New York Law Makers Aim To Ease Convicts’ Access To DNA Evidence
Four New York assemblymen last week introduced legislation aimed at making it easier for convicted criminals to use DNA evidence to prove their innocence, according to an article in the New York Sun.
The proposed laws - eight in all - could also help solve crimes by increasing standards for evidence preservation. A request for proposals to update the New York Police Department’s evidence storage system was sent out late last year after the city’s police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, appointed a working group to review procedures.
The bills that he and his colleagues are introducing would make it easier for prisoners to get DNA tests after they’ve been convicted, as well as set up a state “Innocence Commission” that would investigate exonerations and make recommendations to prevent future wrongful incarcerations, the Sun article said.
“DNA can convict the guilty, but it's for protecting the innocent,” said Joseph Lentol, chairman of the Assembly’s Codes Committee. “By protecting the innocent, we give the public a sense of fairness and justices that exists in the system.”
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