Legislature(2017 - 2018)GRUENBERG 120
01/31/2017 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB71 | |
| HB7 | |
| HB31 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 7 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 31 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 31-SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINATION KITS
3:51:33 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 31, "An Act requiring the Department of
Public Safety to develop a tracking system and collection and
processing protocol for sexual assault examination kits;
requiring law enforcement agencies to send sexual assault
examination kits for testing within 18 months after collection;
requiring an inventory and reports on untested sexual assault
examination kits; and providing for an effective date."
3:52:11 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GERAN TARR, Alaska State Legislature, presented
HB 31, as prime sponsor. She testified that just a few weeks
ago, serial rapist Clifford Lee was sentenced to 90 years for
four rapes and one attempted rape, occurring in 2014. She said
Mr. Lee had a long history of systematically targeting and
raping disadvantaged women. She added that the deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) testing of a rape kit tied Mr. Lee to additional
unsolved rapes occurring in 2001 and 2005. She stated that for
16 years Mr. Lee, a dangerous criminal, had been in "our
community" possibly harming other victims. She referred
committee members to an article about Mr. Lee in the bill
packet.
MS. TARR pointed out, "This is just the most recent story that
brutally reminds us of Alaska's epidemic of sexual assault. It
reminds us of our responsibility to victims to diligently
collect and process evidence to bring violators to justice and
remove perpetrators from our communities." She stated that
Alaska currently has a backlog of 3,600 untested rape kits. She
claimed it is an enormous disrespect to the victims who have
endured the trauma of sexual assault and have taken the effort
to be tested, only to have the evidence be disregarded. She
offered that she respects the right of victims to choose not to
press charges to avoid additional trauma, but claimed that the
intent of HB 31 is to give victims the right to press charges
and have the DNA from the rape kits entered into a [tracking
system] database to use for solving other crimes. She declared
that Alaska communities remain at risk if rapists, who could
have been identified by the DNA evidence, escape justice.
MS. TARR stated that Alaska consistently ranks among the highest
in the nation for rates of rape and sexual assault. She
offered, "We must do everything we can to turn around this
epidemic." She said that in 2015, she was proud to sponsor
House Bill 117, regarding Alaska's backlog of sexual assault
examination kits. She stated she applauds Governor Bill Walker
and his staff who, at that time, "took on this issue" and
successfully procured a $1.1 million federal Department of
Justice (DOJ) grant to inventory and process the backlogged
kits. She offered that HB 31 would establish a new system to
avoid a backlog, as currently exists. She said that the
proposed legislation would establish a uniform protocol for
processing rape kits, which will assist Alaska's 200-plus law
enforcement agencies to consistently collect and process the
sensitive evidence in a timely manner. She mentioned that the
new system would require the rape kits be sent for testing no
later than 18 months after the sexual assault examination. She
added that HB 31 would require the Department of Public Safety
(DPS) to report on the number of untested rape kits, in order to
avoid a large backlog. She offered that the approach outlined
in HB 31 is part of a national effort. It has been shown in
states across the country that obtaining the DNA evidence
catches dangerous criminals and makes communities safer. She
concluded that in an effort to give victims justice, HB 31
should be passed.
MS. TARR referred to a packet of letters in support of HB 31,
which came from individual Alaskans across the state, the Alaska
Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA), and
other women's organizations familiar with the impact of sexual
assault and associated trauma.
MS. TARR said that HB 31 would create a standard protocol for
processing rape kits, and a database for tracking them. She
referred to the fiscal note, which includes a link to a
description of the sexual assault kit tracking and inventory
management system. The fiscal note shows a cost of about
$100,000 for the tracking system. She added that additional
staff would be needed to meet the requirements of HB 31. She
stressed, "Even in lean budget times, these are dollars very
well spent." She conceded that many sexual assaults are
committed by an individual the victim knows, but as in the case
of Mr. Lee, women were attacked and brutalized in the traumatic
rape by a stranger. She noted how difficult it must be for an
individual to overcome such an event. She said, "People's lives
often fall apart and people commit suicide - they end their life
from that kind of trauma." She admitted that $260,000 is
difficult to consider in the current budget crises but offered,
"If we can save any one victim, I think, its dollars well
spent."
3:57:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked why there is such a large backlog and
how old the [unprocessed] rape kits are.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR offered two reasons for the backlog. She
said rape kits are sent out to law enforcement organizations but
are not tracked; therefore, it is difficult to know if they have
been "lost along the way." She said that another reason rape
kits have not been tested is that many sexual assault cases
involve a known perpetrator. She went on to say that even
though the DNA evidence may not be relevant in these cases, the
perpetrator may have been involved in other crimes. She offered
that including the DNA evidence in the database could link the
perpetrator to another crime.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR stated that some of the untested kits "go
back years." She conceded that an individual might request that
the kit not be tested. She noted the suffering some victims
experience after such a traumatic event and said that some just
choose to "move on." She said that facing the set of events
involved with pressing charges - the multi-year court case,
follow-up testing, testifying in court - might seem
insurmountable for some victims. She concluded that with the
passage of HB 31, "we can protect that victim and give them the
space and path forward, while also using the DNA evidence for
its intended purpose."
