LAPD Says Evidence Destroyed

The Los Angeles Police Department accidentally destroyed biological evidence in at least 1,100 sexual assault cases since 1995, police officials acknowledged Monday.

A representative for the department told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee that detectives ordered DNA evidence destroyed for cases more than 6 years old because they were unaware the statute of limitations for rape was lengthened in 2001 from six years to 10 years.

“Clearly this is unacceptable,” said Laura Johnson, of LAPD’s support services division. “We have started intense training with detectives.”

The problem came to light in April, when the district attorney’s forensic science director complained that evidence in as many as 4,000 sexual assault cases in Los Angeles County may have been lost or destroyed by law enforcement over the last six years.

Although law enforcement officials disputed the report at the time, City Council members ordered LAPD officials to look into the matter and report back. On Monday, Johnson told city officials that the LAPD is continuing to review cases to determine the exact number of cases affected.

“We don’t have a real good number on it,” Johnson told the committee.

Council members said they were dismayed.

“What essentially has happened here is the ability to use DNA evidence to make at least 1,100 cases has been lost forever,” said Councilman Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor and member of the Public Safety Committee. “Each of these cases represents a real victim of a violent crime who, as things stand right now, is unknown and has been forgotten by the criminal justice system.”

The new state statute permits prosecution of certain sex offense cases within 10 years of the offense or within one year from when a suspect is identified, whichever is longer. The extended statute of limitations doesn’t apply unless the DNA is analyzed within two years of the offense.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lisa Kahn, who heads the district attorney’s forensic unit, said that provision makes it imperative that police analyze DNA evidence promptly.

“We want to have the ability to do it within a week of the time of the incident,” Kahn said.

In April, Kahn informed law enforcement officials that she believed that the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department were no longer storing evidence on as many as 3,000 to 4,000 unsolved sexual assault cases. She said she based those numbers on state crime statistics and the average clearance rate for sex offenses.

She also said that in applying about two years ago for state funds to perform DNA tests on cold cases, the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department said that they had preserved evidence in 2,000 unsolved slayings involving sexual offenses and rapes. Kahn said that agencies should have had evidence for about 6,000 cases.

Peter Zavalo, head of the sheriff’s evidence unit, could not be reached Monday. In April, he said evidence can be destroyed only with approval from investigating officers.