News Release
For Immediate Release
March 13, 2001
DNA Bills Clear Senate Judiciary Committee
HARRISBURG – The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a measure offered by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf to extend the statute of limitations in sexual assault cases to provide for the application of DNA evidence in the identification of a defendant.
Senate Bill 415 would require the preservation of all biological evidence and permit prosecution of serious sex crimes within a year after a defendant is identified through a DNA match-up.
Current law states that prosecution must begin within five years after the crime was committed. Greenleaf’s bill would allow for prosecution for up to 12 years after the crime occurred. The extension of the statute of limitations would apply in cases of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, and aggravated indecent assault.
"This legislation offers the possibility that a repeat sex offender will be caught, and through DNA evidence, will be charged with other unsolved crimes. Sexual offenders have a high rate of recidivism and DNA evidence is especially useful in identifying these perpetrators. The preservation of rape kits and other biological evidence will facilitate identification and prosecution of rape suspects caught in a subsequent crime," Greenleaf said.
The senator noted that extension of the statute of limitations is necessary in part because of the backlog in DNA testing.
In addition to Greenleaf’s bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 259, a measure offered by Sen. Charles Dent, to add burglary to the list of crimes for which an offender must undergo DNA sampling and have his results recorded on a DNA crime data bank.
The addition of the crime of burglary to the list will enable investigators to match samples of DNA against samples found at other crime scenes. Currently 25 other states include burglary in the list of crimes requiring DNA sampling.
Under state law, offenders are assessed $250 to cover the cost of the DNA testing.
Senate Bill 259 passed the Senate last session but died in the House of Representatives.
