The below posting is with the permission of the writer Bruce Hulme.
Larry Walsh

New Law Expands Access to DNA Testing and Discovery for Defendants

A recently passed law that expands the New York State DNA Databank. Governor Cuomo, joined by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, signed the historic bill into law making New York the first state in the nation with an “All-Crimes” DNA law.

New York’s DNA Databank was created in 1996. Since that time, the Databank has helped prosecutors solve nearly 2,900 crimes. DNA evidence has also helped exonerate 27 New Yorkers.

Beginning on October 1, 2012, DNA samples will be collected from anyone convicted of a felony or Penal Law misdemeanor. The law is not retroactive and does not apply to children involved in Family Court matters or to youthful offenders. Also, first-time offenders convicted of low-level marijuana possession will not be required to provide a DNA sample.

The new law will make the following reforms to the state’s criminal justice system:

“All Crimes” DNA Expansion: Previously, state law only permitted DNA to be collected from 48 percent of offenders convicted of a Penal Law crime. As a result, New York State missed important opportunities to prevent needless suffering of crime victims and failed to use a powerful tool that could be used to exonerate the innocent.
Expanded Access for Certain Criminal Defendants to DNA Testing: This legislation will allow defendants charged with specified crimes who were convicted after a guilty plea access to DNA testing to demonstrate their innocence. Additionally, criminal defendants will be allowed to request a court order to compare crime scene evidence against the State’s DNA Databank. Together, these reforms will help to ensure that innocent defendants are not convicted or, if convicted after a plea, are able to demonstrate their actual innocence.
Expanded Access to Discovery for Certain Criminal Defendants After Trial: In limited circumstances, defendants will be able to seek discovery of property to demonstrate their actual innocence after their conviction. Such discovery will provide the court with the evidence necessary to reach a proper decision on a defendant’s motion for such relief

The New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center in Albany can process 10,000 DNA samples from convicted offenders a month. The Governor’s proposed expansion will bring the monthly total to less than 7,000 and will not create a backlog.

In a March 23 press release from the governor’s office the following comments were noted:

“Governor Cuomo has achieved a historic expansion of our state’s DNA Databank, making New York a national leader in using DNA to enhance our criminal justice system,” Lieutenant Governor Duffy said. “Expanding New York’s Databank will help law enforcement keep residents of Monroe County and across our state safer, while at the same time giving those who are wrongly convicted a greater ability to establish their innocence. This is a great victory for justice for all New Yorkers.”

New York State’s Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Elizabeth Glazer said, “Expanding the DNA Databank ensures that science, not luck, will be the method by which we prevent and solve crimes. For years, countless New Yorkers were victimized because less than half of convicted offenders were required to give a DNA sample. Now that loophole has been closed. By passing the DNA bill, we have ensured that victims will have justice, that New Yorkers will be protected from crimes, and that the wrongly convicted will have access to the Databank that can help exonerate them.”

District Attorney Doorley said, “Since its inception, New York’s DNA Databank has helped our law enforcement community solve thousands of crimes here in New York, as well as throughout the country. Like other District Attorneys, I supported the Governor’s proposal to expand our Databank because I recognized it wasn’t just about the collection of samples, it was about the potential of bringing hope and justice to crime victims and their families.”

Chief Sheppard said, “I’ve seen firsthand how DNA technology has given the families of victims hope, and helped officers identify the criminal responsible for the death of their loved one. By creating an All-Crimes DNA Databank Governor Cuomo has given an invaluable tool to the officers who are continuously working on cases where suspects have yet to been identified. ”

Betsy McCabe said, “My daughter, Karen Marie Turtu, was found strangled and beaten to death in a snow bank behind a city restaurant in February 1993. Karen’s death would have remained another unsolved murder if a police officer, the crime lab and a prosecutor hadn’t collaborated to use DNA evidence to find her killer. Expanding New York’s Databank means that other families will not have to go through what I did – 14 years of not knowing and wondering if there would ever be justice. I want to thank Governor Cuomo for putting New Yorkers like me first and making the DNA Databank expansion a priority.”

