Post by locard on Feb 27, 2017 6:17:51 GMT
I am confused about familial dna searches in California. In an editorial for the NY Post they say it has been used in several cases here. I swore I read several times that it was not legal in this state. If it is, have they done it and simply not found a match? Why would there be concerns about a testing service such as 23andme or ancestry.com since that information is given voluntarily. Is it the law that stands in the way or some type of confidentiality contract with the service? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but if a civilian can track my family down from a 2nd cousin match why can't law enforcement utilize the same tools. Are there specific laws on the books now preventing this type of search? Do any states permit this kind of search?
Searches of private databases, without probable cause and a search warrant signed by a judge/magistrate, would be inadmissible in court.
1. California Attorney General's website:
oag.ca.gov/bfs/prop69/faqs
2. An example of a Santa Cruz, California, rapist apprehended via familial DNA: www.facebook.com/notes/kamala-harris/santa-cruz-sex-assault-suspect-identified-through-same-dna-technology-used-in-gr/10150163372375663/
""The goal of the familial search policy," said Jill Spriggs, chief of the Attorney General's Bureau of Forensic Services, "is to strike an effective balance between privacy concerns and the need to provide information that may solve a violent crime or series of crimes. To meet this goal, the Attorney General has established rigorous scientific protocols and review procedures."
The Attorney General's Jan Bashinski Laboratory in Richmond houses the fourth largest DNA database in the world with more than 1.7 million DNA profiles taken from convicted offenders and adults arrested for serious offenses. Each month, the lab processes as many as 30,000 new DNA samples.
Samples in the database are run to see if there are matches to DNA samples from crime scenes submitted by authorities in California and across the nation. The program has helped to solve many violent crimes, including murders and rapes, since the database was established in 1990. More than 400 "hits" are made each month between crime scene DNA and DNA profiles stored in the database."