{"id":1529,"date":"2020-03-04T14:11:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T22:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sdc.wastateleg.org\/dhingra\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2020-09-17T00:09:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T00:09:58","slug":"beyond-the-backlog-washington-lawmakers-looking-to-change-way-where-rape-kits-are-stored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/dhingra\/2020\/03\/04\/beyond-the-backlog-washington-lawmakers-looking-to-change-way-where-rape-kits-are-stored\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the backlog: Washington lawmakers looking to change way, where rape kits are stored"},"content":{"rendered":"

From The Seattle Times<\/a><\/p>\n

In recent years, Washington, like many other states, has been overwhelmed with a backlog of untested rape kits. The state has invested millions of dollars to reduce the number of untested kits \u2014 which reached nearly 10,000 in 2015\u00a0\u2014 and hopes to eliminate the backlog by December 2021.<\/p>\n

But even as the number shrinks, lawmakers are realizing that the backlog isn\u2019t the only issue affecting how sexual assault cases are being handled. This legislative session, lawmakers are discussing how to better collect, store and track important forensic evidence.<\/p>\n

Under a\u00a0bill<\/a>, sponsored by Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, local law enforcement would be responsible for all evidence collected during a sexual assault exam, even when survivors are still deciding on whether to file a police report. Standards would be set in order to preserve that evidence for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanna do more than test,\u201d Orwall said. \u201cIf we truly want justice and want to take dangerous people off the streets, we need to investigate and really potentially prosecute and find justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), however, cited concerns over holding material that isn\u2019t yet part of a police report \u2014 something the bill would require them to do.<\/p>\n

WASPC argued that rape kits not associated with a reported crime are \u201cnot evidence,\u201d and holding on to them is \u201ca precedent that we\u2019re not comfortable setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Preservation and storage<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Depending on the jurisdiction, law enforcement or hospitals may hold on to a sexual assault kit after it has been administered. An individual can decide whether to report their assault to the police. If they do not immediately choose to report a crime, their kit is referred to as an \u201cunreported SAK.\u201d There is currently no statewide clarity as to how the kits are then stored or tracked, or how long investigatory records associated with a case are kept.<\/p>\n

Sexual assault kits are white boxes that contain instruments and instructions to collect fluids and tissues that could contain the DNA of the perpetrator. They are used by nurses who are specially trained in conducting sexual assault exams, and are stored in climate-controlled environment. Blood and urine samples are sometimes collected in addition to the kit. But state law does not define what a kit actually includes, which means those additional pieces of evidence may not be kept with the white box or included in the State Patrol\u2019s tracking system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has led to evidence related to the same assault being stored in multiple places,\u201d said Lauren McDonald, health access policy director at Washington State Hospital Association.<\/p>\n

Assault examination kits cannot be destroyed, thanks to a temporary moratorium spearheaded by Orwall last year, but the investigatory reports and notes associated with the kit can be.\u00a0Before the moratorium, hospitals and law enforcement had discretion as to when an unreported kit could be destroyed. Investigations found that jurisdictions across the country \u2014 including in Washington \u2014 were destroying unreported kits.<\/p>\n

There have been cases where tested kits get a \u201chit\u201d \u2014 or match \u2014 in the DNA database, only for prosecutors to find that important notes about the case no longer exist, said\u00a0Katharine Hemann, a Washington assistant attorney general.<\/p>\n

House Bill 2318 would define sexual assault kits to include all evidence collected during a sexual assault exam, require the preservation of investigation records related to the kit, and require local law enforcement to hold on to unreported kits for 20 years.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis would provide consistency so that no matter where someone is assaulted, they know exactly where their kit will be held, and for exactly how long, which provides security to them,\u201d Hemann said.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Obstacles to prosecution<\/b><\/h3>\n

The State Patrol has already found hundreds of hits in sexual assault kits that the state has tested, but those hits rely on offenders\u2019 DNA being submitted to the federal Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Although all felons are required to do so, sometimes they don\u2019t. House Bill 2813 attempts to close what some are calling a \u201cloophole\u201d in the law.<\/p>\n

