Plaintiffs in rape kit lawsuit seek sanctions against City of Memphis
Memphis police have been misstating when DNA tests on rape kits could have been conducted because the state had been compiling genetic profiles in criminal cases starting in 1993, said attorneys for a woman accusing the department of failing to maintain and test the kits.
The allegations were made in three filings on Wednesday in the lawsuit in Janet Doe v. the City of Memphis, as a judge weighs whether to grant class-action status to the suit.
The lawsuit, filed eight years ago, asserts the Memphis Police Department failed to properly maintain and test thousands of rape kits since the 1980s, and in some cases disposed of rape kits. For named and unnamed plaintiffs in the case, their attackers were not charged or tried for sexual assault, due to evidence lost or untested before the statute of limitations set in, prohibiting prosecution.
A central tenant of the city's defense is the issue of lab access for DNA testing. The city's attorneys have said police did not have access to crime labs until 2002.
The filings Wednesday contend the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began collecting a DNA database in the early 1990s.
According to the filings, the plaintiffs do not believe the attorneys for the city knowingly mislead the court, but assert Memphis police have.
The motions also site the testimony of Joe Minor, a DNA analysist for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation from 1993-2011, including spending his last seven years as a supervisor in Nashville. In the court documents, Minor said the Memphis Police Department had access to a lab to test rape kids starting in 1993.
"No suspect DNA testing during that time period was available to agencies across Tennessee, including the Memphis Police Department and its Sexual Assault Unit or Sex Crimes Unit," Minor said in an affidavit.
The City of Memphis declined to comment, saying it does not speak publicly about ongoing litigation.
It's unclear how, and if, the latest motions filed will impact the case. In late October, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins heard final motions from attorneys before she began deliberating whether the lawsuit could move forward as a class-action suit.
At the time, Higgins said she would try to reach a decision within two weeks. Before the latest motions were filed, Higgins' decision was expected any day.
Plaintiff attorneys are asking for sanctions, including monetary punishment, against the City of Memphis, for "a pattern of false statements that are very directly related to a key issue in this case."
Micaela Watts is a reporter covering access and equity for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Janet Doe v City of Memphis rape kit lawsuit plaintiffs want sanctions
