Gov. Touts Success of Expanded Katie’s Law

Martinez Says More Criminals in Jail

Gov. Susana Martinez stood with the family of Katie Sepich on Monday to tout the success of a DNA testing law that bears the slain college student’s name, saying last year’s expansion of Katie’s Law is putting more criminals behind bars.

Martinez credits the law with a 92 percent increase in matching suspects to crimes, including five homicides and three sex crimes.

“Katie’s Law has proven to be a critical tool for law enforcement as we work to make New Mexico safer for our children and families,” the governor said at a news conference with Sepich’s parents and sister, Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, and officials from the Albuquerque Police Department’s crime lab.

“I’m proud that we are leading the country in cracking down on criminals through DNA matches,” Martinez said. “New Mexico now has one of the toughest versions of Katie’s Law in the country — and it’s working.”

The original law, passed in 2006, required DNA samples from suspects arrested for violent felonies such as murder, kidnapping, robbery, burglary and sex offenses. Last year’s revision extends the testing requirement to all felonies.

Sepich’s mother, Jayann Sepich, says the new law is helping bring justice and needed closure to more victims and their families while protecting others from the heartbreak of losing a beloved daughter.

Katie Sepich was a New Mexico State University student who was raped and murdered in 2003. Her killer was identified with DNA evidence after he was convicted of another crime three years later.

Martinez was district attorney in Las Cruces when Sepich was murdered.

The Sepiches have lobbied around the country for increased DNA testing.

While Martinez and law enforcement officials say there are provisions to ensure police have sufficient cause before taking DNA samples, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico says it has concerns about the law and intends to challenge its constitutionality when it can find the right case.

ACLU spokesman Micah McCoy said the group is concerned that suspects in nonviolent crimes can have their DNA seized without conviction, and there is no mechanism for having DNA expunged if a person is acquitted. Additionally, he notes, DNA contains highly personal information.

“We don’t want enforcement agencies going on fishing expeditions,” he said.