Asked 2/9/2016 – Houston, TX
DNA claims in a case by the state and the item the state says was link to the defendant it’s never tagged as evidence simply because it never existed so what I’m asking is when the defendant ask for the the item to be retested and the state don’t have the item which never
Answer
Criminal cases were taken to trial for a long time before there was DNA available as evidence, so no, missing DNA evidence does not mean automatic dismissal of a case. It’s a question of whether the State can prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt without any such evidence. The State will or will not proceed, depending on whatever evidence they have. If you are his far along in the process, I assume you have an attorney. Ask him or her if the State will proceed if there is no DNA evidence.
