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DNA testing has improved the reliability of convictions, which has consequently reduced the number of erroneously convicted individuals in the prison population. Before law enforcement could use DNA testing to confirm whether collected DNA evidence matched a suspect, suspects were tried based on circumstantial evidence and eye witness testimony alone. Given what we know today about the manipulable nature of human memory, and as such, the complication of relying on eye witnesses as sole evidence, DNA testing has greatly enhanced the ability of law enforcement to rightfully convict suspects. The probability that DNA testings is correct is 99.99%, a value significantly higher than the accuracy of eye witness testimony, which is estimated to be inaccurate nearly one third of the time.
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