In an Apparent First, Genetic Genealogy Aids a Wrongful Conviction Case
It started as a way to trace family history. It evolved into a tool to help solve decades-old cold cases. Now, for apparently the first time, a genealogy database is expected to lead to charges being dropped against an Idaho man in a decades-old rape and murder case.
There is “clear and convincing evidence” that Christopher Tapp, who served 20 years in prison, was wrongfully convicted in the 1996 killing of 18-year-old Angie Dodge, Bonneville County Prosecutor Daniel Clark wrote in a court filing last week.
On Wednesday, at a hearing in an Idaho Falls courtroom, a judge is expected to grant Clark’s motion to dismiss the case against Tapp, officially clearing his name.
The hearing is the result of years of effort by legal advocacy groups that investigate potential wrongful convictions, including the Idaho Innocence Project. Tapp’s lawyers and others working on his behalf had long pointed to police tactics that they said had been used to coerce him into a false confession.
But the persistence of Carol Dodge, the victim’s mother, was most instrumental, says almost anyone familiar with the case.
