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Sunday, August 23, 2009
Ind. Courts - "DNA backlogs increase in state" [Updated]
Jon Murray reports today in this story in the Indianapolis Star on DNA backlogs. A few months back, Murray reported on legislation that might have increased the backlogs even more. Here are the links: Feb. 17, 2009 - "Police want to add DNA from more people to database" plus follow-ups from April 20th and May 7th.
From today's story:
Waiting times for DNA test results that could prove crucial in criminal cases are growing in Marion County and across Indiana as crime labs grapple with an avalanche of evidence.[Updated 8/25/09] See also this earlier ILB entry, from July 6th, quoting a South Bend Tribune story: "Backlog of cases extends toxicology test results: Toxicology tests often take weeks, months to complete."Rising backlogs -- despite years of efforts to whittle them down -- haven't set off alarm bells yet, but Marion County has seen a handful of trials delayed. Prosecutors are waiting sometimes months longer for DNA results that could cinch a guilty plea or provide seemingly rock-solid proof to a jury.
Leaders at the state's two government-run crime labs say they have a handle on the problem and are hiring new analysts, investing in automation and leaning on private labs to take outsourced cases. * * *
The Indiana State Police's Laboratory Division, which handles testing for all other counties at its main lab in Indianapolis and three regional labs, routinely hit the six-week turnaround target a year ago. More recently, said Paul Misner, the biology section supervisor, turnaround for some cases has grown by several weeks.
The story at many labs across the country is the same, or worse.
Despite Congress' approval of nearly $500 million in grants since 2004 to help clear backlogs, at least 350,000 samples from murder and rape cases still await testing by federal, state or local labs, according to ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative reporting newsroom.
New laws have expanded a national database by mandating collection of DNA from convicts or even those arrested in some states, overloading many labs.
Indiana collects DNA from about 2,000 felony convicts each month, but the State Police outsources the job to Strand Analytical Laboratories in Indianapolis, easing the burden. A bill to expand collection to those arrested on felonies failed in this year's General Assembly because of cost concerns.
The larger problem -- or opportunity, as Medler sees it -- is that improvements in technology have made smaller biological samples from crime scenes potentially useful.
Often associated with sexual assaults or homicides, DNA evidence is now a growing factor in other investigations. Indianapolis police began an initiative two years ago to scour burglarized homes and businesses for potential DNA samples; using "touch DNA," analysts might be able to identify skin cells left behind on items a burglar touched.
Such work led to 11 hits in the offender database last year and six this year, Medler said, giving burglary detectives fresh leads in an area where few cases get solved.
Medler cited figures showing a large chunk of the current DNA backlog -- which stands at 136 cases in progress or waiting to start -- involves material gathered in burglary and firearms cases using recent DNA advances.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 23, 2009 11:59 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Law