Is DNA TNT for Civil Liberties: Defusing Ohio's Explosive New DNA Collection Law
![handle is hein.journals/udlr31 and id is 113 raw text is: IS DNA TNT FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES?:
DEFUSING OHIO'S EXPLOSIVE NEW DNA
COLLECTION LAW
Yasmin Elaine Waring*
I. INTRODUCTION
As the popularity of... [shows such as Crime Scene
Investigation (CSI)] grows, jurors across the nation are
increasingly interested in DNA testing .... In a recent case
in Phoenix, jurors demanded a blood-tainted coat be DNA-
tested, even though whose blood was on the coat had never
been in dispute.'
It is undisputed that CSI and its slick offspring have heightened
America's awareness about the crucial role DNA testing plays in the
forensics process Criminal justice would be remiss without its admission
at trial--this is both the public's perception and expectation.4 Congress
would be remiss to ignore it. Thus, the passage of the DNA Analysis
Backlog Elimination Act in 2000 (DNA Act) signaled a controversial turn
* Staff Writer, 2004 - 05, University of Dayton Law Review; J.D. , May 2005, University of Dayton
School of Law; M.A. English-American Literature, University of California at San Diego. The author
dedicates this article to her parents, Joseph and Betty Waring, for being there, always; and, Professor
Susan Brenner for the kernel.
1 Trial Behavior Consulting, Inc., CS! Ratings Skyrocket: Why Criminal Attorneys Should Pay Close
Attention, http://www.trialbehavior.com/news/csi.htrn (accessed Jan. 26, 2005) (emphasis added).
CSI is an acronym for Crime Scene Investigation and refers to the television series about criminal
cases solved by a fictional forensics team. Todd Kleffman, Today's Topic: TV Myth vs. Reality: City
Lawmen Fight TV Stereotypes, Montgomery Advertiser (Feb. 24, 2003); Trial Behavior Consulting, Inc.,
CSI Ratings Skyrocket: Why Criminal Attorneys Should Pay Close Attention,
http://www.trialbehavior.com/news/csi.htm (accessed Jan. 26, 2005).
2 DNA is the abbreviation for the chemical deoxyribonucleic acid which houses the body's genetic
blueprint. Victor Walter Weedn & John W. Hicks, The Unrealized Potential of DNA Testing, Natl.
Inst. of Just. Research in Action (publication of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs) 1, 7
(June 1998).
3 More than 200 published court opinions support ... [the admissibility of DNA test results in the
courtroom] .... Last year there were more than 17,000 cases involving forensic DNA in this country
alone. Id. at 1.
' There are now at least on[e]-hundred and thirty-two Americans who have been exonerated by post-
conviction DNA testing. Innocence Project, Testimony, Peter J. Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence
Project Testimony to Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security: Advancing Justice
Through the use of Forensic DNA Technology,
http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/NeufeldCongressionalTestimony.html (July 14, 2003)
[hereinafter Neufeld Testimony].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/udlr31&div=11&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Is DNA TNT for Civil Liberties: Defusing Ohio's Explosive New DNA Collection Law
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