Judiciary Committee Adds Kyl DNA Bill to Violence Against Women Act

Amendment Would Remove Barriers to Maintaining Data from Criminal Arrests WASHINGTON, D.C. - An amendment sponsored by U.S. Senator Jon Kyl that would improve the use of DNA to catch violent criminals was added to the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 today by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Approved on a voice vote, the amendment would remove barriers to maintaining data from criminal arrests and facilitate the creation of a comprehensive DNA database of those arrested on criminal charges. The impact of this legislation is more than speculative in terms of improving the ability of state and federal law enforcement to apprehend violent offenders and prevent violent crimes, Kyl said. We know from real life examples that a database of arrestees can prevent many future offenses. Originally introduced as the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005, Kyls amendment would remove current barriers to maintaining data from criminal arrestees, making it easier to include their DNA samples in the National DNA Index System (NDIS), where the samples can be compared with crime-scene evidence. Many serial predators have never had prior criminal convictions, but have been previously arrested, Kyl said. The only way we are likely to catch this kind of a person after his first major crime - as opposed to his tenth - is if states can maintain a comprehensive database of all arrestees. Co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who helped push it forward in committee, the amendment would: · Eliminate current federal statutory restrictions that prevent an arrestees DNA sample from being included in NDIS as soon as he is charged in a pleading. It also requires that defendants who are not ultimately convicted opt out if they want their samples removed from the national database, eliminating the bureaucratic burden of tracking the progress of individual criminal cases, which discourages states from building all-arrestee databases. · Expand the use of federal grants to allow the development of databases of arrestees as well as convicted felons. · Provide the U.S. Attorney General with the authority to develop regulations for collecting DNA samples from federal arrestees and detainees. · Extend the statute of limitations for federal sex offenses when DNA evidence is available, allowing a prosecution to go forward when a match is made to a perpetrator. A recent case study produced by the City of Chicago highlights the case of serial murderer and rapist Andre Crawford. In early 1993, Crawford was arrested for felony theft. Under the DNA Fingerprint Act, DNA could have been taken from him at that time and kept in NDIS. Because it was not, when Crawford murdered a 37-year-old woman in September 1993, although he left DNA at the scene, he could not be identified as the perpetrator. Over the next six years, Crawford went on to commit one rape and to murder ten more women between the ages of 24 and 44. If Crawfords DNA sample had been taken and kept in NDIS after his March 1993 arrest, he could have been identified and arrested after the September 1993 murder, and ten more murders and one rape would have been prevented. The Chicago study examines 7 other serial rapists, and concludes that 30 rapes and 22 murderers committed by these perpetrators could have been prevented by an all-arrestee database. Kyls amendment has been endorsed by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nations largest anti-sexual assault organization. Scott Berkowitz, its president and founder, has stated that: RAINN believes that the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 makes important changes to current law, and will significantly enhance law enforcements ability to identify and capture serial violent criminals. By making it easier to catch criminals, while still protecting the rights of the innocent, the Act will make our nation safer. Noting that the technological ability to run crime-scene fingerprints through a national database has become a critical tool for law enforcement, Kyl said, We now have the technology to use DNA even more effectively than fingerprints. Failure to take advantage of it would make no sense. Sen. Kyl serves on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees and chairs the Republican Policy Committee.