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DNA - A Prosecutor’s Practice Notebook Inventory

Reopening Closed or Cold Cases

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Photo of an old case file folder with DNA evidence
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) (see reuse policy).

Occasionally in reopening closed or cold cases, a prosecutor may discover the relevant DNA evidence was not preserved or has been destroyed. Neither the destruction nor failure to preserve is a due process violation absent a showing of bad faith by the police, prosecutor, or laboratory Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51; 109 S.Ct. 333; 102 L. Ed.2d 281 (1988)].
 

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