Jun. 21, 2017
HARRISBURG – House Judiciary Committee Majority Chairman Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) was pleased that his legislation to modernize Pennsylvania’s current DNA law passed the state House today.
“In order to bring closure for more victims of violence and update our current law to reflect advances in the science of forensic DNA typing, we need to be able to collect DNA samples from those convicted of serious misdemeanors,” said Marsico.
Eight states have expanded their DNA requirements to include misdemeanors, including New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
According to Marsico, the state’s database and the national CODIS database are used successfully every day to solve new and cold cases, as well as to clear suspected persons who are innocent. At the same time, many opportunities to solve serious crimes are missed because a search of DNA databases fails to produce a match.
“Part of the reason for this is that the database, with few exceptions, includes DNA of only those convicted of felonies,” Marsico said. “In many cases, however, persons who have committed serious unsolved offenses fly below the radar with a prior criminal record for serious misdemeanors.”
Marsico pointed to the state of New York to demonstrate the value of collecting DNA from people convicted of misdemeanors. Since the law was enacted there in 2012, there have been 1875 hits on profiles obtained just from those convicted of low-grade theft. Of these, matches were made in 357 sexual assaults, 246 robberies, 196 larcenies and 810 burglaries. DNA samples from simple assault convictions resulted in 803 matches, including 222 sexual assaults, 51 homicides, 117 robberies and 407 burglaries.
“The expansion of the database in other states has permitted many serious crimes to be solved and arrests to be made more quickly, in many cases preventing the perpetrator from victimizing others,” said Marsico. “I feel strongly that this legislation will do the same in Pennsylvania and make our state a safer place.”
House Bill 1523 will now go the Senate for further consideration.
Representative Ronald Marsico
105th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
RonMarsico.com
Media Contact: Autumn R. Southard, 717.652.3721
asouthar@pahousegop.com