Collegiate

Case

Study

THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER

Authorities find more uses forDNA databasesBy Richard Willing

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This crime scene team exposesanimal crueltyBy Sharon Peters

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Thefts solved by DNA analysisBy Richard Willing

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Critical inquiryDiscussion and future implications

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Expert introduces forensictechniquesBy Rick Jervis

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www.usatodaycollege.com

© Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

On television CSI detectives solve their crimes quickly and easily, alwayscatching the villain by the end of each episode. In real life, forensic science,which is any type of science used in the courts or for purposes of law,involves much more work. With advances in technology, especially thosesurrounding DNA, the science of crime solving has been transformed inrecent years. This case study focuses on the new ways in which DNA is beingused to solve crimes and highlights and explores the legal and ethical issuesthat have arisen with these scientific advances.

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Students clue into forensic science

By Laura ParkerUSA TODAY

Outside Hollywood, the work of acrime lab technician is known for twothings: tedium and less-than-lucrativepay. Yet, thanks in part to an abundanceof TV crime lab dramas, the field offorensic science is one of the hottest newmajors on college campuses.

At West Virginia University, with one ofthe largest programs, forensic scienceranks second in popularity to Spanish.

This fall, the anthropology departmentat Eastern New Mexico University joinscolleges in Texas, Nebraska, Montana andNew York in adding forensic science as amajor.

Since the new major was announced atEastern New Mexico, "my phone hasbeen ringing off the hook," says KathyDurand, chairwoman of theanthropology department.

More than 130 forensics programs arebeing taught at colleges and universitiesacross the USA, although only 16programs at 14 universities are

TV piques interest in college programs

USA TODAY Snapshots®

Source: National Science Foundation

By David Stuckey and Adrienne Lewis, USA TODAY

The new experts of scienceThe number of doctorate degrees awarded in science and engineering hit an all-time high in 2005. Number of doctorates awarded:

’96

27,974

27,240

’05By Michael Dunlap, The (Monroe, La.) News-Star

SSeeaarrcchhiinngg:: Student Caroline Meyers at a simulatedcrime scene in Monroe, La.

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accredited by the American Academy ofForensic Sciences, says Jim Hurley,director of accreditation. He expects thenumber to rise as more programs adoptthe rigid science course work required.

Although no one seems to know why,the field is increasingly dominated bywomen. At Indiana University-PurdueUniversity Indianapolis, 90% of theforensic science students are female.

At Metropolitan State College inDenver, which is one of the smallestprograms, 13 of 15 students are women.

"I don't know why," says CharlesTindall, who directs Metropolitan'sforensic science program. "When you askthem, they say: 'I've always wanted to dothis.' Like they were born to it. None ofthem will say they watch CSI."

Starting pay for beginning forensicscientists averages $35,000-$45,000 ayear, according to industry estimates.

Durand sold the idea of a forensicsmajor to colleagues last December, afterthe Albuquerque Journal publishedseveral investigative stories detailing a10-year backlog of cases awaiting DNAanalysis in the state crime lab.

The stories prompted New MexicoGov. Bill Richardson to ask legislators toincrease the lab's budget by $751,000and approve construction of a $350million lab.

"Labs are really struggling. Prosecutorsare having problems," Durand says.

The study of forensic science has onlyrecently bloomed, largely as a result ofexpansion of DNA analysis as aninvestigative tool and the televising of bigtrials. Before 1980, when Jay Siegel set upone of the first programs at MichiganState University, "there were just ahandful of people who could even tellyou what forensic science was," he says.

By the time of O.J. Simpson's trial in1995, the field had "exploded," Siegelsays. "I've been waiting for the boom tolevel off and it hasn't."

Since the forensic science programlaunched in 2002 at West VirginiaUniversity, it has grown to 500 studentsfrom 35 countries, Director Keith Morrissays.

Despite all that appeal, many of theprograms have high dropout rates, Siegelsays.

"We have a number of students whocome in each year thinking they're goingto crime scenes in Hummers and Armanisuits and then find out there's a lot ofscience involved here," he says.

