The lady whose DNA from a sexual assault case was utilized by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime plans to sue the town
SAN FRANCISCO — The lady whose DNA from a sexual assault case was utilized by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime plans to sue the town, her legal professional stated Thursday.
The lady has filed discover of a potential federal lawsuit as a result of she feels betrayed by law enforcement officials who broke her belief and violated her rights, stated her legal professional, Adante Pointer.
Pointer declined to establish his shopper. The Related Press typically doesn’t title individuals who say they’ve been sexually assaulted until they select to be named.
The lady was tied to a housebreaking in late 2021 throughout a search of a San Francisco Police Division crime lab database, based on District Legal professional Chesa Boudin, who stated final month that the match got here from DNA collected from her as a part of a 2016 home violence and sexual assault case.
“That is the final word betrayal and re-victimization by the hands of authorities and people who she sought assist and safety from,” Pointer stated.
Boudin stated he dropped felony property crime expenses in opposition to the lady after turning into conscious of a report, present in proof of the property crime case, that referred to a DNA pattern collected from her throughout the 2016 rape investigation.
The revelation prompted a nationwide outcry from regulation enforcement, authorized specialists, lawmakers and advocates and led San Francisco Police Chief Invoice Scott to institute new tips in order that sufferer DNA would now not be utilized in unrelated investigations.
He stated at a police fee assembly final week that he’s found 17 crime sufferer profiles, 11 of them from rape kits, that had been matched utilizing a criminal offense victims database throughout unrelated investigations, KTVU-TV reported. Scott stated he believes the one arrest was that of the lady planning to sue the town.
The division’s crime lab stopped the observe shortly after receiving a criticism from the district legal professional’s workplace and formally modified its working process, Scott stated.
California permits native regulation enforcement crime labs to function their very own forensic databases which can be separate from federal and state databases. The regulation additionally lets municipal labs carry out forensic evaluation, together with DNA profiling, utilizing these databases — with out regulation by the state or others.
Pointer declined to make the lady obtainable for an interview with the AP. She informed native media that she felt “violated once more” after discovering out the DNA collected as a part of a sexual abuse case had been used in opposition to her.
“It was a slap within the face,” she informed KTVU-TV. “It’s simply unbelievable. I’m nonetheless having a tough time wrapping my head round this proper now. It’s simply not a superb feeling.”
