SAN FRANCISCO—A woman whose DNA from a rape case that was used to arrest her in an unrelated crime is now suing the city of San Francisco as first reported on Thursday, March 10.
The victim, who chooses to remain anonymous, was said to have been tied to a property crime that occurred in late 2021. Her DNA was collected from a sexual assault case that transpired in 2016 which authorities used to link her to the property crime she was arrested for.
The district attorney, Chelsa Boudin, dropped the felony charges against the woman after he was informed of how she was linked to the case. Efforts have since been made to change the guidelines and procedures in investigations so that DNA from victims could no longer be considered in unrelated crimes.
In the state of California police departments are allowed to use their own crime lab databases that can be separate from federal or state databases. California also allows these labs to perform their own forensic analysis, including DNA profiling, that are not regulated by the state or federal government.
The crime lab that linked the victim to the property crime has since dropped the procedures after receiving a complaint from the district attorney.
