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| Felons Have Right to DNA Testing |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/27/2001 |
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A federal judge has ruled that felons have a constitutional right to DNA testing and ordered Virginia authorities to allow the tests for a convicted rapist who claims he's innocent. U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr. said the Fairfax County prosecutor violated the civil rights of James Harvey by refusing to allow tests on evidence left from Harvey's 1990 rape and sodomy trial. The decision, which offers felons another avenue into federal courts through civil rights litigation, is believed to be the first of its kind in the country. 'Denying the plaintiff access to potentially powerful exculpatory evidence would result in ... a miscarriage of justice,'' Bryan wrote in his opinion. DNA testing has exonerated more than 80 people nationwide, but inmates in most states must depend on the goodwill of prosecutors for access to evidence that might prove their innocence. The New York-based Innocence Project asked Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. to consent to testing in Harvey's case, but the prosecutor declined. Horan had argued that DNA testing would not prove anything because the victim was attacked by two unknown men, and trial testimony suggested at least one did not leave genetic material. Harvey's attorneys said the test could be decisive if the laboratory identified DNA from two men, and neither was Harvey. Some prosecutors worry that an expanded right to DNA testing could clog the courts with frivolous appeals and inflict needless pain on victims and their families as cases are reopened. |
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