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13 J.L. & Pol'y 69 (2005)
Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA in the Courtroom

handle is hein.journals/jlawp13 and id is 75 raw text is: NUCLEAR AND MITOCHONDRIAL DNA IN THE COURTROOM Julian Adams, Ph.D. * INTRODUCTION The overwhelming value of DNA evidence is now well recognized and accepted. During the last fifteen years, the use of DNA information has significantly changed the legal landscape in three different areas. First, in the area of criminal litigation, particularly in the prosecution of violent crimes, the introduction of DNA evidence has convinced the courts of the guilt of many defendants and has persuaded countless others to plead guilty or to plea bargain. At the same time, the introduction of DNA evidence in criminal appeals has, as of October 2004, led to the exoneration of 154 individuals, many of whom faced the death penalty.' Second, the value of DNA evidence has also been recognized in the resolution of numerous parentage and even grandparentage disputes. Prior to the availability of DNA information, U.S. courts recognized the limited evidentiary value of blood group data and correspondingly restricted the use of such data to the identification 2 of paternity exclusions, though several European countries have * The author is a Professor of Biology in the Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. The author thanks R. Bretz, E. Pichersky, and G. Supanich for helpful discussion and comments on the manuscript. Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grant A155756. For information on the use of DNA evidence to exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals, see http://www.innocenceproject.org (last visited Dec. 23, 2004). 2 K.S. Broun & H.D. Krause, Paternity Blood Tests and the Courts, in

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