Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Clearing Massachusetts's Uncertain Road to Post-Conviction DNA Testing

Authors

Christian Van Buskirk

Document Type

Note

Abstract

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the current procedures for obtaining DNA testing in Massachusetts are fundamentally inadequate, and should be modified to reflect the unique power of DNA testing. Part I of this Note explores the text of the Massachusetts post-conviction discovery statute, and discusses the procedures that the courts have created for its implementation. Part II explains the framework of a post-Osborne procedural due process claim for post-conviction DNA relief and the constitutional standards that the state procedures must satisfy. Finally, Part III applies that framework and argues that Massachusetts's court-created procedures are violative of due process because they do not reflect the unique power of DNA testing. It further contends that Massachusetts should adopt procedures that examine the ability of exculpatory test results to undermine the prosecution's theory of conviction, rather than the probability of obtaining exculpatory results.