DENVER—DNA technology will be used in reviewing as many as 5,000 rape, murder and manslaughter cases to see if any convictions ought to be overturned, Colorado officials announced Thursday.
The 18-month Colorado Justice Review Project will be funded through a $1.2 million federal grant from the Department of Justice.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that defendants convicted of crimes have no constitutional right to DNA evidence that could prove their innocence. Despite that, Attorney General John Suthers, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, and Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director Ron Sloan said Thursday that prosecutors have an ethical duty to seek the truth and assure justice in every case.
“Applying state of the art DNA technology to past criminal cases fulfills this responsibility,” Morrissey said.
Suthers says other organizations, including the Colorado public defender office and the University of Denver law school, will be asked to help select cases for review. Cases not eligible for review are those where a person has admitted guilt or claims of innocence are based on factors determined by a jury at trial such as consent in rape cases, or self-defense in homicides.
Suthers and Sloan said they expect the review will result in about 50 cases requiring additional testing.
Across the country, more than 240 people have been exonerated through DNA testing since 1989, according to the New York-based Innocence Project.
Texas leads the way with 39 DNA exonerations so far.
In Colorado, two people have been released from prison because of DNA testing. Prosecutors dropped charges against Tim Masters in January 2008 after DNA tests determined he was not at the scene of the 1987 Fort Collins slaying of Peggy Hettrick.
Tim Kennedy was released from prison in May after similar DNA testing suggested he was not at the scene of the 1991 Colorado Springs-area shooting deaths of 15-year-old Jennifer Carpenter and her boyfriend, 37-year-old Steve Staskiewicz. El Paso County prosecutors are appealing a judge’s ruling that threw out Kennedy’s conviction.
“DNA doesn’t always exonerate someone but it could provide an element of doubt,” Suthers said.
