This is why I am so passionate about creating crime scene awareness in South Africa. We need to all become forensically aware and prevent this type of thing from happening over and over again. The rationale behind this objective is that without the proper preservation and collection of valuable DNA and other forensic evidence left at a crime scene, the opportunity to link the perpetrator to the crime committed, will be lost.

Don’t let it happen. Ask us how you can be part of the solution. If you or your community/group/workforce are interested in receiving DNA Awareness training or know of any group who would benefit from this information, please contact us via maya@dnaproject.co.za and she will send you the necessary information.

Here is the story:

Police: Year-old Boca Grande burglary solved

July 28, 2011

Charlotte County Sheriff’s detectives say they have solved a year-old case thanks to a DNA match of the burglar who left behind a bottle of water.

A home in Boca Grande on the Charlotte County side was burgled in June 2010. Police say the burglar entered through a second-story window and stole televisions, three dirt bikes and a Volkswagen Euro Van. The van was recovered in Sarasota County but the three dirt bikes were not recovered.

Crime scene technicians located fingerprints and found a bottle of water in the home. On July 13, police say the water bottle tested positive for Eric William Griffith, whose details were already on the database.

Detectives arrested Griffith at his home Tuesday and charged him with burglary, grand theft motor vehicle and grand theft.

However, to ensure DNA’s optimum use in criminal proceedings, it is imperative that criminal justice litigators are properly conversant with the scientific basis and presentation of such evidence, as well as with its potential usefulness in criminal cases. As such, the DNA Project is hosting and funding the its first Legal workshop tomorrow for the Western Cape Branch of the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority). Over 60 prosecutors will be present as well as representatives from the Legal Aid Board and the Department of Justice. The aim of this course is to form a bridge between the science of DNA and the legal aspects of DNA evidence. It will provide criminal justice litigators with the necessary information not only to understand the significance of DNA evidence, but also to successfully adduce, recognize and if necessary, challenge the validity of such evidence in court.

Below is a brief outline of the issues which will be covered in the full day course:

Part One: Overview of DNA Profiling – Prof. Valerie Corfield

A single cigarette butt left at the scene of a robbery and murder has led to the conviction of a 24-year-old man

1.1 The science underlying DNA profiling — what does a profile look like, how does a DNA database work for criminal intelligence and the latest developments in this field.
1.2 Collection of samples for DNA Purposes: sample taking in terms of the current CPA and proposed sample taking in terms of the new Draft Bill
1.3 SAPS FSL Disclosure Policies

Part Two: The DNA Bill – Ms Vanessa Lynch
4.1 An overview of current legislation regulating DNA collection, analysis and use in the courtroom
4.2 An introduction to the draft DNA Bill and its impact on the way in which DNA profiles will be regulated in SA

Part Three: DNA in the Courtroom – Dr Andra le Roux Kemp
3.1 The significance of a Match and whether it ought to be challenged
3.2 Constitutionality of section 212
3.3 Evaluation of evidence: the possible grounds upon which challenges to the weight of DNA evidence can be made
3.4 Defense and prosecution fallacies

Part Four: Pre-trial Issues – Lt Col. Sharlene Otto
2.1 Interpreting the lab report
2.2 Meaning of a match
2.3 Important Questions to ask in preparation for trail

The presenters:

Professor Valerie Corfield,  BSc Hons Botany (Bristol, UK); MSc Cell Biology (Wright Sate University, USA); PhD Genetics (University of the Witwatersrand).Medical scientist, Department of Medical Biosciences, Stellenbosch University. Professor Corfield’s research focus is the molecular genetics of inherited heart disease. She has published extensively and is rated as a scientist with international recognition by the National Research Foundation, for which she serves on several committees. Now semi-retired from her academic position, she delivers lectures and develops and presents interactive workshops which engage the general public in a greater understanding of science and appreciation of its societal implications. Activities include DNA and its applications in forensics. She holds a Wellcome Trust International Engagement award in biomedicine and presents workshops for The DNA Project, the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement and Science Centres across South Africa.

Ms Vanessa Lynch BA (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal) LLB (UCT), Founder and Executive Director of the DNA Project. Ms. Lynch qualified as an attorney from UCT in 1993. She left her position as a Commercial attorney in 2005 in order to undertake the work of the DNA Project on a full-time basis and is now the Executive Director of this organisation. She founded the DNA Project following the brutal murder of her father in 2004 after seeking a way in which to meaningfully contribute towards the alleviation of crime in South Africa in a manner which was significant, achievable, tangible and would ultimately have a long term impact towards negating the high crime rate in S.A. An assessment of successful criminal justice systems all pointed to one obvious solution: the abatement of crime in other countries was ultimately achieved through the implementation and development of a National DNA Criminal Intelligence Database. In an effort to emulate this success in South Africa, she established a non-profit organisation to practically address the crime situation in South Africa through the expanded use of DNA evidence in conjunction with South Africa’s National DNA Database.

Dr Andra le Roux-Kemp BA, LLB (Stell), CML (UNISA), LLD (Stell). Adv of the High Court of South Africa; Part-time lecturer at Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Law. Dr Andra le Roux-Kemp obtained the BA, LLB and LLD degrees from Stellenbosch University and a postgraduate certificate in Medicine and Law from UNISA. Her primary area of interest and expertise relate to particular themes in Criminal Justice and Medical- and Health Law. She has published both locally and is the author of the recently published book Law, Power and the Doctor-Patient Relationship: A Legal Perspective (2011). She is a member of the South African Medico-Legal Society (SAMLS) and the Criminological and Victimological Society of South Africa (CRIMSA) and teaches a LLM module in Legal Medicine annually at Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Law.

