60 death row inmates reviewed for DNA tests

Kim Smith

Tuesday, July 10, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

The Clark County district attorney's office is reviewing the cases of about 60 death row inmates to determine whether DNA testing should be done to ensure justice was served.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Lynn Robinson said she suggested the review after learning in April of a similar program that has been implemented by the San Diego County district attorney's office.

"We want everyone to have confidence in the process, especially given what (U.S. Supreme Court) Justice (Sandra Day) O'Connor has been saying recently," Robinson said. "Everyone should feel that when we go after the death penalty that it's not a cavalier thing, that we have all of our ducks in a row."

In a speech last week, O'Connor said that "serious questions are being raised" about the administration of the death penalty and suggested that innocent people may have been executed.

O'Connor said 90 death row inmates have been exonerated by new evidence since 1973, commenting "the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed."

Robinson said two-thirds of the state's death row inmates were convicted in Clark County, and it will be those cases that will be reviewed.

Metro's crime lab began DNA analysis in 1997. Prior to that such testing was only done sporadically, Robinson said. As a result, many defendants on death row were convicted prior to the advent of DNA testing.

Law clerks, interns or volunteer law students will be asked to look for those cases in which untested biological evidence still exists and whether current DNA technology could exonerate the defendant.

If any such cases are found, Robinson said she will be responsible for making an independent analysis of the case.

Should DNA testing appear warranted, the evidence will be given to Metro's crime lab for analysis.

Although 60 cases may seem minimal, Robinson said the program is an immense undertaking.

Those reviewing the cases must dig through boxes of evidence, court documents and trial transcripts and take detailed notes on each.

Robinson said she has one intern working on the project with her. She hopes to get more help in the fall.

The intern is in the process of reviewing the first case. They decided to began with the older cases, Robinson said.

Robinson hopes the project will be so successful it can be expanded to include other cases in which DNA could play a role -- such as sexual assaults.

But funding could be an issue, as it's unclear who would pay for the DNA analysis should any cases be found that warrant it, Robinson said.

Although San Diego County has hired people to participate in its program, Robinson said she and the intern are reviewing the cases as part of their normal duties.

Their cause is just, though, and Robinson said she is confident that, between Metro Police and the district attorney's office, the costs of the tests will be covered.

Berch Henry, forensic DNA laboratory manager for Metro, said the cost of a single DNA test is $350.

The number of tests required per case depends on the other available evidence, Henry said. If DNA is considered a key factor, more samples are tested than the one or two typically analyzed.

Henry said he is behind the project.

"Our mission is to be impartial, but we've always believed that in cases involving the death penalty that everything that can be done should be done," Henry said.

Someone who is slightly less enthusiastic about the project is Michael Pescetta, an assistant federal public defender who handles appeals for many death row inmates.

"Perhaps it's excessively cynical of me, but I think it's something they're doing to make themselves look good," Pescetta said. "Since everyone in the country is focused on the issue, I think the district attorneys are making a stab at getting some decent press out of this."

Though DNA testing is a worthwhile project, Pescetta said Clark County's district attorneys should start fulfilling their basic obligations.

Several cases have been overturned lately because the prosecutors didn't provide defense attorneys evidence that showed the defendants in a favorable light or that could have helped exonerate them, Pescetta said.

Lisa Weinreb, a deputy district attorney in San Diego County, said her office last year began to review the cases of all inmates sent to prison prior to 1992.

"It was a no-brainer really," Weinreb said. "It is our job to find out the truth, so why not look at the cases before someone requires us to?"

Although her county is the first in the nation to undertake such a project, many others, including Travis County, Texas, have started their own, Weinreb said.

In fact, some officials believe that a federal mandate may not be that far in the future, Weinreb said.

Of the 370 cases reviewed so far, her office has found three cases in which they believe DNA testing should be completed to ensure that justice has been served, Weinreb said.

In one of the cases, the inmate refused the testing, leading prosecutors to believe the inmate knows he is guilty, Weinreb said. A second inmate hasn't made up his mind, and there isn't sufficient biological evidence remaining to test in the third case.

Weinreb said she hopes to finish reviewing cases by October, though some are slower than others because the evidence is hard to track down.

Other times, the evidence no longer exists.

California lawmakers are considering legislation that would require evidence seized in homicides and sexual assault cases be kept forever, Weinreb said.

"I think that's a good idea," Weinreb said. "Technology is already advancing beyond our imagination, and DNA technology is unbelieveable. Who knows what we'll be able to tell 20 years from now?"