9-28-83: Trooper Von Clasen seizes PAULSEN evidence from A.P.D., transfers to A.S.T.
9-29-83: Sergeant Flothe locates evidence at Humana Hospital reference PAULSEN rape exam — seizes frozen Tampon and filter paper stain from Dr. PROPST.
Cindy Paulson
Purchase Butcher, Baker
Pew Charitable Trusts
February 16, 2016
“Seeking to secure justice for thousands of rape victims, about 20 states are moving to test a backlog of unexamined rape kits found in storage rooms in police departments across the country — and change the rules for how rape cases are handled in the future.
“Some states, including Colorado, Illinois, Ohio and Texas, already have passed laws that require that old kits be tested, and have seen charges brought against suspects as a result. In several states, including Michigan and Tennessee, law enforcement agencies face new time limits for submitting rape kits for testing. In others, law enforcement agencies were ordered to make a full count of their backlogged kits before state officials decide how to go about testing them.
“This year, Arizona, Hawaii, New Hampshire and New York are considering bills that would require an inventory of backlogged rape kits. Oregon is considering legislation that would require testing the old kits, and Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island are considering bills that would require both, according to the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit founded by actress Mariska Hargitay of the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit television program and which advocates for the testing of all rape kits.
“The goal of all the legislation is to ensure that forensic evidence in the kits, such as DNA that is collected from victims in an invasive process that can last four to six hours, is promptly and properly tested to help identify and prosecute suspected rapists. The DNA evidence is placed in an FBI database so that it can be compared to that of criminals and suspects who’ve had theirs taken.
“’For someone to have survived a rape, reported it to police, and endured the invasive evidence collection, only to have it sit in an evidence room untested — I find that appalling,’” said state Rep. Janet Adkins, a Florida Republican who is sponsoring a bill that would require faster testing of new rape kits.
“The exact number of untested rape kits across the country is not known, but indications are it’s staggering. The Joyful Heart Foundation initially documented about 140,000 kits in the 27 states for which it has data. But Ilse Knecht, the group’s policy director, said old kits are continuously being discovered. Last week, for instance, Honolulu police officials said they had a backlog of 1,500 rape kits dating back more than a decade. Florida officials said in January that nearly 13,500 untested kits had been found across the state.”