Sexual Assault

LOS ANGELES – In less than two years, a new and controversial DNA searching program launched by Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has proven its worth by nabbing a man suspected of being the “Grim Sleeper” who carried out the murders of at least 10 women in the Los Angeles area over the past 25 years.

Lonnie David Franklin, Jr., 57, of Los Angeles, was arrested yesterday on multiple murder counts after the state DNA lab uncovered a DNA link between the murder-scene material and Franklin’s son. Last year, the son was convicted of a felony weapons charge, and his DNA was collected and sent to the state DNA data bank for the first time.

“In the face of a multitude of objections, we’ve crafted a balanced policy to respect the rights of citizens and at the same time deploy the most powerful DNA search technology available,” Brown said. “Forensic scientists at our Richmond crime lab have developed unique computer software and rigorous protocols that can link a family member of a convicted offender with DNA taken from a murder or rape scene. The successful match in this case demonstrates the extreme importance of this new forensic procedure.”

California became the first state to adopt a familial search program in 2008. It has been used only ten times since its inception in November 2008. The initial familial search under the new program that same month was aimed at finding the “Grim Sleeper” suspect, but it failed to find a relative in the database. A second search initiated on April 28, 2010, was successful because, in the meantime, Lonnie David Franklin’s son had been convicted, his DNA analyzed and linked to the crime scenes in accord with California’s unique familial search procedures.

The suspect would still be at large except for the familial search program.

Familial search works by searching the crime scene sample against convicted offenders in the state database to see if they could be related to the crime scene sample. The convicted offenders are compared to the crime scene sample by looking at how many of the DNA markers are shared and how rare the markers are.

Last month, investigators established a connection between Franklin’s son's DNA and DNA taken from the murder scenes. After corroboration with other information, such as google mapping and where Lonnie David Franklin was living during the time the murders occurred, it was determined that Lonnie David Franklin was a viable suspect.

The Los Angeles Police Department then confirmed our finding by taking the suspect’s personal DNA.

Familial DNA searches are done under rigorous guidelines established by Brown’s office. They are only allowed in major violent crimes when there is a serious risk to public safety and all other investigative leads have been exhausted.

“Now we’ve proven how important this forensic technology is by tracking down a suspected serial killer who terrorized Los Angeles for more than two decades,” Brown added.

By following rigorous protocols, scientists from the DOJ Bureau of Forensic Services were able to identify an offender in its DNA Data Bank who did not match the crime scene DNA profile of the Grim Sleeper, but shared sufficient genetic characteristics that ranked him high on a list of potential first-order male relatives, such as a father/son relationship or a brother/brother relationship.

Brown’s lab conducted further testing of the DNA on the Y-chromosome of the offender and compared it to the crime scene Y-chromosome DNA profile, in order to corroborate or disprove the theory that they are close relatives. The Y-chromosome profiles matched, indicating a strong possibility that they are paternal relatives.

State agents then reviewed additional information to corroborate or disprove the theory of kinship. The information collected showed that Franklin was a viable suspect in the murders.

Finally, the Familial Search Committee, a body created to verify familial DNA search results, reviewed all available data. The Department of Justice then provided the name of the database offender to the Los Angeles Police Department as an investigative lead, asserting a reasonable probability that the offender, while not the perpetrator, is a close relative.

The Grim Sleeper

The serial killer known as the “Grim Sleeper” is believed to have committed at least eleven murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles since 1985. The crimes have been linked by DNA evidence, but until the familial DNA match, there was no suspect in the case.

The Grim Sleeper’s eleven victims include ten women and one man between the ages of 14 and 36 years. All of the victims were strangled or shot and most were dumped in alleys in Los Angeles.

California’s DNA Data Bank

At California’s DNA Data Bank, formally established in 1990, offender and arrestee samples are analyzed every day at the Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory located in Richmond, CA. Each day, local law enforcement agencies submit offender and arrestee samples in an effort to solve an unsolved case such as a burglary, sexual assault or homicide. These samples are analyzed and uploaded into CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) otherwise known as the CAL-DNA Data Bank.

The state’s forensics laboratory has the fourth largest DNA database in the world with more than 1.5 million convicted offender and arrestee DNA profiles and a hit rate of more than 300 hits per month. Each month the lab processes up to 25,000 and 30,000 offender/arrestee samples. Weekly, offender/arrestee sample DNA profiles are uploaded to the DNA database and searched against forensic evidence DNA profiles from crime scenes submitted by local California crime laboratories and the rest of the nation.

