FIGG as a Tool for Exoneration

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of participating in a panel discussion at the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice Spring Symposium at the University of Pennsylvania.

I’m grateful to the Quattrone Center for including me in such an important conversation, and I appreciated the chance to spend time with so many people who are deeply committed to improving the justice system. The symposium brought together voices from law, academia, forensic science, advocacy, and the innocence community. It was thoughtful, challenging, and exactly the kind of discussion this field needs.

At Resolve Forensics, most of our work involves supporting medical examiners, coroners, and law enforcement agencies. We use advanced forensic DNA sequencing and forensic investigative genetic genealogy to help identify unknown human remains, generate investigative leads, and provide answers in cases that have often remained unresolved for decades.

Those applications have already shown how powerful this technology can be. FIGG has helped identify victims, restore names to the unidentified, and give investigators new leads when traditional methods have been exhausted.

But the symposium raised an important question worth continuing:

If FIGG is a truth-seeking tool, where else should it be considered?

The technology is not limited to one part of the justice system. Used appropriately, FIGG can help answer questions when identity, relationship, or biological connection matters. It can help replace assumptions with evidence. It can provide new information in cases where the available facts remain incomplete.

That is why I believe innocence organizations and exoneration-focused groups should be part of this conversation.

Not because FIGG is a magic answer. It is not. It requires careful case selection, strong ethical guardrails, confirmation testing, and responsible interpretation.

But if a technology can help identify a victim, generate a lead, exclude a possibility, or provide new information in a case where important questions remain, then it deserves thoughtful consideration by anyone seeking justice.

The law enforcement and medicolegal death investigation communities have embraced FIGG because they have seen what it can do. They have seen families receive answers after decades of waiting. They have seen unknown victims get their names back. They have seen cases move forward when every other path had gone cold.

The innocence community is also built around the idea that evidence matters. That truth matters. That better information can change lives.

Those missions are not in conflict.

At its best, forensic science does not belong to one side. It belongs to the search for the most accurate answer possible. It is and always should be a "neutral observer of the evidence".

I left the symposium encouraged by the willingness of so many people to have serious conversations about where this technology fits, where it should be used carefully, and how it can serve justice responsibly. It was a true honor to be a part of.

Thank you again to the Quattrone Center and everyone involved in the symposium for making space for that conversation.

FIGG has already changed what is possible for victims, families, investigators, and communities. I hope we continue expanding the conversation around how this powerful tool can be used responsibly by anyone working toward the truth. Humans Lie, DNA Doesn't. -Danny