DNA backlog comes under scrutiny

The number of innocent people who have been wrongly accused of crimes might decrease under an act that was first introduced in Congress in 2003.

The Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act, which is currently in committee, states that it is "a bill to eliminate the substantial backlog of DNA samples collected from crime scenes and convicted offenders, (and) to improve and expand the DNA testing capacity of federal, state and local crime laboratories."

It is now up to the states to allocate their funds to implement the new program.

In many states, a backlog of crime-related DNA existing without the technology or resources to examine that evidence often causes problems in determining the outcome of trials.

Kirk Bloodsworth, 39, served nine years in prison for the rape and murder of 9-year-old Dawn Hamilton, a crime he did not commit.

After spending nine years in prison, Bloodsworth was exonerated in 1992 when a DNA test conducted on a semen stain that was left on the girl's panties did not match his DNA sample.

Cases like these are not as uncommon as people might think.

David Siegel, professor of law at the New England School of Law, said that 25 percent to 30 percent of suspects are wrongfully accused of a crime.

"DNA weeds out suspects and provides access for the law enforcement agencies to find the real perpetrator," Siegel said.

The Bloodsworth-Hamilton case sparked the DNA technology act, and a similar act is active in North Carolina, though it needs more federal aid to be completely implemented.

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, said that this act is important to North Carolina because many women are raped and assaulted, and that the real perpetrators of these acts are never caught due to the backlog of DNA evidence.

Kinnaird also said people who have been wrongfully convicted will be given full representation.

She said that the backlog has hindered cases being solved in the past, and that people could be sent to jail due to a lack of DNA evidence.

"North Carolina will be a safer place for women if the perpetrators are off the street," she said.

At a national level, the act is receiving a lot of attention.

"It is inexcusable to continue to allow valuable DNA evidence to sit for years because of a lack of resources to conduct the necessary testing," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote in an e-mail.

Durbin was an original sponsor of the act.

"This legislation will be instrumental in helping state and local law enforcement agencies take full advantage of emerging technology to solve crimes and protect the innocent," he wrote.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a sponsor of the DNA bill, has placed a lot of emphasis on the act's importance. Leahy is the author of the Innocence Protection Act of 2003, which allows convicts the chance to prove their innocence through DNA testing.

On his Web site, Leahy notes that: "Another day, month or year might not seem like much on Capitol Hill, but just ask the Hamilton and Bloodsworth families about the toll that this broken system is taking, in suffering and injustice."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.