DNA+Testing+Access

DNA Testing Access:

Pennsylvania:
 * Effective on September 9, 2002

Any prisoner that is convicted of criminal offenses or that is awaiting execution can apply for post conviction DNA testing. At any time and in any case the judge may not allow the testing The evidence must have been discovered either before or after the conviction

Some prisoners are not legally allowed to have access to testing on their case. 48 states have some form of access allowing inmates to post conviction DNA testing States without testing- Oklahoma, Massachusetts [|__http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content?Access_To_PostConviction_DNA_Testing.php__] 

Ivan [|__http://www.thejusticeproject.org/national/solution/expanding-post-conviction-dna-testing/__]  The Justice Project recommandations states:
 * The states should require the preservation of biological evidence throughout a defendant’s sentence and devise standards regarding custody of evidence.
 * States should ensure that all inmates with a DNA-based innocence claim may petition for DNA testing at any time and without regard to plea, confession, self-implication, the nature of the crime, or previous unfavorable test results.
 * States should require judges to grant post-convictions testing may produce new material evidence that raises a reasonable probability of the petition’s innocence or reduced culpability.
 * States should ensure that petitioners have access to objective and reliable forensic analysis at independent and privately funded labs, subjects to judicial approval.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Problem and Solutions: If DNA evidence gets loss, this will jeopardizes the integrity of the criminal justice system. Like for example Kevin Byrd was exonerated after 12 years in prison based on DNA evidence. George W. Bush stated that Kevin’s case was the first of many to be reexaminated for DNA testing. The Innocence Protection Act provides access to DNA testing and DNA evidence and prohibits the destruction of DNA evidence in federal cases while the defendant remains incarcerated.