Henry Bowman
Senior Member
I'm not sure what to think about this from a Constitutional standpoint. The state has done an end run around a criminal statute of limitations by getting an indictment against an unidentified person who has identified DNA. Hmmm...
Link to article in Cincinnati
Unidentified Suspect Indicted With DNA
Reported by: Bill Price
Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller
Photographed by: 9News
Last updated: 10/6/2005 6:24:00 PM
A woman has been indicted for taking tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry from an Amberly village home.
The only problem is -- prosecutors don't know who their suspect is. She hasn't been caught and police don't know her name -- but they know her DNA code.
The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office can't remember ever indicting someone it doesn't know -- based solely on DNA evidence.
But that's what it did Thursday, indicting a woman it is calling "Jane Doe" for burglary and theft, based on DNA blood evidence it found at the scene two years ago.
"In this case, we don't know the name of the defendant. We do know the DNA code sequence. Because we wanted to hold the statue of limitations from running (out), we indicted her today," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.
More than $78,000 in jewelry was taken from an Amberley Village home of an elderly couple, in broad daylight, during the summer of 2003.
Blood was found at the crime scene when the burglar cut themselves.
The case went cold until just recently.
"This woman has been identified in another aggravated burglary in another jurisdiction, and there has been a match. But we just don't know who she is yet," said Deters.
The Amberley Village detective who investigated the burglary here says the woman's DNA was recently found in a Virginia burglary, just outside of Richmond.
Now, he feels it's just a waiting game, waiting to see if the woman's DNA shows up.
"It will be a repeat offender situation. Eventually this person will get caught and when they are, if they are sent to a jail or a reformatory, blood will be drawn and there will be a DNA profile made," said Detective Jeffrey Norton of Amberley Village Police.
"This is unique today, but it's not going to be unique in the future, because we don't want to lose a case just because we don't know the name of who it is," said Deters.
Deters says instead of DNA matches with one-in-a-million chances, DNA testing is now getting down to one-in-a-trillion chances. Those are chances he feels will eventually favor the law, and not this burglary suspect.
"People are walking out of prison because of it and a lot of people are going to be walking into prison because of it," he said.
Deters says there is a little DNA time-bomb waiting for the suspect. He is waiting for her to be arrested.
He does admit it could take years before she is caught.
Link to article in Cincinnati
Unidentified Suspect Indicted With DNA
Reported by: Bill Price
Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller
Photographed by: 9News
Last updated: 10/6/2005 6:24:00 PM
A woman has been indicted for taking tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry from an Amberly village home.
The only problem is -- prosecutors don't know who their suspect is. She hasn't been caught and police don't know her name -- but they know her DNA code.
The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office can't remember ever indicting someone it doesn't know -- based solely on DNA evidence.
But that's what it did Thursday, indicting a woman it is calling "Jane Doe" for burglary and theft, based on DNA blood evidence it found at the scene two years ago.
"In this case, we don't know the name of the defendant. We do know the DNA code sequence. Because we wanted to hold the statue of limitations from running (out), we indicted her today," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.
More than $78,000 in jewelry was taken from an Amberley Village home of an elderly couple, in broad daylight, during the summer of 2003.
Blood was found at the crime scene when the burglar cut themselves.
The case went cold until just recently.
"This woman has been identified in another aggravated burglary in another jurisdiction, and there has been a match. But we just don't know who she is yet," said Deters.
The Amberley Village detective who investigated the burglary here says the woman's DNA was recently found in a Virginia burglary, just outside of Richmond.
Now, he feels it's just a waiting game, waiting to see if the woman's DNA shows up.
"It will be a repeat offender situation. Eventually this person will get caught and when they are, if they are sent to a jail or a reformatory, blood will be drawn and there will be a DNA profile made," said Detective Jeffrey Norton of Amberley Village Police.
"This is unique today, but it's not going to be unique in the future, because we don't want to lose a case just because we don't know the name of who it is," said Deters.
Deters says instead of DNA matches with one-in-a-million chances, DNA testing is now getting down to one-in-a-trillion chances. Those are chances he feels will eventually favor the law, and not this burglary suspect.
"People are walking out of prison because of it and a lot of people are going to be walking into prison because of it," he said.
Deters says there is a little DNA time-bomb waiting for the suspect. He is waiting for her to be arrested.
He does admit it could take years before she is caught.