Lieutenant Colonel Sharlene Otto: CHIEF FORENSIC ANALYST and REPORTING OFFICER – Biology Unit of the Forensic Science Laboratory (SAPS, Cape Town) Lt Col. Otto has a B. Sc.-degree, with Botany and Zoology as majors from the UFS as well as  a Higher Teaching Diploma and has been attached to the Biology Unit of the Forensic Science Laboratory since November 1993.  Since that time she has received intensive training in serology and various DNA-technique, statistics, STR’s and has attended and presented at both national and international DNA conferences. Sharelene has been involved in the DNA analysis of biological evidentiary samples since 1996 and since November 1997 she has been involved in the STR-analysis of these samples. During October 2003. Lt Col. Otto takes part in both internal and external proficiency tests on a regular basis all of which have completed them all successfully.  In total, Lt Col. Otto has 25 years experience in the biological sciences and is one of South Africa’s most experienced and valuable DNA Forensic Experts.

The DNA Project has funded this DNA Awareness workshop with funds raised to promote DNA Awareness in SA. The DNA Project wishes to thank the Change a Life Trust and Juta for their kind sponsorship towards this workshop.

For more information contact info@dnaproject.co.za

The venue was Scifest Africa 2011 in Grahamstown, the plot….murder. This was the murder mystery evening played out Scifest this year.

Members of the audience question Mr Rival's heavily pregnant girlfriend Ms Wanda Urjob

Imagine this- it was the end of a long day at the Science-4-All Mega-Xploratorium (S4-AMX), Mr Knowledge O.F. Csi, the conscientious security officer, was doing his rounds after the last visitors had left. He paused outside Dr Noall X. Plor’s office – his finely tuned instinct told him something was wrong. He knocked, no answer, yet he knew that Dr Plor had not left the building; cautiously he opened the door. The scene that greeted him confirmed his foreboding, Dr Plor lay spread-eagled across his desk, a broken, blood-smeared wine glass lay in front of his outstretched lifeless hand, a strange smell of burning wafted towards Mr Csi.

Switch to the auditorium at Scifest Africa 2011 in Grahamstown, where an expectant real-live audience of school learners, teachers and other members of the public had come to take part in a Murder Mystery evening. Also there was an excited cast of scientists and science centre friends from around South Africa, all would be-actors and extroverts who would act out the strange and twisted goings on of the S4-AMX on the murderous night in May.

Mr Cantseeit and Dr Fori Ensik each had their own suspicions

Professor Valerie Corfield, who created this novel way to look at crime and the use of DNA profiling to solve it, explained to the audience the science behind popular series like “CSI” and “Solving it”. She talked about the power of a national DNA database in linking suspects with their crimes and securing convictions. She also asked the audience to think about some of the societal, legal and ethical issues this technology may raise. Suddenly, a cell phone rang urgently, a message was relayed to a visibly shaken Prof Corfield – she paused, and then announced the shocking news, Dr Plor was dead. A sob from one of the audience – it was Dr Plor’s wife Mrs Angela St Clare Plor – known by many as Angst – and played by Irene of Pretoria University’s Science Centre.

The audience relaxed as they realised that this was all part of the evening’s entertainment and they strained forward, it was time to start solving the crime. The players were introduced, everyone was delighted to hear that Mama Precious Ramotswe, of the Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, was visiting from Botswana and would be happy to give advice. Curious, everyone went to the scene of the crime –which had been taped off by the well-informed and efficient Mr Csi. They surveyed the evidence and, armed with some background information about the characters in the Xploratorium that evening, they began to question the suspects.

It seemed that just about everyone had a motive to want to see the last of the hard drinking, womanising, financially insecure and increasingly inefficient Dr Plor. Had Mrs Plor had enough of his behavior? Why was she so friendly with Mr Ivor Grudge who was wrongfully dismissed from the Xploratorium? Was this Mrs Arch Rival’s chance to take over the struggling S4-AMX? Who was Mr Q. Rios Rival’s biological father and what was his pregnant and ambitious girlfriend (Ms Wanda Urjob)’s role in the events of the tragic evening? What financial shenanigans had the forensic accountant Ms Penny Fiscus uncovered and why was her partner the forensic scientist Dr Fori Ensik so jealous to finding her talking to Dr Plor earlier in the evening? Could Ms Twitter N. Bisted throw some light onto the jealousies simmering beneath the surface? Did socialite Mrs Phyll-Anne Thropicopolos and her security advisor Mr Hev E. Hitman know more than they were saying and did her friend the politician Mr Grey V. Trane have something to hide? Did the bitter and angry Mr I Les Cantseeit, who lost an eye at S4-AMX, get a chance to speak to Dr Plor? Why was the cleaning lady Mrs Busi Makleena so visibly shaken that evening?

