Speaking of US v. UK investigative methodology, there was
an interesting story on NPR this morning about DNA testing. In the UK, if there's a very close, but not exact match to DNA evidence, the investigators start looking at close family members of the person who matched. Apparently, this has led to some arrests and convictions.
In the US, the practice hasnt' become particularly widespread, because we're uncomfortable about putting people who've never done anything wrong under surveillance simply because their relative at some point submitted evidence for DNA testing.
Part of the issue is that a lot of databases are out there, especially in light of 9/11 and Katrina, and part of it is that
investigators in crime labs in the US have been known to skew test toward particular results that match police theories on the case. I'm so proud to be a Houstonian...