Page 7For more educational resources, visit http://education.usatoday.com Page 3Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, OCTOBER 10, 2007

This crime scene teamexposes animal crueltyBy Sharon PetersSpecial for USA TODAY

Secrets lie in the bones — and in the tissue and in theshape of the wounds, and the severity and type of injuries.

And these days, when investigators are poring over X-rays,bone fragments, bullet trajectories or other details, it may beto establish whether a crime was committed against ananimal.

Forensic crime-scene investigations are no longer limitedto human victims. Many of the very same techniquesbrought to public awareness by the popular CSI televisionseries are being used to make cases against those who haveharmed or killed cats, dogs, horses and other animals.

Applying forensic science to animal victims is a specialtystill so new that it's fairly rare. But two self-taught expertswho make up the recently formed Veterinary Forensics unitof the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals are writing book and chapter (three how-to booksso far) and sharing their knowledge almost as quickly as theydevelop it.

Melinda Merck is a veterinarian who ran an Atlanta-area catclinic for years before becoming intrigued with forensic sciencein the '90s. Randall Lockwood has a doctorate in psychologyand has developed expertise in cruelty and violence. Theytravel the country to investigate crimes against animals(including the Michael Vick dogfighting case and a notoriousAtlanta puppy-torture case last year).

They're regularly called on to offer expert testimony in court(they're tracking toward 60 this year); and by the end ofDecember, they will have spoken at nearly 100 conventionsand conferences to instruct veterinarians and law enforcementofficials who might someday find themselves in the midst of acruelty investigation or court case.

"Animal cases are similar to crimes against young childrenwho can't speak for themselves," Merck says. "You have to useevery resource and every investigative tool to attempt to puttogether the pieces of the puzzle."

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Although stronger animal cruelty laws and heightened publicawareness of animal cruelty have spurred greater interest inpunishing offenders, most officials have no experience inputting together a rock-solid case.

"We're looking to give assistance and guidance to the wholerange of responders to animal cruelty, from the public whoreport it, to the police who investigate it, to the prosecutorswho prosecute it, to the veterinarians who want to be goodwitnesses, to judges who take this seriously," Lockwood says.

By year's end, the ASPCA will roll out another forensics first:the nation's only animal crime-scene van. The $250,000forensic mobile unit, equipped with X-ray machines,

By Shonali Burke, ASPCA

Investigators apply human techniques

CCrruueellttyy:: Melinda Merck examines a puppy that was found on the side of a roadin Georgia. It had "home-done" cropped ears, probably for dogfighting. Thepuppy was later adopted through a local rescue group.

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computers, examination tables, andcameras and video equipment fordocumenting evidence, will travel whenrequested by local officials to whereverthere are multiple cases of abuse orcruelty. Those will most often bedogfighting operations, puppy mills oranimal hoarding situations, "cases wherethere is a lot of evidence," Lockwoodsays.

Very often, Merck says, she's called toassist in rural areas, or in late-night DrugEnforcement Administration raids,

because drug dealing and dogfightingcorrelate pretty highly. Lighting isterrible, there's no easy way to containthe still-living animals, and preservingevidence is tough. She might be milesfrom a place where X-rays can be takenor blood samples run, and sometimesanimals and investigators are enduringraging heat, bitter cold or pounding rain.The van will help ensure that importantevidence is collected, preserved andefficiently processed, she says, and willmake it easier to care for the animals.

When Merck's interest in veterinaryforensics began budding years ago, shesearched for a veterinarian who couldmentor new learning. No luck. So sheturned to medical examiners andtextbooks in human forensics.

She and Lockwood have builtknowledge "strongly rooted in science,"says Lockwood, by determining "what

human literature applies and whatdoesn't." For example, about 99% of howto interpret animal wounds is the sameas on humans, they now know, but theother 1% is vital to understand: "Animalsdon't bleed and bruise like humans,"Merck says.

Lockwood and Merck spend much oftheir time instructing veterinarians,because vets are often the f irst todiscover animal abuse. "Battered pet" is arecognized condition applied to ananimal subjected to the same types ofbrutality leveled against humans indomestic violence situations, Lockwoodsays.

