Changing Indiana's DNA swabbing laws could solve more cold cases

Changing an Indiana law that prevents law enforcement officers from taking DNA samples sooner could help Detective Tony Mayhew solve cold cases.

Often new evidence for such cases comes in the form of DNA samples provided by those arrested for unrelated crimes. Current Indiana law allows DNA samples to be taken only when officers have a search warrant, or when someone is convicted of a felony.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week validated the practice of 25 other states, which allow police to obtain samples upon arrest for a felony charge.

Mayhew said sampling DNA upon arrest for felony charges would broaden the list of names in the Combined DNA Index System, the national database of forensic DNA information.

Even with a search warrant, sometimes its hard to get people to comply, Mayhew said.

A bill to allow sampling DNA upon arrest died at an Indiana Senate committee in February.

Such a law would likely provided an onslaught of new samples which could be tested against previously collected evidence across the country.

In Indiana, DNA evidence from more than 3,500 unsolved cases is stored at state police laboratories, Indiana State Polic administrator Kristine Crouch said. Those cases could be solved sooner if Indiana allows for DNA swabbing upon arrest, because even the current likelihood a DNA sample will be matched is high. Crouch said 48 percent of current submissions from Indiana police are matched with criminal evidence.

It would be awesome if we could take DNA at arrest, Indiana State Police Sgt. Dean Marks said.

In 1992, Marks collected DNA samples from the scene where Miami County resident Toni Spicer was murdered. Twenty years later, a DNA match led to an arrest and pending trial.

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Changing Indiana's DNA swabbing laws could solve more cold cases