Report: Prosecutors charging DNA evidence with crimes

Given a crime scene likely has DNA from many folks who have been there beforehand, it seems this net will draw in many folks who have nothing to do with whatever crime was committed there. But, prosecutors simply do not care. ACLU should be jumping on this one!

2-27-2010 National:

In their effort to beat the statutes of limitations that prevent people from being charged with a crime after a certain amount of time has passed, prosecutors in some parts of the US are trying a new tactic: They're charging half-eaten food, saliva-crusted glasses or other inanimate objects with the crime.

That's because prosecutors now have DNA evidence as a way to get around statutes of limitations. One way to make sure a criminal doesn't get away by hiding long enough is to simply charge the DNA itself, and wait until the DNA is matched to an actual person.

Laura Bauer of the Kansas City Star reported Monday that prosecutors "in a few pockets of the country" have begun issuing "John Doe" arrest warrants that identify only a person's unique DNA signature. Once the arrest warrant on the DNA is in place, the statute of limitations on the applicable crime will no longer run out. Bauer reports:

Since 2002, Jackson County [Missouri] prosecutors have filed 28 John Doe complaints....

Whenever a burglary, robbery or vandalism with DNA evidence is nearing its statute of limitation, police alert [prosecutor Ted] Hunt’s office, and prosecutors file a no-name charge.

By filing these complaints, and charging the DNA instead of a named suspect, prosecutors put cases on hold until they know whose genetic fingerprint they charged. These cases otherwise wouldn’t be solved within the statute of limitations, and the suspects would be let off scot-free.

But it may be more than "a few pockets of the country" that are trying out this technique. According to the Web site of the district attorney for Denver, Colorado, "John Doe" DNA warrants have been used at least in California, Colorado, Kansas, New York and Wisconsin.

“We may have 2 1/2 years left" on the statue of limitations, Denver District Attorney Mitchell Morrissey told the KC Star. "It doesn’t matter, we file the case. ... We freeze everything in place. … Otherwise, the bad guy gets away.”

Last month, the Supreme Court of California ruled that no-name warrants based on DNA evidence are allowed under state laws. According to Kelly Lowenberg at the Stanford Law School blog, the court ruled that DNA-based warrants are specific enough to be constitutional, and that they do "stop the clock running" on statutes of limitations.

But while this new crime-fighting technique may be useful to prosecutors, it raises questions about the relevance of statutes of limitations on crimes in the age of DNA. Defense attorneys argue that statues of limitations exist for a reason -- if a person is charged with a crime after too long a period, it may be difficult to defend against the charges. "People’s memories fade" and "witnesses move and can’t be found," Bauer reports at the KC Star.

“If a defendant in a property crime is arrested 20 years after the fact, based on his DNA, he’s not able to defend himself effectively,” Kansas City defense attorney J.R. Hobbs told the KC Star.

And the likelihood of the long arm of the law reaching even further grows as DNA databases in the US and around the world expand.

Last year, the FBI announced it would start collecting DNA samples from people who weren't charged with a crime. Thus far, only people charged with an offense had their DNA taken. It's estimated that the FBI's database will grow at a rate of 1.2 million DNA profiles per year from now on, compared to a growth rate of about 80,000 per year prior to the new policy. The FBI already has an estimated 6.7 million DNA profiles on record.

Some civil rights advocates worry about the implications to privacy and personal freedom from a growing reliance among governments on DNA evidence. For instance, in the United Kingdom it was alleged last year that police forces were randomly arresting people simply to get their DNA on to the books. Some accused British police forces of racial profiling in that effort, noting that three-quarters of Britain's black males under the age of 35 are now on the DNA database.

The KC Star's Bauer notes that DNA is now being used in a much wider array of criminal investigations than has been the case in the past. While DNA testing was usually reserved for murder and rape investigations, its easy availability today means it is being used in robbery and even vandalism cases.

Denver police are so aggressive that they worked on a case in which a car window was broken and just $1.40 in coins were stolen.

A drop of blood was found on a car seat. When no match came up in the database, they went even further, checking for near-matches in what’s called a “familial DNA” search.

The name of a convicted felon came up. In the end, the felon’s brother was arrested.

..Source.. Daniel Tencer

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TX- 10 years out of cell, he’s still not free

4-4-2009 Texas:

Convicted of child rape in ’81, former inmate wants DNA to clear his name

Donald R. Burke III, 61, a convicted child rapist and registered sex offender, has spent half his life trying to clear his name through a DNA test.

The evidence samples, now nearly 30 years old, wait at a local lab. No innocence claim locally is as old as Burke’s, who served 18 years and was released from prison a decade ago.

But his long legal struggle, plagued by delay, misinformation and poverty already got one unexpected result: It moved Harris County judges this month to revamp the way they handle all DNA retest requests, dozens of which are making their way through the system.

“I am alone because I wear an “X” on my back,” Burke said recently. “I won’t get my life back until this false conviction is removed.”