Under the current system, the court may order an offender to provide a DNA sample. But if offenders are not taken into custody immediately, they are expected to return within a period of time to provide that sample, meaning there is little enforcement of the requirement. HB 2318 would require offenders to submit their DNA before leaving the court\u2019s presence, so long as the courtroom has the ability to collect it.<\/p>\n

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When the rape kit backlog was at its peak, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg estimated<\/a>\u00a0that of all offenders asked to return to submit their DNA, only about a quarter actually did.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The loophole may represent many missed opportunities at justice. But even with many offenders missing from the federal database, the attorney general still anticipates almost 1,000 more hits to come back once the backlog is eliminated, and\u00a0argued that it would be pointless for the state to test the kits if they don\u2019t intend to investigate.<\/p>\n

The attorney general requested\u00a0$1.79 million for fiscal year 2021 in order to help fund a new sexual assault cold case team of seven people. The governor\u2019s proposed budget partially fulfilled this request, and the House and Senate must now work together to generate a supplemental budget.<\/p>\n

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Logistical and \u201cphilosophical\u201d concerns<\/b><\/h3>\n

HB 2813, along with the proposition of a cold case team, has received pushback from law enforcement.<\/p>\n

James McMahon, WASPC policy director, told lawmakers that unreported sexual assault kits should be properly stored, but not by law enforcement. He argued that local law enforcement is responsible for storing evidence associated with crimes, and that an unreported sexual assault kit only becomes \u201cevidence\u201d once a crime is reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be stored, they should be secured,\u201d McMahon said. \u201cBut getting into the practice of having law enforcement agencies store materials that are not yet evidence, that\u2019s a precedent that we\u2019re not comfortable setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The argument caused a rift among survivors advocating for the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody goes out and gets a rape kit for fun,\u201d Leah Griffin, a survivor on the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Best Practices advisory group, said. \u201cThis concept that this is not yet evidence is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proponents of the bill also argue that hospitals are not trained to store forensic material, and that a proper chain of custody is necessary to ensure that kits hold up in a court of law.<\/p>\n

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Concerns about whether law enforcement will have enough space for the kits also have been raised, and an amendment was adopted to allow law enforcement to move found property such as bicycles and other items not immediately associated with a crime to other departments in order to make space for sexual assault kits. Orwall also noted that a centralized storage location may be considered in the future for a longer-term solution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A culture change and an apology<\/b><\/h3>\n

After years of working on legislation to address the issue, Orwall says she still hears problematic ideas about sexual assault. For example, she said she\u2019s heard that some think an assault by someone you know is somehow less real than one committed by a stranger, and is not able to be prosecuted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should still be investigated. It\u2019s still sexual assault, and you don\u2019t know how many cases that may link to,\u201d Orwall said. \u201cYou\u2019ll never catch a serial rapist unless you test every kit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Loftis, a spokesman for the State Patrol, says officials are now understanding the \u201cinvestigatory value\u201d of testing every kit. Even when officials know whose DNA is in the kit, it might \u201cbe the linchpin in unlocking another investigation to another crime, exposing a pattern of behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the bill to address the storage of sexual assault kits and investigatory documents, Orwall has been working closely with Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, and Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, to address what officials have called a \u201cpatchwork\u201d response to sexual assault across the state.<\/p>\n

Mosbrucker is\u00a0pushing to expand access to training<\/a>\u00a0so more nurses in rural areas are able to conduct sexual assault exams, while Dhingra is sponsoring a bill to develop model protocols for when victims present at a hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the next step is public service announcements \u2014 I think we need to apologize\u201d to victims, Orwall said. \u201cI think people have the right to know what happened. The state failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Claudia Yaw<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From The Seattle Times In recent years, Washington, like many other states, has been overwhelmed with a backlog of untested rape kits. The state has invested millions of dollars to reduce the number of untested kits \u2014 which reached nearly 10,000 in 2015\u00a0\u2014 and hopes to eliminate the backlog by December 2021. But even as the number shrinks, lawmakers are realizing that the backlog isn\u2019t the only issue affecting how sexual assault cases are being handled. This legislative session, lawmakers are discussing how to better collect, store and track important forensic evidence. Under a\u00a0bill, sponsored by Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1427,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBeyond the backlog: Washington lawmakers looking to change way, where rape kits are stored - Sen. 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