28-Sep-2016

Hillary acquitted of Potsdam murder by New York judge

Today Judge Felix Catena acquitted Oral "Nick" Hillary of the murder of Garrett Phillips, 12, in Potsdam, NY. Defense lawyers argued there was no physical or eyewitness evidence. The prosecution failed to introduce DNA evidence, rejected by the judge as unreliable.

This landmark DNA case revealed the inadequacy of New Zealand's STRmix™ software. The program gave inconsistent match statistics for the victim's fingernail. Subjectively choosing some of the data suggested Hillary's DNA might be on the fingernail, but using all the data showed he wasn't there.

Cybergenetics examined all 180 DNA evidence items using their TrueAllele® genotyping technology. TrueAllele objectively "unmixes" mixed DNA samples to calculate accurate match statistics. The Pittsburgh-based company worked for over three years without pay on this case, assisting the police, prosecution and defense with DNA evidence. TrueAllele did not connect Hillary with the crime.