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Every state has different animal crueltylaws, Lockwood says, but in many casesof neglect, hoarding and puppy-millbreeding, first offenders can sometimesavoid jail time on plea agreements thatinclude surrendering the animals.However, he says, jail time is common incases that involve "torture or wantoncruelty or dogfighting."

It costs the ASPCA several hundredthousand dollars a year to support thisinitiative, says ASPCA president EdSayres, but he believes it's money wellspent. "I believe that tackling animalcruelty is the 'next frontier,' as it were,for our f ield, in terms of newdevelopments." In fact, he has earmarkedan additional $100,000 to support newtraining and materials related solely tothe matter of dogfighting.

Photos by Shonali Burke, ASPCA

SSkkeelleettaall rreemmaaiinnss:: Merck's forensic tool kit includesa collection of normal bones to compare withbones from possible cruelty cases.

HHeerr ttoooollss:: Merck uses evidence markers, collectionbags and testing equipment to investigate.

By Richard WillingUSA TODAY

The national database of criminals'DNA, designed by the FBI to help solverapes and murders, increasingly is beingused to identify suspects in unsolvedburglaries and other property crimes, aUSA TODAY review of state crime labrecords shows.

In 10 states — Alabama, Florida,Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico,Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin --the total number of DNA matches inproperty-crime cases has exceeded thenumber of matches in violent crimes, thereview indicates. Other states also arereporting increases in property-crimematches: Of Georgia's first 171 matches,only 13 involved DNA from the scenes ofunsolved burglaries. Of the 300 matchesthat followed, 79 were in burglary cases.

Oregon state police DNA analyst BrianOstrom says there are many reasons forthe rise in property-crime matches. DNAtesting has become more sophisticated,he says, allowing analysts to draw geneticprofiles from evidence left at burglaryscenes — palm prints, cigarette butts,sweat stains on gloves and masks —nearly as easily as they can get profiles

from blood or semen at the scenes ofviolent crimes. And government grantsfor testing evidence, initially limited toviolent crimes, now can be used toanalyze DNA from property crimes.

Since 1990, the states, the federalgovernment and the military havecollected DNA from those convicted offelonies —serious crimes punishable bymore than a year in prison — and storedthe genetic profiles in computerdatabases. Several states collect DNAfrom those convicted of misdemeanors,such as minor assaults. With FBIsoftware, the profiles are compared withDNA from crimes. The system wasdesigned to "solve violent crimes," itsmission statement says.

The database contains DNA profilesfrom about 3.5 million people and hasscored matches in about 38,000 cases,FBI scientist Thomas Callaghan says. Thesystem adds about 25,000 profiles amonth.

The FBI does not keep track of thetypes of crimes for which the systemscores DNA matches, nor does it trackhow many matches produce arrests orconvictions. USA TODAY compiledstatistics on matches by reviewingrecords in the 20 states that account forabout 85% of the system's matches.

Critics say using DNA to solve non-violent crimes could raise privacy

concerns by dramatically expanding thedatabase. Some question spendingmillions of dollars to probe such crimes."For what it does in terms of cost, and inthreats to civil liberties, (the database)has to justify itself much better,"University of Minnesota political scienceprofessor Jay Aronson says.

Backers of expanded DNA testing sayburglars often go on to commit moreserious crimes. In Alabama, about 80% ofthe rapes solved via DNA databasing inthe past f ive years were linked tocriminals whose DNA was taken after aburglary conviction, state forensicbiology chief Angelo Della Manna says.

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Thefts solved by DNA analysisUsage expands innon-violent crime

DNA arrestsPercentage of DNA matches thathave involved burglaries:

Source: USA TODAY reporting

By Karl Gelles, USA TODAY

Virginia Ohio Florida Oregon

66%52% 50% 48%

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AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S NEWS SECTION ON MARCH 26, 2007

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

By Richard WillingUSA TODAY

When Brooklyn cab driver OwenMidgley was acquitted of rape in 1997,his lawyer persuaded the judge to sealthe case file.

Without telling Midgley, technicians atNew York City's medical examiner'slaboratory tested his DNA and added hisgenetic profile to their database offormer suspects, arrestees and othersnever convicted of a crime.

