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| Bill to allow inmate DNA tests approved |
| By The Plain Dealer Bureau |
| Published: 05/18/2006 |
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COLUMBUS, OH - The Ohio House on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that could allow wrongly convicted Ohio prisoners to regain their freedom. Senate Bill 262 would permanently restore a law that expired last October that allows some inmates to request state-paid DNA tests to try to prove they are innocent. Donte Booker of Cleveland used the former law - which lasted two years - to clear himself of a 1986 rape. And the law assisted Summit County's Clarence Elkins in winning his freedom in December from rape and murder convictions. State Sen. David Goodman, a Columbus-area Republican, sponsored the previous law and the current bill to bring it back. Lawmakers originally felt the two-year window was enough time for an inmate to request the tests. But Goodman has since said he could find no harm in making the provision permanent. A House committee made small procedural changes to the bill, so it will have to go back to the full Senate for a concurrence vote, possibly next week. The full Senate unanimously approved the bill in March and is expected to agree with the House changes, sending the bill to Gov. Bob Taft. The governor plans to sign the bill into law, his office said Wednesday. The bill also contains an emergency clause, allowing it to be implemented immediately should the governor sign it, bypassing the 90-day cooling period. Under the bill, current inmates who were convicted without DNA evidence, were found guilty at trial and still have a year remaining on their sentences could apply for testing. There must be biological material remaining from the case and the DNA must be able to prove an inmate's guilt or innocence, though prosecutors reviewing the results can consider other factors. If the bill becomes law, program literature and test applications would be disseminated in state prisons. The program is expected to cost the state less than $100,000 a year. |
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