What is a court admissible DNA test?

“Court admissible” is used to describe legal evidence- a testimonial, documentary, or tangible object- that may be presented to a judge or jury to prove a point. Many, but not all, DNA tests can be court admissible evidence. If a DNA test is not court admissible, a judge will not allow it to be presented as valid legal evidence.

A judge may prescribe court-ordered DNA testing for legal reasons, such as establishing biological parenthood for a case in which an individual may be entitled to certain assets. These court-ordered DNA tests must be legal DNA tests that are court admissible. You may also desire a court admissible DNA test to prove maternity or paternity, establish your rights to custody, prove your innocence in a crime investigation, or complete the necessary steps for immigration.

These DNA tests can help the court decide about things such as custody, visitation rights, and mandatory payment of child support. Sometimes these tests are used for immigration purposes. Court-ordered DNA tests are often issued be the Office of the Attorney General of your state. In New York, DNA testing must be prescribed by a physician or legal entity such as a court, USCIS, or US Embassy or Consulate. At our lab, we have a doctor on the premises who will prescribe your DNA test for no additional fees, including on weekends.

It is important to note that obtaining court admissible DNA evidence for legal purposes is taken very seriously. Tampering with these results can result in serious fines and/or jail time.

What types of DNA tests are court admissible?

Most often, DNA tests are only court admissible if they are performed by an AABB accredited DNA testing lab, such as our lab. Some organizations offer court admissible home DNA test kits, but these are often just as expensive, or more expensive, than AABB accredited lab testing and tend not to be as accurate.

When obtaining court admissible DNA evidence, always proceed with guidance from an attorney or legal court official that can guide you through the process and explain exactly what is needed. At our lab, we make sure this legal process is followed to obtain valid court admissible DNA evidence.

When we perform a DNA test, we usually collect buccal cells, or cheek cells, from inside a person’s cheek using a cheek swab made of cotton. If performing a paternity or maternity test, we will need swab samples from both the child and the alleged parent to be tested.

All of a person’s DNA put together is called a genome. When people are related, their genomes are more similar to each other than when they are not related. When we compare the genomes of multiple people, we are able to see how similar the genomes are. This is how we create court admissible evidence from a DNA sample for paternity, maternity, and forensic investigations. All of the DNA tests performed at our lab are court admissible.

After we perform the test and obtain the results, we will notify any relevant parties of the new DNA evidence for use in court in the form of a notarized document.

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Contact us today to schedule a court admissible test appointment with the best AABB accredited DNA testing lab in NYC.

AB DNA Testing
718-701-0292

For more information, visit our main website: https://www.abdnatestingservices.com/

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References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admissible_evidence
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/child-support/paternity/court-ordered-paternity