Cooperative Agreement 2015DYBXK003

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office received a $1,523,688 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820). The funding will enable the establishment of a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) to review cases for potential wrongful convictions, prioritizing those involving violent felonies where DNA testing may demonstrate actual innocence. This includes hiring a new attorney and...

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department was awarded a $562,538 Formula Grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Comprehensive Forensic DNA Analysis Grant Program (CFDA 16.036). The funding will be used to bolster the capacity of the department's crime laboratory and address the backlog of DNA casework. Key activities include upgrading critical equipment such as thermocyclers, capillary electrophoresis instruments, and the DNA laboratory information management system; implementing...

The Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the County of Orange Sheriff-Coroner Department $429,769 under the DNA Backlog Reduction Program (CFDA 16.741) from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2023. This formula grant funding will support the department's OC Crime Lab in increasing DNA analysis capacity and reducing the backlog of forensic DNA samples awaiting analysis for both casework and database sections. As the direct recipient, the Sheriff-Coroner Department will utilize the funds to...

The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (NYC OCME) was awarded a $1,523,688 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820). The grant, awarded on October 1, 2024, will allow the OCME to increase its review of post-conviction cases for DNA testing from 5 to 10 cases per month. This funding will enable the OCME to locate evidence, process DNA, and retest evidence with new...

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded $550,000 under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence federal grant program (CFDA 16.820) to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for a project period of October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2025. The award will support efforts by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Conviction Integrity Unit and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School Innocence Project to expedite the review of approximately 250 DNA-related...

This federal Project Grant award, provided by the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance through the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820), will fund the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to establish the California DNA Assistance Program (CADNAP). The $1,800,000 grant, awarded on October 1, 2023, will support CADNAP's efforts to identify post-conviction cases of violent felony offenses where DNA testing...

The Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $855,000 Project Grant under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820) to the Iowa State Public Defender's Wrongful Conviction Division (WCD). The grant will help the WCD and its partners, the Midwest Innocence Project and Drake Law School's Legal Clinic, expand their capacity to identify and litigate claims of actual innocence through postconviction DNA testing. Specifically, the funding will enable the WCD to hire additional...

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (CFDA 16.820 - Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence) provides $1,023,688 to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (NYC OCME). The funding will enable the OCME to locate and catalogue DNA evidence that may help exonerate individuals wrongfully convicted of violent felony offenses. Specifically, the award will fund overtime for evidence unit personnel to locate vouchered and unvouchered...

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $1,523,688 Project Grant under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820) to The Regents of the University of Colorado (CU) in Boulder, CO. The grant funding will support CU's efforts to review two categories of cases in Colorado where postconviction DNA testing could potentially exonerate individuals: 1) 54 Denver cases involving the discredited hair microscopy discipline, and 2) over 600 cases previously rejected for DNA...

The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office in Michigan was awarded a $1,600,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820). The purpose of the grant is to assist the county's newly established Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) in reviewing claims of wrongful conviction, locating biological evidence, conducting DNA testing, and recommending relief when warranted. The CIU has received a high...