Networked Knowledge - Media Report

This version of the report has been prepared by: Dr Robert N Moles

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On 20 August 2008 Jon Craig of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported “Bill: Expand DNA testing”.

Columbus – he said Ohio would expand the use of DNA testing and better protect biological evidence from crime scenes under state legislation proposed today. State Sens. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, and David Goodman, R-New Albany, said they drafted the bill because too many wrongly accused suspects have been later proven innocent through DNA testing. “One innocent person behind bars is one too many,’’ Goodman said. “It is more important than ever that the means of proving actual innocence are preserved,’’ Seitz said at a Statehouse news conference.

Seitz said that law enforcement should welcome any new procedures that would help guarantee the guilty are truly guilty, while noting “most of these folks are indeed guilty. . . We are simply seeking to expand the use of widely available technology to make sure that that guilty will be convicted and the innocent exonerated. Our main concern is that justice be done.”

More than 500 inmates nationwide including seven in Ohio have been freed from prison after DNA evidence found they did could not have committed crimes as serious as rape and murder. The legislation, written with the help of nine University of Cincinnati law students, also proposes that DNA testing cover parolees and that all interrogations be videotaped after a suspect is read his or her Miranda rights. Also, police lineups or photo arrays would be “blind” so that the detectives could not give misleading cues to witnesses about prime suspects.  

Mark Godsey, a UC law professor and director of the Innocence Project, said videtaped interrogations are required in 10 other states and law enforcement officials have told him “it’s the best thing that’s been shoved down our throat.” Even so, Godsey acknowledged that dishonest police or prosecutors could still get around the new procedures by tampering with evidence or lineups.

Former Attorney General Jim Petro, who requested DNA testing for death row inmate David Steffen, said keeping innocent people in prison is costly. Steffen is now believed to be innocent of rape after it was determined a victim he was convicted of murdering was actually raped at the morgue by a Hamilton County employee. That case is pending. About 325 Ohio inmates have asked for DNA tests in the past five years. Each test costs an average of $2,000 but can run as high as $20,000 depending on the complexity of the test and condition of evidence.

John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said prosecutors generally support improved statewide standards but are still reviewing the parts of the bill that require videotaped interrogations, DNA testing for parolees and changes in lineup procedures. In 2003, Goodman sponsored Senate Bill 11, which established procedures for the DNA testing of inmates who pleaded not guilty to their crime.  

Also expressing his support for today’s legislative proposal was Robert McClendon, who in 1991 was wrongly convicted of abducting and raping a 10-year-old relative. After the trial, McClendon was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and spent 18 years behind bars before DNA testing proved his innocence. “When it comes to justice, DNA is a double edged sword,’’ McClendon said. “If you are guilty, it will cut you into prison and if you are innocent it will cut you out and give you back your freedom. It’s a sword that needs to be used more often.”

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