BJA FY24 Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence - (category 2)

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) seeks funding under the Post-conviction Testing of DNA Evidence grant, category 2, to preserve DNA evidence that may exonerate those wrongfully convicted. This funding opportunity, if awarded, will allow the OCME to locate evidence and catalogue items and extracts retained in house for post-conviction cases. With existing resources, the OCME is only able to locate evidence associated with approximately two cases per month. With grant funding, the OCME will be able to locate twice as many cases.
For post-conviction cases, one of the most important steps in righting miscarriages of justice is the development of a DNA profile that leads to an exoneration. A crucial part in this process is the location of evidence or extracts from cases that could be decades old, that upon testing and/or re-analysis will lead to exclusionary results that prove one's innocence. In New York City, the District Attorney's Offices (DAOs) of all five boroughs have integrity units that work tirelessly to investigate potential wrongful convictions. Requests to the OCME by these units to locate evidence associated with post-conviction cases have steadily increased over the years to a level that is difficult for the OCME to manage without additional funding. If given funding, the OCME will be able to work in close collaboration with integrity units within the DAOs to identify cases where DNA evidence was collected and still exists, and exclusionary results may exonerate those that are unfairly incarcerated. Locating this evidence, however, is complex and time consuming, creating great strain on OCME resources.
With funding awarded by this grant, the OCME would provide overtime funding to two evidence unit personnel to locate vouchered as well as unvouchered evidence collected in association with post-conviction cases. These evidence unit personnel would also help with the transfer of evidence from our retained storage into our online electronic systems for DNA processing. With funding, the OCME would also be able to hire a full time Criminalist Level IB technician and provide overtime to five Criminalist Level 1B technicians to assist in locating retained evidence items and extracts. They would be tasked with cataloguing these items and extracts into a database that would be searchable for future reference.
Through the testing of post-conviction cases, the OCME would be able to bring justice to those wrongfully convicted and be a facilitator for change concerning marginalized communities still seen in active post-conviction cases.