DNA Testing Expands to Lesser Crimes

Dan Morse
Washington Post
Tuesday, Sept 9, 2008

While unusual, here is a crime as alleged by Montgomery County police that joins the list of things harder to get away with in the era of DNA evidence:

Man walks into a Starbucks, says he wants to apply for a job. He’s given an application and a complimentary cup of coffee. Minutes later, he walks around the counter and threatens a barista with a ballpoint pen. He flees with $204 from the cash register and keys to another barista’s 1993 Nissan Maxima, leaving behind the partially consumed cup of coffee.

Dominic J. Wilson is scheduled to stand trial today in the Starbucks case.

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“Saliva,” said Ray Wickenheiser, director of Montgomery’s crime lab, “is a good source of DNA.”

DNA testing in the county is expanding from killings and rapes to less violent robberies, burglaries and drug deals. Prosecutors say this will lead to quicker convictions because defendants will cave and plead guilty. Defense lawyers worry that as more DNA samples are pushed through the county’s crime lab, it will boost the odds of false matches.

“It runs the risk of turning the gold standard of evidence into fool’s gold,” said Stephen Mercer, a Montgomery lawyer who has taken on so many of these cases lately that one of this clients calls him “the DNA Dude.”

Full article here

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