(NOTE: State Senator Bruce Tarr represents the 1st Essex and Middlesex District, which includes Wilmington.)
BOSTON, MA — The State Senate has taken a major step to preserve and protect evidence in cases of rape and sexual assault and Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) has worked with his colleagues to make a good bill even stronger with an important amendment.
Currently the physical evidence collected by medical professionals from those seeking medical assistance following what may have been a rape or sexual assault is only retained for periods of 6 months at a time, and the victim must renew a request to preserve such evidence for each and every 6 month period. H.4364, sponsored by Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield) and passed on September 8, 2016 by the Senate, seeks to change that.
Tarr worked closely with Senator Michael Moore (D-Worcester, Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst), Senator Cynthia Creem (D-Newton) and others to produce the comprehensive redraft of the bill approved by the Senate. That legislation mandates that all such evidence be preserved for the relevant statute of limitations for these crimes, which is not less than 15 years.
Tarr co-sponsored a successful amendment with Creem to require that:
1. All evidence currently in the possession of law enforcement be subject to the preservation requirements of the law.
2. The director of the crime laboratory within the department of state police explore the feasibility of, and make recommendations for, establishing a centralized facility with the capacity to store and preserve all of the forensic evidence collected throughout the state.
“The victims of these crimes have suffered physically and emotionally, and they shouldn’t have to worry about valuable evidence being lost or discarded,” said Tarr. He added that “this bill as redrafted not only eliminates an unnecessary procedural hurdle, it also paves the way for a better system for collecting and maintaining evidence.”
The engrossed bill is now before the House for its consideration.
(NOTE: The above press release is from State Senator Bruce Tarr’s Office.)
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