DNA

Project Innocence

A New Orleans man named Bobby Ray Dixon was charge a life sentence for crimes he never committed. Bobby Ray Dixon was charged of committing Rape and murder. He was charged with a lifelong sentence that he would only serve thirty years of before he was supposed to be exonerated. The reason why I say this is that Bobby Ray Dixon died five weeks before he was supposed to let go free. Bobby Ray Dixon was threatened with the death penalty if he didn’t confess. So on a confession that didn’t match the evidence he was sentenced and thrown in jail.

DNA technology has gone a long way in the last 30 years. We can easily test anything at a crime scene such as blood, sperm, hair, and fingerprints.  Newer lab technologies include creating profiles for each crimes DNA information. This allows cases to be reopened in order to look at the DNA evidence, making it much easier for people who seek to be exonerated to do so. In 1990 DNA technology was available only if you had a lot of it to test and had access to a high tech laboratory. Now even the littlest bit of DNA is enough to test in anyway. More importantly DNA is better recorded, tested, and used now than it was 20 or so years ago. So as you could imagine this makes using DNA for crime cases the most reasonable way to convict someone.

This story as well as other stories I have heard or read have really opened up my mind to the world of exonerated people. Before we learned about DNA testing I had never realized that this many people are put in prison are innocent. However it has made me realize that our justice system isn’t very well structured and doesn’t like admitting to a mistake. DNA evidence has really made me realize how important science is in crime cases. It is inevitable truth that will always ether prove innocent or guilty.