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that California’s ground-breaking familial DNA search program -- enacted in April 2008 -- led to the identification and arrest of the man accused of being the 'Grim Sleeper' serial murderer.

“This arrest provides proof positive that familial DNA searches must be a part of law enforcement’s crime-fighting arsenal. Although the adoption of this new state policy was unprecedented and controversial, in certain cases, it is the only way to bring a dangerous killer to justice,” Brown said.

“This is an extraordinary piece of detective work accomplished by our skilled forensics team at the Department of Justice,” Brown added.

Lonnie David Franklin, Jr., 57, was arrested this morning by Los Angeles police, and the Los Angeles District Attorney planned to charge him later today with 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, all with special circumstances.

The suspect would still be at large except for a controversial policy change Brown pushed through, over concerted opposition, that allowed familial DNA searches where there is great risk to public safety. California is the first state to use familial searches, and today’s arrest is proof that the new technique works.

The familial search process involves using the DNA of family members to find suspects through the state’s DNA Data Bank. Last year, the DNA of one of Franklin’s family members, who had been convicted of a felony weapons charge, was entered into the DNA Data Bank. Last month, a familial search was conducted, and late last month, investigators established a familial connection between the family member and DNA collected at the murder scenes. That connection was used to identify and arrest Franklin after his DNA was obtained.

Familial DNA searches are done rarely – and only under rigorous guidelines established by Brown. They are only allowed in major violent crimes when there is a serious risk to public safety and all other investigative leads have been exhausted.

Brown will reveal more details tomorrow at a press conference in Los Angeles.

When: Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 11 a.m.

Where: Los Angeles Police Administrative Building, 100 West 1st Street, Los Angeles 90012

Who:

Attorney General Jerry Brown
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City of Los Angeles (Tentative)

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released a detailed forensic analysis showing that DNA collected at arrests –- even for non-violent offenses -- is “cracking cold cases” by providing positive identification of suspects in violent crimes such as rape, murder and robbery.

Proposition 69, which voters passed in 2004, required law enforcement officials to take DNA samples from all adults arrested for felonies in the state. So far it is working: more than 800 crime-scene samples have been matched since the beginning of last year to DNA collected from suspects under arrest.

In its analysis, the Attorney General’s office surveyed 69 DNA matches made over 15 months. The study revealed that in 78 percent of the matches to an unsolved violent crime, DNA was collected from an adult arrested for a non-violent offense such as fraud, drug or property crimes.

“Collecting DNA at the time of arrest is cracking cold cases that might have gone unsolved forever,” Brown said. “It is particularly significant that individuals arrested for non-violent crimes have been linked to the commission of violent crimes such as murder and rape.”

Since the 1990s, California law enforcement officers have collected DNA samples from people convicted of serious felony offenses. In January 2009, as part of changes mandated by Proposition 69, officers began collecting DNA samples from adults arrested for felonies by swabbing the inside of the cheek.

The effort is already yielding results.

For example, DNA collected from Donald Carter, 56, arrested in Sacramento in 2009 on a felony drug charge, was linked to the unsolved 20-year-old murder of Sophie McAllister, 80, in the capital. Although Carter’s drug charge was dismissed, he was later charged with murder and his trial is pending. (There are other examples at the end of this press release.)

In October, the ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the DNA arrestees program. The Attorney General prevailed in U.S. District Court, and the ACLU has appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In support of the Attorney General, the California District Attorneys Association filed a brief in March arguing that “the collection of DNA samples from felony arrestees serves an overwhelming interest in the pursuit of justice.” Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for July 13.

In its analysis of 69 DNA matches linking felony arrestees to violent crimes between January 1, 2009, and March 19 of this year, investigators found that 32 percent of the DNA matches were from adults arrested for felony property crimes, 26 percent from adults arrested for drug-related felonies, 10 percent from adults arrested for fraud and 10 percent for other non-violent crimes. Only 22 percent were for violent crimes.

Cases were selected for the analysis from arrests of suspects from whom DNA had never been taken. Here are some of the other findings:

• In 16 percent of the DNA matches involving unsolved rape cases, the new DNA sample came from a person arrested for fraud.
• In 34 percent of the DNA matches involving an unsolved murder case, the new DNA sample came from a person arrested for a drug crime.
• In 36 percent of the DNA matches involving an unsolved robbery case, the new DNA sample came from a person arrested for felony DUI.

