COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE

Office of the Sheriff

J.E. Chip Harding, Sheriff
Telephone: 434-972-4001
Fax: 434-972-4065

411 East High Street

Building B
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

January 19, 2017

SUPPORT H.J. 711 Virginia Crime Commission Report DNA Databank Enhancement
DNA technology has been proven to enhance justice by preventing crime, solving
criminal cases, and exonerating the innocent. Virginia law requires those convicted of
felonies and certain misdemeanors to submit their DNA to a databank. DNA in the
databank is compared against unidentified DNA. If these samples match DNA in the
databank, a positive return or hit links unidentified DNA to the convicted individual. Robust
safeguards protect the security and unauthorized dissemination of these samples.
In recent years, the Virginia has extended DNA collection to some Misdemeanor
offenses. Additional enhancement will enhance accountability, spare future victims of crime,
reduce wrongful convictions, and exonerate the innocent. We urge you to support H.J. 711,
which directs the Virginia Crime Commission to study available data from other states to
assess the impact of expanding DNA collection for additional Class One Virginia
misdemeanors, which carry a punishment of up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Reducing Crime and Preventing Unnecessary Tragedy

Hannah Elizabeth Graham would not have been abducted from Charlottesvilles
Downtown Mall in September 2014 and murdered if Jesse Matthews DNA had
been collected when he was convicted of criminal trespass (VA Code 18.2119) in Charlottesville in August of 2010. His DNA would have generated a hit
at that time in the DNA databank linking Matthew to the 2005 sexual assault in
Fairfax. In 2015, Matthew received multiple life sentences for that attack.

Jesse Matthews father was convicted of Indecent Exposure under VA Code

18.2-387 in April of 2006 (Virginia added this offense to the DNA requirement
list in 2015). If a sample of his DNA had been collected and compared against
the DNA profile from Jesse Matthews 2005 Fairfax attack, a familial comparison
may have identified Jesse Matthew as a person of interest in the 2005 case.
Based on this identification, Jesse Matthew might have been behind bars when
Morgan Harrington was abducted and murdered by Matthew in 2009.

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January 19, 2017

Shannon Malnowski is one of Charlottesville, Virginias most notorious serial

rapists in the past 30 years. Malnowski had a felony assault reduced to a
misdemeanor in 1992 and a felony breaking and entering reduced to a trespass
charge in 1994. In 1996 he raped a UVA student who was out jogging and in
1997 raped a 78 year-old professors wife in broad daylight in bushes near the
Culbreath Theater. In 2000 a student was raped on the Charlottesville High
School track. Malnowski became a suspect and his DNA was obtained. This
DNA sample returned a hit in all three cases. Malnowski was sentenced to life
in prison plus 50 years. If a DNA sample had been taken for the misdemeanors,
he would have faced arrest after the first attack and subsequent victims spared.

If Nathan Washington had submitted a DNA profile when convicted of a

misdemeanor in 1998, he never would have become the notorious
Charlottesville Serial Rapist who raped at least seven women over a 10-year
period. His DNA would have returned a hit from the 1997 rape of a
Waynesboro victim. Sheriff Harding would not have had to enter one of
Washingtons victims homes and observe blood spattered over three walls
where Washington beat and raped her for hours. The six Charlottesville women
Washington raped would have been spared.

The famous East Coast Rapist had 18 known victims. Half those victims would
have been saved on Nov. 11, 2003 when Aaron Thomas was convicted of a
misdemeanor Assault and Battery. The three teens out on Halloween night in
Dale City, Virginia, would not have been brutally assaulted.

There are likely additional victims from nearly every jurisdiction in the
Commonwealth whose fate would have been averted with a more robust DNA
databank.

Reducing Wrongful Convictions and Freeing the Innocent

DNA technology has literally saved the lives of the wrongfully convicted.

