The Michigan appeals court for the first time has affirmed the use of new DNA testing technology to assist authorities in investigating a crime.
The court on Tuesday upheld the armed robbery conviction of a man in western Michigan's Muskegon County. Scientists looked at a sweat sample taken from a shoe that was left at the scene of the crime. It was a challenge because the shoe revealed evidence of more than one person.
But an expert, John Buckleton, testified that the odds of someone other than Elamin Muhammad producing the DNA profile was one in 100 billion. He used a software program called STRmix, which has been approved in New York courts and used by the U.S. Army.
The shoe was considered important because the robber wore a mask.
