DNA Tests Deserve Use

Orange County prosecutors and public defenders should find a way to cooperate in using DNA testing to ensure that people do not wind up behind bars for crimes they did not commit. It is encouraging that the two sides are exploring how to work together.

The recent spate of prisoners walking to freedom after DNA tests showed they did not commit felonies has been sobering. It is terrible to deprive a person of freedom for years when it is not deserved, and especially frightening in instances involving a wrongful death sentence.

In Orange County, DNA testing four years ago showed that Kevin Green had not committed the murder for which he was convicted. This year, a judge ordered that DeWayne McKinney be freed. McKinney spent nearly 20 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of an Orange County murder.

It is not unusual for someone in prison to claim he was framed, so the district attorney’s office can be expected to scrutinize cases carefully. But a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said the office is committed to examining any cases in which a conviction legitimately is questioned. Defendants will need evidence to support their claims.

The public defender’s office, which represents those without means to hire a private attorney--meaning the bulk of defendants--plans to sign up volunteer attorneys and students to take a new look at cases that seem to deserve it.

For several years, journalism students at Northwestern University in Illinois have been carrying out such investigations. Three years ago they proved that four men had been convicted wrongly of a gang rape and double murder in 1978. A number of death penalty convictions in Illinois have been flawed, leading the governor to suspend executions pending a formal review.

DNA testing sometimes is inconclusive. It also is expensive, costing $2,000 to $5,000 for a test. But overall it has an impressive record, getting the credit for the successful challenge of more than 60 convictions across the country.

The San Diego district attorney’s office has offered free DNA testing for defendants who believe the tests will clear them. Ventura County has started paying half the bill for DNA tests.

Defense attorneys go to court to win acquittals for their clients. Prosecutors try for convictions but say they don’t want to jail people wrongly.

Both sides should be amenable to using the latest science, DNA, to help establish the guilt or innocence of the accused. Men and women make errors; if DNA helps reduce the number of errors in a matter as important as a person’s freedom, it should be used.