HB1596: HB1596 No Evidence Ignored Act; enact

26 LC 62 0500 House Bill 1596 By: Representative Holcomb of the 101st A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 3 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the1 Georgia Bureau of Investigation, so as to provide for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to2 provide local prosecutorial agencies with certain information r egarding forensic database3 evidence; to provide for local prosecutorial agency determinations; to require certain actions4 by prosecutorial agencies; to provide for reports; to provide for certain exceptions; to provide5 for definitions; to provide for a short title; to provide for legislative findings and purposes;6 to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:8 SECTION 1.9 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "No Evidence Ignored Act."10 SECTION 2.11 (a) The General Assembly finds that:12 (1) Forensic database evidence plays an increasingly important role in solving violent13 crime;14 H. B. 1596 - 1 - 26 LC 62 0500 (2) Such evidence can identify perpetrators in unsolved and co ld cases, and can even15 expose wrongful convictions; and16 (3) It is crucial that this evidence is used to its full potential.17 (b) The purpose of this Act is to:18 (1) Advance public safety and promote accuracy in the criminal justice system by ensuring19 that evidence generated by police forensic databases is properly reviewed, disclosed, and20 acted on; and21 (2) Ensure that victims will never go without justice and innocent people will never remain22 in prison when forensic evidence that could identify the true p erpetrator is available to23 police and prosecutors.24 SECTION 3.25 Chapter 3 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated , relating to the Georgia26 Bureau of Investigation, is amended by adding a new article to read as follows:27 "ARTICLE 1028 35-3-210.29 As used in this article, the term:30 (1) 'Conviction confirmatory' means the crime scene profile in volved in the forensic31 database hit matched the profile of a person already convicted of a crime in relation to a32 case.33 (2) 'Crime scene profile' means a profile contained in a foren sic database that was34 collected from a crime scene, as opposed to being collected from a suspect or a criminal35 offender.36 (3) 'Forensic database' means any government maintained digiti zed repository that37 includes profiles collected from crime scenes for the purpose o f identification,38 H. B. 1596 - 2 - 26 LC 62 0500 investigation, or prosecution, and that periodically indexes su ch profiles to identify39 potential matches, including, but not limited, the Combined DNA Index System and the40 Automated Fingerprint Identification System.41 (4) 'Hit' means a match between two or more profiles in a forensic database, including42 a match between two crime scene profiles.43 (5) 'Innocence organization' means an organization that operat es in this state and44 provides pro bono legal services to people challenging their criminal convictions on the45 grounds of actual innocence. Such organization does not need to be based in this state.46 (6) 'Potentially exculpatory' means a crime scene profile involved in a forensic database47 hit matched a profile other than the profile of a person convicted of a crime related to a48 case, including, but not limited to, a profile of a different p erson or a different crime49 scene profile.50 (7) 'Profile' means a unique identifier of an individual or ob ject, including, but not51 limited to, a DNA sequence or fingerprint.52 (8) 'Prosecutorial agency' means the office of the Attorney General or district attorney53 of this state.54 35-3-211.55 (a) Upon receiving a forensic database hit involving a crime scene profile submitted by a56 state or local law enforcement agency of this state, the bureau shall transmit a report of57 such hit to:58 (1) The law enforcement agency that submitted the hit; and59 (2) The prosecutorial agency with jurisdiction over the case.60 (b) Each month, the bureau shall transmit to prosecutorial age ncies a list of all forensic61 database hits transmitted to such agency in the preceding calendar month.62 H. B. 1596 - 3 - 26 LC 62 0500 35-3-212.63 (a) Within 30 days of receiving a copy of a forensic database hit, a prosecutorial agency64 shall determine whether such hit relates to a criminal case for which at least one person has65 been convicted.66 (b) If a hit relates to a criminal case for which no person ha s been convicted, the67 prosecutorial agency shall:68 (1) Locate and notify any victims in such case that the prosecutorial agency has received69 a forensic database hit and ask such victims whether they would like to receive further70 updates on such hit and, if available, connect the victims with a trained victim advocate;71 and72 (2) Determine whether such hit can help identify and prosecute any perpetrators in the73 case and in any other related cases.74 (c) If a hit relates to a criminal case for which at least one person has been convicted, the75 prosecutorial agency shall review such hit to determine whether it is conviction76 confirmatory or potentially exculpatory for each convicted person in the case.77 (d) If a hit is potentially exculpatory, within 30 days of det ermining such hit was78 potentially exculpatory the prosecutorial agency shall:79 (1) Determine whether such hit calls the integrity of the conviction into question;80 (2) Notify the convicted person of such hit by providing him or her with a copy of the81 report and giving notice that the person may wish to obtain cou nsel to determine the82 exculpatory value of the hit;83 (3) Locate and notify any victims that the prosecutorial agency has received a forensic84 database hit that does not match at least one of the people convicted in their case and ask85 such victims whether they would like to receive further updates on such hit and, if86 available, connect the victims with a trained victim advocate; and87 (4) Notify an innocence organization or the convicted person's last known defense88 counsel of record, if no such organization exists, of the hit.89 H. B. 1596 - 4 - 26 LC 62 0500 (e) If a hit was conviction confirmatory, the prosecutorial agency shall notify the bureau90 that the hit was conviction confirmatory.91 (f) A prosecutorial agency shall not be required to notify a v ictim pursuant to92 subsection (b) or (d) of this Code section if such victim had p reviously expressed a93 preference to not receive case updates.94 35-3-213.95 (a) On or before February 28 of each year, the bureau shall compile the number of forensic96 database hits transmitted to each prosecutorial agency during t he preceding year. Such97 compilation shall list the number of hits for each forensic database.98 (b) On or before February 28 of each year, each prosecutorial agency shall provide the99 bureau with a report of the hits received and actions taken on such hits. Such report shall100 be organized by forensic database. The report shall include the number of:101 (1) Hits received;102 (2) Determinations made in the preceding year;103 (3) Pending determinations;104 (4) Determinations that involved:105 (A) A case in which no person had been convicted of a crime;106 (B) A potentially exculpatory hit; and107 (C) A conviction confirmatory hit;108 (5) Hits determined to be potentially exculpatory; and109 (6) Cases in which charges were brought involving a hit.110 (c) The bureau shall make all reports compiled or received pursuant to this Code section111 publicly available.112 35-3-214.113 No provisions of this article shall apply if any provisions:114 H. B. 1596 - 5 - 26 LC 62 0500 (1) Violate any federal law or regulation; or115 (2) Inhibit or substantially interfere with a prosecutorial or law enforcement agency's116 ability to access a forensic database system."117 SECTION 3.118 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.119 H. B. 1596 - 6 -