Alameda County District Attorney's Office: Alameda County District Attorney Statement On Sex Assault Victim DNA Use

Press release from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office:

Mar 11, 2022

Response to recent reports of victim-survivor’s DNA used to charge her for a crime in SF

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley has been a leader in enacting laws that create rights and protections for sexual assault victims and survivors. She has worked with legislators to eliminate the statute of limitations on sexual assault crimes, enhancing the Sexual Assault Victims Bill of Rights under the Penal Code and the standards for forensic examination, including the collection of potential DNA. In 2015, DA O’Malley worked with then Assemblymember, now Senator Nancy Skinner to pass the law that law enforcement should submit all sexual assault forensic kits to a crime lab for testing. In 2018, DA O’Malley worked with Senator Connie Leyva to change the law, making it mandatory for law enforcement to submit the sexual assault forensic kit to a crime lab, specifically to identify, test and submit DNA profiles in the state and national databases. Additionally, DA O’Malley has worked with then Assemblymember Chu to require the California Department of Justice to create a separate tracking system, SAFE-T to ensure that law enforcement has followed the law. In 2021, DA O’Malley worked with Senator Leyva to pass SB 215, which provides access to the victim-survivor to track their own case in SAFE-T.

This press release was produced by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. The views expressed here are the author’s own.