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DNA - A Prosecutor’s Practice Notebook Inventory

DNA Used to Identify a Perpetrator's Racial or Ethnic Background

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DNA has been used as an investigational tool to assist law enforcement in directing the focus of a criminal investigation to the particular ethnic or racial group of a perpetrator. Testing in areas of DNA that have been scientifically characterized as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been successfully used to provide information to investigators regarding the apparent racial or ethnic background of a perpetrator, thus enhancing an investigative effort to identify an individual responsible for a given crime.

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