Should DOJ Grants be Available to Process the DNA Evidence Backlog Faster? (H.R. 4854)

What is H.R. 4854?

(Updated April 5, 2019)

This bill was enacted on October 9, 2018

This bill would allow funds from the Dept. of Justice’s (DOJ) Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to be used for increasing the capacity of prosecutors to address the backlog of violent crime cases involving suspects identified through DNA evidence. It would require the DOJ to allocate a specified percentage of grant funds for DNA backlog clearance efforts.

Additionally, out of budgets for FY2019-2022 allocated to DNA analysis, capacity enhancement programs, and other forensic activities, the DOJ would have to allocate at least 5% for grants to prosecute violent crimes where suspects have been identified through DNA evidence.

Argument in favor

DNA testing to clear evidence backlogs is an important effort to ensure cases are closed, justice is served, and victims and their families receive closure. This bill would help police departments process the backlog of DNA evidence and solve cases that were impossible to close otherwise.

Argument opposed

Testing DNA evidence is relatively expensive and while grant funding may help there will still be a significant cost burden on local police departments to process the evidence and build cases against suspects identified by the evidence.

Impact

Victims of crime; local police; local prosecutors; and the Department of Justice.

Cost of H.R. 4854

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Congressman John Carter (R-TX) introduced this bill to make more grant funding available to police departments and prosecutors as they process the backlog of DNA evidence:

“Since 2004, Congress has appropriated $1.5 billion to help reduce the backlog of DNA rape kits. This bill paves the way for state prosecutors to bring these criminals to justice. The Debbie Smith Act provides crucial funding to reduce the DNA rape kit backlog but does not address the shifting backlog created in the prosecution  pipeline.  Prosecutors do not have the funds to reopen every case, even when DNA analysis has identified a suspect. The Justice Served Act will provide prosecutors with the resources and funds to reopen, investigate, and close cold cases.”

This bill has the support of 11 bipartisan cosponsors including six Republicans and six Democrats and has support from the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and Debbie Smith.

Of Note: Rape kit testing impact is immense from a numbers perspective. In Detroit, testing 11,000 untested rape kits revealed 817 serial rapists; extrapolating out on a nationwide level, there are likely close to 29,000 repeat rapists whose identities are in rape kit evidence across the country. The victim impact is staggering: of the 817 serial rapists found in Detroit, over 50 had 10-15 victims apiece, working out to over 500 victims. In California, which has a DNA database of over 200,000 people (the largest of any state), the cold case closure rate is one per day.

Evidence testing is not cheap: rape kits cost $490 to process, traditional DNA tests cost $500 per sample, rapid DNA tests cost $235-350 per sample, and some other evidence types (such as DNA from semen, blood, bone, tooth, etc) can cost of $1,000 per sample. Additionally, the cost of testing alone is often not the only cost associated with clearing crimes via DNA evidence. Private labs charge fees for depositions, expert witness testimony, case file review, consultations, sample collection, and other necessary inputs for building cases. Public agencies, such as local police departments, also incur significant costs to clear cold cases, mostly in the form of significant manhours.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. John Carter (R-TX) Request for Cosponsors