XPost: talk.politics.guns, memphis.general, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: kamala.harris.encourages@black.crime   
      
   Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said the conviction in the 1988   
   cold case highlights the need for a crime lab in Memphis.   
      
   https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WATN/images/ef1d2a24-aa97-4   
   ab-ba33-cf40fe34ef53/ef1d2a24-aa97-48ab-ba33-cf40fe34ef53_1920x1080.jpg   
   Credit: Shelby County Sheriff's Office   
   Tony Stafford   
      
   MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After being convicted in a rape which happened 35 years   
   ago, a Memphis man learned Thursday he will spend 25 years in prison for the   
   crime.   
      
   Tony Stafford was found guilty Feb. 6, 2024, of the rape of an 18-year-old   
   woman in 1988. During his sentencing hearing March 7, he was sentenced to 25   
   years in prison, according to court records.   
      
   Shelby County District Attorney D.A. Steve Mulroy said at the time of the   
   rape, no suspects were identified. Then in 2015, rape kit swabs and clothing   
   were sent out for testing, and results came back in 2016. That was uploaded to   
   the Combined DNA Index    
   System (CODIS), and in 2018, Tony Stafford was identified as the suspect. The   
   D.A. said Stafford had prior convictions for sex offenses in Washington   
   County, Tennessee, and Utah.   
      
   Mulroy said this case highlights the need for a crime lab in Memphis, where   
   rape kits can be tested. Currently, all rape kits and forensic testing is done   
   at the TBI crime lab in Jackson, Tennessee.   
      
   “Given the volume and the demand we have in Shelby County, it makes sense to   
   have a local crime lab,” said Mulroy. “And this lab could also offer   
   services that are supplemental to the TBI Crime Lab in Jackson, including   
   rapid DNA testing and cell    
   phone digital forensics.”   
      
   Mulroy said the backlog of continues in Shelby County, and a local crime lab   
   could help alleviate that issue.   
      
   “This case exemplifies the need to test all sexual assault kits in a timely   
   manner,” said Dru Carpenter, who led the prosecution of Safford. “Justice   
   was delayed for thirty-five years but was not denied in this case.”   
      
   The D.A.’s office said it will continue to push for testing older rape kits   
   “in hopes of seeing more cold cases prosecuted like the Safford verdict.”   
      
   https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/crime/man-convicted-in   
   35-year-old-rape-in-memphis/522-adbcc463-f2e8-4496-8b6e-2cd92a7f0582   
      
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