LAW ENFORCEMENT: Investigations and prosecutions aided by DNA evidence include:
COLD HITS BRING:
· Arkansas – Charges for two murders (on database for theft).
· California –Arrest in 1991 double homicide, identification of a 2007 rapist (on database for sexual assault), and a high school vandal.
· Colorado –Identification of 1992 rapist (on database for kidnapping and rape).
· Florida – Identification of 1990 rapist (on database for stealing and resisting arrest).
· Maryland – Identification of 1999 rapist (on database for burglary).
· Minnesota – Identification of a 1993 rapist.
· Missouri – Identification of two rapists (on database for burglary and tampering).
· Nevada – Sentencing for 1997 rape and murder (on database for robbery).
· New Jersey – Identification of serial rapist to two more cases (1993 cases).
· New Mexico – Charges in a 2007 sexual assault case.
· New York – Guilty plea in stabbing (on database for burglary) and identification of a rapist in
1994 case (on database for drug sale) and 2001 case (evidence gathered from ski mask and condom).
· North Carolina – Solved a 1997 rape (on database for robbery).
· Ohio – Death sentence for stabbing (on database for aggravated robbery) and identification of a single rapist in two cases (on database for juvenile offense).
· Texas –Charges in 1994 attempted murder case.
· Vermont – Conviction in the 1991 murder of Patty Scoville case (on database for aggravated assault).
· Washington – Guilty plea for rape (on Nevada database for possession of meth and stolen car); two rapes are linked together by DNA.
· Wisconsin – Identification of a 1998 rapist (match with Illinois); charges in 1990 sexual assault and murder.
POLICY AND FUNDING ISSUES:
Expansion – South Dakota has passed legislation for all felony arrests – it is pending the Governor’s signature. 20 other states have introduced arrestee testing bills which are in various stages of consideration. Of note, bills in South Carolina and Michigan have passed the first chamber. In two other states – Maryland and Connecticut – the Governor proposed the legislation. New York’s Governor wants DNA testing of all convicted criminals (including misdemeanants), and the New York City Mayor has called for all arrestee testing. Illinois will be implementing a new requirement for DNA samples from homicide victims.
Funding – A bill to reauthorize the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog grants has been introduced in Congress. WashingtonState received funding for DNA Stranger Rape Program (30 day turnaround required). Cold case squads are being reduced or eliminated nationwide due to funding cuts.
Backlog – A Nevada county pleaded for donations to reduce their DNA backlog in the wake of a hunt for a serial rapist.
LEGAL ISSUES: The California Court of Appeals upholds a retroactive requirement to require DNA from registered sex offenders, regardless of conviction date.
OTHER FORENSIC DNA ISSUES:
· DNA evidence exonerates wrongfully convicted inmates in Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Montana, and Louisiana. Another man has now been implicated in the Indiana case.
· Virginia will not provide unsolicited notification to inmates in cases where old DNA evidence has been located.
· Ohio’s post conviction DNA testing program is criticized as being ignored.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
· The UK is soliciting public comment on its DNA database.
· Malaysia is considering database legislation, and Ireland is drafting legislation to allow international sharing of its database. An Australian state solved 300 cold cases in the last year with DNA.
· Australia – A cold hit led to a guilty plea for a 1997 rape.
· Canada – a cold hit led to a 1994 murder conviction.
· Germany – DNA from a piece of salami identifies serial burglar.
· Japan – DNA evidence identifies a suspected serial rapist (up to 50 rapes).
· United Kingdom – DNA collected from dentures identifies burglar; a cold hit identifies rapist in 1994 case; cold hits identify two rapists (both on database for motoring charges); DNA identifies a persistent burglar (from discarded bottles and cigarettes).
NEWS ARTICLES:
1. “Database will hold homicide victim data.” Chicago Tribune. December 31, 2007.
In Illinois, a new law taking effect in June requires blood samples of all homicide victims to be entered into the state’s growing DNA database. Authorities hope the measure will help solve cold cases. If effective, the law may be expanded to include victims of other causes, including car accidents, suicides and heart attacks. A similar law was passed by Louisiana several years ago and has been instrumental in clearing cold cases.
