The Beaumont Enterprise reports, "Slaying case stuck in limbo," by Tim Monzingo. It's via the San Francisco Chronicle.
Senate Bill 1292, passed by the state Legislature this year, makes it mandatory for all evidence containing DNA collected in a criminal investigation to be tested before a capital murder case goes to trial. Prosecutors must meet with the defendant and "agree on which biological materials constitute biological evidence," the law reads.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and had the support of Texas Attorney Greg Abbott.
And:
Some attorneys are concerned about the new law's unintended consequences, including a potential drop in the number of death-penalty cases prosecutors pursue and a delay in the handling of non-capital cases.
Shannon Edmonds, a staff attorney for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said one question is whether prosecutors might forgo a death-penalty case to speed up the trial process.
Edmonds said when the state adopted a life-without-parole option for capital offenders, prosecutors began turning to that more often than they sought the death penalty. He said only time will tell if this legislation has a similar effect.
Part of the concern, he said, is that all death penalty cases set to go to trial after Sept. 1, no matter how long they have been in the system, could be delayed by the additional testing.
Another issue is that testing evidence in capital punishment crimes will take priority. DNA samples from non-death penalty murders, rapes and other crimes will "go to the back of the line," Edmonds said.
Earlier coverage of the new Texas law begins at the link. Related posts are in the DNA and Texas Legislature category indexes.
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