DNA upon conviction
New York Governor David Paterson announced that he is submitting legislation that will require everyone convicted of a penal law crime to provide a DNA sample.
Currently, New York state only requires DNA collection after a judge convicts a suspect of any felony crime or 18 specified misdemeanors. Once the DNA sample is collected, the information goes into a statewide DNA databank that connects to a national databank. The statewide databank contains two types of samples: forensic DNA samples taken from a crime scene and samples taken from criminals after a conviction.
DNA is a powerful tool that has the potential to solve decade old cold cases. A former Brooklyn resident, now accused of raping and strangling three women in a New York suburb 21 years ago, was never even suspected until he submitted a DNA sample after a drunken-driving arrest last year. Francisco Acevedo was indicted in April 2010 on six counts of murder, three of which also allege rape. He pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole.
New York Senator Klein’s proposed bill would also help catch repeat offenders quicker, supporters say. According to New York’s DCJS, on average, offenders linked to crimes on the DNA databank had approximately 11 prior arrests and five prior convictions. Eighty-three percent of offenders linked to sexual assault cases were in the state’s DNA databank for a crime other than a sex-related offense. Under Klein’s bill, should an individual not be convicted, they could request the purging of their DNA sample from the database.
Read more here.
Categories: Forensics, News: Cold Cases, Unsolved
Tags: Actual Innocence, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, New York, Police, Victim