IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION PROCEDURES CAUSE STATE AND FEDERAL DNA DATABASES TO BE IRRETRIEVABLY CORRUPTED
Idaho
Code, Title 19 Chapter 55 (The Idaho DNA Database Act of 1996),
requires that prisoners convicted of a felony must provide DNA samples
and thumbprints, even if physical force is required to obtain those
samples (Idaho Code §19-5511(5)). These samples are then submitted to
the Idaho State Police Forensic Services and to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's CODIS (or Combined DNA Index System), a database that
allows the storage and exchange of DNA records submitted by state and
local forensic laboratories.
Idaho's Database Act is very specific - according to I.C. §19-5501, the purpose of the act is to assist federal, state and local criminal justice and law enforcement agencies within and outside the state in the detection and prosecution of individuals responsible for felony crimes, as well as in the exclusion of suspects who are being investigated for such crimes.
So what happens to the accuracy and reliability of these database(s) when the samples submitted are falsified and/or corrupted?
It's not unusual for officials with the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) to fail to timely collect DNA samples of felons remanded to state custody, a task usually performed when the prisoner is initially received by the Department at the Reception and Diagnostic Unit. When this occurs - and the Forensic Services section of the Idaho State Police (ISP) recognize that a sample has not been received - the ISP sends an 'Idaho State Police Forensic Services DNA Database Swab Collection Kit' (DNA kit) to prison officials to collect and submit DNA samples (and thumbprints) from the prisoner as required by law.
The DNA kit currently being used by the ISP is manufactured and distributed by Tritech Forensics [identification DNA1ID:INS1.5 6/12 (Revised 7/2021)] and contains all the items necessary to properly collect and submit DNA (and thumbprint) samples to the database. These include a foam [cheek] swab, an FTA Collection Card (to which the DNA sample is transferred before mailing), an ink strip, a fingerprint cleaning towelette, an "Evidence" sticker/seal and gloves [FN1].
The instruction booklet (a trifolded piece of card stock) contained within a self-addressed envelope is emblazoned with the logo of the ISP, and seeks all the known information of the prisoner, including (but not limited to) name, social security number, date of birth, IDOC number, ethnicity and gender. The booklet also has the following printed on the front: FOR DATABASE SAMPLE COLLECTION ONLY. NOT TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE despite the fact that Idaho law (§19-5505 (4)) provides that the DNA profile (from the database) may be used at trial as evidence, provided the evidence is otherwise admissible.
According to the instructions in the kit, the prisoner must be duly identified, and the [DNA] sample and thumbprints are to be certified and signed by the official collecting the samples. The "Evidence Seal" must then be affixed to the outside of the sealed envelope before being mailed with all contents to the ISP [FN2]. If there are any questions concerning the use of the kit by the official collecting the sample, the packet provides a telephone number to call for answers [FN3].
Over the past few years I have personally witnessed these DNA kits, often accompanied by an IDOC-generated "Offender Face Sheet" being given to the prisoners themselves - usually through the mail. In some cases, prisoners will simply pilfer the contents of the envelopes and toss the rest in the trash, but on most occasions, prisoners recognize the significance of the DNA kit, and will have another prisoner place their DNA and/or thumbprint samples in the envelope and either mail it directly to the ISP (using a Resident Withdrawal Slip for postage) or mail the kit to family or friends to provide samples and subsequent mailing to the ISP.
From just my limited observations alone, there have been up to 25 such illegitimate/corrupted samples received by the ISP and uploaded to their system (and now the FBI's system) within just the past 5 years, and kits received by prisoners as recently as April, 2024.
While I believe the DNA kits being provided to prisoners by IDOC is unintentional, the problem continues, and the ramifications and consequences of years of false DNA data uploads to state and federal databases cannot even be calculated.
Because the FBI and other federal agencies rely on the accuracy and reliability of the Idaho DNA Database uploads, these nationwide systems - in addition to the Idaho DNA database - are now so contaminated with false data they can no longer be relied upon to provide valid results, causing innocent people to be convicted, while allowing the guilty to walk. Indeed, the only means of cleaning up the mess would be for the Feds to purge all DNA submissions made by Idaho, and for Idaho to purge its DNA Database altogether and start over with strict protocols in place to prevent these problems in the future.
