2008 Woodie Awards
Post DNA Test Banned
Florida outlaws post-conviction DNA testing for criminals seeking trial from prison.
Nicole Fluet
Issue date: 10/7/05 Section: Life & Times
- Page 1 of 1
Starting October 1, 2005, the state of Florida has officially done away with post-conviction DNA testing. This has many repercussions for individuals in prison who normally try to find a lawyer after being convicted to set themselves free.
Running along side this, last month Governor Jeb Bush signed permission for law enforcement to only require a time period of 90 days for notice before destroying evidence from a crime. This will further disable post-conviction releases from prison.
Times reporter, Clayton Neuman, comments on this. "All these moves are designed to keep courts from getting deluged with DNA related requests by thwarting new technologies with red tape."
What does this all mean for convicts? It means that post-conviction releases are not only more unlikely, but near impossible. The problem of clearing someone's name without evidence becomes very visible.
MSNBC news finds that "three-quarters of 160 prisoners who have been exonerated by post-conviction DNA in the United States had been convicted based on mistaken identification."
Post-conviction DNA testing has helped many innocent individuals convicted of heinous crimes go free. Consider Luis Diaz, who spent twenty-six years in prison after being convicted of raping a series of people.
Diaz was nicknamed "The Bird Road Rapist" and was convicted for five rapes, but with the help of DNA, was proved to be innocent due to mismatched evidence. Without post-conviction DNA testing, Diaz would still be behind bars, doing the time for someone else's crime.
Other cases involve more serious repercussions. MSNBC finds that "since DNA 'fingerprinting' began to revolutionize criminal forensics in the late 1980s with precise identifications, it has freed more than 130 convicts, 12 of whom have walked off death row."
A severe example is of Frank Lee Smith, who died of cancer while on death row for the rape and murder of an eight year old little girl. However, eleven months after his death, he was found to be innocent because of DNA testing, and a convicted rapist was found to be the read criminal. Smith spent his last days suffering from cancer on death row because he was misidentified as the murderer.
And the examples continue. Now, because of the banning of post-conviction DNA testing, innocent men and women in prison will remain there. The destruction of evidence after ninety days furthers this problem. The faith now lies in the hands of the pre-conviction lawyers and judges.
Running along side this, last month Governor Jeb Bush signed permission for law enforcement to only require a time period of 90 days for notice before destroying evidence from a crime. This will further disable post-conviction releases from prison.
Times reporter, Clayton Neuman, comments on this. "All these moves are designed to keep courts from getting deluged with DNA related requests by thwarting new technologies with red tape."
What does this all mean for convicts? It means that post-conviction releases are not only more unlikely, but near impossible. The problem of clearing someone's name without evidence becomes very visible.
MSNBC news finds that "three-quarters of 160 prisoners who have been exonerated by post-conviction DNA in the United States had been convicted based on mistaken identification."
Post-conviction DNA testing has helped many innocent individuals convicted of heinous crimes go free. Consider Luis Diaz, who spent twenty-six years in prison after being convicted of raping a series of people.
Diaz was nicknamed "The Bird Road Rapist" and was convicted for five rapes, but with the help of DNA, was proved to be innocent due to mismatched evidence. Without post-conviction DNA testing, Diaz would still be behind bars, doing the time for someone else's crime.
Other cases involve more serious repercussions. MSNBC finds that "since DNA 'fingerprinting' began to revolutionize criminal forensics in the late 1980s with precise identifications, it has freed more than 130 convicts, 12 of whom have walked off death row."
A severe example is of Frank Lee Smith, who died of cancer while on death row for the rape and murder of an eight year old little girl. However, eleven months after his death, he was found to be innocent because of DNA testing, and a convicted rapist was found to be the read criminal. Smith spent his last days suffering from cancer on death row because he was misidentified as the murderer.
And the examples continue. Now, because of the banning of post-conviction DNA testing, innocent men and women in prison will remain there. The destruction of evidence after ninety days furthers this problem. The faith now lies in the hands of the pre-conviction lawyers and judges.