The Senate Corrections & Public Safety Committee heard testimony on SB 214, a bill to require preservation of biological evidence in criminal cases, with broad support from law enforcement, defense services, exonerees, and civil liberties groups — but no vote was recorded, and the bill sponsor acknowledged the legislation may need amendment to address concerns about storing large physical items.
An unidentified committee member asked whether the bill contemplated a capital expense for storage and questioned why agencies would store a car for DNA purposes. Senator Hoffner acknowledged he had only found out seven minutes before that this was going to involve a large facility, conceded the bill may need amendment on this point, and stated he wanted only a sample of the evidence to be preserved, not the entire large item.
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“My exoneration was only possible because the evidence was preserved. It was over 20 years from the time the incident happened and the time I was able to get tested. If the evidence was destroyed or I did not have access to DNA testing, I'll still be in prison today.”
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Sign in to subscribeLike to call the Senate Correction and Recording in progress to order. As chair of the Senate Correction Public Safety Committee, in accordance to the Senate rules, this committee is authorized to meet in hybrid format. Committee members and members of the public can participate either in in person or virtual through zoom webinar. Should anyone have any experience technical difficulties, please don't hesitate to call Hannah de Gran at 302-828-1055. The public may participate virtually by registering via the meeting link that is posted on the General assembly website. So first I want to call Rolfall, Senator Hoepner, Senator Pinckney present virtually. Good morning. Thank you. Senator Poore, Senator Sokola here, Senator Lawson, Senator Petty, John and myself. So I think we certainly have a forum. We do not have the minutes from our last meeting June 18th. We will deal with that at our next meeting. So we're going to jump right into the one legislation that we have, Senate Bill 214. Senator Hoffner. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So Senate Bill 214 was brought to me by the Innocence Project. So right currently, right now, we are not saving all DNA evidence. And you know, when you watch…
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