row. If anything, the lack of his DNA evidence at the crime scene should be enough to acquit him from the specific charges he was originally faced. It is unfair that he instead has to agree to a deal that only secures his life from being taken, and does not give him any of his rights back.