Used Condom DNA Profile Won’t Be Uploaded to FBI Database

The FBI can’t be forced to upload a DNA profile from an old, used condom found near a murder scene, the First Circuit said.

The decision not to upload the profile because the condom lacked a sufficient connection to the victim wasn’t arbitrary and capricious, the opinion by Judge Kermit V. Lipez said.

Michael Cowels and Michael Mims were convicted in 1994 for killing Belinda Miscioscia. When the crime scene was processed, an old, used condom was found in some nearby bushes covered in sawdust.

After serving 20 years of their life sentences, they were awarded a new trial. In ...