________
[FN1] Ironically, the gloves are not always in the kit, having been removed by IDOC personnel because prisoners are not allowed to possess them.
[FN2] Idaho State Police, Forensic Services, 700 South Stratford Drive, Suite 125, Meridian, ID 83642-6202
[FN3] (208) 884-7170
Idaho's Database Act is very specific - according to I.C. §19-5501, the purpose of the act is to assist federal, state and local criminal justice and law enforcement agencies within and outside the state in the detection and prosecution of individuals responsible for felony crimes, as well as in the exclusion of suspects who are being investigated for such crimes.
So what happens to the accuracy and reliability of these database(s) when the samples submitted are falsified and/or corrupted?
It's not unusual for officials with the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) to fail to timely collect DNA samples of felons remanded to state custody, a task usually performed when the prisoner is initially received by the Department at the Reception and Diagnostic Unit. When this occurs - and the Forensic Services section of the Idaho State Police (ISP) recognize that a sample has not been received - the ISP sends an 'Idaho State Police Forensic Services DNA Database Swab Collection Kit' (DNA kit) to prison officials to collect and submit DNA samples (and thumbprints) from the prisoner as required by law.
The DNA kit currently being used by the ISP is manufactured and distributed by Tritech Forensics [identification DNA1ID:INS1.5 6/12 (Revised 7/2021)] and contains all the items necessary to properly collect and submit DNA (and thumbprint) samples to the database. These include a foam [cheek] swab, an FTA Collection Card (to which the DNA sample is transferred before mailing), an ink strip, a fingerprint cleaning towelette, an "Evidence" sticker/seal and gloves [FN1].
The instruction booklet (a trifolded piece of card stock) contained within a self-addressed envelope is emblazoned with the logo of the ISP, and seeks all the known information of the prisoner, including (but not limited to) name, social security number, date of birth, IDOC number, ethnicity and gender. The booklet also has the following printed on the front: FOR DATABASE SAMPLE COLLECTION ONLY. NOT TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE despite the fact that Idaho law (§19-5505 (4)) provides that the DNA profile (from the database) may be used at trial as evidence, provided the evidence is otherwise admissible.
According to the instructions in the kit, the prisoner must be duly identified, and the [DNA] sample and thumbprints are to be certified and signed by the official collecting the samples. The "Evidence Seal" must then be affixed to the outside of the sealed envelope before being mailed with all contents to the ISP [FN2]. If there are any questions concerning the use of the kit by the official collecting the sample, the packet provides a telephone number to call for answers [FN3].
Over the past few years I have personally witnessed these DNA kits, often accompanied by an IDOC-generated "Offender Face Sheet" being given to the prisoners themselves - usually through the mail. In some cases, prisoners will simply pilfer the contents of the envelopes and toss the rest in the trash, but on most occasions, prisoners recognize the significance of the DNA kit, and will have another prisoner place their DNA and/or thumbprint samples in the envelope and either mail it directly to the ISP (using a Resident Withdrawal Slip for postage) or mail the kit to family or friends to provide samples and subsequent mailing to the ISP.
From just my limited observations alone, there have been up to 25 such illegitimate/corrupted samples received by the ISP and uploaded to their system (and now the FBI's system) within just the past 5 years, and kits received by prisoners as recently as April, 2024.
While I believe the DNA kits being provided to prisoners by IDOC is unintentional, the problem continues, and the ramifications and consequences of years of false DNA data uploads to state and federal databases cannot even be calculated.
Because the FBI and other federal agencies rely on the accuracy and reliability of the Idaho DNA Database uploads, these nationwide systems - in addition to the Idaho DNA database - are now so contaminated with false data they can no longer be relied upon to provide valid results, causing innocent people to be convicted, while allowing the guilty to walk. Indeed, the only means of cleaning up the mess would be for the Feds to purge all DNA submissions made by Idaho, and for Idaho to purge its DNA Database altogether and start over with strict protocols in place to prevent these problems in the future.
________
[FN1] Ironically, the gloves are not always in the kit, having been removed by IDOC personnel because prisoners are not allowed to possess them.
[FN2] Idaho State Police, Forensic Services, 700 South Stratford Drive, Suite 125, Meridian, ID 83642-6202
[FN3] (208) 884-7170