STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1534

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1733

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1733, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a statewide DNA database and databank identification program that will include the DNA of all convicted felons and be administered by the Honolulu Police Department.

Specifically, the bill:

(1) Allocates responsibility for the collection, analysis, and storage of blood specimens, buccal swab samples, and fingerprint impressions;

(2) Specifies which offenders must provide blood specimens, buccal swab samples, and fingerprint impressions, when they must be submitted, and penalties for failure to do so;

(3) Establishes procedures for the collection and analysis of blood specimens, buccal swab samples, and fingerprint impressions from convicted felons and for the analysis and comparison of crime scene biological evidence;

(4) Specifies procedures for the destruction of samples and the expungement of information from the DNA database;

(5) Imposes requirement of confidentiality of information and specifies penalties for violation thereof;

(6) Authorizes a court to order postconviction DNA testing and to take appropriate action thereafter according to the results;

(7) Extends the statute of limitations in any felony case in which DNA evidence from an unknown offender is recovered and tested prior to expiration of the standard limitation period for the class of felony;

(8) Imposes an additional penalty of $1 for every $10 of any fine or penalty imposed and collected by the court for all criminal and traffic offenses, excluding parking, to help fund the DNA database and databank identification program; and

(9) Appropriates funds to carry out the purposes of this measure, including reimbursement to the county police departments and the Department of Public Safety for costs incurred in implementing it.

Your Committee finds that mandating DNA testing for all convicted felons is an effective law enforcement tool that, when used in conjunction with a DNA database, will enable the State to collect and maintain profiles of convicted offenders for use in ongoing as well as "cold case" investigations. This measure will also facilitate the use of DNA to exclude innocent persons and to provide post-conviction relief to those who have been wrongly convicted or sentenced more severely than otherwise would have been the case had the DNA evidence been available at the time of sentencing.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Deleting the reference to "regulations" in the term "rules and regulations" because the proposed section    -3 requires rules to be adopted pursuant to Chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) Replacing references to acquittal by reason of "insanity" because, as provided in chapter 704, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the correct reference is to "mental disease, disorder, or defect";

(3) Substituting a reference to withdrawal of blood specimens "in a medically approved manner" with a reference to persons "authorized to withdraw blood under section 291E-12" because that is required by current law governing the withdrawal of blood for DNA analysis;

(4) Replacing a reference to collection of buccal swab samples by persons trained to "assist" in doing so to make it clear that buccal swab samples shall be collected by persons trained in the "collection and preservation of biological evidence"; and

(5) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1733, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1733, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair