Australian Prisoner Could Become First to Get DNA Tests

Shane Sebastian Davis has spent nearly two decades in Australian prisons for a murder he has always said he didn’t commit. Blood evidence collected in the case was long believed lost or destroyed – but that changed in March, when prosecutors informed Griffith University Innocence Project Director Lynne Weathered that 12 vials of blood had been located.

Davis and his attorneys are now seeking access to the evidence to conduct DNA testing that could prove Davis’ innocence.

Attorney Chris Nyst, who is working with Weathered on the case, said the government’s action in locating the evidence should be applauded and hopes for a decision soon on whether DNA testing can proceed. Nyst told the Courier Mail:

"We don't know whether Davis is innocent or not. He says he is. What we do know is that we now have the technology to ascertain that. It should happen and we want it to happen quickly."

Read the full story here

. (Courier Mail, 07/23/09)

Learn more about the

Griffith University Innocence Project

, a member of the

Innocence Network

.

[Update, 7/24/09 – This post has been corrected. Davis would not be the first Australian prisoner granted access to DNA testing, as was reported in the Courier Mail.

Frank Alan Button

was exonerated through DNA testing in Queensland in 2001 after serving 10 months in prison for a rape he didn’t commit.]