DNA Testing Key to Releasing the Wrongly Imprisoned
DNA Testing
Chris Bennett is one of the many who had ample evidence to set themselves free but little means to defend themselves. Bennett lost his memory in a 2001 one-car accident that killed another man and pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide for a nine-year jail sentence. Bennett began to regain his memory in jail and wrote to the Innocence Project for help. The group reviewed the case and realized not only was there witness testimony, but also hair and blood to prove he wasn't driving the car.
Bennett was exonerated in 2006.
"Our students got trained in collecting the samples, and we videotaped taking the sample," Godsey said. "We did Y-STR DNA testing on the blood on the windshield and mitochondria DNA testing on the hair we found."
Y-STR DNA testing is the most common type of testing done by the Innocence Project, and consists of determining whether two or more males are related through their paternal line. The mitochondrial DNA test is used to determine whether two or more individuals are related through their maternal line. University of Cincinnati's College of Law's Innocence Project sends their DNA samples to DNA Diagnostics Center's laboratory in Fairfield, Ohio, to be tested.
With 65% of exonerated people sent to prison based on "fraudulent, unreliable or limited forensic science," more DNA testing is necessary to cancel out bad witness.
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