By CARA MATTHEWS
Gannett Albany Bureau
ALBANY -- People convicted of all felonies and 36 misdemeanors are required to provide DNA in New York. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his way, the statute will be expanded to include all misdemeanor convictions under penal law -- an additional 200 crimes.
DNA, often called the fingerprint of the 21st century, currently is collected for less than half of all criminal convictions in the state.
Law-enforcement officials and organizations are supporting the measure, which Cuomo plans to submit to the Legislature, as a means of obtaining more leads, nabbing more criminals and preventing future crimes, as well as uncovering wrongful convictions.
They argue that it is common for people to escalate from committing misdemeanors to felonies. But civil libertarians oppose the legislation because they believe it would infringe on people's rights and they don't think there is enough oversight and quality control in the system.
The state District Attorneys Association is backing the proposal.
"Collecting DNA from all convicted criminal defendants who are found guilty of felonies and Penal Law misdemeanors will go far in helping our state's law enforcement prevent future crimes and resolve pending cases," said Westchester County District Attorney Janet Difiore, president of the association.
New York's DNA Databank began operating on a limited basis in 1996. It was expanded in 1999, 2004 and 2006. There have been 10,200 matches to the databank since 1996, with convictions in 189 homicides, 591 sexual assaults, 320 robberies and 1,344 burglaries. It has led to 27 exonerations.
The governor also called for an end to fingerprinting recipients of food stamps. Human-services groups are supporting the policy change, but New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposes it.
The New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and the New York State Sheriffs' Association are some of the other groups supporting Cuomo on expansion of the DNA database.
Sen. Jeffrey Klein, D-Bronx, said he has sponsored legislation to expand the DNA databank and applauds the governor for making the issue a priority this year.
"By expanding the databank, we will give law enforcement one more tool to bring criminals to justice, clear those who have been wrongly accused, and prevent more New Yorkers from becoming future victims of horrible crimes," Klein said in a statement.
Mariska Hargitay, an actor on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," sent out a statement in favor of the expansion. She founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, which helps survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.
"The collection of DNA from violent offenders solves and prevents crimes, holds offenders accountable, prevents wrongful conviction and exonerates the innocent," she said.
It's important to note that violent criminals often have committed non-violent offenses in the past, said Richard M. Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, a non-profit group.
"So by taking DNA samples on lower-level offenses you end up stopping a lot of violent criminals," he said. "And once the Legislature understood that in 2006, it began to expand the list. And now I think it's time to finish it and go to all crimes."
Robert Perry, legislative director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said many view DNA evidence as infallible, but research has shown a "surprisingly high incidence of error, fraud and abuse in the handling, analysis and presentation of evidence."
The Civil Liberties Union is concerned the state doesn't have the "existing rigor and capacity in our regulatory oversight to ensure these samples are collected, processed, analyzed in a way that prevents error, fraud and abuse from entering into the process," he said.
The NYCLU wants state officials to establish an independent task force on DNA, and its tasks should include studying the outcome of investigations that involve DNA and whether due-process rights and privacy are protected. The organization also recommends making the state Commission on Forensic Sciences an independent body with expanded regulatory oversight authority.
Bloomberg said on WOR 710 AM radio Friday that fraud has decreased significantly since the city has required fingerprinting for Food Stamps. New York City has saved $5 million this year alone because fingerprinting caught 1,900 people who shouldn't have been seeking food stamps, the mayor said.
"We forget how easy it is to go back to the bad old days when anybody that wanted to get subsidies, whether they deserved it or not, just walked up and said, 'I'm taking it,'" he said.
A number of groups have come out in favor of ending the fingerprinting, including the Empire Justice Center, a statewide public-interest law firm that helps people who are poor, disabled or disenfranchised.
A report the organization released two weeks ago "documents vast problems with the use of finger imaging in conjunction with the Food Stamp Program," Kristin Brown Lilly, director of policy advocacy, said in a statement.
Finger imaging of recipients takes place all over the state, but the law, according to the report, does not require it and most districts outside New York City have exemptions.