By
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas - Gov. Rick Perry yesterday signed a law giving convicts in the nation's No. 1 death penalty state access to state-paid DNA testing that could exonerate them.
"DNA technology is an important tool. It must be utilized to shed light on cases where there is cause for doubt," said Perry, who had declared the issue an emergency and urged lawmakers to pass the bill right away.
The new law also requires that certain biological evidence be entered into a statewide DNA database to help solve crimes.
Republican state Sen. Robert Duncan, an author of the law, said it will give the Texas criminal justice system more integrity and make it more efficient.
Texas is the 12th state to enact a post-conviction genetic testing law, Duncan's office said.
The post-conviction DNA testing measures applies in cases where biological evidence exists and can be subjected to genetic testing and where identity was an issue at trial. The law requires the state to preserve biological evidence that can undergo genetic testing.
It also allows certain prisoners to seek state-paid DNA testing if it was not available at trial. The convict must show by a preponderance of the evidence that there is a substantial question of innocence.
Until now, inmates seeking exoneration through DNA typically had to pay for testing themselves and usually had to rely on a legal avenue known as a writ of habeas corpus, which seeks the prisoner's freedom. The burden of proof on the inmate was heavy.
But exonerations did occur. The governor cited his recent pardon of a Dallas man who was cleared through DNA testing of a 1986 sexual assault. The inmate had been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Experts predicted about 30 to 50 inmates per year will qualify for the tests, which cost between $1,000 and $1,500.
DNA testing on tiny amounts of blood, hair, semen, saliva or other biological evidence can link someone to a crime such as rape or murder or exclude the person as a suspect.
"I am convinced that this piece of legislation makes a good system of justice even better" the governor said.
Calls for a DNA testing bill became louder during former Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign.
Texas has the nation's most active death chamber. The state executed 40 inmates last year, the most by any state in U.S. history.
Texas, which is second in population to California, had more than 163,000 people behind bars in 1999, more than any other state, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
