DNA Bill Sent To Ritter

Colorado lawmakers on Monday finalized a bill designed to prevent wrongful imprisonments by requiring that biological evidence be preserved in major felony crimes for the life of the defendant.

The measure now goes to Gov. Bill Ritter, who has expressed his support. The bill mandates uniform standards for retention of DNA specimens. It also establishes notification procedures for tossing evidence in lesser crimes and requires that state courts keep statistics on cases that pivot on DNA.

"We're happy," said Rebecca Brown, policy analyst for the New York-based Innocence Project, which lobbied for the law. "This bill will help resolve any doubts that may arise about someone's guilt or innocence."

A related measure, seeking a new trial for a convict whose case DNA was destroyed by the Denver Police Department in 1995 — following a court order to preserve it — was gutted after Ritter threatened a veto. The surviving language, which sponsors say Ritter supports, does recognize that judges may bring sanctions in post-2003 cases with similar circumstances, such as those that might involve negligent evidence handling.

The Denver Post