Legal questions mount amid San Francisco rape kit DNA case

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This week's revelation that the San Francisco police crime lab used a sexual assault victim's DNA against her in an unrelated property crime case has prompted a national outcry among law enforcement, legal experts, lawmakers and advocates.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Every day, DNA is routed through local, state and federal databases to identify suspected criminals. A technological breakthrough that's allowed law enforcement to solve unprecedented numbers of crimes, its use has simultaneously garnered praise along with major privacy concerns.

"It's absolutely unethical, there's no question in my mind that it's unethical," said Chris Burbank, former Salt Lake City police chief who is now the Center for Policing Equity's vice president of law enforcement strategy. "The question is not `Can we do that?' The question should always be `Should we do that?"'

Boudin said using rape victims' DNA in unrelated investigations could be violating California's Crime Victims Bill of Rights, which lays out that victims of a crime have the right "to have their property returned to them, to be fully informed of what's happening with their property and to have it used only for the purpose that they've agreed to have it used."

Just because the law doesn't seem to specifically forbid the practice of using a victim's DNA against them, experts say it's almost unfathomable it was even considered -- let alone carried out.

 

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the only thing i care about is what is happening to my charter of rights and freedoms FreedomConvoy2022

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