Expand DNA testing

Friday, January 22, 2010

When it comes to things like a national crime database with DNA collected from all convicted felons, the state does not serve the public interest by staking out its own path.

New Hampshire, Idaho and Nebraska are the only states that currently don’t have such a DNA mandate. Soon, Idaho and Nebraska may be on their own.

The state House of Representatives on Jan. 12 approved legislation requiring all convicted felons to supply a DNA sample (HB 523). We hope the Senate will concur and that Gov. John Lynch will sign the measure into law. The odds are good, since the state Senate has in the past approved the DNA requirement, but privacy advocates convinced the House to reject it.

New Hampshire law currently requires DNA only from those convicted of the most serious felonies – homicide, negligent homicide, first- and second-degree assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, burglary and robbery.

The expansion of the law to include all felony convictions would enhance the state’s contributions to the national database, which has not only been effective in breaking cold cases, but has also helped exonerate innocent men or women on death row.

If we learned anything from the O.J. Simpson trial, it was that DNA evidence alone is not a slam-dunk for the prosecution. But if properly handled and stored, it is well-accepted by courts and used to convict the guilty and free the innocent.