By Michele Cohen Marill

All it takes is a touch. Tiny bits of DNA attach to cell phones, clothes, door knobs and other surfaces, leaving a trace of the culprit at a crime scene. The data in that DNA could point to a killer–or could set someone free.

Over the past decade, the Georgia Innocence Project has exonerated five people imprisoned for years for crimes they did not commit. Four of those people were convicted of rape in the 1980s, before DNA testing was available. As the project marks its tenth anniversary this month, it has a much broader pool of people who may be able to prove their innocence.

“Now we’re able to get important evidence that nobody ever thought was going to be available to prove identity,” says executive director Aimee Maxwell. “That’s been a real revolution.”

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Source: Atlanta Magazine