Preserving DNA evidence

Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

A sound criminal justice system is one in which the guilty are punished and the innocent are set free. That is a simple concept, but as we all know, it sometimes works in reverse — innocent individuals wind up in prison while offenders slip through the cracks, go back to the streets and commit more crimes.

To make cases as airtight as possible, law enforcement agencies should use every tool available to solve crimes and ensure justice is served. One of those tools is DNA testing, which gives examiners a genetic footprint to study various pieces of evidence, including blood, semen, saliva, hair and skin.

There are now 25 states that enforce requirements to preserve DNA evidence, providing better opportunities to solve cold cases. Regrettably, Nevada is not one of those states, according to a survey compiled by the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic affiliated with Yeshiva University in New York City.

Death row inmates in Nevada may request post-conviction DNA testing in the district courts where they were convicted, but state law is otherwise silent on preservation of DNA evidence, the clinic reported. As a matter of human rights, this issue deserves the attention of the 2009 Nevada Legislature.

The Innocence Project, whose board members include former Attorney General Janet Reno and author John Grisham, stated on its Web site that 218 individuals in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 16 who served time on death row. But DNA testing cuts both ways because it can also help identify the perpetrators of crimes such as murder and rape.

It is a waste of taxpayers’ money to house the wrong inmates, just as it is inexcusable to allow offenders to get off the hook and prey on additional victims. These are reasons enough for Nevada lawmakers to devise a way to preserve DNA evidence in this state. We must take full advantage of all crime-fighting tools at our disposal.