'Dallas DNA' Newest Crime Reality Show to Air

First came LA Law. Then Boston Legal. Now, Dallas DNA is poised to hit the nation's airwaves, reports the ABA Journal.

But, unlike the earlier award-winning television dramas, this one is set in real life. "Dallas DNA chronicles a pioneering unit within the Dallas County’s District Attorney’s office where post-conviction DNA testing is being used to clear the innocent, as well as confirm the guilty," reports a press release about the new six-part series, which premieres April 28 on Investigation Discovery.

Under a new DA, Craig Watkins, the Texas office created the first DNA-testing program in the nation overseen by a prosecutor that seeks to correct unjust convictions. Investigation Discovery was given exclusive and unprecedented access by the DA's office and the local court system to film the work of the conviction integrity unit established by Watkins and interview the prisoners and families involved.

Since state law authorized post-conviction testing in 2001, there have been more DNA exonerations in Dallas County than anywhere else in the country.

Can't think of a better reality show for the public to see than this. You have to look at every viewer as a potential juror, who will one day not necessarily be deciding a murder case, but the reliability of forensic evidence or the credibility of a uniformed officer's testimony. A show like this has an underlying message of switching mindsets.