Four years later, Midgley's DNA wasmatched to an unrelated case — thesexual assault and abduction of a 15-year-old schoolgirl. Midgley wasconvicted of rape, despite his proteststhat the match violated his privacy.

Local prosecutors and crime labs areusing more databases, such as the onethat helped catch Midgley. Such tools —called "suspect" or "linkage" databasesby crime labs and "rogue" databases bygroups such as the Innocence Project —are among several devices that haveexpanded the reach of DNA-based crimefighting and opened it to criticism fromprivacy advocates.

These databases are in five states: NewYork, Florida, California, Missouri andIllinois. Virginia started a smaller pilotprogram using autopsies.

Among the new uses to which DNAdatabases are being put:

u SSuussppeecctt sseeaarrcchheess.. Crime labs in NewYork have matched DNA taken from atleast 2,200 crime suspects or individualsof interest in an investigation to morethan four dozen unrelated crimescommitted later. In New York, which likemost states has no law that authorizes orforbids such collection, at least eightpublic crime labs maintain suspectdatabases, according to documentsobtained by the New York City-basedInnocence Project through a Freedom ofInformation request. The projectspecializes in cases involving DNAevidence.

u AAuuttooppssyy pprrooffiilleess.. In Illinois, aproposed state law would allow police totake DNA from autopsies performed oncrime victims and those whose deathswere unexplained and compare it tounsolved crimes. The premise: Peoplewho die violent deaths may havecommitted crimes themselves.

In Virginia two years ago, DNA profilesfrom about 200 autopsies werecompared with DNA from convictedoffenders and unsolved cases on thestate's official database.

Even though dead people can't beprosecuted for crimes, the state's chiefmedical examiner, Marcella Fierro, saysmaking matches can close criminal casesand "help the family of some poormurder victim." The autopsy databasedid not score any matches.

u CCrriimmee pprreevveennttiioonn.. Beginning laterthis year, individuals who wish to pleadguilty to misdemeanors in OrangeCounty, Calif., will be required to give a

DNA sample. The samples, DistrictAttorney Tony Rackauckas says, will bestored in a specially created localdatabase to deter the offenders fromcommitting more serious crimes.California law prohibits such DNA frombeing stored in the state's off icialdatabase. Rackauckas says he's alsobuilding a local database of DNA fromvarious lesser crimes to catch criminalsbefore they commit more seriousoffenses.

William Thompson, a criminologyprofessor at the University of California-

Authorities find more uses for DNA databasesCourts conflict onlegality of newcrime-fightingmethods

Matter of trustAlthough 91% of people support lawenforcement personnel’s use of DNAto solve crimes, far fewer trust policewith their own genetic material.Whom people trust with access totheir DNA profiles:

Source: Genetics and Public Policy Center,Johns Hopkins University survey of 1,199adults, Feb. 27-March 4. Margin of error: ±3percentage points.

By Julie Snider, USA TODAY

86%Doctor

Spouse

Researchers

Law enforcement

Health insurer

Employer

82%

66%

42%

24%

16%

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Irvine and a critic of lax laboratoryprocedures, says storing DNA inprevention databases "substantiallyraises the risk of errors and frame-ups."

Joseph Lentol, a Democratic New Yorkstate assemblyman, is author of a bill thatwould ban the databases in his state.Using DNA taken during oneinvestigation to solve another crime, hesays, is "just wrong."

Police should at least be forced to tellsuspects who give their DNA voluntarilythat it may be used against them, hesays.

The databases exist in a legal gray area.Most states neither authorize nor forbidthem, says Lisa Hurst, who maintains thewebsite dnaresource.com for GordonThomas Honeywell GovernmentalAffairs, a Tacoma, Wash., firm.

The few courts that have ruled on theissue have given conflicting opinions.

In March 2003, a trial court judge inBrooklyn upheld Midgley's rapeindictment after he was caught with thehelp of a New York City database.

A week later, a different Brooklyn judgeruled the same database was notauthorized by state law. He orderedauthorities to return a rape suspect'sDNA profile without including it in thedatabase.

