Arizona Postconviction DNA Testing Assistance Project

The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission has applied on behalf of the Arizona Attorney
General's Office and the Arizona Justice Project. The Justice Project's mission is to identify and assist indigent Arizona inmates who have claims of actual innocence or manifest injustice. The joint proposal has three goals with corresponding objectives: the first addresses the need for resources for pending evaluations of cases already identified as potential wrongful convictions. The second part of the proposal seeks funds to permit a more comprehensive canvassing and review of the inmate population in Arizona to locate all unresolved murder, nonnegligent homicide and forcible rape cases where biological evidence is present and postconviction DNA analysis is needed, as well as a more thorough review of DNA cases heretofore reviewed. The applicant states that there is currently no backlog of Postconviction cases in the state either in the crime laboratories or the courts but believes that up to 25 cases may be identified that would lead to DNA analysis.

ca/ncf