DNA Data Bank Oversight Panel

The meeting convened at 9:53 a.m. Present at the meeting were Carll Ladd, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP)-Forensic Laboratory (Lab); Patricia Johannes, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Dahong Sun, DESPP- Forensic Lab; Megan Olt, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Darcy McGraw, Connecticut Innocence Project; Brian Austin, Office of the Chief State’s Attorney for Michael Gailor; and Joe Lopez as a member of the public. It is noted in the minutes, that portions of the state were experiencing a significant ice/rain storm the morning of the meeting which affected attendance.

The minutes of the meeting of September 9, 2014, were distributed and action was tabled for the next meeting.    

On behalf of the laboratory, Ms. Johannes reported that as of December 1, 2014, approximately 105,226 convicted offender samples (the number has not been corrected for duplicates) have been submitted to the lab. Of these samples, 100,293 (up 1036 from the last report) have been profiled and reside in CODIS. The backlog of convicted offender samples waiting to be processed is 402. There are 6,800 profiles in the Forensic Index.  

The lab reported that 2,920 investigations have been aided so far based on 2,882 confirmed hits (an increase of 108 hits). Approximately 13 candidate matches are under evaluation. Average turnaround time is now less than one week. 

The lab further reported that number of incomplete cases in LIMS assigned to the DNA Section has decreased from 1088 to 186.   

The lab reported that it continues to search the state and national databanks biweekly. Further, the lab has received five (5) new CODIS workstations. They are to be installed on December 19th and will replace the older workstations that are no longer being supported by the FBI. This will bring all of the equipment into compliance with FBI requirements in advance of the January 15, 2015 deadline. 

Dr. Ladd reported that CODIS is mandating that the number of loci of the profiles entered in the system be increased from 13 to 20 by the end of 2016.  The lab currently is validating kits that are in compliance with the new standards and anticipates that the new kits will be online sometime during 2015, well before the 2016 deadline.

Darcy McGraw from the Connecticut Innocence Project reported that they are winding down work on an earlier grant that ended on September 30, 2014. A final report on the grant activities will be completed by the end of the year. She reported that there are approximately 10 cases that need to be finished up and that she will consult with the appropriate parties to determine how those cases will be handled.    

A discussion regarding how to handle hits obtained from individuals whose profiles were entered into the databank with the belief that they had a qualifying conviction when, in fact, they did not was tabled so that further research could be conducted. 

At 10:30 a.m., the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Oversight Committee was scheduled for March 10, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. at the Forensic Science Laboratory.