A new way to catch fiends
IN A HISTORIC move that could change the face of criminal investigations, a state panel approved the use of familial DNA to solve violent crimes, officials said Friday.
The State Commission on Forensic Science voted 9-2 to allow the technique to be used by law enforcement agencies across the state in felony and sex crime investigations.
The method allows investigators to identify suspects by checking genetic material of relatives who are already in the state’s DNA database. It can be used to both identify and eliminate people as suspects.
The family of Karina Vetrano, who was slain in a Queens park while jogging last year, mounted a campaign to press officials to allow the tests.
“Familial DNA usage will help bring these deviants to the severe justice they deserve,” Vetrano’s mom Cathie Vetrano said Friday.
Vetrano’s dad Phillip added, “This is a very big, monumental day in law enforcement. We have to thank Karina because she’s the one who made this happen.”
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the measure strikes a fair balance between privacy and investigative needs.
“The commission has insured more victims will receive justice, the public will be safer, and we in law enforcement can better guard against wrongful arrest and convictions,” Brown said in a statement.
Tina Luongo, attorney-incharge of the criminal practice at The Legal Aid Society, countered the decision and said it damaged New Yorkers’ civil and privacy rights.
“Instead of delegating to the New York State Legislature for a complete debate on its use, the Commission on Forensic Science made a rushed, politically influenced decision that has the potential to criminalize innocent New Yorkers,” she said.
State officials said the policy lays out limited situations where the method can be used and requires each law enforcement agency to be trained in the rules beforehand.
“(The) changes are being pursued to implement the policy, which will provide law enforcement with a proven scientific tool to help investigate and solve serious crimes, obtain justice for victims and exonerate the innocent without compromising individual protections,” the commission said in a statement.
The method can only be used in murder, rape, sexual assault, arson, kidnapping and terrorism cases — and only after other leads have gone cold and there appears to be a direct connection to the suspect.
Both the local prosecutor and the local police agency have to make the application, and the policy only applies to use with the New York state database.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said the NYPD has a list of 12 cases from 2016 that would fit policy guidelines. “We may get results from doing it so we’re looking forward to it,” he said. “We think it was a great day for justice this morning.”
Vetrano had gone for a run through Spring Creek Park near her Howard Beach home on the evening of Aug. 2 when she disappeared. Her father Phillip found her battered body face down about 15 feet from a path. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted.
Chanel Lewis, 20, of Brooklyn, was arrested Feb. 2, and told cops he killed her because of his hatred of women.
Cops found DNA under Vetrano’s fingernails and tried to use it to identify the suspect, but he was not in the database.
That led to the call for the use of familial DNA, which was not then approved.
Cops finally zeroed in on Lewis because an alert detective remembered him skulking around the area. They obtained DNA from him which matched the material under Vetrano’s fingernails.