DNA-Based Conviction Upheld in Murder Case
Virginia’s highest court, in the nation’s first appeal of a murder trial based on DNA evidence, on Friday upheld the conviction and death sentence of a man in the rape-murders of two women.
The state Supreme Court, in unanimous rulings, said that DNA test results submitted as evidence at two of Timothy W. Spencer’s trials were shown to be “a reliable scientific technique” and that the tests were properly conducted.
DNA is the basic genetic material found in human cells. Everyone except identical twins is believed to have a unique DNA pattern.
Spencer, 26, was convicted after samples of semen found at the crime scenes in the two cases were compared to DNA patterns in Spencer’s blood. Experts testified that the samples matched.
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