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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Courts - SCOTUS rules defendant has no constitutional right to obtain postconviction access to the State’s evidence for DNA testing
Here is the opinion, handed down this morning, in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne.
Here is SCOTUSBlog's Lyle Denniston's initial take on the opinion - the entry is headed "Court rejects DNA access claim."
Here is an AP story by Mark Sherman that begins:
The Supreme Court said Thursday that convicts have no constitutional right to test DNA evidence in hopes of proving their innocence long after they were found guilty of a crime.The decision may have limited impact because the federal government and 47 states already have laws that allow convicts some access to genetic evidence. Testing so far has led to the exoneration of 240 people who had been found guilty of murder, rape and other violent crimes, according to the Innocence Project.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 18, 2009 10:33 AM
Posted to Courts in general