By Jim Siegel
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the stroke of Gov. Ted Strickland’s pen yesterday, experts say Ohio now has some of the best laws in the country to protect the innocent from wrongful convictions and put the right people behind bars.
Strickland, joined by a handful of men who were exonerated after serving years in prison for crimes they did not commit, signed Senate Bill 77. It sets statewide standards for retaining biological evidence, requires the taking of DNA from anyone arrested on a felony charge and requires new procedures for suspect lineups.
“It’s a good day for justice and fairness,” said Strickland, flanked by Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany, and Rep. W. Carlton Weddington, D-Columbus.
Goodman introduced the bill after a Dispatch investigation in January 2008 exposed widespread shortcomings in Ohio’s DNA law, including the derailing of prisoner DNA tests by systemic indifference or hostility.
Attending the bill-signing were two men freed as a result of the newspaper’s series: Robert McClendon of Columbus, who served 18 years for a child rape that DNA testing showed he did not commit; and Joseph Fears Jr. of Columbus, who wrongly served more than 25 years for two Columbus rapes.
Other Ohioans freed in the past decade by DNA evidence -- Walter Smith, Clarence Elkins and Danny Brown -- also joined the governor.
“I feel very emotional about what we’ve accomplished today,” Goodman said, noting the six-year process of drafting and changing DNA-evidence laws. “It’s going to improve the criminal-justice system in so many different ways.”
Leaders of the Ohio Innocence Project, based at the University of Cincinnati, said that in terms of impact, the bill is the most significant accomplishment in the organization’s seven years of existence.
“Ohio is truly the national leader on innocence reforms and will be the role model other states look to as they contemplate similar measures in the coming years,” said Mark Godsey, director of the Innocence Project.
In addition to requiring that DNA samples be taken from anyone convicted of a felony after July 1, 2011, the new law:
* Requires law-enforcement agencies to retain biological evidence for up to 30 years in murder and sexual-assault cases. The limit is five years when a defendant pleads guilty.
* Opens DNA testing to parolees and those on the sex-offender registry.
* Mandates blind suspect lineups, in which the officer presiding either does not know the identity of the true suspect or uses a photo-lineup technique in which only the witness can see pictures placed in folders.
* Gives an incentive for law-enforcement officials to record interrogations.
Copyright 2010 The Columbus Dispatch