Criminal databases to note DNA links to crimes on which statute of limitations has run

Starting today, the watchful eye of Johnny Law is seeing more clearly. A new law going into effect will mandate that state criminal background databases note when a person’s DNA has been matched with crimes in which the statute of limitations has expired. The law, which the Legislature passed as H.B. 2932, addresses an issue that arose after DNA tests proved dozens of men convicted in Dallas County were innocent. What was most frustrating about some of those cases is the DNA evidence matched up with other convicts --- some of whom cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations on the crime has expired. Mike Ware, a Dallas County assistant DA who heads his office’s conviction integrity unit, testified in support of the bill earlier this year. “All this does is create a database where law enforcement can have access to that information,” Ware says. “It doesn’t necessarily mean the information is or is not admissible in court. If someone were attempting to introduce that into evidence they would still have to jump through all of the evidentiary hoops. But it’s more easily accessible to law enforcement.”
--- John Council