Saturday, 06 September 2008 08:02 pm
Breaking News..

California currently has a DNA database that is vital to catching and prosecuting criminals. DNA samples from felons and some non-felons can be entered into the database and the database searches for a match with DNA evidence collected at crime scenes. Matches found that link DNA obtained at a previous crime with a new DNA sample from a felon are referred to as “cold hits”. However, there is a backlog of over 200,000 DNA samples to be entered into the state’s database.

Existing law provides that most sex crimes must be prosecuted within ten years, but due to the backlog of DNA samples allows exceptions to the statute of limitations for cases in which a DNA sample is processed within two years of the crime and a “cold hit” is later discovered. However, the backlog of DNA samples continues to grow and current law is providing an inadvertent loophole that allows criminals to go free.

AB 718 allows a sex crime to be prosecuted if a criminal complaint is filed within one year of identifying a suspect through DNA testing, even if the DNA sample was not analyzed within two years of the crime. Victims of sex crimes deserve to have their attackers brought to justice if DNA can conclusively link the perpetrator to the crime.