Court Allows DNA Lawsuit In Cape Cod Slaying Case

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a man who voluntarily gave a DNA sample to authorities investigating the killing of fashion writer Christa Worthington and then had fight to get the sample back.

Keith Amato said he tried for two years to get his sample returned to him, based on promises from authorities who said they would return the sample if he did not become a suspect. His sample was returned to him in October 2008. But he claims the state crime lab continues to hold the DNA profiles and other records of samples given by him and other men.

Christopher McCowen, Worthington's trash collector, was convicted of Worthington's rape and murder in her Cape Cod home.

A lower court dismissed Amato's lawsuit, but the appeals court reinstated it on Thursday.

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