In New Jersey, criminal defendants who claim they are innocent, had to be incarcerated in order to avail themselves of DNA testing procedures at the cost of the state.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has now signed legislation that will increase the availability of DNA testing to criminal defendants. The new law that amends the 1994 DNA Database and Databank Act to allow defendants access to DNA evidence collected from crime scenes and victims, is scheduled to go into effect in March 2016.
“Thanks to DNA testing, we have seen a number of individuals exonerated after years, sometimes decades, spent behind bars for crimes they did not commit,” said the chief sponsor in the Assembly, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, in a statement.
„Sadly, under current state law, an innocent person who is on probation or parole does not have the same access to the technology that can help clear their name and restore their dignity,” Johnson added. “This law opens access to DNA testing to these individuals so they can stop living under the shadow of guilt and finally be free.”
Lead Senate sponsor, Senator Loretta Weinberg stated: “Expanding access to DNA analysis to those who are no longer incarcerated will allow people who have served their time, but who are still living with the nightmare of a wrongful conviction, to prove their innocence.”
“This expansion will also assist in identifying the true perpetrators of the crimes for which these individuals were charged,” she added.
The new law also authorises the judge to order law enforcement officials to submit crime scene evidence to the federal Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, for a search to determine whether the evidence matches another person and allows certified private laboratories to conduct DNA tests on behalf of defendants.
The bill was pushed by the Innocence Project, a New York-based nonprofit legal organisation that uses DNA to exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals. The Innocence Project’s waiting list is currently about 10 years.
Source: New Jersey Law Journal