Wednesday, September 28, 2005

DNA Results Will "Expire" in OH & FL

Guess ya better hope you're not innocent yet accused and convicted wrongly: From Oct 1 in both OH and FL prisoners will lose the right to petition DNA testing to prove their innocence. Also expiring is the DNA preservation law in FL, Gov Jeb has mandated only a 90 day notice requirement before destroying DNA evidence. 6 states in the country do not even have laws requiring the preservation of DNA evidence. CNN: Justice, it seems, has an expiration date. Luis Diaz last month became one of a handful of FL prisoners (and 1 of 99 nationwide) exonerated by DNA testing since 2000. But the 2001 statute that helped set him free after he spent 26 yrs in jail for rapes he did not commit is set to expire next wk. After Oct 1, prisoners can no longer petition FL & OH crts for post-conviction DNA testing, so their only hope will be to ask prosecutors (the people who put them in jail in the first place) to reopen their case. New hurdles could arise as a congressional bill threatens to restrict many prisoners from filing one last-ditch petition in fedrl crt. All these moves are designed to keep crts from getting deluged with DNA-related requests by thwarting new technology with red tape. Yeh... and it ensures that the Prison Industry (2 Million people are incarcerated in the US) chugs along to the tune of $40 billion per yr ($20K for every man, woman, & teen incarcerated in the US).
Posted by Tina :: 12:29 AM :: 4 Comments:

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