2. “A Maryland rape suspect was arrested in Louisiana.” Daily Record. December 28, 2007. In Maryland, a match in the DNA database linked a man to the 1999 rape of a woman. The man was in prison on a burglary conviction when his DNA was collected and matched to the rape. Police say the man entered the woman’s home, raped her and shocked her with a cattle prod. The man is now in custody after first being mistakenly released back in November.
3. “DNA inquiry led to rape suspect 13 years after attack.” Daily Post. December 14, 2007. In Liverpool, United Kingdom, police matched a DNA sample from a 13-year-old rape case to a man with previous rape charges using the national DNA database. In 1994, the man allegedly raped the 38-year-old victim after conversing with her at a bar for many hours. The woman reported the rape immediately and submitted samples that were then entered into the database. The sample was retrieved from a storage freezer as part of Operation Advance.
4. “Lawyers say DNA testing clears another DallasCounty inmate.” AP Alert. January 3, 2008. In Dallas, Texas, DNA evidence and the efforts of the Innocence Project freed a man who was given a life sentence in 1981 for raping a woman. He has served more than 26 years in prison, making him the longest-serving inmate in Texas to be freed by DNA evidence.
5. “Supreme Court upholds death sentence in elderly woman’s slaying.” AP Alert. January 3, 2008. In Columbus, Ohio, DNA evidence leads to a death sentence for the stabbing murder of an 86 year old woman in 2000. The murder remained unsolved for four years before a match was made in the DNA database in 2004. The killer was serving a sentence in a Florida prison for aggravated robbery when the match was made. The Supreme Court recently upheld the death sentence.
6. “Suspected rapist pleads not guilty.” San MateoCountyTimes. January 3, 2008. In Redwood City, California, DNA evidence from a rape late last year was matched using the state’s DNA database to a man who was on file from a previous conviction of sexual assault. The man is now on trial and is pleading not guilty to the multiple charges involved in the crime. He allegedly held a knife to the woman’s throat, tied her up, duct-taped her face, and then raped her.
7. “Chicken bones traced to burglary suspect.” The Times. January 6, 2008. In Kansas City, Missouri, DNA evidence left on chicken bones at a burglary scene have now been matched with a man who was already serving time in a Kansas jail on an unrelated crime using the national DNA database. Investigators at the scene found chewed-up chicken scattered around the residence - leftovers authorities believe were stolen from a refrigerator at the earlier burglary. The suspect had stolen firearms from several different residences. He has 16 prior felony convictions for second-degree burglary, stealing, tampering, receiving stolen property, automobile theft and resisting arrest.
8. “DNA evidence links man to stabbing deaths of mother and toddler.” San Jose Mercury News. January 5, 2008. In San Jose, California, the state DNA database matched blood collected at the murder scene of a mother and her two-year-old son with a man suspected of being their killer. In 1991, the mother and son were stabbed to death in their apartment. Sixteen years later, their alleged attacker is now facing double homicide charges. He was not a suspect back in 1991, police said, or ever on anyone’s investigative radar. The victim’s boyfriend was a suspect for a while, but the DNA did not match him.
9. “Snared by false teeth.” St Helens Reporter. January 4, 2008. In the United Kingdom, DNA evidence from dentures left at the crime scene identified a burglar who broke into a woman’s home wielding a metal bar. Four false teeth were found on the stairs of one of the burglarized residences, and matched to the suspect. The man pled guilty to burglarizing not only that home, but also another home on the same evening.
10. “Man in Japan accused of at least 50 rapes.” Agence France Presse. January 7, 2008. In Tokyo, Japan, DNA evidence led to the arrest of a man who is suspected of at least 50 sexual assaults and 300 thefts. The man was first arrested for allegedly breaking into a home and stealing cash. DNA evidence then connected him to a 2001 rape and made him a suspect in many other crimes.
11. “DNA helps jail rapist.” Gold Coast Bulletin. January 8, 2008. In Australia, a DNA match made on the national database linked a man who was in custody on another matter to a 10-year-old rape case. The victim was raped at knife point in 1997. The man claimed he had no memory of the night but pleaded guilty because of the DNA evidence against him.