After reviewing Burke’s case this year, Harris County Judge Randy Roll became convinced that DNA retest review should be streamlined and lawyers assigned such cases should have demonstrated expertise. At his urging, Harris County judges approved the changes this month. Nationally, a recent wave of DNA retests have resulted in the exoneration of dozens of convicts, including some in Texas.

In 1980, a teenage girl spotted Burke standing with his wife on a city street and, in a horrifying rush of recognition, became convinced that he was the man who had raped her more than a year before.

Burke recognized the girl too — as a waitress who had taken his orders at a Bellaire cafe. The prosecution in 1981 was based almost entirely on her testimony, court records show.

The victim’s mother, who still lives in the Houston area, said her daughter never doubted Burke was her attacker. After the attack, she said she immediately took her daughter to a hospital, where physical evidence was collected.

The evidence went untested and was not formally presented at trial, records show. Nor did the judge, now dead, permit the jury to hear testimony from an expert witness who theorized the girl could have confused a customer’s face with her rapist’s due to trauma and passage of time.

Burke claimed innocence, but 12 jurors found him guilty and gave him a 50-year sentence.

Released in 1999, Donald Burke has never been convicted of another crime. But as a registered sex offender, he has long been unemployed.

In 2000, he first wrote to a Harris County judge to request a DNA test. In 2004, his request was denied.

Sworn statements signed in 2001 indicated the evidence no longer existed.

In January, Burke tried again and Judge Roll consented. It turned out sworn statements claiming there was no evidence, were wrong. Evidence did exist in hairs collected from the victim’s panties in 1979.

Today, they are the key to Burke’s 30-year campaign to clear his name. ..News Source.. by LISE OLSEN

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ID- Idaho lab develops a quicker way to catch a thief - The New DNA

4-29-2008 Idaho

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Federal researchers say they've developed a human identification test that's faster and possibly cheaper than DNA testing. It would be a handy new weapon in the arsenal for detectives, forensic experts and the military, though no one expects it to replace DNA analysis — and its promoters say it is not intended to.

The new method analyzes antibodies. Each person has a unique antibody bar code that can be gleaned from blood, saliva or other bodily fluids. Antibodies are proteins used by the body to fend off viruses or perform routine physiological housekeeping.

"DNA is a physical code that describes you ... and in many ways so are your antibodies," said Dr. Vicki Thompson, a chemical engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory who's been working with other researchers to perfect the test for the past 10 years.

The scientists say an antibody profile can yield results faster and more cheaply and be performed in the field with minimal training. National lab administrators have licensed the technology exclusively to Identity Sciences LLC in Alpharetta, Ga.

The Georgia startup plans to begin rolling out test kits and training to law enforcement, the military and forensic and medical labs around the globe by fall of 2009. Ken Haas, vice president of marketing, says the test is not intended to supplant DNA testing, the recognized gold standard in human identification.

But Haas says the value of antibody profiling is as a screening tool to help make sense of a crime scene, sort out the blood trails or spatter from multiple victims or more quickly identify body parts on a battlefield or at the scene of a disaster like the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

It may also reduce the number of DNA tests required in an investigation, potentially saving time and money and easing the growing backlog, he said. Results from tests on blood serum or dried blood can be ready in two hours, a fraction of the time it takes to run similar tests for DNA matches.

However, a major drawback for now is the lack of a national antibody database. That's one of the reasons antibody testing is not likely to be used at the outset of an investigation to link suspects to crimes or establish probable cause to justify issuing an arrest warrant.

Company officials say beta testing by forensic scientists at simulated crime scenes at seven locations across the country has produced positive results and reinforced the notion that an eager market awaits. The company declined to say where the testing occurred, citing nondisclosure agreements with participants.

The company has not yet put a price tag on the field kits. But executives say their product will be significantly cheaper than DNA analysis, which can run anywhere from $500 to $3,000 per sample because it requires sophisticated equipment and lab time.

"We don't see this yet as a product to take to court," said Gene Venesky, vice president of Identity Sciences. "But we do see this as a way to get the case moving forward toward a final, legal resolution."

Still, some forensics experts say that kind of scrutiny may be unavoidable, especially if the test takes on a bigger crime-fighting role.

"There is a lot of potential here," said Lawrence Kobilinsky, a DNA expert and chairman of the Department of Forensic Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "Any time you can develop a quick and easy screen for something ... that is a good thing."

But Kobilinsky and others caution that it takes time for any new forensic test to gain acceptance where it matters most — state and federal courthouses. If the new tests begin appearing in police reports, defense attorneys can be expected to challenge their validity.

"If these tests are going to get to the courtroom, which I think is inevitable, they are not going to be admissible as evidence until they can be proven reliable, accurate" and trustworthy, Kobilinsky said. "My bet is that a crime scene unit is going to be very careful about using this if it's not going to be of any benefit in litigation." ..more.. by TODD DVORAK

Idaho National Laboratory: http://www.inel.gov/

Identity Sciences: http://identitysciences.net

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