Eastern District Court finds right to access DNA evidence for purposes of Clemency. Good decision

[aspergris]

Good decision by Eastern District Court of NY in re: right to access DNA evidence by defense...

from volokh.com


Excerpt follows:
Constitutional Right to Access to DNA Evidence for Purposes of Clemency Petition, recognized by McKithen v. Brown, a decision this Monday from Judge John Gleeson of the federal trial court for the Eastern District of New York. It's a long opinion, but here's the bottom line:

----The Petition Clause ... secures a right of meaningful access to whatever avenues remain , and the Due Process Clause confers a procedural right of access to evidence for DNA testing, if the testing can be accomplished at little cost and exculpatory results would undermine confidence in the outcome of the trial.----

Seems like an important result, if it's ultimately upheld on appeal. The national media and the blogosophere -- including legal blogs -- seemingly haven't picked it up yet, though my searches found a short article on the subject in today's Daily News (New York).