State v. Tucker

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The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and sentences for one count of first degree sexual assault of a child and two counts of incest related to an incident with his girlfriend’s children, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting “Y-STR” DNA evidence over Defendant’s objections.Prior to trial, Defendant filed a motion in liming seeking to exclude all evidence of Y-STR DNA testing under the Daubert/Schafersman analytical framework. The district court denied the motion, determining the reasoning and methodology behind the Y-STR DNA testing to be valid and reliable. Defendant was subsequently found guilty. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err in admitting the Y-STR DNA evidence; (2) the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions; and (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Defendant within statutory limits. View "State v. Tucker" on Justia Law