A summary of the analysis can be found at http://ag.ca.gov/bfs/pdf/arrestee.pdf

Some cases that illustrate how collecting DNA at arrests helps to nab suspects in crimes that might otherwise remain unsolved:

• In May 2009, Anthony Vega was arrested in Los Angeles County on felony drug charges, which were later reduced to misdemeanors. However, his DNA, collected at the time of arrest, was linked to two separate crimes committed in Orange County, a burglary in 2007 and a 2008 armed home invasion robbery. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month.
• Earlier this year, Joshua Graham Packer, 20, was arrested in Santa Barbara on armed robbery charges. His DNA, collected at the arrest, was matched to a sample taken at the site of an unsolved 2009 triple murder in Ventura County. He was arrested for that crime in April and charged with murder.
• In April 2009, Christopher Rogers, 34, was arrested in Sacramento for assault with a deadly weapon, which was ultimately reduced to a misdemeanor. But his DNA, collected at the time of arrest, was matched to DNA taken at the scene of a 2004 murder in Sacramento. In October, Rogers was arrested and charged with murder. He awaits trial.

Overall, the state’s DNA Data Bank is the fourth largest such program in the world. It has aided more than 12,000 criminal investigations.

For more information about Prop. 69, see the California Department of Justice website: http://ag.ca.gov/bfs/prop69.php.

LOS ANGELES – The California Department of Justice asks the public for any information about Kevin Lee Francois, 44, who was arrested recently on charges related to an unsolved 2003 rape in Arizona and is a possible suspect in other sex crimes throughout the country.

Authorities believe Francois, who worked as a painter, may have other victims. He resided and worked in Orange and Los Angeles counties, but traveled extensively.

Police believe Francois primarily targeted college-age women who lived in residential areas near colleges. At times, he is suspected of breaking into homes and returning at a later date to assault a resident. He attended major sporting events around the world, including the Olympics, the Final Four College Basketball Tournament and the Super Bowl.

In January 2010, Newport Beach police arrested Francois, who was loitering around an apartment complex. His DNA sample, taken when he was booked on a felony charge of resisting an officer, matched DNA from a 2003 burglary and rape in Tempe, Arizona. As of Jan. 1, 2009, a DNA sample is taken from adults in California arrested for a felony.

Working with Arizona law enforcement officials, special agents with the California Department of Justice obtained a search warrant for Francois’ Fullerton residence. There, the agents found evidence indicating that Francois may be responsible for other burglaries and assaults throughout the United States over decades. Among the items found were more than 300 school and government photo identifications, hundreds of photos of unknown females, and worn women’s underwear.

Francois remains in custody at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department while awaiting extradition to Arizona.

A photograph of Francois is attached. Anyone with information about Francois is encouraged to call (323) 869-3400 and ask to speak to any special agent at the department’s Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence’s Major Crimes Team.

Los Angeles—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that the state DNA Data Bank has now matched 12,000 crime scene DNA samples to violent offenders and other suspects, helping to “secure thousands of convictions” of rapists, murderers, and kidnappers.

The DNA Data Bank’s 12,000th match was made at the state DNA database facility in Richmond. On average, the DNA Data Bank receives 300 hits per month. In March, the Data Bank had 405 DNA matches, the most ever in a single month.

“This is a remarkable milestone in the advancement of criminal justice technology,” Brown said. “The DNA database has been used in over 12,000 investigations and contributed to thousands of convictions of the most violent criminals. Otherwise, these crimes are likely to go unsolved.”

Recent notable cases in which the California Department of Justice assisted local law enforcement in the apprehension of dangerous sexually violent predators through DNA evidence include:

• In February, John Gardner III, a convicted sex offender, was arrested on suspicion of rape and homicide in the disappearance of Chelsea King, a 17-year-old high school student from San Diego County who went jogging in a park. She was found in a shallow grave in the park.
• In January, David Joseph Carpenter, a Death Row inmate also known as the “Trailside Killer”, was linked by DNA evidence to the killing of Mary Bennet, who was stabbed to death in San Francisco. The crime occurred in 1979. (Additional cases are listed below.)

The DNA Data Bank has been in operation since 1994 and contains over 1.5 million DNA samples. Approximately 25,000 samples are added to the database each month.

A voter-approved initiative in 2004, Proposition 69, required all defendants convicted of a felony to submit a DNA sample. On January 1, 2009, this requirement was extended to all adults arrested on felony charges.

