You are here: / / THE SOURCE CODE USED TO CONNECT DNA FROM THE MURDER SCENE TO THE DEFENDANT...
,

THE SOURCE CODE USED TO CONNECT DNA FROM THE MURDER SCENE TO THE DEFENDANT GENERATED A REPORT WHICH IMPLICATED THE DEFENDANT AND WAS THEREFORE TESTIMONIAL, HOWEVER, THE SOURCE CODE, AS A FORM OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, WAS NOT THE DECLARANT; THEREFORE THE FACT THAT DEFENDANT WAS NOT PROVIDED WITH THE SOURCE CODE DID NOT VIOLATE HIS RIGHT TO CONFRONT THE WITNESSES AGAINST HIM (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Pritzker, over a concurrence, determined the evidence concerning the TrueAllele source code used to connect the DNA found at the murder scene to the defendant was testimonial, but the source code, as artificial intelligence, was not the declarant. Therefore the fact that the defendant was not provided with the source code (which was not requested by the defendant during the trial) did not deprive defendant of the right to confront the witnesses against him. Rather, the Third Department found, the witness who testified about how the source code was used in the DNA testing was the declarant. Defendant had raised the intriguing question whether the source code, as a form of artificial intelligence, was the actual declarant triggering the right of confrontation:

Cybergenetics was “acting in the role of assisting the police and prosecutors in developing evidence for use at trial” … . Also, the report reflects TrueAllele’s conclusions “upon review of the raw data associated with the testing” … . TrueAllele, by running at the source code’s direction, compared DNA found at the crime scene to that of defendant’s DNA and generated the report containing the likelihood ratios, which, in effect, implicates defendant in the murder; thus, it is clearly biased in favor of law enforcement … . Accordingly, application of the primary purpose test reveals that the TrueAllele report is testimonial in nature … .

Despite concluding that the TrueAllele report is testimonial, we do not find, given the particular facts of this case, that the source code, even through the medium of the computer, is a declarant. This is not to say that an artificial intelligence-type system could never be a declarant, nor is there little doubt that the report and likelihood ratios at issue were derived through distributed cognition between technology and humans … . Indeed, similar to many expert reports, the testimonial aspects of the TrueAllele report are formulated through a synergy and distributed cognition continuum between human and machine … , but this fact alone does not tip the scale so far as to transform the source code into a declarant. People v Wakefield, 2019 NY Slip Op 06143, Third Department, 8-15-19

 

You might also like
COUNTY JAIL CORRECTIONS OFFICER ENTITLED TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR PTSD AND DEPRESSION RESULTING FROM AN INMATE’S SPITTING ON HIM AND THREATENING TO KILL HIS FAMILY (THIRD DEPT).
Detention by Immigration Officials Did Not Disqualify Claimant from Receiving Workers’ Compensation Benefits
UNDER THE STIPULATED FACTS, THE DEFENDANT’S TRAGIC ERROR, MISTAKING THE VICTIM FOR A DEER, DID NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL OF CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE, NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE CONVICTION REVERSED (THIRD DEPT).
THE PEOPLE CAN NOT APPEAL THE GRANT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW HER PLEA, VACATE HER FELONY CONVICTION AND ALLOW HER TO PLEAD TO A MISDEMEANOR; DEFENDANT MADE THE MOTION AFTER SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A DRUG-COURT TREATMENT PROGRAM (THIRD DEPT).
Failure to Contest Referral of Support-Arrearages to Tax Department Precluded Further Court Action
THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD SHOULD NOT HAVE OFFSET THE SLU AWARD FOR CLAIMANT’S ARM INJURY BASED ON A PRIOR SLU AWARD FOR INJURY TO THE SAME ARM; THE TWO INJURIES WERE NOT RELATED (THIRD DEPT)
Because the Statute Relied Upon by the State Police to Deny a FOIL Request Did Not Pertain to the Sought Documents, the Request Should Have Been Granted/Court Cannot Substitute Another Ground for Denial
THE 2012 SENTENCE IMPOSED WITHOUT CONSIDERING WHETHER DEFENDANT SHOULD BE AFFORDED YOUTHFUL OFFENDER STATUS WAS NOT ILLEGAL OR UNAUTHORIZED UNDER THE LAW IN EFFECT AT THE TIME; THEREFORE A MOTION TO VACATE THE SENTENCE ON THAT GROUND IS NOT AVAILABLE (THIRD DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

PLAINTIFF’S INJURIES WERE NOT CAUSED BY A DEFECT IN THE SCAFFOLD OR A... DEFENDANT DOCTOR’S MOTION TO CHANGE THE VENUE OF THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE...