Katie Sepich, a graduate student at New Mexico State, was raped and murdered at the age of 22 back in 2003.
DENVER -
Anyone arrested for a felony offense would have to give a DNA sample to law enforcement under a bill that gained initial approval at the Capitol Wednesday.
Senate Bill 241 is also known as "Katie's Law." Katie Sepich, a graduate student at New Mexico State, was raped and murdered at the age of 22 back in 2003. The killer's DNA, found beneath Katie's fingernails, eventually led police to an arrest -- three years after her murder.
"I assumed they could just take the DNA of anyone who they arrested, but the law said the person had to be convicted first," said Jayann Sepich, Katie's mother, who testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
"At first I just wanted to find out who killed Katie," Sepich said. "What was really important was not just finding out who killed Katie, but saving lives."
Since 2006, Katie's Law has been adopted by 16 states and is credited with hundreds of arrests, not to mention the exonerations of more than 200 suspects serving time for crimes they didn't commit.
"This is a bill that will save us lots of money, save lives, exonerate innocent people," said Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, one of several prominent law enforcement officials supporting the bill.
And, not surprisingly, both of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, and Sen. John Morse, D- Colorado Springs, have backgrounds in law-enforcement.
"This will increase public safety by making sure criminals don't get a second bite at the apple. It will help us keep the innocent out of jail," said Morse, the former Chief of Police in Fountain.
Roughly 60,000 people in Colorado are arrested on felony charges each year. The measure is predicted to cost $1.8 million per year and the sponsors acknowledge they do not know where the money will come from at a time when the state is facing up to $1 billion in budget cuts over the next year and a half. Beyond the cost, critics worry about the security of a government DNA database and the potential privacy invasion of people arrested, but never convicted, of a crime.
"[DNA] is a lot more than a fingerprint," said Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora. "It reveals a lot, a lot more than identity -- and we have very little parameters on what can be done with this.
"I understand that this is a valuable tool for law enforcement," said Carroll. "But we cannot brush aside the US Constitution for expedience. We need to make sure, if we are collecting this information, that we have very good probable cause with the Fourth Amendment, that there's very serious safeguards on what is relavant and appropriate use of it, and it would be most Constitutionally protective to make sure where talking about people who have been arrested, not merely accused of a crime."
Senate Bill 241 is also known as "Katie's Law." Katie Sepich, a graduate student at New Mexico State, was raped and murdered at the age of 22 back in 2003. The killer's DNA, found beneath Katie's fingernails, eventually led police to an arrest -- three years after her murder.
"I assumed they could just take the DNA of anyone who they arrested, but the law said the person had to be convicted first," said Jayann Sepich, Katie's mother, who testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
"At first I just wanted to find out who killed Katie," Sepich said. "What was really important was not just finding out who killed Katie, but saving lives."
Since 2006, Katie's Law has been adopted by 16 states and is credited with hundreds of arrests, not to mention the exonerations of more than 200 suspects serving time for crimes they didn't commit.
"This is a bill that will save us lots of money, save lives, exonerate innocent people," said Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, one of several prominent law enforcement officials supporting the bill.
And, not surprisingly, both of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, and Sen. John Morse, D- Colorado Springs, have backgrounds in law-enforcement.
"This will increase public safety by making sure criminals don't get a second bite at the apple. It will help us keep the innocent out of jail," said Morse, the former Chief of Police in Fountain.
Roughly 60,000 people in Colorado are arrested on felony charges each year. The measure is predicted to cost $1.8 million per year and the sponsors acknowledge they do not know where the money will come from at a time when the state is facing up to $1 billion in budget cuts over the next year and a half. Beyond the cost, critics worry about the security of a government DNA database and the potential privacy invasion of people arrested, but never convicted, of a crime.
"[DNA] is a lot more than a fingerprint," said Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora. "It reveals a lot, a lot more than identity -- and we have very little parameters on what can be done with this.
"I understand that this is a valuable tool for law enforcement," said Carroll. "But we cannot brush aside the US Constitution for expedience. We need to make sure, if we are collecting this information, that we have very good probable cause with the Fourth Amendment, that there's very serious safeguards on what is relavant and appropriate use of it, and it would be most Constitutionally protective to make sure where talking about people who have been arrested, not merely accused of a crime."
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