8-December-2015

New York motion filed on why STRmix is not TrueAllele

Lockport, NY

Niagara County defense attorney Dominic Saraceno filed a motion for a Frye Hearing regarding the reliability of STRmix, new forensic software that purports to properly analyze mixed DNA evidence. The prosecution had asserted that this software "operates in essentially the same way that TrueAllele does, and because the court in Wakefield found TrueAllele to pass the Frye test, the Court here should find STRmix to be admissible without the need for a Frye test."

Saraceno refutes that assertion, explaining why "STRmix is not TrueAllele." His motion enumerates nine differences between Cybergenetics established TrueAllele® technology and this "recent foreign copycat software." He says, "It is unclear whether the STRmix technology is sufficiently reliable to withstand such a challenge, which is why a Frye hearing is needed in this case."

• People of New York v. David Smith, Motion Requesting Frye Hearing - Motion