In criminal investigations each day, state and local law enforcement agencies submit evidence from crime scenes to one of California’s seven Department of Justice crime labs or 15 local labs with forensic DNA capability. These labs try to establish DNA profiles to identify the perpetrators.

The DNA profiles then are uploaded to California’s database and sent to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which indexes samples for searching in categories such as convicted offenders, arrestees, crime scene samples, missing persons, relatives of missing persons, and unidentified human remains. DNA from convicted offenders and arrestees is compared with crime scene samples, and crime scene samples are compared to link cases together.

ADDITIONAL CASES WITH DNA MATCHES:

In September 2009, Richard Ramirez, a Death Row inmate known as the “Night Stalker”, was linked to yet another crime: the 1984 killing of a 9-year-old San Francisco girl, Mei Leung, after San Francisco Police Department criminalists reprocessed old evidence in the case to obtain DNA.

In August 2009, a 34-year-old cold case was solved when Dennis Vasquez, 50, of Los Angeles, was arrested and required to submit a DNA sample to authorities. Vasquez’s DNA matched the DNA found at a murder scene in 1975. He is being prosecuted for murder by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

In March 2009, Ryan Nigel Curtis, 27, of Los Angeles, was arrested for stabbing a man after an argument in Huntington Beach. Curtis’ DNA was obtained from a cigarette pack he left before fleeing.

In May 2008, Alberto Pablo Ruiz, 25, of San Jose, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after he assaulted a female jogger in Alum Rock Park in San Jose. The San Jose Police Department linked Ruiz through DNA evidence found on the victim and at the crime scene. Ruiz’s DNA had been submitted to the database for previous violations.

In March 2008, James Dixon, 37, of Pomona, was sentenced to death after his DNA matched DNA found at a 2001 murder scene in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office obtained DNA from a cigar tip found in the truck where the victim was murdered. Dixon’s DNA also matched that found in a 1996 home invasion in which two females were raped. The accomplice in the 1996 home invasion and rape had been sentenced to 70 years to life.

In 2001, a woman’s body was found near Mussel Shoals beach in Ventura County. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office collected DNA and uploaded it into the national DNA database. The sample matched Douglas Dworak, 43, of Oakview, a convicted rapist who had been sentenced to death in 2005.

“By taking steps to eliminate its so-called erotic services section, Craigslist has struck a blow against the exploitation of vulnerable teenagers.

But this action must be followed up with smart enforcement and the assurance that the site does not again become a cyber hub for teenage prostitution.”

Brown was part of a multi-state task force to ensure that Craigslist took action to stop exploitation on its site. His office will participate in monitoring Craigslist compliance with the terms announced today.

RICHMOND-- California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a “major expansion” of California’s DNA laboratory and database, preparing the state to begin collecting DNA samples from every felony arrestee beginning January 1, 2009.

"Today's major expansion of the state laboratory prepares California to collect DNA from every felony arrestee starting in 2009,' California Attorney General Brown told a news conference at the Jan Bashinkski DNA Laboratory in Richmond. 'California's DNA program is giving local law enforcement critical investigative leads in thousands of unsolved crimes,' Brown added.

Since Proposition 69 passed in 2004, the state laboratory has uploaded an average of nearly 200,000 DNA profiles annually. When law enforcement begins collecting DNA from every adult felony arrestee in January 2009, the quantity of DNA submissions is estimated to increase to 390,000 per year.

In preparation for the incoming DNA, the state has expanded its laboratories and storage facilities in Richmond by approximately 28,000 square feet.

At today’s grand opening ceremony, Attorney General Brown announced that California’s DNA database, which currently houses more than 1 million offender DNA profiles, has completed a $10 million expansion to accommodate the more than 2 million samples expected over the next 5 years as a result of Proposition 69 expansions, starting in 2009.

Susan Fisher, the Governor’s Crime Victims Advocate, joined Attorney General Brown in making today’s announcement.

The California Attorney General’s Office has the third largest DNA database in the world, just behind national databases in the United States and United Kingdom. The current DNA budget is approximately $31.5 million, $28 million of which is Proposition 69 funding.

To date, the state laboratory has reported over 6,000 hits, links between crime scene evidence and an offender in the DNA database or to other crime scenes. These hits continue to solve crimes and improve public safety in California.

The Bureau of Forensic Services is the scientific arm of the Attorney General's Office whose mission is to assist the criminal justice system. Forensic scientists collect, analyze, and compare physical evidence from crime scenes or persons. They also provide criminalistics, blood alcohol, and related forensic science information services to state and local law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, and the courts.

