A San Francisco woman is taking the city to court after the police department used her DNA from a rape kit to connect her to an unrelated crime.
The woman, who is going by Jane Doe, was arrested for having connections to a burglary in 2021. Police were able to connect her DNA from a rape skit she submitted back in 2016, to the crime through their police database. She and her lawyer are claiming that it was unlawful and illegal to use her DNA from a sexual assault case in which she was a victim, for a completely unrelated case years later.
“This is government overreach of the highest order, using the most unique and personal thing we have — our genetic code — without our knowledge to try and connect us to crime,” the woman’s attorney, Adante Pointer, said in a statement.
Then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in a statement that the DNA sample was found as part of a collection of evidence against a woman who had been charged with a felony property crime. He claims to have dropped the charges against the woman once he learned where the DNA sample was derived from.
This apparently has been an on-going issue in the city. Police Chief Bill Scott said that he had discovered 17 victim profiles, 11 of which were rape kits, that had been used to link potential suspects to unrelated investigations. Scott said he believes the only person arrested was the woman who filed the current lawsuit. He stated that the Police Department halted this practice after a complaint was filed by the DA’s office, and says they will use a different method to prevent the misuse of DNA collected from rape kits.
They should’ve never started the practice! How are women supposed to feel safe reporting sexual assistance if their DNA is used against them in the future?
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