As part of his defense during his 2009 murder trial, Polk County’s Bradley Waldroup brought up a little-known gene that may be linked to violent behavior — the so-called “warrior gene.”
On Tuesday, Waldroup’s case will be featured in a one-hour documentary called “Born to Rage” on the National Geographic Channel.
“People are interested, it’s kind of groundbreaking stuff,” said Shari Tayloe Young, lead defense attorney in the trial. “I think this is the first reported case in the U.S. where this type of proof has been introduced in the trial phase, the guilt phase, and not in the sentencing phase.”
“Born to Rage” filmmaker Philip Day said the Waldroup trial was “crucial” in proving “that not just genetic scientists took this subject seriously.”
“The American government, through the judicial system, took this seriously enough to change the outcome of a trial,” he said.