L.A. Halts DNA Backlog Probe Of Rape Cases

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says it no longer has the staff or funds to continue analyzing its decades-long backlog of DNA evidence from thousands of rape and sexual assault cases.

In a report issued last week, Sheriff Lee Baca said federal grant money will cover only four or five more months of testing, and state funds are uncertain after that.

Baca has said he needs $4.5 million to clear the backlog.

A new effort to clear the backlog began in November, when it was revealed that more than 4,000 sexual assault kits sat untested in county storage.

Last week, the Supreme Court said that convicts have no constitutional right to test DNA evidence in hopes of proving their innocence long after they were found guilty of a crime.

The decision may have limited impact because the federal government and 47 states already have laws that allow convicts some access to genetic evidence. Testing has led to the exoneration of at least 232 people who had been found guilty of murder, rape and other violent crimes.