Mr Hev E. Hitman shrugged a lot - he knew nothing

The Murder Mystery was edu-tainment like you don’t get taught at school or in the science pages of the newspaper; Dr Fori Ensik could explain more about DNA forensics, Ms Fiscus could talk about forensic accounting and Mama Precious was there to share wisdom and common sense. Mr Grudge had an identical twin, he wanted to know how DNA profiling dealt with that and Mr Hev E. Hitman was not happy that his DNA was on a database already because of his previous “misdemeanors”. Mr Rival explained paternity testing and how he went about getting the samples (rightly or wrongly?) Mr Trane gave the politician’s answers to where South Africa’s national DNA database stands.

The audience questioned, probed, sought answers; small groups discussed their suspicions and went back to ask more – now and again pausing to sample some of the tasty snacks on offer! The suspects blustered, prevaricated, lied and pointed fingers at each other.

Finally everyone reassembled and wrote down who they thought did it, did they act alone, why did they do it and how did they do it? The would-be Horatio Cane’s ideas were checked, did anyone have it right? Yes, a few detectives had “sussed” it out correctly and justice would be served.

And you the reader will want to know those answers too – but you will have to come to the next Murder Mystery evening to find out who-dun-it…….

Professor Valerie Corfield

The editorial refers to the article which has appeared in all three major provinces in South Africa, which was originally written and published in an international Forensic Magazine. It is an opinion piece written by Chris Asplen, who was recently in South Africa, and which visit obviously drove him to write this article. It is uncomprisingly direct and honest and very hard hitting insofar as how the international forensic community view our MP’s. I wonder if any of the members of the portfolio committee for police who are ‘reviewing’ the DNA Bill, read this about themselves? And if so, how did it make them feel? I personally, would not like to have the blood of these and future victims on my hands. Perhaps, however they will prove Mr Asplen wrong, and actually get on with the job at hand this year? Well, we live in hope, as do all the rape survivors and future victims…

Forensic DNA Database legislation urgently needed amid rape epidemic

I am a former prosecutor in the United States where I was the advisor to two US Attorneys General on the use of forensic DNA technology and where I was the Executive Director of the US Department of Justice’s National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence.  My specialty as a prosecutor was the prosecution of sex crimes committed against children. I left the Department of Justice about 10 years ago and began consulting internationally on the integration of forensic DNA evidence into criminal justice systems. I have been fortunate to help over 35 countries realize the potential of DNA technology to protect victims – mostly women and children – from the horrors of rape. I have spent equal time and energy to protect  the innocent – mostly men – from the tragedy of wrongful conviction with the very same technology.

When I first started working abroad, my presentations would often start with a rhetorical question that went something like this:  “What is the most important factor influencing the success of forensic DNA databasing?  Is it the quality of the laboratory performing the analysis? Is it the training and education of the police ensuring that they collect valuable evidence?  Or perhaps the skill with which prosecutors can leverage the probative value of DNA to support their victims’ testimony?” But of course it was a loaded question.  I had my own answer. “It’s actually none of these…” I would say. “The most important factor influencing the potential effect of DNA in any criminal justice system is what the law allows you to do with it.”

Now I am a little biased here.  I am a lawyer by training, by education and probably by nature. But I have a pretty good argument.  You can have the best, most advanced laboratory system in the world, the most rigorous quality assurance procedures, and send specialized crime scene analysts to every crime scene – but those factors mean little if the law does not allow you leverage the full potential of the technology and the evidence.

Nowhere is that dynamic more tragically clear than in South Africa.

I first traveled to South Africa 10 years ago. I left the Department of Justice less than a year earlier and had been invited to participate in a meeting of Interpol’s DNA Expert Monitoring Group in Pretoria.  It was my first trip to the continent so to say that I was excited is an understatement. I did not, in all honesty though, harbor great expectations regarding what I would see from the standpoint of South Africa’s use of DNA technology. But when I saw what the South African Police Service (SAPS) was doing, I was nothing short of astounded.  The SAPS had an automated system for DNA analysis that was unique in the world.  As we toured through the laboratory I realized that it was, at that time,  the most advanced forensic DNA testing robotics system I had ever seen.  I was so impressed that I literally walked out of the lab, got on my phone and called my former colleagues at DOJ trying to convince them to bring Johann and his colleagues to the US so that they could explain what they were doing.  South Africa was going to be a model, not only for Africa, but perhaps for the world.  They had crime statistics that proved South Africa to be one of the most sexually violent places on the planet and they had the capacity and technical sophistication to hit back hard.  South Africa was going to prove the power of DNA like nowhere else.

The automated DNA Robotics system at the Pretoria Forensics Lab

Boy was I wrong.

I have just returned from another trip to South Africa, a trip I have made many times since my first visit. And to be clear, it is not the police that have failed, nor is it the technology, nor is it the laboratory personnel.  Rather, ten years after South Africa created one of the most important laboratory infrastructures in the world, the politicians in the South African Parliament have still failed to give police the legal authority to save literally thousands upon thousands of lives with DNA.  Ten years later and South Africa, in contrast with more than 50 countries around the world, still has no legislation allowing for the establishment of a forensic DNA database.

