The New York advocates have just scored a considerable amount of victory. There were various attempts to open up access to software of the U.S justice system, but all of them were failed. A U.S federal judge has announced publicly the source code for DNA analysis software formerly used in the crime lab in the New York City, Forensic Statistical Tool. There were various concerns that the software have sent many innocent people in prison due to wrongly mentioning that a DNA of suspect was supposedly to be a part of a mix of genetic material, such as the handle of a gun. Point to be noted that publicly access to the code might theoretically create glitch in the methodology and clear the name of someone. This step can become a challenge in a case of gun possession where FST was used to examine the possibilities that the blamed person owned specific weapons.
The judge earlier ordered about code access for the lawyers of defendant, but they were not allowed to share about what they learned. Accessing code publicly would make it easier to challenge the correctness of the results. The experts and media will also be able to find issues on their own. It isn’t surprising that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City has opposed the move. It is important that the software isn’t being used by NYC examiners since the beginning of the current year. It limits the effects of this order in various cases in the future. It might offer questionable cases where FST has been involved in the U.S. it might provide a groundwork for future attempts in accessing the software in the U.S justice system.