Last year, the American Bar Associationrecommended that suspect databases bebanned and that labs that use them beprosecuted.

In Florida, a 2000 opinion from thestate crime lab's counsel says suspectdatabases are legal because they use

DNA that was "voluntarily and freely"obtained, even if it was given in anunrelated case.

In Brooklyn in 2004, Troy Hendrixsought a court order to prevent DNA hegave during a murder, torture and rapeinvestigation from being added to thesuspect database. He was ultimatelyconvicted of rape and murder, but notbefore he and a co-defendant sneakedsharpened plastic sticks into thecourtroom and stabbed a lawyer and acourt officer in an unsuccessful attemptto escape.

"I told my colleagues 'Hey look, here'sour client on the news,'" recalls BethHaroules, a New York Civil LibertiesUnion attorney who helped Hendrixseek the court order. "It was prettydisturbing, but I still think we were right"to oppose the suspect database.

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Expert introduces forensic techniques

By Rick JervisUSA TODAY

It's not easy setting up a crime lab inIraq.

Crime scene investigators are oftenshot at. There is no nationwide DNAdatabase. Some Iraqi police who grew upunder Saddam Hussein would ratherbeat a confession out of suspects thantake their fingerprints.

And even if a criminal is identified,how do police track him down?

Bob Lamburne is giving it a try. The 30-year veteran of the British police recentlyhelped open the National ForensicsInstitute in Baghdad and six crime labsacross the country.

Most of his day-to-day work involvesbreaking old habits.

"(Iraqis) didn't have an investigativeculture," said Lamburne, director offorensics at the British Embassy here. "InAmerica, we were introducingneighborhood watch. Saddam wasintroducing 'watch your neighborhood.'People were arrested and held ortortured until they confessed. But (therewas) not much in terms ofinvestigations."

Using $6.5 million in U.S. funds, the labsare equipped with high-tech equipmentreminiscent of the gadgets seen on theCBS television hit CSI. Microscopescompare ballistics on weapons. High-resolution photographic equipmenthelps find fingerprints, Lamburne said.

Until the labs opened in October, theU.S. military performed most of theforensic work in Iraq. U.S. officials have

fingerprinted and performed retinascans on more than 18,000 prisoners incoalition detention facilities, said Maj.Gen. William Caldwell, the top U.S.military spokesman in Iraq.

Government officials in key securitypositions also are fingerprinted andscanned, he said.

Forensics helped the U.S. militarylocate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leaderof al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed by aU.S. airstrike in June, Caldwell said. Hedeclined to provide details.

Forensics are "absolutely critical,"Caldwell said. "It's an invaluable tool."

Lamburne's intentions are moremodest. For now, the institute inBaghdad teaches Iraqi police officers thebasics of crime scene investigation: howto cordon off crime scenes, collectevidence, lift fingerprints and recordstatements. So far, 115 police officershave taken the four-week course,Lamburne said.

Using the techniques on Baghdad'sviolent streets has proved difficult, hesaid. Unlike more peaceful countries,where crime scene specialists spendhours meticulously combing throughevidence at a scene, the technicians inBaghdad have less than an hour for fearof secondary explosions or firefights,Lamburne said.

In January, police Lt. Col. Amer Abbas,the institute's director, was shot andkilled as he drove home from theinstitute, Lamburne said. Abbas' staff oftrainers immediately quit, stalling theproject.

"He was very skillful," Lamburne saidof Abbas. "Now we're in a real hiatus."

The institute is developing a nationalcomputerized fingerprint database from

the reams of paper fingerprint recordsleft over from Saddam's regime.Lamburne said he has amassed nearly 1million sets of prints from prisoners andmembers of Iraq's security forces.

Four Iraqi microbiologists are in themidst of a three-year course to learnhow to analyze DNA samples, Lamburnesaid. Besides helping solve crimes, DNAtechnology could also help link victims ofBaghdad's violence with their families.

About one in four bodies that comethrough the Baghdad morgue are notidentified, Lamburne said. Some facesare distorted by gunshot or torturewounds, and bodies often lack identitycards. Bomb blast victims typically arrivein parts and are cremated without beingidentif ied. A DNA sampling from arelative could link the family with a bodyonce a DNA database is created,Lamburne said.