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH expressed his support for HB 31 and
mentioned his constituent, Bonnie Craig, involved in a case that
was "cold" for years, which was ultimately solved through the
DNA of someone "half a continent away." He expressed his hope
that the backlog was not continuing to accrue, and welcomed
comments from DPS on that matter.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR responded that the current backlog [for
unprocessed rape kits in Alaska] is 3,600. She went on to say
such a backlog is not uncommon among states and a national
effort emerged to respond to the issue. She started working on
this issue in 2015, after receiving information from a national
organization, called End the Backlog. She said that at the
time, Alaska did not have good information on the number of
backlogged rape kits. She said that at the same time, DOJ
recognized this issue as a critical public safety need and
developed a grant program to help states process their backlogs.
She said the first step in applying for funding was completing
an audit to define the extent of the backlog problem and, thus,
the need for grant funds. She relayed that a bill was
initiated; Governor Walker carried the initiative forward and
worked with law enforcement agencies to complete the audit; and
DPS was able to submit the grant application and receive the
$1.1 million grant. She said the grant should help DPS get
through the existing backlog of 3,600 rape kits, and HB 31 would
set time parameters for the ongoing processing of rape kits.
4:03:13 PM
CAPTAIN DAN LOWDEN, Deputy Commander, Division of Alaska State
Troopers (AST), Department of Public Safety (DPS), reiterated
the various reasons for the backlog of rape kits: victims
choose not to press charges; the perpetrator is known; and cases
are "pled out" before kits are tested. He offered his belief
that no rape kits went untested due to disinterest. He said
when the rape kits were administered, they were often thought of
as for an individual case. He offered that with cases such as
the one Representative Tarr cited, DPS is realizing there are
serial perpetrators who are missed if kits go untested. He said
DPS supports HB 31. He stated, "We believe that by testing more
kits, we will catch more people."
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked about opposition to HB 31. He also
asked if for cases involving known perpetrators, rape kit
testing is considered unnecessary.
CAPTAIN LOWDEN answered that there are rules for how long rape
kits are retained. He said he suspects that cost may have been
a factor in cases, for example, when the perpetrator was
convicted before the rape kit was processed. He opined that the
thought processes [for processing rape kits] have now changed in
recognition that the information could help in other cases.
4:07:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP referred to a phrase in HB 31, on page 2,
line 1, which read: "18 months after collection." He asked,
"Why 18 months ...?" He also asked if there is a timeframe for
getting the results of the test back.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR responded that after consulting with
prosecutors, she chose a timeframe that would fit within the
timeframe needed to gather enough evidence to bring a case to
trial. She would support a shorter timeframe, but offered that
this timeframe fits the fiscal note appropriation. She added
that HB 31 calls for hiring a fulltime staff person, which she
suspects would allow DPS to process rape kits in house. She
stated her understanding that currently some rape kits are
processed in state, but kits processed with federal grant money
would be sent out of state for processing.
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP said he is interested in the current
schedule for processing rape kits. He said that processing
3,600 kits would take nine and a half years, at a process rate
of one kit per day. He asked if DPS is processing a rape kit
every day and if it has a 10-year backlog.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR said that the federal grant funds will be
critical to the effort of processing the backlog, and many more
kits will be processed much faster than one per day. She
pointed out that the effective date of HB 31 would be January 1,
2018, which would give DPS time to work through the backlog
before that effective date. She expressed her hope that there
would be a seamless transition from completing the work of
processing the backlog to meeting the requirement of HB 31, if
passed.
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP rephrased his question to ask what the
3,600 kit backlog represents in processing time, that is, the
rate of processing kits.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS requested the representatives from DPS to
provide that information.
4:12:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL referred to the letter from the Tennessee
Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence, in the committee
packet, which cites the processing of a backlog of 12,000
untested rape kits. It also mentioned a law requiring kits to
be tested in 60 days, or for the person who did not want to
press charges, put into a hold for three years. He asked if
currently all rape kits in Alaska are tested in state or out of
state.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR replied a combination of both, and added
that [place of testing] is determined by the complexities of the
evidence collected and the specific analysis capabilities in the
DPS laboratory versus more sophisticated analysis Outside. In
response to Representative Knopp's question, she said, "If
you've got the money to pay for it, there are scientists who can
process this evidence." She said that once the capacity exists,
the processing can be done faster. She offered that the backlog
would be processed in a shorter time frame than that described
by Representative Knopp.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked for the cost of processing a rape kit.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR referred to page 2 of the fiscal note, which
cites a cost of about $1,500 per kit. She stated that would be
the standard cost. She reminded the committee that the cost of
processing the backlog is not included in the fiscal note, since
that would be covered by the federal grant. She offered that HB
31 would improve the training and overall processing of rape
kits.
