Murder Conviction Upheld for Man Charged 13 Years After Crime as Result of DNA Cold Hit

LIFE MAP: A digital representation of the human genome at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Each color represents one of the four chemical components of DNA. Mario Tama/Getty Images

A state appeals court August 28 upheld the second-degree murder conviction of a man who was charged as a result of a “cold hit” DNA match 13 years after he fatally stabbed a San Francisco woman.

Anthony Hughes, now 59, was arrested in San Francisco in 2011 on charges of murdering Lisa Valdez, 32, in her studio condominium in the Diamond Heights neighborhood of the city in 1998.