PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Kudos to the Washington Post for highlighting a very important issue: destruction of evidence by police in sex assault cases. (We're kidding ourselves if we feel that this is not a problem with respect to other criminal offences in some jurisdictions.) The destruction of evidence in sexual assault cases can be a serious problem to innocent men who require access to rape kit and other sexual assault evidence in order to establish that they are, in fact, innocent.
STORY: Police accused her of making up her rape, then destroyed the evidence," by Reporter Justin Jouvenal, published by The Washington Post, on August 2, 2022.
SUB-HEADING: "When one woman demanded answers about why items in her rape case were sent to the dump, she found she was not alone. Here case is part of a national problem;
GIST: (This is a very lengthy, comprehensive article. Here is just a 'taste' which will highlite the important (hidden) issue. HL): "Improper evidence destruction in sex crimes is a wider issue. Maryland’s attorney general found in 2020 that state police agencies had destroyed nearly 270 rape kits in the previous two years, despite a new law requiring they be retained for 20 years. That year, a Minnesota TV station found hundreds of rape kits had been destroyed in unsolved cases there. A CNN survey in 2018 found police had trashed 400 rape kits in cases that could have been prosecuted at dozens of agencies nationwide. In 2015, then-Fayetteville, N.C. police Chief Harold Medlock held a news conference to announce his department discovered that it had improperly destroyed 333 rape kits over a 13-year period to make space in its evidence room. The department notified each victim and apologized. Experts say there has not been a comprehensive assessment on the pervasiveness of evidence destruction in sex assault cases on a national level. The issue has gotten far less attention than the backlog of untested raped kits that has been publicized in recent years."
The entire story is located at the link below
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/02/rape-kit-evidence-destruction-police/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