For more information on Prop 69 and the state’s DNA program visit: http://ag.ca.gov/bfs/prop69.php

SACRAMENTO—California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a new DNA search policy that will improve the ability of local law enforcement to investigate unsolved violent crimes by providing new investigative leads.

“California will help local law enforcement catch violent criminals by providing, under special circumstances, the identity of a person in the DNA database who is the close relative of a suspect,” Attorney General Brown told the California District Attorneys Association at their annual DNA/Cold Case Summit. “This new technique will assist local law enforcement with unsolved crimes committed by killers and sex offenders.”

Currently, the state laboratory alerts local law enforcement when a crime scene sample exactly matches--at all 26 genetic markers--the DNA of an offender in the state offender database. 15 or more shared markers indicate that the person in the database could be a close relative of the source of the crime scene evidence. Under California’s new search technique, the state laboratory will release this relative’s identity to local law enforcement if the agency adheres to a strict protocol to ensure that personal privacy is carefully protected.

California’s DNA offender database currently contains more than 1 million profiles from persons convicted of any felony and those arrested or charged with a homicide or sex offense. To date, the laboratory has released more than 5,000 exact matches, cold hits which provide key evidence to help solve crimes.

California’s new search technique imposes multiple conditions, as specified in the attached policy bulletin, which must be met before the California Department of Justice will release the identity of a suspect’s relative. This process was developed to strike an effective balance between privacy concerns and the need to provide information that may solve a violent crime.

If there is a serious public safety risk, for example a violent sex offender is at large, state scientists may also search the database in an effort to identify possible relatives of the suspect. If such a search returns multiple results, scientists will use a kinship analysis to determine whether any of the matches are likely to be a relative. The local agency must then conduct an additional genetic test to confirm the relatedness.

At more than 1 million DNA profiles, the California Attorney General’s Office has the third largest DNA database in the world, just behind the United States as a whole and the United Kingdom. Each month, the laboratory releases more than 200 cold hits, matches between crime scene samples and persons in the state database.

In September 2007, Attorney General Brown announced that the backlog of DNA samples collected from convicted felons and certain arrestees--which stood at 295,000 in July 2006--had been completely eliminated.

California’s new DNA search policy is attached. For more information on DNA testing in California visit: http://ag.ca.gov/bfs/

LOS ANGELES – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that the backlog of DNA samples collected from convicted felons—which stood at 295,000 in July 2006—has been eliminated.

At a news conference with Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, Brown said: “The state has the third largest DNA database in the world so eliminating the backlog is a major milestone in combating crime in California. The next phase—collecting DNA samples from all persons arrested for felonies in California—will begin January 1, 2009. I will use the full resources at my command to meet this challenging goal.”

Proposition 69, passed in November 2004, required all convicted felons to submit a DNA sample to the CAL-DNA Data Bank Program. In response, the Program immediately hired and trained new DNA analysts and started a statewide DNA sample collection training program. An executive order, requiring expedited DNA collection from all incarcerated felons and parolees resulted in a peak of 70,000 submissions in April of 2005—over twice the number received in the year prior to Proposition 69—for a total submission in 2005 alone of about 300,000 samples.

The Attorney General’s Office, in collaboration with the Governor, identified the critical need to eliminate the developing backlog. Utilizing existing personnel in a special overtime project, along with the validation and implementation of new methods, the Program boosted analytical capacity to over 40,000 DNA samples per month. Increased efforts to enhance recruitment and retention allowed CAL-DNA to find the trained analysts necessary to meet the next wave of Proposition 69 mandates—the implementation of the all-adult-felon-arrestee provision in January 2009—estimated at 390,000 submissions per year.

In 1990 CAL-DNA was established in the Division of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Forensic Services in DOJ; and in 1994 funding for sex offender collections was obtained. The expected number of offender DNA samples submitted at that time was 40,000 per year. After 10 years, the inclusion of violent felons and other qualified offenders in 2004 had expanded the database to about 300,000.

California Attorney General’s Office now has the third largest DNA Database in the world, just behind the United States as a whole and Great Britain. CAL-DNA has over 940,000 in the searchable database, known as the CAL-DNA Data Bank, as part of the National DNA Index System, which is operated and overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Unit.

CAL-DNA has to date reported over 5,000 offender hits, or linkages established by a common DNA profile between crime evidence and an offender in the database. These hits continue to solve crimes and improve public safety.

A press release with charts is attached.