A sexual assault sufferer filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging San Francisco Police violated her constitutional rights by counting on DNA taken from her rape equipment years in the past to arrest her in an unrelated housebreaking case.
The lady, recognized solely as “Jane Doe,” alleges that regulation enforcement officers took her DNA in November 2016 as a part of an investigation into her sexual assault. The San Francisco Police Division then, with out her consent, put that DNA right into a database and has for years examined it towards crime scene DNA, in keeping with the lawsuit.
In December 2021, an SFPD worker ran DNA from a housebreaking crime scene towards the database and matched Doe to the crime, the lawsuit states. SFPD sought an arrest warrant for Doe and relied on the DNA match within the warrant, and he or she was arrested and charged with a number of burglary-related offenses.
The costs have been later dropped, the swimsuit states. Doe argues within the lawsuit towards the town and county and a number of other police officers that using her DNA represented an illegal search and seizure and violated her civil rights.
“This case brings to gentle the San Francisco Police Division’s surprising follow of putting crime victims’ DNA right into a everlasting database with out the victims’ information or consent,” the lawsuit states. “Legislation enforcement officers take a look at the victims’ DNA for matches in each subsequent felony investigation during which genetic materials is recovered with none cheap foundation to suspect the victims are in any manner related to those utterly unrelated crime scenes.”
Civil rights lawyer Adanté Pointer, who represents the plaintiff, stated in an announcement the case was a “clear instance of presidency overreach.”
San Francisco Police declined to remark, citing the pending lawsuit.
A spokeswoman for the Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace issued an announcement saying they are going to assessment the grievance and reply as soon as served with the lawsuit.
“The Metropolis is dedicated to making sure all victims of crime really feel snug reporting points to regulation enforcement and has taken steps to safeguard sufferer info,” spokeswoman Jen Kwart stated.
The lawsuit comes about seven months after then-San Francisco District Legal professional Chesa Boudin accused the police division’s crime lab of utilizing a regulation enforcement database that features DNA of rape and sexual assault victims. He criticized the follow as “legally and ethically fallacious” and stated it may discourage rape and assault victims from coming ahead.
“Rapes and sexual assault are violent, dehumanizing, and traumatic,” Boudin stated in an announcement in February. “I'm disturbed that victims who've the braveness to bear an invasive examination to assist determine their perpetrators are being handled like criminals somewhat than supported as crime victims.”
Within the wake of Boudin’s disclosure, San Francisco Police carried out modifications to the dealing with of victims’ DNA and have been engaged on everlasting coverage modifications at the side of the DA’s workplace and California’s Division of Justice, Chief Invoice Scott stated in March.
“When revelations got here to our consideration about our division’s potential misuse of a DNA profile, I ordered a direct change to our crime lab practices assuring that it doesn’t occur once more,” Scott stated in an announcement on the time.
Boudin stated he had conversations with management of the SFPD crime lab that “counsel that this can be a routine follow not solely in San Francisco however at different crime labs throughout the state.”
Boudin was recalled as District Legal professional in a June main election and was changed by Brooke Jenkins.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors in April handed laws prohibiting police or different metropolis departments from importing or storing DNA profiles from crime sufferer reference samples in metropolis DNA databases.
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