A secret algorithm is transforming DNA evidence. This defendant could be the first to scrutinize it.
Prosecutors have used software to help convict thousands but have never revealed its source code. A Virginia defendant has won the right to examine it for errors. By Justin Jouvenal
TrueAllele is reshaping DNA analysis, providing key evidence in thousands of homicides, rapes and other crimes like the armed robbery in Virginia in which genetic material was too complex to interpret. But that comes with a major caveat: Not a single prosecutor, government crime lab or defendant has had a meaningful look at how it works.