As Requests for DNA Tests Soar, So Do Lab Backlogs: A DNA match, the investigative break that has solved countless cases, gave Montgomery County detectives the evidence they needed last year to charge a convicted felon with raping a woman in 1993.

But the county's backlogged DNA lab couldn't produce the detailed analysis in time for the trial, prompting a judge to block prosecutors from using the evidence. The state was forced to drop its case early this year, and the suspect -- who was accused of attacking a woman in her back yard in Silver Spring -- walked free.

At crime labs in Montgomery and across the region, soaring demand for DNA analysis and a dearth of trained scientists have led to increasingly unmanageable backlogs, authorities say. Large numbers of cases have been delayed and, in rare instances, suspects accused of violent crimes have been released without trial.

At the Montgomery lab, staff turnover has contributed to unprecedented backlogs. In Prince George's County, a shortage of forensic scientists recently halted in-house DNA testing, forcing the county to turn to private labs. In one recent case in the county, a man was jailed for six months on charges of assaulting a child before long-delayed DNA results helped prove his innocence. About a quarter of the samples submitted last year were never tested.

Turnover and bureaucratic delays in the District have stalled plans for the police department to open its own lab. The statewide crime labs in Maryland and Virginia -- whose lab handles most local cases -- have also struggled with scarce resources and a growing backlog.

The problem, experts say, stems in part from a public fascination with DNA profiling, which revolutionized crime fighting when it was introduced two decades ago. As the demand for DNA evidence increases, fueled by juror expectations formed by such television shows as "CSI," government labs have been forced to outsource work to private labs. Flush with business, the private facilities also lure scientists away from the public labs, reducing their ability to handle the growing backlogs.

(Read Original Article - Via washingtonpost.com - Technology.)