Commission On the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations

Minutes of the Meetin of March 10, 2014
Office of the Chief State's Attorney
Rocky Hill, Connecticut

In attendance: Maureen Platt, Chair; Candida Fusco, Deborah Rubio, Brian Narkewicz, Michelle Noehren, Monica Polzella, Joy Reho, Patti LaMonica, Laura Cordes, Denise Covington

The meeting was called to order at 3:02 p.m.

The minutes from the December meeting were reviewed and approved.

Denise Covington gave the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) report. She reported that the program is proceeding well and has handled a total of 572 cases to date. She stated that there are currently 23 SAFE’s and 10 more in training. She stated that the Spring class will start in two weeks and ten people are already enrolled.

The Bill Paying Subcommittee has not met since the last meeting, so there was no report.

The Commission discussed the time standards for retrieving evidence for younger victims of sexual assault. It was agreed that there was no reason not to extend the window of gathering evidence to 120 hours for this group, since we have already done so with older victims. Denise Covington stated that we should continue to discuss the matter, and perhaps make a distinction between victims who are pre-puberty and post-puberty.

It was agreed that we should schedule a training for hospital personnel about the changes in the Technical  Guidelines. It was agreed that there should be two training sessions. Joy Reho agreed to check the availability of the conference room at the Forensic lab. Denise Covington, Laura Cordes, Candida Fusco and Joy Reho agreed to form a subcommittee to plan the training.

Laura Cordes expressed concern about the delay by some law enforcement agencies in transporting the kits to the lab. All agreed that this is an issue that should be addressed. Joy Reho, Laura Cordes and Maurren Platt agreed to form a subcommittee on the issue.

It was agreed that Maureen Platt should contact the director of the Forensic Lab to ask that the Commission be furnished with quarterly statistics regarding the processing of sexual assault kits.

The meeting was adjoined at 3:33 p.m.

The next meeting is June 9, 2014.