The New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that the trial court erred when it permitted certain DNA evidence to be admitted against the defendant in his trial that resulted in a murder conviction. Pre-trial, the defendant moved for a Frye hearing, as the State intended to introduce DNA evidence obtained through a technique known as low copy number (LCN) DNA testing performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York (OCME). One of the samples was analyzed by OCME using its Forensic Statistical Tool (FST) software program. The defendant argued that LCN DNA testing and FST are not generally accepted in the scientific community. After a six-day hearing on the LCN testing, the trial court denied the motion and admitted the evidence. The Appellate Division reversed and remanded for a new trial. The Appellate Division’s opinion spans 88 pages and deals extensively with the science behind the DNA test and its history within the scientific community. The Court concluded that the State failed to clearly establish general acceptance of OCME’s LCN DNA testing technique.
