Forensic DNA ethics_PhaseI

Crime:  A series of rapes beginning in 1997 and continuing until 2004.

Why authorities sought FDP testing:   Since several of the victims identified the suspect as black, the Charlottesville police department decided in 2003 to collect voluntary DNA samples from black men living in the town, sparking widespread controversy over this dragnet approach. After the dragnet was suspended, a local police officer who was a strong proponent of DNA testing decided to pursue ancestry testing in 2004.

Lab that conducted FDP analysis:  DNAPrint, a Florida-based commerical, for-profit laboratory.

Outcome:  DNAPrint's testing confirmed that the DNA linked to the rapes did come from a black man. There were no further developments in the case until a suspect, grocery store worker Nathan Antonio Washington, was arrested in 2007.  Although police initially refused to discuss how Washington became a suspect, at the time of his sentencing news accounts reported that police had obtained Washington's DNA from a discarded fast-food cup after one of the rape victims had called police attention to Washington's strange behavior toward her in the grocery store. This DNA sample linked him to the series of rapes. He was convicted in 2008.