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DNA - A Prosecutor’s Practice Notebook Inventory

Defense Requests to be Present during DNA Testing

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National Institute of Justice (NIJ) (see reuse policy).

Different labs have different policies regarding the practice of granting defense requests to be present during typing since the presence of non-lab personnel may pose a breach of lab security, jeopardize the lab's integrity, create chain of custody claims, and increase the potential risk of contamination [People v. Monagas, 615 N.Y.S.2d 633; 161 Misc.2d 898 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1994); State v. Nguyen, 833 P.2d 937; 251 Kan. 69 (Kan. 1992); State v. Fields, 2 P.3d 670; 196 Ariz. 580; 306 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 20 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1999)].

Some jurisdictions, however, may require that defendants be allowed their own expert to be present when typing will consume the evidence sample [Ohio Rev. Code Ann §2925.51(E) (Baldwin 1991); Colorado v. Garries, 645 P.2d 1306 (Colo. 1982)].

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