DNA Data Bank Oversight Panel

Minutes of the Meeting of March 27, 2018
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) Forensic Science Laboratory
Meriden, Connecticut

The meeting convened at 9:37 a.m. Present at the meeting were Carll Ladd, DESPP-Forensic Lab, Kristin Sasinouski, DESPP-Lab; Megan Olt, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Janet Ainsworth, DESPP-Legal; Michael Aiello, Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division (CSSD); Joe Lopez, Public Defender; Carly Leverson, Public Defender; Robert Dearington, Office of the Attorney General; Elizabeth Tugie, Department of Correction; and Michael Gailor, Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.

The minutes of the meeting on December 12, 2017, were unanimously approved.

The lab reported that as of March 26, 2018, approximately 120,789 convicted offender samples have been submitted to the lab; 1,118 were submitted between December 1, 2017 and March 26 of this year. Of these samples, 6771 were determined to be duplicate submissions. One hundred thirteen thousand four hundred nineteen have been profiled and reside in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).Approximately 521 convicted offender samples are waiting to be processed/entered into CODIS.

There are 11,946 profiles in the Forensic Index. One thousand seven hundred thirty-eight incomplete cases are assigned to DNA and 907 are assigned to Forensic Biology.

The lab reported that 4,922 investigations have been aided so far by 4,939 confirmed hits. Approximately 59 candidate matches are under evaluation. The average time it takes to send out notification of the hit once it has been obtained is twelve days.

The Judicial Department reported that from October through December 2017, it sent 271 letters scheduling the collection of DNA samples to individuals who had been sentenced to a period of probation and collected 381 samples from individuals on probation. During that period of time, 202 people were convicted of qualifying offenses but were not sentenced to periods of probation. Of that number 76 or 38 percent needed to provide DNA samples. The Judicial Department sent 20 memos to the Department of Correction seeking their assistance in collecting DNA samples and no warrants to the State Police.

Judicial reported, for fiscal year 2017, that it sent 1,501 letters scheduling the collection of DNA samples from person sentenced to probation and collected 1470 samples. Of the eight hundred seventy-seven individuals who were sentenced in non-probation cases, 327 or 40 percent needed to submit DNA samples. For the fiscal year, Judicial sent 63 memos to the Department of Correction and submitted 10 warrants to the state police.

The Department of Correction reported that it has 454 samples from inmates since the last meeting and that they have 129 pending draws. Currently, 121 inmates have refused to provide a sample in violation of the statutes.

At 9:57 a.m., the Committee went into executive session to consider the status of samples in the databank. The Committee came out of executive session at 10:08 a.m. As a result of the discussions in executive session, the following actions were taken:

• Sample 3/27/2018 A – records will be amended to reflect that the sample was previously purged.
• Sample 3/27/2018 B – records will be amended to reflect that the sample was previously purged.
• Sample 3/27/2018 C – sample will be purged.

The next meeting of the Oversight Committee is scheduled for June 12, 2018.

At 10:09 a.m., the meeting was adjourned.