U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

Vermont Nets $576,047
To Reduce Untested DNA Backlog
…As Leahy’s Death Penalty Reform Package Progresses In Congress

(FRIDAY, September 24) – Vermont will receive $576,047 from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to help minimize its DNA caseload and promote use of the forensic tool in the state’s criminal justice system, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Friday.  

The funds represent Vermont’s share of a $95 million nationwide DNA grants initiative administered through DOJ, under an earlier program that Leahy had worked to enact.  The grants are offered to states to eliminate casework and convicted-offender backlogs; to improve crime lab capacity; to provide training for all stakeholders in the criminal justice system; and to conduct testing to identify the missing.    

“These funds will help Vermont’s crime fighters keep pace with the most advanced technology available today,” said Leahy, a former prosecutor.  “From our police departments to our courtrooms to our crime labs, DNA testing is revolutionizing law enforcement, and this miraculous forensic tool gives states like Vermont the opportunity to make their criminal justice systems better.”  

The announcement comes as Leahy’s own landmark DNA and death penalty reform package, authorizing much more funding to states for DNA testing, moves through Congress for final votes.    

Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Act of 2003, which Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the panel, coauthored with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the panel’s chairman.  The comprehensive legislation authorizes $1 billion to states over the next five years to help them keep up with the DNA revolution by providing training, equipment and grants to reduce backlogs of untested rape kits and other DNA evidence.   

Leahy’s provisions, which include elements of his Innocence Protection Act, go further to help prevent errors in capital cases from occurring by creating a grant program to appoint qualified defense attorneys in capital cases and improving access to post-conviction DNA testing.   

“We have shown that the death penalty system is broken and these mistakes carry a high personal and social price,” said Leahy, Congress’s leader in reforming the flaws in the death penalty process.  “They undermine the public’s confidence in our judicial system, they produce unbearable anguish for innocent people and their families and for the victims of these crimes, and they compromise public safety because for every wrongly convicted person, there is a real criminal who may still be roaming the streets.”   

Leahy introduced the first version of the Innocence Protection Act four years ago.  Since then he has built a broad, bipartisan coalition for the proposal, including both supporters and opponents of the death penalty.    

The Hatch-Leahy DNA bill including Leahy’s Innocence Protection Act is on the front burner of both the House and the Senate, awaiting final action in the remaining weeks of the congressional session.  

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The grants are as follows:  

Forensic DNA Research & Development: $214,629 to the Vermont Department of Public Safety: 

This project focuses on off-the-shelf hardware and modifications of software to develop an automated sperm search system.  The system would allow the analyst to load multiple slides into the device for unattended analysis.  Verification of the computer-identified sperm could be performed through the inspection of captured images or through a computer-driven directed review of the slide.  The system would consist of a microscope, a computer-driven stage that accepts multiple slides, a video system to import images into a computer, and software to drive the state and interpret images. 

DNA Capacity Enhancement Program Formula Grant Announcement: $71,286 to the Vermont Department of Public Safety: 

National Institute of Justice’s DNA Capacity Enhancement Program seeks to improve the infrastructure and analysis capacity of existing State and local crime labs that conduct DNA analysis, so they can process DNA samples efficiently and cost-effectively.  These improvements are critical to preventing future DNA backlogs and to helping the criminal justice system realize the full potential of DNA technology. 

Forensic Casework DNA Backlog Reduction Program Formula Grant Announcement: $49,728 to the Vermont Department of Public Safety: 

The Forensic Casework DNA Backlog Reduction Program provides formula funding to State and local governments with existing crime laboratories that conduct DNA analysis.  Funds are to be used by the crime labs to identify and test backlogged forensic DNA casework samples, whether in accredited or certified government-owned labs or through accredited or certified fee-for-service vendors.  Funding is allocated based on crime statistics (number of sexual assaults or homicides reported to the FBI). 

Forensic DNA Research & Development: $240,404 to the Vermont Department of Public Safety: 

The goal of this DNA Research & Development project is to develop real-time PCR (RT-PCR) based methods to determine the tissue source of biological evidence.  This will be accomplished by using RT-PCR to examine messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts that are specific for tissues of forensic importance.  This research will complement current FBI-funded research being performed by the University of Central Florida, and will focus on tissues including (but not limited to) blood, urine, brain and heart.     

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