| Passed by the House February 28, 2003 Yeas 95 FRANK CHOPP ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 11, 2003 Yeas 49 BRAD OWEN ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Cynthia Zehnder, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 1391 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. CYNTHIA ZEHNDER ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
| Approved May 7, 2003. GARY LOCKE ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | May 7, 2003 - 2:14 p.m. Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/24/2003. Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to requests for postconviction DNA testing; and amending RCW 10.73.170.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 10.73.170 and 2001 c 301 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) On or before December 31, 2004, a person in this state who has
been convicted of a felony and is currently serving a term of
imprisonment and who has been denied postconviction DNA testing may
submit a request to the state Office of Public Defense, which will
transmit the request to the county prosecutor in the county where the
conviction was obtained for postconviction DNA testing, if DNA evidence
was not admitted because the court ruled DNA testing did not meet
acceptable scientific standards or DNA testing technology was not
sufficiently developed to test the DNA evidence in the case. On and
after January 1, 2005, a person must raise the DNA issues at trial or
on appeal.
(2) The prosecutor shall screen the request. The request shall be
reviewed based upon the likelihood that the DNA evidence would
demonstrate innocence on a more probable than not basis. The
prosecutor shall inform the requestor and the state Office of Public
Defense of the decision, and shall, in the case of an adverse decision,
advise the requestor of appeals rights. Upon determining that testing
should occur and the evidence still exists, the prosecutor shall
request DNA testing by the Washington state patrol crime laboratory.
Contact with victims shall be handled through victim/witness divisions.
(3) A person denied a request made pursuant to subsections (1) and
(2) of this section has a right to appeal his or her request within
thirty days of denial of the request by the prosecutor. The appeal
shall be to the attorney general's office. If the attorney general's
office determines that it is likely that the DNA testing would
demonstrate innocence on a more probable than not basis, then the
attorney general's office shall request DNA testing by the Washington
state patrol crime laboratory.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any biological
material that has been secured in connection with a criminal case prior
to July 22, 2001, may not be destroyed before January 1, 2005.