New Report: The Problems Surrounding Post-Conviction DNA Testing Policies and Procedures
by John F. Terzano, President of The Justice Project, a nonpartisan organization that works to increase fairness and accuracy in the criminal justice system, with a focus on the capital punishment system
Last week, The Justice Project released Increasing Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing: A Policy Review. This policy review explains the problems surrounding post-conviction DNA testing policies and procedures and identifies the best practices for states to adopt to ensure that post-conviction DNA testing contributes to a more accurate criminal justice system and restores public confidence in the system's ability to correct its own errors.
To date, more than 200 people -- including 16 who were sentenced to death -- have been proven innocent by DNA testing. In many of those cases, the same DNA test helped bring the real perpetrators to justice.
But seven states -- Alabama, Alaska, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota and Oklahoma -- don't even have laws on the books allowing for post-conviction DNA testing. And those that do have laws fall short of what is needed to ensure that DNA testing can be used effectively to correct the injustice of wrongful conviction.
All but 12 states and the District of Columbia lack statutes requiring the preservation of evidence throughout an inmate's incarceration. An investigative series this year by The Columbus Dispatch found that "evidence had been lost or destroyed nearly two-thirds of the time that prosecutors agreed to search for it because Ohio does not require evidence to be catalogued and saved." States should require the preservation of biological evidence throughout a defendant's sentence and devise standards regarding the custody of evidence.
States should also ensure that all inmates with a DNA-based innocence claim may petition for DNA testing at any time without regard to plea, confession, self-implication, the nature of the crime, or previous unfavorable test results. Nearly a dozen of the more than 200 DNA exonerees initially plead guilty, and 50 purportedly confessed to crimes they did not commit. And because DNA testing technology continues to improve, a defendant's right to request testing must not be subject to time limitations. If new technology develops that might change the outcome of a test, the test should be performed.
The complexity of the petitioning process also creates an unreasonable burden for a wrongfully convicted person who needs DNA testing to prove his or her innocence. The steps involved in obtaining DNA testing are difficult even for experienced advocates. That's why states should provide counsel and cover the cost of post-conviction DNA testing for indigent petitioners.
These are just a few of the steps that need to be taken. As with any good policy, the benefits of post-conviction DNA testing statutes outweigh the costs. While improving access to post-conviction DNA testing will require states to incur some initial costs, those costs are minimal and could end up saving states money in the long run.
The federal government recognized the importance of post-conviction DNA testing with the passage of the Innocence Protection Act (IPA) in 2004. The IPA includes the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program, which authorizes $25 million over five years to help states defray the cost of post-conviction DNA testing. The program is named for Kirk Noble Bloodsworth, the first person sentenced to death to be exonerated by DNA evidence.
In Bloodsworth's case, the DNA test results not only proved that he did not sexually assault and murder nine-year-old Dawn Hamilton, they also identified the real perpetrator who then confessed to the crime. But it took another series of miracles for that to happen. It was only through a chance encounter that Bloodsworth's attorney learned that the trial judge had kept some of the evidence in a cardboard box in his chambers. And the attorney paid for the testing out of his own pocket.
Our criminal justice system is too fraught with error to rely on miracles to find the truth. Post-conviction DNA testing serves the interests of fairness, accuracy and public confidence in the criminal justice system, and states should make every effort to facilitate testing for defendants claiming innocence.
Written By:Joe On August 21, 2008 11:26 AM Written By:kay sieverding On August 24, 2008 10:39 PM
I read about dogs that got DNA testing to prove they weren't the dog that bit the deer. Guess they were rich dogs.
One thing that is really really strange though is that the ABA law blog had an article about DNA testing by the U.S. attorney in S. California. Apparently, they did a huge computer run and compared all the DNA in their possession. Apparently they found that in their records they had 121 pairs of individuals whose DNA records of file totally matched and these people weren't even related. Some of the pairs were different races.
I think they should make it easy for prisoners to challenge their convictions and that they should be able to do so thru computers put in the jails. I was put in jail without even being convicted of anything at all and without a trial or evidentiary hearing or statement that I committed contempt in the presence of the court. While I was there I tried to learn about criminal justice and I thought that very few of the women I met were truly criminal in terms of having criminal intent and some of them I think absolutely broke no law at all. Most of them were there because the people around them were doing drugs.
One woman I met was only accused, by her ex boyfriend, of theft but there was no evidence to show that he had even been robbed or connecting her to any of his possessions. She got almost 6 months just because she couldn't come up with bail. Her bail was $10,000. Then she plea bargained to time served because her public defender said she would get convicted because she couldn't make bail. Her relatives were just poor. You can't put up a car or any possessions for bail if you are out of state.
John F. Terzano, President of The Justice Project, writes:
"...States should also ensure that all inmates with a DNA-based innocence claim may petition for DNA testing at any time without regard to plea, confession, self-implication, the nature of the crime, or previous unfavorable test results...."
Clearly, society should not endure DNA testing if the defendant cannot show a basis: that is, if there is no DNA issue. The defendant has a burden of going forward with the evidence; that is, a good faith showing of a DNA issue.
The big court, U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled that a defendant is entitled to DNA as shown by the article, and the survey of states' laws.
There are a lot of innocent people wrongfully convicted of various crimes. A lot of these problems occur with faulty identification procedures. Police know how to manipulate a photo line up to get witnesses to pick a particular individual. Cross racial identification is another problem. When the prosecutors asks the victim, and do you see that person in the court room? Of course he or she is going to pick the person sitting next to the lawyer. And finally, coerced confessions. The coerced false confessions and faulty ID procedures help convict a lot of innocent people. DNA testing is critical toward a fair administration of justice. I commend Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld directors of the innocence project at http://www.innocenceproject.org as well as those with the Justice Project for all their good work.
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The courts have to put forth the money and effort to ensure that anyone sentences to death, or life in prison, has DNA testing available for their defense (if applicable of course). How many others are sitting on death row who didn't do anything wrong?