According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, there were 272,350 sexual assaults in 2006 (the latest data available). The Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) calculates this to be one sexual assault every two minutes in the United States. The good news is that, according to RAINN, rapes have declined by 60% since 1993. The bad news is that both RAINN and AARDVARC.org (An Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection) both agree that only about 40% of rapes are actually reported to the police.
Sexual assault cases make up a large proportion of the cases that are received by the DNA section of most forensic laboratories. Each DNA analyst may be working on anywhere from 10-20 sexual assault cases at any one time, depending on the size and jurisdiction of the lab. This is in addition to the potentially hundreds of cases still waiting to be assigned to an analyst. What steps can you take to help your case get through the backlog and into an analyst's hands?
Get your case noticed
The first step? Make a phone call (or two… or three…). You know that old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease?" Well, this holds true in the crime lab as well. If you call to inquire about your case, chances are that it will be pulled from the backlog and assigned to an analyst. Call again and find out the name of the analyst. Have a conversation with that DNA analyst and let them know the facts of the case. Having your analysis request form in front of an analyst makes that case more likely to be worked with his or her next batch of cases.
Provide the right information
Another step you can take to ensure your case is worked in a timely fashion is to make sure that all the necessary information and all the physical evidence is available to the DNA analyst. One without the other can be problematic. The analyst does not need to know every single detail of the case. However, they DO need to know some of the basic facts including:
- When did the assault occur?
- When was the evidence collected?
- What type of assault occurred?
- Was the victim or the suspect bleeding?
- Was a condom used?
- Did ejaculation occur?
- When was the victim's last consensual sexual intercourse?
- How many assailants?
- Is there a suspect? If so, has a DNA sample been collected.
Maximize the usefulness of the evidence
Once the case has been assigned to an analyst, now you can focus on maximizing the usefulness of the physical evidence in the case. This is why providing the above listed information to the analyst is so important.
The analyst needs to know how much time has passed between the alleged assault and when the evidence was collected because it could affect their testing procedures and results. For example, if an extended amount of time has passed (three days or more), there is a good chance that sperm may not be present on an evidence swab, or if sperm are present, they will be few in number. This could mean that special types of testing such as Y-STR analysis should be attempted. This type of analysis ignores the female DNA and focuses solely on any male DNA that may be present. Knowing that an extended interval has passed between alleged assault and collection of evidence could also steer the analyst towards other possible evidence in the case–perhaps bedding or clothing from the victim may contain semen stains whereas the internal body swabs are negative.
The analyst should be aware of what type of assault occurred so they can perform the right sort of testing. Typically all rape kit swabs will automatically be screened for the presence of semen. But, what if the victim states that the suspect bit or licked her? What if the suspect performed oral sex on the victim? If the DNA analyst at the lab is not provided with this information, he or she may not perform an amylase screening test to determine if saliva is present on a vaginal or external genital swab or on the victim's underwear. This means that your case–at least in the eyes of the lab–would be closed.
Other information or details that are unique to the case should be provided to the DNA analyst. For example, if the rape kit is deemed "negative," meaning that no semen has been found, you may want to ask if items such as the pubic hair combings have been examined. Pubic hair combings are typically collected by forensic nurses and submitted to the lab; however, not all labs routinely examine them. In addition, if there is a specific reason that the finding of a pubic hair is of importance it should be relayed to the lab. For example, if the victim has no pubic hair (either due to age of the victim or shaving/waxing) and a pubic hair has been located on the victim's body by the forensic nurses or has been located in the victim's underwear by the DNA analyst–this could be a key piece of evidence. But it will be so only if it is actually tested. The majority of the time the hair may be noted by the analyst, but no further examination may be done. In fact, you may never even learn that a hair was found unless you specifically ask. Many times, the finding of a hair is noted in the analyst's bench notes but NOT in the case report!
If there is a suspect in the case and if all items taken from the victim (including bedding and clothing) turn out to be negative, you may need to request that the lab take a look at evidence collected from the suspect. For instance, if the suspect is apprehended the same day as the alleged assault and his clothing is collected–it might be possible to find the victim's DNA on the suspect. By examining the suspect's underwear, it may be possible for the DNA analyst to swab the inner area and pick up victim's DNA that has transferred there after the assault. In addition, if swabs such as penile swabs or hand swabs have been taken soon after the alleged assault, these can be tested for victim's DNA as well.
Collect ALL the evidence
It is of the utmost importance that the right physical evidence be collected. It is extremely frustrating as a DNA analyst to read through the facts of the case and learn that the victim was kissed, licked, or bitten and yet the appropriate swabs have not been collected. Most forensic nurse examiners will collect any possible evidence swabs during their examination of the victim. However, I know from personal experience that this is simply not always the case. Saliva contains DNA just like semen does. This type of evidence has become increasingly useful as suspects seem to be learning to NOT leave their DNA behind in the form of semen, however, they do not always think about the fact that their DNA is also present in saliva. The right information must not only be elicited through interviewing the victim, that information must then be passed on and used by the nurse examiners during their collection of evidence swabs from the victim's body.
This is not the only evidence that you need to collect in order to make sure your case is processed expeditiously in the lab. Many labs will not even begin processing a sexual assault case if certain items of evidence have not yet been collected. For example, if the victim has had consensual intercourse within the past 3-5 days, it is usually necessary for an elimination standard (from the husband, boyfriend, etc.) to be collected. The reason for this is that if a DNA profile is found through examination of the rape kit evidence, it cannot be put into the national DNA database (CODIS–the Combined DNA Index System) until it can be shown that the DNA is not from the consensual partner. In addition, if there is a known suspect, all efforts should be made to collect a DNA sample from the suspect. This is especially important if a non-conventional test, such as YSTR analysis is used. Currently there is no way to upload Y-STR profiles into CODIS, so a direct comparison with a suspect's known Y-STR profile is necessary.
Be Proactive
The key to getting the most from your evidence, and from your forensic laboratory is to be proactive. Make the effort to call the lab and inquire about your case. Just because you submitted it four months ago does not mean that it has made its way into an analyst's hands. When it does get to an analyst, make a phone call–or at least return the analyst's phone call. Open lines of communication between the investigator and the lab can make all the difference in getting the evidence processed both quickly and completely.