Earl Washington came within nine days of being executed in Virginia before a
DNA test excluded him from the 1982 Culpeper rape murder scene of Rebecca
Lynn Williams. Years later he was exonerated. The databank connected
Kenneth Tinsley, who later raped another woman in Albemarle County, to
Williamss murder. Tinsley had a conviction of petit larceny in Martinsville 12
years before he admittedly attacked Williams. If a broader DNA databank had
been in place, Earl Washington would probably never have been arrested and
spent years on death row. The Albemarle rape would not have occurred and the
trauma of a wrongful conviction upon him and the criminal justice averted.

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January 19, 2017

The Innocence Project has helped exonerate 347 innocent citizens. Of those
exonerated, 242 were minorities and 20 had spent time on death row. In almost
half of these cases, DNA databanks provided leads that resulted in the arrest of
the actual perpetrator. Innocent inmates whose freedom depends upon
expanded DNA collection are currently incarcerated.

Exonerating the innocent further ensures that law enforcement can focus efforts
on apprehending actual perpetrators of crime many of whom may reoffend.
Virginias DNA Databank and Data Supporting Additional Reform

Virginia currently requires DNA upon conviction of 14 specific misdemeanor

violations: VA Code 18.2-60.3 (Stalking); 18.2-60.4 (Violation of a Protective
Order); 18.2-67.4 (Sexual Battery); 18.2-67.4:1 (Infected Sexual Battery); 18.2-67
(Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 15); 18.2-64:2 (Carnal Knowledge of an Inmate); 18.267.5 (Attempted Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Object Sexual Penetration); 18.2-102
(Unauthorized Use of Animal, Aircraft, Vehicle or Boat; 18.2-121 (Entering Property of
Another for Purpose of Damaging It); 18.2-130 (Peeping or Spying Into Dwelling); 18.2370.6 (Penetration of Mouth of Child with Lascivious Intent); 18.2-387 (Indecent
Exposure); 18.2-387.1 (Obscene Sexual Display); and 18.2-479.1 (Resisting Arrest).
Other states have expanded their DNA databanks to include other misdemeanor crimes
with proven results.
The New York and Wisconsin DNA Model Bipartisan Support for Enhancement
DNA is not a partisan issue. New York and Wisconsin collect DNA from those convicted
of misdemeanors. Legislation was signed into law by Wisconsins GOP Governor Scott
Walker, and New Yorks Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. Established in 2012, New
Yorks enhanced databank provides useful data to examine Virginia DNA enhancement.
According to data provided by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice
Services:

The average first-time felon had three previous misdemeanor convictions -- yet
Virginia waits until they graduate to more serious crime before collecting DNA;

By the end of 2015, 1,786 petty larceny convictions had already matched to 78
homicides, 343 sexual assaults, 235 robberies and 764 burglaries;

89 percent of New Yorks 3,547 offenders linked to sexual assault were in the
database for non-sex crimes, such as petty larceny and trespass.

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January 19, 2017

Examining Whether to Expand Collection for Additional Virginia Misdemeanors

Utilizing the most recently-available New York data, H.J. 711 and DNA
enhancement efforts may be tailored to capture misdemeanor convictions most likely
to return a hit to the DNA databank and/or those yielding the greatest percentage of
DNA returns to unsolved crimes. Among these offenses are petty larceny, assault, and
criminal trespass.

Petty Larceny. As of October 14, 2016, data received from New York indicates
that DNA recovered from Misdemeanor Petty Larceny convictions produced
2,050 matches to unidentified DNA.

Assault 3rd. As of Oct 14, 2016, convictions for this offense yielded 891 matches
-- 39 percent to sexual assault cases.

