Statement Of John H. Laub, Ph.D., Director, National Institute Of Justice, On The Funded Research Report: Post-Conviction DNA Testing And Wrongful Conviction

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- John H. Laub, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), issued the following statement today on the findings from an NIJ-funded retrospective DNA testing of physical evidence in cases where there was a conviction of a serious violent crime and physical evidence was retained.

"The Urban Institute study on post-conviction DNA testing is one important piece of a growing body of evidence that explores the role of scientific research in the fair and equitable administration of justice in the United States. The study used a unique set of data created after the governor of Virginia in 2005 ordered the DNA-testing of retained evidence in certain violent-crime convictions. As such, the data, and the findings based on that data, have limitations that should prevent generalizations to other situations. The data were from one state, one time period (1973–1988) and only involved cases in which forensic evidence had been retained. NIJ believes that the study represents a first step in informing our understanding of potential wrongful convictions and other criminal justice issues, including the value of DNA technology in solving crime."

SOURCE The Office of Justice Programs