South Africa is a strikingly beautiful country from its coast line at the Cape of Good Hope to Krugar National Park to the wine regions of Stellenbosch.  It is also the economic anchor for sub-Saharan Africa.   It has a technology portfolio that includes a nuclear weapons program (and the wisdom to subsequently dismantle it) a 2002 Noble Prize for work in microbiology and the first human to human heart transplant was performed in South Africa.   And most importantly, it is a country which engineered one of the most significant triumphs of human spirit and potential – the non-violent elimination of apartheid

But South Africa is also a country that, according to the United Nations, ranks second for murder and first for assaults and rapes per capita. 52 people are murdered every day there and the number of rapes reported in a year is around 55,000.  It is estimated that 500,000 rapes are committed annually in South Africa. In a 2009 survey, one in four South African men admitted to raping someone.  Even more insidiously, South Africa has one of the highest incidences of child and baby rape in the world.  It is a country where the belief exists that intercourse will cure or prevent HIV/AIDS and where child rape is used as a method of retaliation against someone else for a perceived wrong.  Children are murdered and body parts used for “traditional” medicinal remedies.  And in a country also cursed with epidemic rates of HIV/Aids, rape takes on an exponentially tragic dimension.

The world holds no shortage of human tragedies.  But most of those tragedies persist because there are no clear, identifiable fixes.  Feeding entire starving countries from overworked, infertile land or generating clean, lifesaving water from dry, parched earth are heavy lifts.  Wars and the conflicts that lead to catastrophic loss of human life have been with us since the beginning of time.  But when it comes to fighting back against serial rapists and pedophiles? I have examples from every corner of the planet of exactly what works and just how well.  There is nothing better at getting rapists off the street, at protecting little girls and, by the way, at protecting those who would be wrongly accused and convicted of those serious crimes than DNA databases.

And what exacerbates the tragedy tenfold is the fact that, unlike many countries with the wisdom to implement DNA databases fully, South Africa already has all the other components necessary to leverage the power DNA technology -the laboratory system, the finances, the education and the commitment by police. There are no other excuses, nowhere  else to place responsibility.

As someone who works regularly in other peoples’ countries, I don’t “call out” or criticize foreign  officials easily or often.  But on a scale unequaled anywhere else on earth, hundreds of thousands of children’s lives are sacrificed because of the failure to act by politicians in South Africa.  The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee responsible for the legislation that would give police the ability to immediately begin taking rapists off the street has avoided acting on the law for years.  The legislation sits in Committee while the worst sexual violence statistics in the world continue to pile up.   Except they are not really statistics. They are terrified woman and little girls staring into the face of horrific violence and evil while they are likely infected with HIV – three more of them just in the time it took you to read this article.

Chris Asplen

Executive Director, DNA 4 Africa

Casplen@DNA4Africa.org

Poonitha Naidoo, Vanessa Lynch & Carolyn Hancock

As such,  I believe we lost a valuable opportunity for serious, logical and rational debate over an issue which may have far reaching consequences in South Africa . The problem is, to date, no-one seems to be able to come forward and present an argument against the implementation of a criminal intelligence DNA database, which makes any sense at all.

Whilst I admit that I may be biased in favour of the value of a DNA Database for crime resolution (in conjunction with the vast majority of countries in the world with developed DNA Databases!), I am not unfamiliar nor insensitive to some of the privacy concerns of human rights groups. It must also be noted that the DNA Project concedes that the actual DNA reference sample (as opposed to the DNA profile) should be destroyed once a full DNA profile has been obtained and, that there should be an exit mechanism in place to expunge profiles which have not resulted in a conviction following arrest.

As I see it, there are five areas of concern amongst civil rights activists, which I raised for argument in the debate, namely:
1. WHETHER A DNA SAMPLE AND ITS PROFILE SHOULD BE KEPT ON A DATABASE,
2. AND FOR HOW LONG;
3. HOW THESE SAMPLES SHOULD BE OBTAINED FROM INDIVIDUALS;
4. WHETHER THE PRESENCE OF A DNA PROFILE ON A DATABASE REPRESENTS AN INVASION OF PRIVACY;  AND
5. HOW WE SHOULD BALANCE THESE CONFLICTING INTERESTS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS IN SA.

In the first place we must ensure that we differentiate between a DNA sample and a DNA profile. 
The physical sample consists of the bodily substance collected from a crime scene or person; the DNA profile is the digitized information that is stored electronically on the Database. Whilst the sample holds the genetic profile, once a DNA profile has been obtained, the DNA sample can be destroyed, provided that it is not a crime scene sample which is evidence and must be kept in the same way as other crime scene evidence.
Of note is that the DNA markers which make up the digital profile in South Africa, are specifically chosen for forensic use because they do not reveal any details about age, ethnicity, race, appearance or medical conditions. You therefore cannot link a DNA profile to an individual’s medical history nor does it point to genetic disorders or susceptibilities. In fact a mughsot tells you more about the person than a DNA profile; as too does your id number. If then we concede that the physical sample is not retained, but only the digital profile, and if access and use to it is strictly confined, then the intrusion into privacy is not particularly grave, while the societal gains in solving and deterring appalling crimes in South Africa through a criminal intelligence database, are very significant.

Vanessa Lynch debating at UCT last week

My second point was in relation to the way in which a sample is collected. Currently, due to the interpretation of the 1977 Criminal Procedures Act, a registered nurse or medical practitioner has to take a full vial blood to generate a sample for DNA analysis. The draft DNA bill calls for the collection of a simple cheek swab/pin prick by a police officer.  No country in the world mandates that samples be taken by blood or medical personnel – Why? It is exceedingly expensive, dangerous and scientifically unnecessary and it has certainly never been challenged as unconstitutional or invasive. Ms Naidoo perceives this act however as a grave invasion of privacy. But, I argue that the mere act of taking of samples from suspects is a reasonable and  proportionate response to serious crime.

