Stockton, CA Man Convicted of Rape, Murder Through DNA Evidence Produced by STRmix
DNA evidence produced through the use of STRmix™ - sophisticated forensic software capable of resolving mixed DNA profiles - has played a key role in convicting Alvin Larry Davis of the 2012 rape and murder of an 84-year-old, Stockton, California woman.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- DNA evidence produced through the use of STRmix™ – sophisticated forensic software capable of resolving mixed DNA profiles – has played a key role in convicting Alvin Larry Davis of the 2012 rape and murder of an 84-year-old, Stockton, California woman (No. STK-CR-FE-2016-0004780).
STRmix™ enabled the California Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Forensics Services to separate DNA mixtures originally found at the crime scene in order to conclusively identify Davis's DNA on multiple items.
Davis, who faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, was convicted by the San Joaquin County Superior Court jury of one count of murder with the special circumstance allegation of murder in the commission of rape by a foreign object; one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object; four special allegations regarding the rape; and one allegation that the victim was over 65 years of age.
"This case is special because we used our new DNA interpretation software, which allows us to separate DNA mixtures of different people," said John Miller, President of the Association of Criminalists for DOJ. "We were unable to separate certain mixtures before and now we can with STRmix™, which employs probabilistic genotyping and looks at many more factors in DNA mixtures than our previous method."
Noting that the investigation of the rape and murder by the Stockton Police Department had lasted from July 2012 until early 2016, Miller added, "Technology keeps advancing, giving us wonderful new tools to help solve crimes."
In addition to the DNA evidence produced using STRmix™, other pieces of evidence and eyewitness testimony was presented to the jury, ultimately resulting in the jury's guilty verdict.
STRmix™ is now routinely used to resolve DNA profiles by 38 U.S. forensic labs, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF),
STRmix™ has now been used successfully in numerous U.S. court cases, as well as thousands of cases internationally. There have also been at least 24 successful admissibility hearings for STRmix™ in the U.S.
A new version of STRmix™, STRmix™ v2.6, was introduced in August 2018. The new version features a user interface that has been completely redeveloped and refreshed, providing users with vastly improved usability and workflow. Version 2.6 also enables a range of contributors to be entered when performing a deconvolution, and any type of stutter to be added and configured.
STRmix™ was developed by John Buckleton, DSc, FRSNZ, and Jo-Anne Bright of the New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), and Duncan Taylor from Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA).
For more information about STRmix™ visit http://www.strmix.com.
SOURCE STRMix
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