Bill would require DNA from misdemeanor convicts

DENVERNearly all people going through Colorado's criminal court system would have to submit DNA samples under a bill introduced Tuesday at the state House.

The measure would require those convicted of misdemeanorsfrom shoplifting to assaultto submit DNA samples. Those samples would be entered into a database where it would be compared with DNA found at scenes of unsolved crimes.

If approved, Colorado would become only the second state in the nation to have such a law, according to Rich Williams, a criminal justice policy specialist with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In October, New York began collecting DNA from those convicted of misdemeanors, with an exception for those with no previous criminal records who are convicted of marijuana offenses.

DNA would be collected through a cheek swab, then sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for testing and to a state database.

More than half the states, including Colorado, collect DNA from those accused of felonies under a law known as "Katie's Law," named after 22-year-old Katie Sepich, who was raped and murdered in New Mexico in 2003. The man who pleaded guilty to her slaying had been arrested on a felony just months before her death.

Previously, only DNA of those convicted of felonies went into state databases. The United States Supreme Court last week heard arguments in a case out of Maryland that considers whether such laws violate the rights of those who should be presumed innocent and whether DNA should be considered the "fingerprints of the 21st century."

Courts have previously upheld the constitutionality of collecting DNA from those convicted of felonies.

Prosecutors credit "Katie's Law" with solving cold cases and stopping repeat offenders. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, a supporter of the new measure and longtime advocate for expanding DNA testing, noted the successes following New York's implementation of collecting DNA from those convicted of misdemeanors.

In one instance, a man convicted of a misdemeanor for jumping a subway turnstile was later linked by DNA to multiple unsolved rapes, Morrissey said.

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Bill would require DNA from misdemeanor convicts