Given that this technology is here to stay, as a crucial means of solving crimes, the question is… who should be on the database and why? It is generally agreed, that convicted offenders and crime scene profiles should be retained. The main argument is then around the retention of such material in cases where a suspect is subsequently acquitted or the charge is discontinued….. which leads us to the next point…

Our contention is that there should exist a retention framework for profiles which do not result in a conviction. In the pivotal case of S vs Marper – The European Courts of Human Right forced a change of policy in England that the holding of a DNA profiles from persons regardless of outcome of arrest was disproportionate – a retention framework was proposed which is still being debated.
 Whilst the value of retained profiles from suspects who were subsequently acquitted has been shown to be considerable, there is no other country which allows a blanket retention policy of such profiles, but a retention framework makes sense.
Significantly, in South Africa, a recently passed law allows searching across all the fingerprint databases – HANIS, E-NATIS and AFIS. If we accept that the fingerprint is a unique identifier, just as the DNA profile is, then we are currently already allowing supposedly ‘innocent’ fingerprints to be searched for the purpose of generating a hit or match. We must remember that the presence of a fingerprint on a database does not constitute a criminal record – it is for reference and comparative purposes only. If a hit is generated then it is considered a LEAD in the investigation – it is not an automatic guilty verdict as many seem to suggest. With the high rate of recidivism in SA, it may be proportionate to consider a retention framework whereby a profile is kept for a specified period (in the draft Bill, 5 years has been proposed) after which, if there is no further arrest during that time, it is automatically expunged.

Perhaps then Civil liberties activists seem mostly opposed to the development of a national database on the grounds that state officials might somehow be able to abuse ordinary citizens by using the data that would be contained in it? The argument that information can be abused pre-supposes that the DNA profiles reveal genetic information which is commercially valuable. This is untrue. It is simply a unique identifier. There is no realistic way I can think of in which a government can abuse a Database nor has any case ever been reported of this occurring. But perhaps some reader out there has different views on this, and if so, I would be interested in hearing them. Moreover, the draft Bill provides for strict safeguards and penalties to ensure that DNA profiles are used only for the purpose related to the detection of crime, the investigation of an offence or the conduct of a prosecution.

If a Database is assiduously maintained and strictly controlled in order to strengthen our Criminal Justice System (CJS) and help our forces of law apprehend and prosecute habitual offenders, then we should support the expansion and development of this crime fighting tool in a country which is being held to ransom by a small minority of criminals.

The last point brings me to duty of the State to protect the public from crime. However, it is recognised that in doing so, the State also needs to protect certain ethical values such as liberty, autonomy, privacy, informed consent and equality. Sometimes these obligations conflict and then a balance must be struck between the right to privacy and the right to safety and security. In appropriate circumstances, some of these rights need to be restricted in the public interest and to protect the rights of others.  Legislation should therefore seek to find an adequate balance between the interests of society and the interests of the individual. If we agree that the purpose of the CJS is to permit everyone to go about their daily lives without fear of harm to person or property, then surely it is in everyone’s interest that serious crime should be properly investigated and prosecuted.  As one of the most important obligations of the state is to protect the rights of its citizens, a DNA Database does this and this more than makes up for any minor privacy rights violated by mandatory DNA databasing. In other words, freedom of action has to be restricted in appropriate circumstances – i.e. the response of the state to take action to prevent people from killing or harming one another will inevitably involve some restriction of freedom of action. Laws by their very nature do this (restrict freedom of action) but are in place to ensure that the greater good is achieved.

My final point on the issue is a Utilitarian  one – in other words, what is the VALUE of the science? 
In a country which has one of the highest crime rates,  lowest conviction rates and highest rate of recidivism in the world- the value of the science, in this case, the DNA database,  is very, very high.
So, let us not sacrifice the good for the perfect – if we put proper safeguards in place and maximise the full potential of this powerful investigative tool, we will be doing a good thing – which surely is an aim worthy of pursuit?

What do you think?

Vanessa

How tragic too, that as I write this, I feel that I am preaching to the converted (ie the people who read this blog), when the real ‘accomplices’ in South Africa hold us and future victims to ransom by their lack of efficiency, bureaucracy and ignorance in failing to pass the DNA legislation so desperately needed in SA.

Database for DNA key to full sex crime law
By Sandy Yeh

A junior-high school girl in Yunlin County was recently raped and murdered. A repeat sex offender who had just been released on parole is suspected of committing these acts. As a result of the ensuing public anger, we may finally have a chance to break through the blockade of so-called “human rights groups” that are opposed to amending the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act. If approved, judges will be able to follow the example of Megan’s Law in the US and decide to publish the names and photos of repeat sexual offenders as well as the nature of their crime in order to avoid similar tragedies.

Following several child assault crimes that have highlighted the flaws of the act and the rise of the “White Rose” movement in September last year, the legislature is now expected to pass the amendment. Still, the information and monitoring of sex offenders alone will not be enough to prevent them from committing crimes again. Nor will they put an end to sex assault crimes. Just as the “protection order” in the Domestic Violence Prevention Act will not prevent victims of domestic violence from being abused, complementary measures are required. In this case, the most important measure is building a DNA database on sex offenders.

