Researchers analysed thousands of laboratory-made plasmids and discovered that nearly half of them had defects, raising questions of experimental reproducibility.
Aggregated News
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review an Alaska rape case to determine whether a defendant has a constitutional right to have tests conducted on genetic evidence found at a crime scene.
The justices took the case involving William G. Osborne, who was convicted in state court in March 1994 of kidnapping, assault and sexual assault and sentenced to 26 years in prison, with five years suspended. Jurors concluded that he was one of two men who drove a prostitute to a remote area near the Anchorage airport in March 1993, beat her with an ax handle and shot her after forcing her to perform sex acts, then partly covered her with snow as she lay still on the ground.
The prostitute survived and implicated Mr. Osborne, as did DNA tests performed on hair and semen evidence. A second man, who identified Mr. Osborne as having been with him the night of the assault, was also convicted.
Mr. Osborne's lawyers argue that over the years DNA testing techniques have become far more precise than they were at...
The justices took the case involving William G. Osborne, who was convicted in state court in March 1994 of kidnapping, assault and sexual assault and sentenced to 26 years in prison, with five years suspended. Jurors concluded that he was one of two men who drove a prostitute to a remote area near the Anchorage airport in March 1993, beat her with an ax handle and shot her after forcing her to perform sex acts, then partly covered her with snow as she lay still on the ground.
The prostitute survived and implicated Mr. Osborne, as did DNA tests performed on hair and semen evidence. A second man, who identified Mr. Osborne as having been with him the night of the assault, was also convicted.
Mr. Osborne's lawyers argue that over the years DNA testing techniques have become far more precise than they were at...