"We're only in the early stages of that,"he said. "But you could see thepotential."

Another machine that will soon arriveto the morgue is a fluoroscope machine,an X-ray device that allows pathologiststo quickly evaluate the location of bulletwounds, rather than perform a time-consuming dissection, Lamburne said.

More important than all thetechnology, Lamburne said, is the needto create a fundamental culture wherepolice gather evidence and use it in courtto prosecute criminals. The more policeadhere to that practice, the lessLamburne will be needed in Iraq, he said.

"That's what Iraqi police need to learnto do," Lamburne said. "And when theydo that, they'll gain the confidence of thepublic, and things will start to changehere."

Briton tries to sharpenIraqi investigative skills

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1. Beyond the uses suggested in the case study articles,what other ways might DNA testing and DNA databasesbe used (future uses might not necessarily be in theforensic science field)?

2. Should local DNA databases of suspects or persons of interest be used to prevent crimes? If so, what legal limitationsshould be placed on database use in order to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens? Using evidence from the casestudy, as well as current issues of USA TODAY to support your opinion, you and a peer should prepare a sixty-secondargument to present to your class.

3. Using a current issue of USA TODAY, find an example illustrating the use of forensic science that could be added to thiscase study. Does the example provide information on new advances in forensic science? Does it highlight potential pit-falls? Write a brief summary of the article and evaluate it in light of the issues discussed in this case study.

4. With the technological advances in forensic science, a host of legal and ethical issues has arisen. At what point doessociety’s need to maintain order come into conflict with an individual’s rights to privacy? What do you believe thefuture holds? Using USA TODAY to cite other examples of privacy issues in relation to advances of science and technol-ogy, write a one-page persuasive essay stating your opinion. When done, share your essay with the class as a wholeand debate with those who hold differing opinions.

1. As seen in this case study, the use of DNA databases in criminal investigations has expanded greatly beyond the ability to pinpoint a suspect’s specific identity. Get into

groups of five. Assign each member one article from the case study. As individuals, list all the examples you can find in your article that illustrate how DNA databases are being used today. Then, as a group, compile your lists.

2. This case study mentions other kinds of DNA aside from human nuclear DNA. Explain how mitochondrial and animalDNA are currently being used to solve crimes. What are the limitations of each?

3. Although DNA and forensic science are important tools in crime solving, they are not always foolproof. What are someof the problems that have arisen in recent years with these tools? Write a one-page paper describing at least threeexamples. Conclude with a recommendation for avoiding such problems in the future.

4. Based on the articles in this case study, how would you say real-life forensic science compares to its portrayal inmovies and on television? Within your class, form small groups (3-4 per group) and discuss. Brainstorm the similari-ties and differences and then pick someone in your group to share your findings with the rest of the class.

5. Labs have made egregious DNA testing or results interpretation errors, causing innocent men and women to go toprison for years. As a class, compile a list of suggests for ensuring that DNA forensic labs are more carefully regulated.

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v American Academy of Forensic Scienceswww.aafs.org/default.asp

v The FBI’s Forensic Science Communicationswww.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/index.htm

v Court TV’s Forensics Glossarywww.courttv.com/onair/shows/forensicfiles/glossary

v The Innocence Projectwww.innocenceproject.org

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5. Most states neither legislate for or against the DNA issues addressed in these case study articles. But with DNA testing taking on a more prominent role, states may need to legislate how DNA is tested, used in courts, and stored in databases. As a small group, select one of the following controversial DNA issues below, and discuss the legal andethical ramifications of it. Take on the role of a state governor, and in a two-minute prepared speech, announce whatstand you’ll take on the issue and “next steps” you’ll be taking to ensure that your state follows your recommendedguidelines.

a. Local DNA databasesb. Animal DNA testing and its use in solving casesc. Mitochondrial DNA and its use in solving casesd. Finding suspects through a relative’s DNA samplee. Finding suspects through DNA samples of prior suspects or persons of interestf. DNA testing and result interpretation procedures