It is my distinct honor and privilege to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss a subject that has become a vital component in criminal justice investigations. In July of 1999, two very brutal crimes occurred in the western part of the Salt Lake Valley. The first involved a sexual assault of a female victim during a home invasion. After raping and terrorizing the victim for a lengthy period of time, the suspect attempted to destroy bodily fluid evidence by pouring ketchup and hand lotion into the victim's genitalia. When police investigators were summoned to the crime scene, the victim underwent a physical examination by a nurse practitioner in order to capture any potential physical evidence left by the suspect. A rape investigation kit was delivered to the State Criminalistics Laboratory. Scientific analysis provided a DNA profile of the suspect in spite of his attempt to destroy the evidence.

Two weeks later, in the same general vicinity of the sexual assault, a second victim was brutally raped and murdered. In this particular case, the suspect set the dead victim's bed on fire and when police investigators responded to the crime scene, only a burnt out torso was left of the victim. The Medical Examiner was summoned to the crime scene for the purposes of swabbing the victim for any potential bodily fluid evidence. Although the victim's body had been mostly consumed by the fire, bodily fluids were extracted from the victim which ultimately led to a DNA profile of the suspect. In an instant, the DNA profiles from both of these crime scenes were compared and an exact match was made. The same suspect was responsible for these atrocities. Sadly, the murder victim was a well-known stage actress who had performed hundreds of times in front of Utah audiences.

The entire west side of Salt Lake County was traumatized by these two incidents. Once it was discovered both of these crimes were committed by the same individual, law enforcement was fearful of a serial rapist and killer on the loose. Sheriff Aaron Kennard put the entire police agency on high alert and ordered extra patrols in west side neighborhoods. Approximately one week after the murder of the second victim, a deputy sheriff stopped an individual who generally matched the description provided to law enforcement by the first rape victim. Although traumatized by this incident, the victim was able to provide a composite drawing of the suspect, which was broadly distributed throughout Utah and The surrounding states. The individual stopped by the deputy had an extensive criminal history in property crimes including robbery, burglary, and several other thefts. The deputy felt he had enough probable cause to arrest the subject. Within a few hours a police line-up was conducted and the rape victim picked the individual out who the deputy had arrested. The Sheriff and all police agencies throughout the Salt Lake Valley were greatly relieved that a dangerous individual had been captured and taken off the street. The Sheriff called a news conference in order to calm the community. A Crime Lab staff was sent to the jail in order to extract a blood standard from the suspect to make a positive DNA match from the evidence collected at the scene. Everyone was shocked when the results came back negative, indicating that this particular individual was not responsible for the two crimes. Indeed, many police officials and others questioned the DNA analysis from the Crime Lab and felt we had made a mistake. Due to the exact nature of the science surrounding DNA, the Crime Lab staff was certain this was not the individual who had committed the crimes. The Sheriff was not convinced arid continued to hold this subject in jail.

The first rape victim recognized she had picked the wrong individual out from a police line up and provided a second composite drawing to a sketch artist, with finer details of the subject's eyes and facial features. The second composite drawing was re-issued and posted in law enforcement agencies throughout the west. A correctional officer, at the Utah State Prison, was walking down a hallway and noticed the sketch of the suspect hanging on a bulletin board. She immediately recognized the drawing as being very similar to an individual who had been paroled from Prison some six months before the two crimes were committed. She immediately contacted the detective in charge of the investigation. The investigator contacted the State Crime Lab indicating he had a solid lead. In a wonderful twist of fate, the Crime Lab had received a blood standard from this subject upon being paroled from Prison. States from across the country are taking blood standards from convicted and paroled offenders in order to place DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database. I immediately authorized overtime pay for the DNA analysts to examine this particular blood standard. In less than 24 hours, an exact match was made from the blood sample taken from the paroled offender and the DNA evidence left at the two crime scenes. An Attempt To Locate was put out on the identified offender and be was arrested by a local law enforcement agency less than 24 hours after the identification was made.

This particular case captures all of the essential elements of DNA technology. First, DNA evidence fled two serious crime scenes together. Second, DNA evidence exonerated an innocent individual. Third, using DNA technology, along with the wonderful advantages of the Combined DNA Indexing System, a multiply convicted and extremely dangerous individual was taken off the streets of Salt Lake City, Utah. During this last stay in Prison, this individual has confessed his incidents of tenor had only' just begun.

Senators, the advantages of DNA technology cannot be overstated. It has to be considered the most significant breakthrough science has made to assist law enforcement in identifying perpetrators of crime. This is only one case of numerous I could cite where DNA evidence has been the key to solving serious crimes. DNA has far exceeded law enforcement investigators expectations in identifying perpetrator5 of crime. However, there are challenges to this technology which include staying abreast of changing equipment arid processes, along with funding this expensive analysis and retaining highly qualified personnel. The instruments involved in DNA are expensive but are essential in decreasing the turnaround lime in evidence analysis. The Committee can have a profound influence on the direction this country is taking with DNA technology. I recognize that my testimony may be considered as only anecdotal, but I assure you the funding of DNA technology and equipment for laboratories across the country will be one of the most significant criminal justice decisions this committee will make. The Utah Bureau of Forensic Services and statewide law enforcement applaud your efforts and encourages you to continue on this course of DNA Funding.