Block Grant 2017DYBX0002

The Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory Division (WSPCLD) will use a $550,000 Project Grant from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance to sustain its Postconviction DNA Initiative through September 2025. Under the grant program titled "Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence" (CFDA 16.820), WSPCLD will continue partnering with the Washington Innocence Project to provide innocent prisoners with timely access to DNA technologies for...

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 federal Project Grant award, totaling $1,523,688 and provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820), aims to expand an existing hair review project and identify cases from 1970-2000 in which serology was used to secure murder convictions. The primary objectives are to locate and test DNA evidence that could establish factual innocence, as well as improve reentry support for exonerated individuals. The grant funds...

The County of Alameda received a $1,523,688 federal Project Grant award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820). The grant will fund the establishment of a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) within the Alameda County District Attorney's Office (ACDAO) to review a backlog of 18 violent felony cases, primarily involving defendants of color serving life sentences, where DNA testing may identify potential wrongful convictions....

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...

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $1,500,000 Project Grant to the State of Illinois Attorney General's Office to establish a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). The CIU will review and investigate violent felony cases where new, credible evidence of innocence has been discovered or where new technologies allow for testing of remaining evidence, with a focus on DNA analysis. Key activities to be supported include screening and reviewing potential...

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program (CFDA 16.820) provides $1,523,688 to establish the Dutchess County District Attorney's inaugural Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). The primary activities of this 3-year project, which runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027, include creating two dedicated positions within the CIU (a Unit Chief and part-time Investigator) to conduct...

The University of Wisconsin System 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 will allow the Wisconsin Innocence Project (WIP), a legal clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School, to conduct a historical review of its prior cases and applicants to identify potential wrongful convictions of Black, Latinx, and Native American individuals that may...

The Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory (PCFL) received a $329,091 DNA Backlog Reduction Program grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant, which runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2025, will enable PCFL to acquire, validate, and implement a Rapid DNA system to analyze known DNA samples more efficiently. This is intended to streamline the laboratory's workflow and reduce turnaround times, which have exceeded 30 days on average...