The city of San Francisco is being sued after a woman is arrested with DNA taken from her rape kit on an unrelated charge.
Source: TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty
DNA and DNA technology have always been sensitive subjects and can be used for good when in the right hands. For example, 23&Me has helped people reconnect with family members they didn’t know existed while learning more about their family history and with Ancestry, you can get details of your family tree that you may have assumed were lost over time. When the DNA gets in the wrong hands, however, it can be used against people.
DNA From A Woman’s Rape Kit Used To Arrest Her On Unrelated Charges
According to CBS News, we may have found the most egregious case of mishandling of DNA yet.
A rape victim is suing the City of San Francisco after DNA from her sexual assault case was allegedly used by SFPD to arrest her for an unrelated property crime. The outlet reports that her DNA was being stored in an SFPD crime lab as a part of a 2016 domestic violence and sexual assault case and per federal law, you can’t include victims’ DNA in the national combined DNA index system.
District Attorney Chesa Boudin said that the handling of the DNA raised privacy concerns and the Jane Doe’s attorney echoed similar sentiments.
“This is government overreach of the highest order, using the most unique and personal thing we have — our genetic code — without our knowledge to try and connect us to crime,” the woman’s attorney, Adante Pointer, said in a statement.
After news broke of where the DNA came from, charges were immediately dropped against the woman. No matter how this happened one thing is for sure, someone is going to have to pay for the mistake.
Link to original Bossip