Bruce Hulme
ISPLA Director of Government Affairs
www.ISPLA.org

Dear current PNAI members,

It’s time to review and renew your membership and business listing with PNAI and the website.  We’ve made it easier than ever.  Navigate your way over to our “Annual Dues Renewal” page where you can enter your current information.  Once you’ve entered your info and clicked the submit button, you’ll be transported over to our new shopping cart where you can pay your annual renewal fee of $80.00.  We’ll use this information to update your public listing on this page.  It’s important to follow a few simple rules when providing your updated information.  We ask that EVERYONE provide no more than 10 (ten) of their services in a linear format (ie:  fraud, surveillance, computer crimes, TSCM, counter-surveillance, surveillance detection, route analysis).  It’s important to note there is a single space after each comma in this format.  Why is this important?  When our pages get indexed in Google, Yahoo, or Bing, the comma provides necessary separation so the search engines see each word (service) individually.

Got any questions?  Send me and email and we’ll get it taken care of.  gordonmedley@gmail.com

Thank you to all who attended the Seminar, The speakers were wonderfull and I hope that you all learned something new and exciting. Feel free to give feedback that we can share with the board and membership. We will be planning for a Spring Seminar again. Those who could not attend this one maybe we will see you at thr Spring Seminar in 2012.

Look for our next all members gathering posts here, It will be the anual Christmas Dinner. Date time and location TBA. Tennatevily Saturday Dec 3 or the 10th, after the next Board members meeting, I will let you know and post the information for members to view

John

VP/PNAI

http://maps.highline.edu/index.php

Seminar Room location is in Building 8 on the map

Troy Larson: works in Microsoft’s internal network security forensic investigations team.  In his current role as the Principal Forensic Program Manager, Troy has primary responsibility for identifying forensic implications of, and developing procedures to investigate, Microsoft newest products.  Accompanied by his trusty Laser Shark, Troy is a frequent speaker on Windows and Office forensics issues.  Prior to joining Microsoft’s forensic team, Troy served tours of duty with Ernst & Young’s national forensics practice and Attenex, Inc.  Troy received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.

Lorna Fadden, Ph.D. is a court qualified forensic linguist who consults for legal counsel, law enforcement, and private investigations in litigation support on cases involving language evidence. Carrying out analyses on threat letters, text messages, personal letters, blogs, emails, letters to editors, recordings, statements to police and lawyers and more, she works in Canada and the US, providing expert reports and where necessary, expert testimony in the following areas:

Forensic Discourse Analysis: the examination of spoken or written language used in the
commission of alleged crime or civil misdoing: bribery, extortion, coercion,
threat, defamation, solicitation, internet luring, etc.

Sociolinguistic Profiling: identifying the demographic features of someone on the basis of linguistic properties found in
spoken or written language at investigative stages. Sentence structure, word choice, proficiency, pronunciation (in spoken
language), among other elements to assess the language user’s background. Lorna
is best equipped to ID varieties in a Pacific Northwest, Western Canadian
context. If your case is from elsewhere, send her a note and she’ll point you to the right linguist.

Cultural Awareness: guiding law enforcement and legal professionals in the culturally based features of
conversational behaviour, showing how these features can impact communication in legal settings.

If you are looking for Fadden’s academic pages, look
here
To see
video of a linguist on the stand, look here, and here

http://www.sfu.ca/~fadden/

http://www.lornafadden.com/index.html

Here is our Food menu for the day so if anyone has any special needs outside of these food choices you can make yor plans accordingly.

Breakfast will be at 8:00AM- 8:30AM where you can mix and mingle, exchange business cards and find a comfortable seat.

Highline Healthy Continental:

Assorted breakfast goodies including pastries, muffins and chef’s choice, bagel with cream cheese and butter & jam, a seasonal fruit platter served with coffee service.

The Highline Buffet:

Roast Sirloin Beef

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Fettuccini Alfredo Primera

Green Beans Almandine ,Honey Glazed Carrots, Roasted Red Potatoes, Wild Rice Blend served with Garden Salad with a choice of Ranch or Raspberry Vinagrette Dressing.

Afternoon Treats/Desert:

Assortment of Bars or Apple Pie, and coffee service all day

Great close by parking to the facility, OnSite campus Security Patrol, Restroom are just outside the Seminar room.

See you there!  Any questions about the Registration or Seminar E-mail me directly at Investigations@asiwashington.com