Gallegly bill could help local prosecutors solve old crimes

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Ventura and Santa Barbara counties) recently introduced a bill that would provide federal grants to local prosecutors to help them prosecute cases stemming from "cold hit" DNA cases, where a prisoner’s DNA matches evidence in a previously unsolved crime.

Gallegly’s bill, "The Grants for DNA Backlog Prosecutions Act," would provide funding for five years to help prosecutors bring cold hit cases to court. Under the "Justice for All Act," passed by Congress and signed into law last year, DNA samples are being processed and entered into CODIS, the FBI’s national matching system. As DNA samples are matched with cold cases, the workload for local prosecutors is expected to increase dramatically.

That’s already occurred in California due to the passage of Proposition 69 in November 2004. Prop. 69 immediately required the state to collect DNA samples from all convicted felons for a statewide DNA database to solve crimes.

According to the California District Attorney’s Association, the database averages three cold hit cases a day. So far, 1,200 cold hits have been made in California, with forecasts that it will lead to 4,000 new cases a year.

DNA cold hit cases tend to be complex murder and sexual assault crimes. In Ventura County alone, District Attorney Greg Totten estimates that DNA cold hits may identify a perpetrator in more than 300 unsolved homicide cases.

"DNA is the most revolutionary crime-solving tool since fingerprints were found to be unique," Gallegly said. "The plus side to this is that we have been able to eliminate innocent people from suspicion and find the true rapists and murderers. The downside is that we’re finding a lot of rapists and murderers very quickly, clogging an already overworked judiciary system.

"By definition, cold cases are years and even decades old. Every day that goes by is another day where justice is denied to victims and their families. My bill is designed to end that injustice and bring these rapists and murderers to court."