Despite last-minute objections from Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, legislation to expand collection of DNA samples from suspects charged with violent crimes moved a step closer to final passage yesterday, as a House committee made only minor changes to the version of the bill that passed the Senate last week.
The Judiciary Committee voted 18-3 to approve the DNA bill, a top crime-fighting priority of Gov. Martin O'Malley, after defeating a series of amendments that would have delayed or limited the initiative. Proponents say an expanded DNA database would help solve crimes.
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus, who had protested the bill loudly when a version of it first reached the House floor, appeared satisfied with the measure, as changes they had negotiated to increase protections for defendants remained largely untouched.
Del. Jill P. Carter, a Baltimore Democrat, was the only caucus member on the committee to vote against it, joining two Republican lawmakers.
The panel's chairman, Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., brushed aside concerns raised about the bill by Jessamy's office, which sent one of its veteran prosecutors to Annapolis yesterday to meet with committee members before they voted on the legislation.
"They had some questions, but we already talked about it," said Vallario, a Democrat from Prince George's County. He pointed out that the committee had held a hearing in February and a series of lengthy meetings since then with a wide array of stakeholders, including other state's attorneys. Now, with just a little more than week left in the 90-day legislative session, he said, "we couldn't delay it anymore."
Jessamy spokeswoman Margaret Burns said city prosecutors have a variety of problems with the DNA bill, which was substantially revised to accommodate concerns of black lawmakers, who said they feared the database would be used to target minorities.
One of Jessamy's biggest objections, her spokeswoman said, is one of the provisions added at the behest of the black caucus. That provision would expand defendants' rights after being convicted to request that their cases be reopened based on newly collected or analyzed DNA evidence.
"The court can ask law enforcement to conduct an investigation that can benefit the defendant," Burns said.
That would be a major shift from how cases now get handled when new evidence arises, she said.
