Milwaukee prosecutors this week filed a rape charge against an assailant whose identity is known only by his DNA, a new tactic that prosecutors hope will allow rape cases to be prosecuted after their 6-year statute of limitations has passed. In this case, DNA samples taken from three rape victims showed that they were all raped by a single man, whose identity is known only by a string of DNA code. By filing the warrant now, prosecutors buy time to discover the identity of the attacker even after the statute of limitations has passed. Each month, an FBI computer will compare the DNA codes on this and other warrants with the DNA collected from suspected and convicted criminals around the country.
The problem with DNA evidence, like other evidence in rape cases, is that crime units do not have the resources to process it. According to the New York Times, 180,000 rape kits containing various forms of physical evidence remain unexamined in the US.
Media Resources: New York Times and Nando Times - October 7, 1999
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
