DNA profiling is extensively used by forensic sci-
entists for human identification. The first practical
application of DNA profiling occurred in the United
Kingdom in an immigration case, while the first fo-
rensic application of DNA profiling in the United
States was in 1987 in Florida. In that year, Tommie
Lee Andrews was tried for committing a burglary
and rape that had concluded a crime spree of
twenty-three rapes stretching back to May, 1986. Af-
ter a lengthy hearing, DNA evidence was admitted at
the trial, which ended in a hung jury. Andrews was
retried and convicted on November 6, 1987.
On August 14, 1989, DNA profiling was first used
to overturn a conviction. In 1977, sixteen-year-old
Cathleen Crowell claimed that she had been raped
and from police photographs identified Gary Dot-
son as her attacker. In May, 1979, Dotson was con-
victed. In 1985, Crowell, then known by her married
name of Webb, recanted her story, revealing that she
had fabricated the rape because she had had sex
with her boyfriend and was afraid of becoming preg-
nant. Prosecutors did not believe Webb’s new story,
but Dotson was finally exonerated when it was dem-
onstrated that DNA left in the young woman’s un-
derpants had not been his.
The RFLP/VNTR method of DNA profiling is
time-consuming, and the exact size of the DNA
bands is difficult to determine. More rapid and more
exact methods later replaced the original RFLP/
VNTR method, making DNA fingerprinting more
useful and more reliable as a forensic tool.
Impact DNA profiling makes the prosecution of
suspects (especially those such as rapists who leave
DNA samples at the scene) and the identification of
unknown persons easier and virtually irrefutable. It
gained rapid acceptance in the United States and
elsewhere by the late 1980’s. All fifty U.S. states now
have laws requiring the collection of DNA samples
from convicted sex offenders. In 1990, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established a database
of DNA fingerprints called the Combined DNA In-
dex System (CODIS).
Further Reading
Butler, John M.Forensic DNA Typing. Boston: Elsevier,
2005.
Lee, Henry, and Frank Tirnady.Blood Evidence: How
DNA Is Revolutionizing the Way We Solve Crimes. New
York: Basic Books, 2003.
Lubjuhn, Thomas, and Jorg T. Epplen.DNA Profiling
and DNA Fingerprinting. Basel, Switzerland:
Birkauser, 1999.
Spencer, Charlotte.Genetic Testimony: A Guide to Fo-
rensic DNA Profiling. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 2003.
Charles L. VigueSee also America’s Most Wanted; Crime; Genetics re-
search; Rape.Do the Right Thing
Identification Influential African American film
Director Spike Lee (1957- )
Date Released June 30, 1989
Written, directed, and produced by Spike Lee,Do the
Right Thingbrought into focus racial tensions through-
out the United States in the 1980’s through its raw dialogue
and expressionistic style.
Do the Right Thingwas the third feature-length film
writen, directed, and produced by Spike Lee. BornThe Eighties in America Do the Right Thing 293
Alec Jeffreys is credited with developing the technique of DNA fin-
gerprinting.(David Parker/Science Photo Library)