DOJ OIG: Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory’s Forensic DNA Case Backlog

Federal Bureau of Investigation – Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory’s Forensic DNA Case Backlog, Audit Report Report 10-39, August 2010

  • “The forensic DNA case backlog at the FBI Laboratory can have significant effects. Backlogs may delay legal proceedings that are waiting on the results of DNA analysis. Backlogs can also prevent the timely capture of criminals, prolong the incarceration of innocent people who could be exonerated by DNA evidence, and adversely affect families of missing persons waiting for positive identification of remains. Additionally, delays may increase the costs to contributors who must turn to private laboratories for testing because the FBI Laboratory is not able to produce timely results. As detailed…the FBI Laboratory has a significant forensic DNA case backlog [as of March 2010…a backlog of 3,211 forensic DNA cases], and the backlog is growing…We found that the backlog of cases in the Nuclear DNA Unit has grown by almost 40 percent (757 cases) from the first quarter of FY 2009 through the second quarter of FY 2010. Additionally, in the Mitochondrial DNA Unit, the backlog has grown by almost 130 percent (276 cases) during the same time period.”
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