News Release
For Immediate Release
December 11, 2001
 

Action on Greenleaf Bills: House Passes Leased Car Measure; Senate Passes DNA Evidence/Rape Case Prosecution Extension 

HARRISBURG – Two bills offered by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf—one to afford new car lessees the consumer protections of the state’s auto lemon law and the other to extend the statute of limitations in serious sexual assault crimes—have moved forward in the General Assembly.

Senate Bill 286, a measure to expand coverage of the state’s lemon law to include new leased vehicles, received the unanimous approval of the House of Representatives and now awaits the signature of the Governor to become law.

Greenleaf noted that leased cars constitute more than one-third of new car transactions in the commonwealth, and that 35 other states provide coverage for leased vehicles under their new car consumer protection laws.

Senate Bill 415, Greenleaf’s proposal to extend the statute of limitations for the crimes of  rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, and aggravated indecent sexual assault was approved unanimously by the Senate and will move to the House for consideration.

The measure would take advantage of the preservation of DNA evidence to identify a perpetrator for up to 12 years after a crime has occurred.  Under current law, the time limit for prosecuting sexual assault crimes is five years after the crime took place.  Senate Bill 415 would extend the current limit to allow a case to be prosecuted if a suspect is identified through preserved DNA evidence and is prosecuted within one year of the DNA match-up.  The period allowed for such prosecutions would not extend beyond seven years after the original statutory limit, thus providing a 12-year window when DNA evidence exists and is preserved.