In 1980 James Lee Woodard was convicted of the rape and murder of his girlfriend. He spent the next 27 years in prison paying for the sins of a murderer. The only problem was that the murderer was not James Woodard. DNA testing not available in 1980 has cleared Mr. Woodard. He was the longest serving wrongfully convicted inmate to be cleared by DNA testing. Where is the real murderer? It is now an open case and there is no statute of limitations on murder but given the passage of time his girlfriend will probably never see justice.

Thomas Clifford McGowan served 23 years of a life sentence for the 1985 rape of a Dallas women before DNA technology finally caught up with the truth. The truth was that he did not commit the rape. The truth was that he did 23 years of hard time for a rapist that will never see justice. The statute of limitations for the rape has since long expired. Mr. McGowan lost his freedom and identity. The rape victim is raped again. She will never see justice. She will carry the knowledge that an innocent person suffered no less than she suffered. A tragic series of events that will tie them together for all time. A reminder that justice is always slow and often unfair in the tragic extreme.

Carrie Krejci was raped in 1985. The serial rapist had attacked several women in her neighborhood. Her attacker has never been apprehended. In 2005 The Dallas Police Department began to use DNA in an attempt to solve cases like Carrie’s even though the statute of limitations has long run. While DNA has not solved her case, her DNA has helped the police link her rapist to numerous other rapes. Maybe one day he will be caught. Carrie will never see justice but her DNA may help others who will.,

Donald Andrew Bess 59, was charged in April in connection with a brutal 1984 murder of a 20-year-old Southern Methodist University. The case had gone cold after six months of investigation. Mr. Bess was apprehended because preserved DNA evidence from the crime scene was matched to Mr. Bess through a national database in 2007

The DNA revolution is upon us. The good, the bad and the ugly. This revolution has freed the innocent and will now stalk the guilty throughout time. Criminals who previously could escape prosecution by evading law enforcement until the statute of limitations expired now must purchase better running shoes for a lifetime evasion marathon as states revise their laws to bring the them out of Cold War era morals and values and into the infancy of the 21st century DNA revolution.

Should those who are successfully able to evade law enforcement for a period of time walk free forever as their reward? Many states are answering in the negative. They are enacting legislation extending or eliminating the statute of limitations for certain violent crimes where DNA evidence is available. Some are eliminating the statute limitations completely for certain violent crimes such as aggravated rape. This is something that had been traditionally reserved for murder. The general rationale as been that the law must finally catch up with science. Some states now allow arrest warrants to be issued based on a “DNA profile” where the suspect is unknown but DNA is available. This effectively stops the statue of limitations from running. As long as the DNA sample remains viable, the perpetrator may be arrested and prosecuted regardless of the amount of time that has passed.

Is this constitutional? Not everyone thinks so-certainly not the ACLU. They have been active in challenging state legislation aimed at using “DNA profiling” to issue arrest warrants.

“We oppose the continued extensions and exceptions to the general principles to the statute of limitations requirements because when so many years pass before charges are brought, it diminishes the accuser’s ability to mount a meaningful defense and erodes the principles upon which we base our criminal justice system”

This seems a compelling argument. Regardless of the heinous nature of a crime, the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence are the cornerstones of our justice system. If we accept these as absolutes, the rapist walking the street while factually guilty is legally innocent until the state proves otherwise. If we value the rights of the legally innocent to put on the exact same defense he could have put on within the original statute of limitations, the ACLU position has merit. The state is manipulating the passage of time to its benefit.

The arguments for the use of DNA profiles are equally valid. The law has historically morphed to fit the advancement of science as long as that science is valid. Arrest warrants typically require that the suspect be identified with “reasonable certainty” What can be more reasonably certain than DNA? The suspect even 20 years later has the ability to challenge the manner in which the DNA was collected and stored. The suspect can still challenge chain of custody. Where is the prejudice?

The science of DNA is the future of law enforcement. It is the future of criminal prosecution. It is the future of judicial activism. It will free the wrongfully convicted. It will stalk the guilty for life. States already require a DNA sample from those convicted of certain violent crimes. This seems reasonable. What about taking it upon arrest? We are then taking it from the legally innocent. Many states and the federal government are calling for legislation authorizing law enforcement to collect DNA from for certain crime suspects when they are booked rather than waiting until after they are convicted of a felony. We will soon be taking DNA from all felony who have not been convicted of anything. We will be using to track those with violent histories. What will it be used for in 10 years? What about 50 years? When we experience the joy of James Woodward walking out of prison should we be looking for the “Minority Report”? The DNA revolution is upon us.