N.Y.C. has been ordered to share the source code for its DNA evidence software

23 Oct N.Y.C. has been ordered to share the source code for its DNA evidence software

A federal judge has ordered the source code for software used to identify DNA developed by New York City’s crime lab to be made public so it can be examined by independent software experts, reports ProPublica. The move comes after ProPublica motioned for the software to be unsealed after a number of scientists and defense attorneys raised issues about the software’s design and potential flaws. The fear is that if the software is flawed, it may have resulted in innocent people going to prison due to “false positives” of the DNA being found on evidence. Christopher Flood, a defense attorney who has petitioned to access to the code for years, told ProPublica:

“Everybody who has been the subject of an FST report now gets to find out to what extent that was inaccurate. And I mean everybody–whether they pleaded guilty before trial, or whether it was presented to a jury, or whether their case was dismissed. Everybody has a right to know, and the public has a right to know.”

Source: Fast Company