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The DNA subcommittee of the state Commission on Forensic Science Monday unanimously approved the use of familial testing in New York and recommended the full body authorize the method at its April 12 meeting.
In its recommendations, the subcommittee stated police and prosecutors must prove all other investigative methods have been exhausted in a case before they can resort to familial testing — which takes a strand of DNA from a crime scene to determine if it matches anyone's close male relatives who are in criminal databases.
Calls for the test's authorization gained steam after the parents of Karina Vetrano, the Howard Beach jogger killed in Spring Creek Park Aug. 2., advocated for its authorization weeks before their daughter's alleged killer was arrested. Even after the arrest of Chanel Lewis, who is charged with the murder, Phil and Cathie Vetrano said the test must be approved to help catch future killers.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, in a statement, praised the state subcommittee's vote.
"Today’s action by the DNA Subcommittee of the NYS Commission on Forensic Science unanimously approving familial...