4:15:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked if the high cost is due to legal
issues, such as chain of custody.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR answered yes, and referred to the fiscal
note, page 2, third paragraph, which states the tracking system
would cost about $96,000.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL pointed out that 3,000 backlog kits that
cost $1,500 each to process amounts to considerable expense -
$4.5 million - and reiterated that the fiscal note did not
address that issue, which is a separate financing need.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR agreed.
4:16:44 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opened public testimony on HB 31.
4:16:57 PM
CRYSTAL GODBY, Community United for Safety and Protection
(CUSP), explained that the Community United for Safety and
Protection (CUSP) is a group of current and former sex workers,
sex trafficking victims, and allies. She said CUSP is working
to protect everyone in Alaska's sex industry. She paraphrased
from the following written testimony [original punctuation
provided]:
We would like to extend out full support for this
important House Bill. Perpetrators must know that
they are going to suffer consequences for their
heinous crimes because rape kits are no longer going
to be hidden away as the lowest priorities.
Alaska will never stop being the rape capital of the
United States as long as we don't even have rape kits
prioritized to process and then match results with
state and national data bases to hold accountable
those responsible in a timely manner. In 2014,
Detroit identified 188 serial rapists by processing
just 1,600 rape kits out of their much larger backlog.
In December of 2016, Community United for Safety and
Protection had Hays Research firm in Anchorage conduct
a survey of 904 Alaskan voters' priorities.
Processing Alaska's backlog of rape kits was a close
second priority to investigating cases of murdered and
missing sex workers, with 36% listing it as their
first priority and 37% listing it as their second
priority ....
Clearly, Alaskans take this issue seriously and are in
agreement with the passing of HB 31.
4:18:52 PM
CARMEN LOWRY, Ph.D., Executive Director, Alaska Network on
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA), stated that
ANDVSA represents 18 member programs across the state, most of
which provide shelter and emergency services to victims and
survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She noted
the six affiliate members, who are also part of the large ANDVSA
network. She said that ANDVSA fully supports HB 31. She
asserted that HB 31 raises the accountability of law
enforcement, sexual assault response teams (SART), and
taxpayers.
DR. LOWRY cited three reasons for ANDVSA support of HB 31. She
claimed that as SART members perform examinations and collect
data and evidence for prosecution, there must be a system for
tracking rape kits, to understand the backlog problem. She said
the second reason is "efficiency"; how to become more efficient
and where to focus resources. She stated the third reason is
"effectiveness"; enactment of HB 31 would lead to better
prosecution. She said her final point addressed balancing the
state's need to track rape examination kits with victims' rights
to choose whether or not to prosecute. She said HB 31 would
promote respect for the process of gathering evidence, which is
intensive, intimate, and invasive, and ensure that victims are
respected. She said, "The message is when we do this kind of
evidence gathering through a rape examination kit, something
will come from it."
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH noted the challenges of smaller communities
in regard to gathering evidence after an assault charge, and he
asked about custody of the rape kit.
DR. LOWRY said she didn't know but would provide that
information to the committee.
4:26:07 PM
KEELEY OLSON, Executive Director, Stand Together Against Rape
(STAR), testified in support of HB 31 on behalf of STAR. She
claimed that the proposed legislation represents the best
standard practice recognized nationwide. She said that after an
audit of the current backlog, it is critical to determine a
consistent process for all law enforcement agencies across the
state. She said that HB 31 would answer all the important
questions raised by the committee members. She mentioned that
there are many jurisdictions throughout the state that have an
alternative reporting mechanism, called non-investigative
reports. She said that in these cases, the victim undergoes a
forensic examination, and the evidence is saved in case the
victim chooses to proceed with a law enforcement investigation.
She offered that these rape kits are collected by the examiner
with an advocate present, but no law enforcement personnel is
notified. She said a victim of sexual assault may come forward
at any time to file an anonymous report and request to have
his/her case opened up for full investigation. She stated the
importance of not coercing victims to participate in the
criminal legal process against their will.
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked if for some rape kits, victims may
choose not to submit them to law enforcement, and the kits are
put into a holding place.
MS. OLSON responded yes. She said the reason for that is to
provide options to victims who are hesitant to "come forward" or
intimidated by the process but recognize the need for evidence
to be collected in a timely manner to reserve the right to open
those cases to investigation. She added alternative reporting
has resulted in "some very successful prosecutions" as a result.
She mentioned this mechanism is a provision of the Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA) [of 1994].
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS said he will leave public testimony open on
HB 31.
[HB 31 was held over.]