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In Criminal Defense, Is DNA Evidence Really a 
Smoking Gun? 
 
 
Is DNA really the smoking gun that the media and police make it out to be? It certainly 
isn't in light of some of the recent cases of DNA pointing the finger at the wrong 
person. The so called “gold standard” in forensic evidence isn't as golden as we are led 
to believe. A smart criminal defense lawyer knows this and will use this to help his 
client. 
 
How DNA Evidence Is Failing 
There are several ways in which DNA evidence is failing to live up to its promise. DNA 
transference, DNA fabrication, and DNA testing errors can lead to inaccurate conclusions 
about DNA evidence and can result in the wrong person being charged with a violent 
crime. 
 
No one likes violent crime and its effects on society are horrendous. This is why it's so 
important to hire a Phoenix criminal defense attorney to make sure that you are not 
wrongfully accused of a crime. 
Transference DNA problems have long been an issue. In 2013, Lukis Anderson of San 
Jose, California spent 5 months in jail when the DNA of murdered millionaire, Raveesh 
Kumra, was discovered under his fingers. Sounds like an open and shut case. 
Unfortunately for Mr. Anderson it was 5 stolen months of his life. The same day that Mr. 
Kumra was discovered dead, Mr. Anderson was taken to the hospital for possibly 
unrelated reasons. The paramedics who took him to the hospital had also dealt with the 
Kumra murder scene. In doing so, they inadvertently transferred some of Mr. Kumra's 
DNA onto the body of Mr. Anderson. Thankfully he was released but he will never get 
those 5 months back. 
Particularly chilling is the testimony of Cynthia Cale. She is a DNA analyst for Strand 
Diagnostics and the University of Indianapolis. She took the time to speak out on the 
issue in the scientific journal, Nature. 
"We have found that it is relatively straightforward for an innocent person's DNA to be 
inadvertently transferred to surfaces that he or she has never come into contact with. 
This could place people at crime scenes that they had never visited or link them to 
weapons they had never handled," she wrote in a letter. 
Chilling indeed. Anyone could find themselves accused of a violent crime that they didn't 
commit and be at the mercy of the justice system. Their only hope becomes the help of 
a good criminal defense lawyer who is versed in the intricacies of DNA evidence and how 
to show that the evidence is just plain wrong. 
"These subtleties are not usually explained in court. Instead, a jury is told that there is a 
one-in-a-quadrillion chance that the evidence retrieved from the crime scene did not 
come from a defendant. Naturally, the jurors assume that the defendant must have 
been there," Cale further added in her letter. 
This issue is particularly concerning because jurors don't have the background in 
genetics and don't know how DNA is processed through the system from collection to 
testing. It's pretty clear once the system is studied that there is a much greater chance 
for error than 1 in a quadrillion. A good criminal defense attorney knows this and knows 
how to explain this to the jury. 
Other Issues with DNA Evidence 
This is just one of the problems with DNA forensic evidence. There are two other related 
problems with DNA evidence and while they are not as common as DNA transference, 
they are important enough to know. These are DNA fabrication and DNA testing errors. 
 
DNA Fabrication 
DNA fabrication is the act of fabricating a DNA profile. In 2009, scientists in Israeli 
published a paper in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics detailing how 
easy it was to generate a fake DNA profile. In fact, they are quoted in the paper as saying 
that any undergraduate Biology student could make a fake DNA profile that could allow 
evidence to be planted at a crime scene. 
“DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints,” said Tina Simoncelli of 
the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’re creating a criminal justice system that is 
increasingly relying on this technology.” 
DNA Testing Errors 
The danger of DNA testing errors is ever present. As DNA degrades, there are fewer and 
fewer markers available. DNA scientists look for 13 markers to tell if a sample matches 
forensic evidence. When all 13 markers are available, there is a one in quadrillion chance 
of a false positive match. Unfortunately, all 13 markers aren't always available. In fact 
when only five of the markers are available, the chance of false positive can fall as low 
as 1 in 3. Hardly a smoking gun but that doesn't stop the prosecution from saying 
otherwise. 
 
Even more chilling is that a 2006 study in Illinois compared 220,000 DNA profiles from 
its Sex Offender Database and found 903 pairs that matched 9 different markers. That's 
close to a 1 in 200 chance of a false positive. There are men on death row from DNA 
evidence with fewer markers matched to the forensic evidence in their cases. 
 
Conclusion 
 
If you have been accused of a violent crime, even if they say they have ironclad DNA 
evidence against you, it's important to immediately speak with a highly trained criminal 
defense attorney that is experienced in high-level cases and who will protect your rights. 
If you are a member of the community, you need to be aware of the problems of DNA 
forensic evidence. Scientists agree that it should only be used in conjunction with eye 
witness testimony or other physical evidence. DNA is not a smoking gun and certainly 
isn't the gold standard of evidence. 
 
AUTHOR: Law Offices of David Michael Cantor