MPD is still waiting on DNA re-examinations from pre-2013 backlog
, 2022-09-27 18:37:35,
Questions about how rape kits are processed have been given new life in the weeks since authorities said one of those kits, that took just under a year for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to analyze, returned a match, and subsequent indictment, for Cleotha Henderson, the man police also say abducted and killed Eliza Fletcher.
The Memphis City Council levied a few questions to the Memphis Police Department Tuesday. Councilman Chase Carlisle noted pending litigation — two lawsuits against the city regarding MPD’s handling of rape kits.
Maj. Casey Minga, who oversees the sex crimes unit, pointed to state law — and MPD policy — that says all sexual assault kits need to be sent to TBI within 30 days according to the statute and 96 hours per police policy.
Minga also provided a brief snapshot of the progress the Memphis Police Department has made into the over 12,000 rape kits that were untested prior to 2013. All of the previous kits have been tested according to MPD, although the 2,625 kits that came back negative were sent back to Bode Technology for a more modern examination.
Bode is a company that MPD contracts additional DNA testing with. The earliest contract between the City of Memphis and Bode available on the city’s contract portal dates back to 2014.
“DNA technology has advanced in recent years, and evidence that screened negative for serology under the traditional methods in the past deserves re-examination for DNA using these latest techniques,” Minga read…
,
To read the original article from www.commercialappeal.com, Click here
