In California a convicted felon’s DNA will not only be checked to see if they committed other crimes, but it can also check to see if family members might have committed crimes as well..
In less than two years, a new and controversial DNA searching program launched by Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has proven its worth by nabbing a man suspected of being the “Grim Sleeper” who carried out the murders of at least 10 women in the Los Angeles area over the past 25 years.
Lonnie David Franklin, Jr., 57, of Los Angeles, was arrested yesterday on multiple murder counts after the state DNA lab uncovered a DNA link between the murder-scene material and Franklin’s son, Christopher Franklin. Last year, the son was convicted of a felony weapons charge, and his DNA was collected and sent to the state DNA data bank for the first time.
“In the face of a multitude of objections, we’ve crafted a balanced policy to respect the rights of citizens and at the same time deploy the most powerful DNA search technology available,” Brown said. “Forensic scientists at our Richmond crime lab have developed unique computer software and rigorous protocols that can link a family member of a convicted offender with DNA taken from a murder or rape scene. The successful match in this case demonstrates the extreme importance of this new forensic procedure.”
California became the first state to adopt a familial search program in 2008. It has been used only ten times since its inception in November 2008. The initial familial search under the new program that same month was aimed at finding the “Grim Sleeper” suspect, but it failed to find a relative in the database. A second search initiated on April 28, 2010, was successful because, in the meantime, Lonnie David Franklin’s son had been convicted, his DNA analyzed and linked to the crime scenes in accord with California’s unique familial search procedures.
The suspect would still be at large except for the familial search program.
Familial search works by searching the crime scene sample against convicted offenders in the state database to see if they could be related to the crime scene sample. The convicted offenders are compared to the crime scene sample by looking at how many of the DNA markers are shared and how rare the markers are.
Last month, investigators established a connection between Christopher Franklin’s DNA and DNA taken from the murder scenes. After corroboration with other information, such as google mapping and where Lonnie David Franklin was living during the time the murders occurred, it was determined that Lonnie David Franklin was a viable suspect.
The Los Angeles Police Department then confirmed our finding by taking the suspect’s personal DNA.
Familial DNA searches are done under rigorous guidelines established by Brown’s office. They are only allowed in major violent crimes when there is a serious risk to public safety and all other investigative leads have been exhausted.
Read the rest of this interesting article on the Tribune Weekly Chronicle.
