XPost: talk.politics.guns, mn.politics, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: alt.abortion, sac.politics   
   From: soros.law@black.crimes   
      
   Some date to 1990s; the number far surpasses the 194 reported in a 2015 audit.   
      
   An internal review of sexual assault cases in Minneapolis turned up an   
   estimated 1,700 untested rape kits from as far back as the 1990s — a backlog   
   that officials say could take at least two years to clear.   
      
   The startling revelation was announced at a City Hall news conference Friday,   
   during which department officials announced plans to hire three additional   
   analysts to help process the forensic evidence kits.   
      
   The latest count far surpasses the 194 untested kits reported during an 2015   
   audit, part of what Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called an "unjustified   
   mistake" that left years of potential evidence sitting in police storage.   
      
   Speaking to reporters, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said he had no   
   explanation for the discrepancy in the reported numbers or why so many kits   
   went untested, but he vowed to eliminate the backlog by working with   
   department agencies and advocates to    
   ensure that the kits are tested and victims are notified compassionately.   
      
   The department's sex crimes unit is still conducting a final count to   
   determine how many kits remain, which comes amid a national reckoning over   
   sexual harassment and assault.   
      
   "We have a failure in terms of auditing and processing that is unacceptable,"   
   Arradondo said. "I very honestly stand before you to say we still don't know   
   why that [miscount] did occur back in 2015, but moving forward I can ensure   
   you that it will never    
   happen again."   
      
   He said that for the department to rebuild trust it needed to own up to its   
   past mistakes.   
      
   Mike Sauro, a retired lieutenant who ran the sex crimes unit in 2015, defended   
   his handling of the kits, saying a similar audit completed years ago showed   
   far fewer. Most of the kits were deemed "restricted," meaning the victim   
   wasn't involved in the    
   investigation, and thus they were never sent to the state forensic lab for   
   testing and matching against a national database of offender DNA.   
      
   "We reviewed all the kits from the year 2000 all the way up to 2015," he said   
   in a phone interview Friday. "People have this misconception that all kits   
   have to be and should be tested, and that's just not true. … If you don't   
   have an official police    
   report made, we can't enter them into the national database, so we can't test   
   them."   
      
   Kenosha Davenport, executive director of the Sexual Violence Center, said the   
   group will work with police and form a committee to grapple with the moral and   
   ethical considerations that arise from reopening old cases, while avoiding   
   retraumatizing victims.   
      
   "When you look at the span of someone's lifetime you know the healing journey   
   isn't a linear journey, so we have victims who may not have shared with their   
   partner or children," she said. "It's critical that the notification process   
   is done diligently    
   and with the support of advocates so we can continue to support them."   
      
   Denied Justice: Minnesota's failed rape investigations   
   Prosecutors will have to examine each case to determine whether any statute of   
   limitations applies, said Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for the Hennepin County   
   Attorney's Office. Even then, he said, securing a conviction in rape cases can   
   be challenging.   
      
   "It has always been and it continues to be a difficult crime to get a guilty   
   verdict," he said. "There's usually only two people, there's usually not   
   witnesses, so it can be difficult to provide enough evidence to get a jury to   
   prove them guilty beyond a    
   reasonable doubt."   
      
   Deputy chief Erick Fors said the untested kits were discovered in July, when   
   the department was accounting for untested kits that need to be sent to the   
   Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) under state law. The kits, he   
   said, are inventoried,    
   sorted and maintained in police storage facilities around the city, and   
   they're now being physically tallied to determine a final number.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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