Familial DNA used to solve a crime, privacy questions raised.

[lake]

That's how they determined Dennis Rader was the BTK Killer. They compared a sample of DNA from his daughter that was on file at a doctor's office and compared it to evidence from BTK crime scenes.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

If your blood is in the system for crime, I say fair game to use it for a match for a family member who may be in danger (kidnapping scene w/ blood, etc.) or to find a potential suspect who has left DNA evidence at a scene.

If your blood is at a crime scene and you aren't the victim or it appears highly suspicious... let's safely make the leap...

I wouldn't call this overstepping the boundaries or anything. You don't want to be in the system? Do your best to keep your nose clean. You don't want your blood from a crime scene (non-victim) being traced back to your family, don't commit crime.

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

If your blood is in the system for crime, I say fair game. It's a family full of criminals!!

I know they're supposed to have rights and all, but I wouldn't call this overstepping the boundaries or anything. You don't want to be in the system? Do your best to keep your nose clean.

That isn't the issue. The blood they are running against the DNA in the system is the blood of someone who hasn't been arrested, much less convicted, of a crime, only suspected. Innocent until proven guilty. If it turns out to be a match, then that is one thing - any DNA in the system is there for a legitimate reason. But to then take the search a step further and to search for DNA matches to family members in the system is another matter. It puts everyone who has a family member in the DNA database - for whatever reason - at a disadvantage in our justice system.

[UGAalum94]

This is a kind of weird and probably legally unsupportable way of looking at it, I think, but to me how I feel about it varies by what kind of crime were talking about. For property crimes, it seems distasteful, but for kidnapping, rape or murder? It doesn't bother me so much.

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

This is a kind of weird and probably legally unsupportable way of looking at it, I think, but to me how I feel about it varies by what kind of crime were talking about. For property crimes, it seems distasteful, but for kidnapping, rape or murder? It doesn't bother me so much.

I think that is probably how a lot of people FEEL about it - but talk about your slippery slopes.