Trespass 2nd and 3rd. As of October 14, 2016, convictions for these offenses
yielded 649 matches -- 170 to sexual assault cases.
Conclusion -- The Need for H.J. 711 Virginia and DNA Enhancement

DNA enhancement is NOT a partisan issue. We urge you to support H.J. 711,
which directs the Virginia Crime Commission to study available data from other states
to assess the impact of expanding DNA collection for additional Class One Virginia
misdemeanors, which carry a punishment of up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
To address potential civil liberties concerns, the Commission should review the
adequacy of existing safeguards that protect the unauthorized collection, retention, or
dissemination of DNA samples, the efficacy and cost of additional safeguards (if any),
the costs associated with additional collection, and adoption of evidence based
practices to support analysis and integration of databank data.
Examination of these issues by the Crime Commission will provide the data
necessary to examine the impact of enhancing Virginias criminal justice system
through DNA. The status quo is unacceptable; the price of inaction too high. There
have been far too many unnecessary victims. Please join the effort to avert additional
ones.

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January 19, 2017

We appreciate your assistance,

Chip Harding
Sheriff County of Albemarle
Cell: 434-531-5728 E-mail: jharding@albemarle.org

/s/ Robert N. Tracci

Commonwealths Attorney
County of Albemarle, Virginia
rtracci@albemarle.org

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January 19, 2017

New York Data -- Provided on 10/14/2016 and 11/2/2016

New York added 156 Class A and 47 Class B Misdemeanors to its DNA databank for a
total of 203. Data show hits occurring in approximately 60 offense types as of
10/14/2016. The information below attempts to extract offense types most likely to
provide offender sample matches to unsolved crimes from the 203 Class A and Class B
misdemeanor offenses for which DNA is collected. (Raw data provided by Janine Kava,
Director of Public Information, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.)
New York Highest Misdemeanor DNA Hit Rates -- 3% or higher
# of Profiles/Matches Hits
7/1

Hit %
1. 14.28%

Conviction Type
Att. Criminal Contempt

2. 10.73%

Possess Burglary Tools

764/82

3. 8.57%

Att. Poss. Sex perform by child

35/3

4. 5.76%

Criminal Trespass 2nd

10,508/606

5. 5%

Jostling

40/2

6. 4.54%

Att. Criminal Mischief

22/1

7. 4.16%

Poss. Gambling device

24/1

8. 4.16%

Att. Sale Marijuana 3rd 25gr

24/1

9. 3.92%

Menacing 2nd

4,079/160

10. 3.89%

Unlawful Imprisonment

719/28

11. 3.70%

Failure Disclose Origin

54/2

12. 3.57%

Reckless Endangerment Property

28/1

13. 3.53%

Assault 3rd

25,195/891

14. 3.52%

Forcible Touching Intimate Parts

1,247/44

15. 3.45%

Sexual Misconduct

1,013/35

16. 3.44%

Reckless Endangerment 2nd

2905/100

17. 3.33%

Attempt Rape 3rd degree

90/3

18. 3.33%

Attempt Conspiracy 4th

30/1

19. 3.26%

Unauthorized Use-Vehicle

981/32

20. 3.05%

Petty Larceny

67,202/2,050

21. 3.01%

Sexual Abuse 3rd

497/15

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January 19, 2017

Highest Hit Rate with Minimum 100 Samples .3% or Higher Collected-NY State:
(Raw data provided by Janine Kava, Director of Public Information, New York State
Division of Criminal Justice Services.)

1.

10.73%

Poss. Burglary tools

764/82

2.

5.76%

Criminal Trespass 2nd

10,508/606

3.

3.92%

Menacing 2nd

4,079/160

4.

3.89%

Unlawful Imprisonment

719/28

5.

3.53%

Assault 3rd

25,195/891

6.

3.52%

Forcible Touching Intimate Parts

1,247/44

7.

3.45%

Sexual Misconduct

1,013/35

8.

3.44%

Reckless Endangerment 2nd

2,905/100

9.

3.26%

Unauthorized Use-Vehicle

981/32

10.

3.05%

Petty Larceny

67,202/2050

11.

3.01%

Sexual Abuse 3rd

497/13

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January 19, 2017

Data provided by Janine Kava, Director of Public Information, New York State Division
of Criminal Justice Services.