A US newspaper recently reported a similar sexual assault case that happened in Maryland in July 2003, though the suspect was only arrested in Wisconsin years later. Just like the Taiwanese girl, the victim was 13 years old at the time of the crime. The difference is that she survived and the police could take complete samples of the suspect’s DNA. It took some time, but they were able to make a breakthrough seven years later thanks to the strengthening of the DNA database as a result of legislative amendments. When a suspect was arrested for selling marijuana and ordered to submit a DNA sample, a match was found.

In 1994, the US passed the DNA Identification Act to provide legal grounds for DNA collection. In 2000, it passed the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act, authorizing the FBI to integrate DNA databases in different US states and organizations, including a DNA database of officially convicted criminals, missing people and their families, and unidentified corpses. In 2005, it passed the DNA Fingerprint Act, integrating criminals’ DNA and fingerprint data. Last year, it passed the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act to impose DNA collection on all suspects except in the case of a few misdemeanors. By gradually enhancing the laws, the US’ DNA database grew from 460,000 items in 2000 to 2.03 million in 2004 and 8.64 million last year. The number of cases solved as a result has increased more than 100-fold.

Katie Sepich, at the age of 22 was raped and murdered

These results were achieved thanks to the US’ employment of modern technology. By strengthening its criminal investigation with the help of the expanded database, the US can now provide a safer environment, safeguard the rights of law-abiding citizens and improve trial efficiency. This brings comfort to victims and their families, and promotes fairness and justice. Furthermore, the strengthened DNA database and improved matching could clear innocent suspects and reduce miscarriages of justice.

Just like the obstacles to the amendment of Taiwan’s Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act, the amendment of the DNA Sampling Regulations has been delayed since passing its first reading in the legislature in 2008. When the public says the long documentation process, poor administrative efficiency and bureaucracy were “accomplices” to the murder of the girl in Yunlin, one wonders if anyone has looked into whether the legislature is the reason why the law remains stalled.

In a case where there were so many victims, especially rape victims, you would expect more DNA evidence. However, DNA evidence was only used to link Mogale to four of the victims, two of which were murdered.

The one victim, a prostitute who was raped and murdered by Mogale, had a condom discovered nearby the body from which DNA evidence was collected which matched Mogale. Two of the other victims had vaginal and cervical swabs for DNA evidence taken matching Mogale as well. A fourth victim who was bludgeoned, raped and then left unconscious in the open veld for 24 hours had a vaginal swap at the hospital which produced DNA evidence matching Mogale.

He was found guilty on 52 of the 61 charges brought against him, these included 16 murders, 9 kidnappings, 2 thefts and 2 robberies with aggravating circumstances.

When Mogale was being led down to the court cells, he is quoted as saying, “In life you face challenges and this is just one of them. I did not commit the crimes they say I committed. Even now, I still maintain my innocence”, but DNA evidence doesn’t lie.

For more of the full story please follow these links.

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/03/17/serial-rapist-to-be-sentenced

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/West-End-killer-awaits-sentencing-20110316

Every now and again, I wake up and think – what is the point? All those nay-sayers who previously told me and still tell me – you will never get anywhere with our Government would love to prove me wrong and say, ‘I told you so’…  But the point is, this is inevitable – just as the cell phone has become an indispensable instrument in every SA’s life, so too will the power of DNA and its use in resolving crime, become an indispensable tool in SA’s fight against crime. So when I heard this week that the Portfolio Committee have yet again postponed their overseas tour of the UK and Canada to , and I quote, “our winter”, ie July 2011, my initial reaction was despondency – but then I realised that they are simply delaying the inevitable – whilst they manipulate dates to ensure that their overseas trip at least falls within the European and Canadian summer (a much more pleasant time to journey, you will agree), we need to ensure that all the groundwork must continue to ensure that once that legislation is in place, we are ready for it:

1. DNA AWARENESS – this is critical, because unless we are aware that DNA is all prevalent on a crime scene, that crucial evidence will be lost, and of no further use. This applies to every officer, (be it police or security guard) paramedic or member of the public and as such, we will continue to embark upon our National DNA Awareness Campaign which offers free workshops to all these sectors as well as schools, community centres and trauma centres. The more people who know about the power of DNA, how to preserve it and how it can be used to link serial offenders to their crimes and ultimately prosecute them, the better.

2. DNA CAPACITY – we need to support our Forensic Labs, as the new legislation, when passed, will require a large amount of samples to be processed if our DNA Database is to be used as an intelligent database. To this end, more Universities need to take up our offer of hosting a Forensic DNA course at their institution (we have developed a Forensic Hons course which we provide to Universities free of charge), so that we have more qualified Forensic Analysts entering the labs. We also need to support the idea of allowing private DNA labs to assist the state forensic labs, certainly in the beginning, to process more samples to enter onto the DNA Database. This is an accepted practice all over the world, and in a country which is plagued by backlogs, there is no reason not to implement this system in SA.

3. GENETIC JUSTICE & THE LAW! – without proper legislation in place, convicted offenders remain free to leave prison without having had their DNA profile entered onto the DNA Database; the current DNA Database remains unregulated due to inadequate and outdated legislation attempting to define this area of the law; serial rapists and murderers remain at large and undetected because our Database cannot be utilised as an intelligent Database without proper legislation allowing it to be used as such. We need to put pressure on the Portfolio Committee to get a move on and review the DNA Bill, because one more delay will render their stated intentions to pass the Bill untruthful, without substance and against the will of the SA people.