12. “Man pleads guilty to brutal rape in Dogtown.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 8, 2008. In Missouri, a cold hit leads to a guilty plea in the rape and baseball bat beating of a woman in her home in 2002. The man was arrested in 2005 when DNA collected at the crime scene matched a sample he had submitted to the statewide database for second-degree burglary and attempted burglary convictions. A drifter found near the crime scene confessed to the attack but was released after his DNA did not match semen found at the scene. He also has been convicted of tampering with a motor vehicle and fraudulent use of a credit device.
13. “Busted in ’94 rape.” Daily News. January 7, 2008. In New York, a cold hit on the statewide database led to an arrest for a 1994 rape and burglary. Before the suspect was released on parole after serving time for a drug sale, he was required to submit a DNA sample to the database. His sample matched the 1994 rape of a woman who had solicited his help to carry an artificial Christmas tree into her apartment. A “John Doe” warrant had been filed in 2003 in order to toll the statute of limitations in this case until a match was made on the database.
14. “Man charged in piggy bank burglary.” Charleston Gazette. January 5, 2008. In Sheboygan, Wisconsin, DNA evidence identified a man who snuck into a toddler’s bedroom and stole $20 from the two-year-old’s piggy bank. DNA from blood found on a window blind where the burglar had forced his way into the home matched the suspect who is now going to trial for the felony burglary.
15. “Monster rapist gets 69 years for ’01 attack.” New York Daily News. January 9, 2008. In Brooklyn, New York, DNA evidence collected from the victim’s breast led to the sentencing of a man for raping a woman at knifepoint in front of her son. A DNA match made through the DNA database identified the attacker from the 2001 attack. The man wore a ski mask and a condom, and was otherwise unidentifiable by either the victim or her son.
16. “DNA Database ‘key tool’ in fight against crime.” PA News. January 9, 2008. In the United Kingdom, the Government is seeking the public ’s view on whether keeping DNA profiles of victims and suspects who are not charged or are later cleared is justified in the fight against crime. The results will be added to a report to the Government on the forensic use of DNA. Last year the Home Office described the National DNA Database as a “key intelligence tool” which on average provided the police with around 3,000 matches each month for a range of offences. Police in England and Wales can take a DNA sample from anyone arrested or detained on suspicion of offences from serious crimes to begging or poaching.
17. “DNA evidence leads to closing of a cold case in Missouri City.” Houston Chronicle. January 3, 2008. In Texas, a cold hit solved a 1994 attempted murder of a Missouri City veterinary clinic receptionist. DNA collected from the crime scene thirteen years ago was matched with a former Arizona prison guard’s DNA sample that was collected in 2002 when he served time for armed robbery charges. The man pled guilty and was sentenced to 47 years for attempted murder. It wasn’t until 2003 that Utah prison authorities routinely took a DNA sample from the man, after he was sent there to serve his Arizona sentence. Local police said Utah’s backlog in uploading samples to the federal DNA database meant Missouri City detectives did not receive word of a match until September 2005.
18. “DNA sample links West side man to rape.” Albuquerque Journal. January 10, 2008. In New Mexico, a cold hit led to the charging of a man for four counts of criminal sexual penetration. DNA collected from a condom at the crime scene of a rape in August 2007 was run through the DNA database, identifying the attacker. The man was already in custody on unrelated charges when the DNA match was made; he has an extensive history of criminal charges including kidnapping, several aggravated batteries, intimidation of a witness, child abuse, abandonment of a child, and assault to commit a violent felony.
19. “Ex-inmate in US freed by DNA tests after 23 years to get millions.” AP Alert. January 10, 2008. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an inmate on death row for murder and rape charges was exonerated by DNA tests after spending 23 years in prison. The DNA test showed that the DNA found under the victim’s fingernails, on her undergarments, and in a pair of gloves, belonged to someone else. The now freed man has been awarded a multi-million dollar settlement.
20. “Inquiry announced into police DNA database.” Birmingham Post. January 10, 2008. In the United Kingdom, a Black Country Minister has announced an inquiry into the national police DNA database. The inquiry focuses on the way DNA records are archived to fight crime. The inquiry’s conclusions, to be published this spring, will feed into the commission’s report to the Government on forensic use of DNA. The system is accused of disproportionately targeting ethnic minorities and retaining details of too many innocent people.
