1987: Year of the Serial Killer (Chapter Two) by Oakley Ben

Author:Oakley, Ben
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Twelvetrees Publishing
Published: 2019-07-27T00:00:00+00:00

DNA Evidence Exploded in the 1980s

In England, on November 13th 1987, Robert Melias becomes the first person to be convicted of a crime using DNA evidence. He had been found guilty of rape and convicted by a British court. Scientists calculated that the chance of the sample from the crime scene not coming from Melias was 1 in 4 million of the male population.

Following Melias's conviction and in the same month, Tommy Lee Andrews became the first American to be convicted on DNA evidence. Andrews was also charged with rape, in Florida.

DNA profiling was originally developed as a method of determining paternity that could link a child with a parent. But it was the Robert Melias case in England that changed it all. The investigation had sought the help of a molecular biologist named Alec Jeffreys, as he had begun to use DNA for forensic testing. The perpetrator was caught based on the DNA evidence and subsequently convicted because of it.

In Florida, Tommy Lee Andrews was convicted because DNA tests found a match from his blood and semen in a rape victim. In the years that followed, no one disputed or argued against DNA evidence in criminal trials. As soon as prosecutors began using DNA to convict then defence lawyers began questioning the admissibility of DNA.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were a number of legal challenges against DNA evidence. The challenges against DNA evidence mostly arose because the validity of the techniques used were coming under scrutiny. Out of these cases came a national standard for collecting DNA evidence.

In many cases, a DNA testing laboratory protocol's would be brought into question. Their validation processes were deemed insufficient, meaning evidence was denied. Once lawful protocol's came into place then DNA testing would become common in criminal cases that required DNA as evidence.

The federal DNA Identification Act of 1994, meant that DNA profiles could be held on record for a set amount of time. It meant that laboratories had to adhere to a strict set of protocols for testing and uploading profiles to the database. In the same year, these protocols became uniform standards when the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was implemented.

In the late 1990s and through the 2000s, the DNA databases helped solved a number of cold cases from the 1970s onwards. In 2002, Virginia became the first state to execute a criminal based on DNA evidence assisting in a cold case investigation. James Earl Patterson was already serving time for rape when he was linked to the murder.

The ability to use DNA testing to convict and to exonerate suspects changed the way that criminals were convicted, especially in rape and murder cases. It is now one of the most powerful tools that it used within the criminal justice system.

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