Our plan for 2011 therefore is to rigourously promote DNA Awareness in the first part of the year. To this end we have a media plan and funding to help us spread this crucial awareness (remember DNA CSI!?) on a national basis. When the PC return from their overseas trip, ready, we trust to finally concentrate on actually reviewing the legislation, we hope that there will be a groundswell of South African’s fully aware of why DNA and its use in Forensics needs to form part of this country’s crime fighting strategy.

Let us know if you want us to host a free DNA Awareness workshop or lecture at your organisation, school, community centre, trauma centre or security company – simply email Maya at maya@dnaproject.co.za or call (021) 418-0647.

with thanks

Vanessa

DNA: The crime-fighting tool that needs to be used
03 Sep 2010

Dr Carolyn Hancock, a Director of The DNA Project

EARLIER this year Rudi Venter, who had been charged with the murder of his wife, walked out of court a free man. DNA evidence had determined he was innocent.

Venter’s wife was beaten to death with a baseball bat at their Johannesburg home in 2006. At the time, Venter said he had returned home after taking his children to school and seen two men running from the house before finding his critically injured wife. Venter was arrested for her murder a year later. Just before he was due to go to trial in February, his legal team asked an expert to interpret the DNA results from material found at the scene. It was found that DNA samples obtained at the scene contained the blood of Venter’s wife and two unidentified men. Venter’s blood was not present anywhere. Consequently, the state withdrew the murder charge.

If the DNA found at the scene had been processed at the time as a matter of routine, Venter would not have spent four years with a murder charge hanging over him.

“DNA does not only prove guilt, but it can also prove innocence,” says Dr Carolyn Hancock, a director of the DNA Project and a former genetics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“In the United States, 258 people have been freed from prison on the basis of DNA results. The average time they had spent in prison was 13 years. Seventeen of them were on death row for crimes they never committed.”

Currently, this cannot happen in South Africa as the processing of DNA for forensic purposes by the South African Police Force Forensic Science Laboratory is prioritised according to five categories. Top of the list is a request from prosecutors when they have a suspect. The laboratory then undertakes to do a complete DNA analysis within 120 days or by trial date.

Bottom of the list are those cases with no known suspect. “This is what we believe should change,” says Hancock. “With a DNA database, reoffenders would immediately be identified.”

For this to happen, aspects of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 need to be amended in order for the country’s police force to be able to routinely use DNA for forensic purposes. The act is out of date; back in 1977, nobody had started using DNA for forensic purposes and consequently the act doesn’t specifically regulate the use of DNA for criminal intelligence purposes.

To address this omission, the Criminal Law Forensic Procedures Amendment Bill was drafted in 2008. It deals with the use of DNA and looks to allow police access to fingerprint databases other than their own, such as those of the departments of home affairs and transport, which routinely take fingerprints for identification purposes.

The draft bill was subsequently divided into two parts — one dealing with fingerprints, the other with DNA. The fingerprint legislation has been adopted. As a result, in addition to about five million fingerprints recorded by the SAPF, the police will now be allowed to search the other databases and access around 33 million fingerprints.

The DNA part of the bill is on hold while the parliamentary portfolio committee overseeing the bill reviews presentations regarding the issue and travels overseas to see how DNA analysis is done in other countries. It is unlikely that any decision will be made on the bill until next year.

If the bill is passed, which seems likely, capacity issues will have to be addressed if it is to be implemented effectively. One solution, given the lack of capacity of the SAPF, would be to outsource work to private laboratories.

“The capacity does exist out there to make this work,” says Hancock. “The immediate demand could be met. The use of private labs for the analysis of reference samples taken from arrestees would be a short-term solution, but they are used everywhere else and it is regarded as international best practice.”

But there remains a need for more qualified personnel within the SAPF and to that end, Hancock, as part of an initiative funded by the sponsors of the DNA Project, has been instrumental in developing a post-graduate qualification in forensic DNA analysis so that the state will have access to well-qualified personnel. This degree is already being offered at the University of the Free State and will be offered next year at the University of Cape Town. “The course material is freely available to any South African post-graduate institution,” she says.

Although the draft bill might be on hold, the DNA Project is promoting and publicising the use of DNA analysis in the fight against crime. The DNA Project is a non-profit, public-benefit organisation lobbying for the expansion of a national DNA database and it proposes that DNA profiles be created from DNA samples collected from crime scenes and from all those suspected or convicted of a crime.

“In this country, such a database would be hugely beneficial because of the number of criminals who reoffend,” says Hancock. “If you get them on the database the first time they commit an offence, then if you don’t convict them for their first offence you will hopefully do so when they reoffend.”

The DNA Project has just launched a new campaign aimed at promoting DNA awareness in South Africa. “We are primarily targeting community police forums and security companies,” says Hancock.

“The latter are often the first on a crime scene. You press a panic button and they are the first to respond. We want to ensure that anyone who is first at a crime scene ensures that any DNA evidence is preserved as it can easily be contaminated or destroyed. This evidence should be collected by trained SAPF crime-scene investigators.”

This nation-wide campaign sees the DNA Project offering free DNA awareness workshops to educate people as to the benefits of utilising DNA evidence for crime detection and prevention, and the need to contain and not contaminate a crime scene. “We would like to offer these workshops, which are free of charge, to those who are likely to be the first to arrive at a crime scene. For example, first responding officers, security guards, police reservists and paramedics.”

