Excerpts from the article in the Asbury Park Press are below--I tried to trim as much extraneous info as I could before sharing, but frankly this is written and organized in such a poor way that it's unclear what the actual issue with the DNA even IS--I'd be grateful to anyone who can summarize the goings-on here in a few short, easy to understand statements because I'm lost. My comments are in bold.
"Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Alexander Battey plans to send a formal request to the FBI through the state laboratory this week, about whether the federal database DNA profiles of two brothers of defendant Bruce Cymanski can be provided for comparison to the DNA found on Noga more than 20 years ago. (IS BATTEY REQUESTING THE ACTUAL DNA PROFILES OR IS HE MERELY ASKING THE FBI IF THE PROFILES CAN BE LEGALLY RELEASED?)
It's unclear how long a response to the request will take.
"This is the biggest issue that remains for the defense," said defense attorney Jason Seidman, who wants to have his own DNA expert analyze the data.
During a 60-minute court hearing Thursday, Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone said he has already denied a motion to dismiss the indictment. (IMO, this is an example of poor journalism--what indictment is being referred to here? What relevance does this sentence have to the material that precedes it?)
[...]
Paone explained that at a previous court session, he issued an order at the request of the defense, and consent of the state, to direct that the Combined DNA Index System, a national DNA database known as CODIS, profiles for Cymanski's brother and half-brother be released as part of the case.
Paone said he later found that if the New Jersey State Police releases those DNA profiles, it would violate federal regulations, possibly resulting in fines up to $100,000, removal of the profile, as well as possibly prohibiting future access to the DNA profile program."
(So here's what confuses me: the judge ordered somebody (unclear to me whether he was asking the federal government or NJSP) to release 2 CODIS profiles for BC's brother and half-brother, and then he seems to have changed his mind and said that if NJSP actually releases those profiles, they'll be violating federal law, and as a consequence the DNA profiles could be removed from the database altogether?! So how does a high-ranking judge get away with issuing an order that, if complied with, will result in a law being violated?!)
"State Deputy Attorney General Lila B. Leonard wrote Paone a letter asking him to vacate his order.
Battey expressed particular concern about the risk of removing a DNA profile from the database even if the person is dead because the purpose of CODIS is to identify people who have committed rapes and murders a long time ago and removing that profile could be a hinderance.
Cymanski's brother was cremated after he died in April 2020 at age 53, according to his obituary. Seidman said his DNA profile is in the database but it's unknown if Bruce Cymanski's half-brother is in the federal DNA database system.
During the hearing, Leonard explained the state laboratory is bound by an operations manual that allows a person to request their own DNA profile but not another person's due to privacy regulations.
Paone said if the brothers had DNA samples in the federal system and if there was a match when the DNA found on Noga was entered, there would have been a hit, but since there wasn't a hit the inference is the DNA is not theirs. But there was a hit with the DNA found on Noga and Bruce Cymanski's DNA profile in the database, the judge said.
"It doesn't have to be a 100 percent match to be a hit," Leonard said.
Seidman said just because his client's DNA was found on Noga doesn't mean he killed her. He said his client wants the case to go to trial so he can go home to his family.
Seidman said one of his client's brothers lived in the same apartment complex as Noga at the time of her murder and he can't take the state's word that it's not the brother's DNA that was found on Noga.
Battey said he didn't think it was unreasonable to ask the half-brother to come to court to provide consent for DNA, but added the state is not required to provide new evidence in support of the defendant's defense.
Paone questioned if the prosecutor's office, as a criminal justice agency, could request the DNA profiles of the brothers, but Leonard said she's been told no by the FBI. The attorneys and judge also discussed whether the heirs of the deceased brother, which include Bruce Cymanski, could request his DNA profile."