The DNA project is hoping to get this message to 10 000 people this year and they also have government funding to reach as many schoolchildren as possible. “Genetics is part of the school curriculum,” says Hancock, “and forensics is something they study — and many of them watch CSI on TV.”

The workshops will provide a basic understanding of how DNA profiling can be used to assist in criminal investigations in South Africa and the importance of preserving DNA evidence which may be at a crime scene. “This is essential as no matter how good our legislation or our laboratories are”, says Hancock, “we need to have the evidence properly preserved and collected at the crime scene.”

FORENSIC DNA evidence plays a vital role in criminal investigations because it can identify and help convict a suspect who is guilty of committing a crime or prove the innocence of a suspect who has been wrongly accused of a crime.

WHAT IS DNA? WHERE IS IT FOUND IN THE BODY?

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. This is the name for the chemical which is found in almost every cell in the human body and which is the blueprint or recipe for that person’s characteristics. Everyone’s DNA is unique (unless they have an identical twin). A person’s DNA is also exactly the same in every cell of their body. For example, the DNA pattern, also known as the DNA profile, in a human’s blood is the same as the DNA in his or her skin cells, body tissue, semen and saliva, which makes it possible to compare crime-scene evidence such as semen stains, saliva on cigarette butts and blood on clothing, with DNA obtained from a blood sample or cheek scraping taken from a suspect.

WHAT IS A DNA PROFILE?

A DNA profile is simply a unique list of letters and numbers obtained from a person’s DNA that acts as a personal identifier. A DNA profile contains no information about a person’s physical characteristics, their mental predisposition or anything about their medical his-tory. In the same way as fingerprints link a suspect to a crime, DNA provides scientific evidence that can identify or exclude a suspect from a police investigation. It can also be used to identify a victim through DNA from relatives, even when a body cannot be found. DNA profiling can also link two or more crime scenes. When evidence from one crime scene is compared with evidence from another, the police can tell whether it was the same person who had committed two different crimes. Even very old cases, which the police thought would never be solved, may contain DNA evidence that can be used to identify the person who committed that crime.

HOW CAN DNA HELP TO IDENTIFY A SUSPECT?

Once DNA samples have been collected from a crime scene and processed at the Forensic Science Laboratory, the DNA profile, which is the identification number taken from the DNA sample, can be compared with the DNA profiles taken from a known suspect. If no known suspect exists, the DNA profile taken from the crime scene is still valuable, as when it is entered onto the national DNA database, the police can see whether that DNA profile links to another known DNA profile on the DNA database or perhaps it may even link several different crimes to each other.

— DNA Project.

DNA DOES NOT ONLY PROVE GUILT, BUT IT CAN ALSO PROVE INNOCENCE. IN THE UNITED STATES, 258 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FREED FROM PRISON ON THE BASIS OF DNA RESULTS. THE AVERAGE TIME THEY HAD SPENT IN PRISON WAS 13 YEARS. SEVENTEEN OF THEM WERE ON DEATH ROW FOR CRIMES THEY NEVER COMMITTED.

Prof Corfield in action

Next week the ‘Prof. of DNA’ will facilitate a murder mystery evening in JHB at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre to raise awareness about DNA technology in South Africa. If you can, I encourage you to go and play ‘CSI detective’ with this DNA Detective on Tuesday, 7 September at 6:30 pm. You will enjoy an evening full of plots, sub plots, intrigue and numerous contradictions as you determine the modus operandi and sift through multiple motives to identify the murderer. The Prof will make you interview witnesses and suspects, gather evidence and decide for yourself what really happened one dark night in Newtown.

But in all seriousness, the murder mystery evening at Sci-Bono has actually been designed to allow you to explore the science of DNA profiling and find out more about how forensic DNA databases can be used as a tool to catch criminals. You will be invited to join the discussion about the ethics of DNA profiling and decide for yourself if South Africa needs a criminal intelligence DNA database.

TITLE: MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF DR. NOALL X PLOR  – DNA profiling in South Africa.

DATE: Tuesday 7 September

TIME: 6:30 pm for 7:00 pm

VENUE: The Sci-Bono Discovery Centre

RSVP: speaktoascientist@sci-bono.co.za or call Refilwe Pico at 011 639 8448

In the meantime we have been extremely busy making contact with countless security companies, police reservist clusters, paramedics, CPF’s and any other groups whose personnel may arrive first on a crime scene – we have been offering FREE DNA Awareness workshops throughout South Africa in an effort to educate people about the importance of preserving DNA evidence at a crime scene and how that evidence can be used in helping solve crime. We have qualified trainers in most provinces and have printed materials which we hand out to trainees FREE of charge to facilitate these workshops.

Workshop in JHB at Tracker being filmed by SS1

We have raised the funds to create this awareness, yet it is amazing how slow organizations have been to take up this incredible opportunity. There is no catch. This is what we are about – we want to promote DNA awareness in South Africa and the more people who are aware of its amazing potential in crime fighting, the better. Please – contact us so that we can arrange a workshop for your organization or CPF – alternatively SPREAD the word. We can have all the legislation, scientists, facilities and equipment in place – but if we don’t preserve the evidence for proper collection – all that is worth nothing.

Please let us know if you or your organization would be interested in helping us host a training session/s and we will send you further information. Email Maya, our training coordinator at maya@dnaproject.co.za

with thanks

Vanessa

ps – below a few images from some of our workshops held in Gauteng and KZN.