Despite the existence of a federal initiative aimed at resolving DNA evidence backlogs from rape cases, state and local authorities across the nation opted not to test around 20% of the kits, and few convictions arose from those that were analyzed, according to a report by YSL News.

These findings do not meet the expectations of former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., who initiated the first funding program to test long-neglected rape kits. This initiative led federal leaders to establish the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which has provided over $350 million in grants to 90 agencies at the state and local levels since 2015.

While Vance acknowledged that securing even a single conviction is important, he expressed concern that federal officials erred in not mandating that all backlogged kits be tested. He insisted it is time to create new outcome standards, including conviction rates, following the testing.

“The main issue was that law enforcement had the discretion to decide which cases were deemed important enough to test,” he remarked regarding the kits. “When you have discretion over which case takes precedence, you’re likely to make biased judgments. We believe this approach is flawed.”

The YSL News investigation examined 14 law enforcement agencies that began receiving federal grants at least eight years ago. Out of approximately 47,000 identified backlogged rape kits, 38,000 were tested, resulting in 750 convictions. However, over half of these convictions came from just two jurisdictions, while the remaining twelve agencies distributed the rest among themselves.

Experts estimate that roughly 9% of reported rapes lead to a felony conviction today, but YSL News found that most agencies reviewed reported conviction rates lower than 1% for the kits tested from their backlogs.

For instance, in Austin, Texas, only one conviction has been achieved from over 4,000 tested kits, despite the city receiving $2 million from Vance’s testing program and an additional $3 million from the federal initiative, which offers technical aid for investigations, notifications to victims, and prosecutions.

City officials have pledged to improve their efforts and stated they are applying for a third round of federal funding. Their current conviction rate will not disqualify them, as there are no requirements for convictions to continue receiving funding.

A representative from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, which manages the federal grants, has declined multiple interview requests from YSL News concerning these findings. The representative stated that testing all kits is not obligatory because the reasons behind backlogs differ among jurisdictions. Grant administrators and a nonprofit partner assist recipients in “crafting an approach that best meets their community needs, addresses the root causes of untested kits, and supports the adoption of best practices moving forward,” the statement explained.

Angela Williamson, who recently transitioned from leading the federal initiative, previously commented that it is premature to evaluate the program’s results, despite the newspaper’s analysis being restricted to jurisdictions that received early grants.

Vance disagreed with this assessment.

While he recognized that initial phases of any project might yield uncertain outcomes, he insisted that now is the time to assess what has been effective and what hasn’t.

“Public funds should be aligned with some historical success rates,” Vance emphasized. “As we look toward another decade, it’s crucial to evaluate not just the testing of rape kits, but also the policies of those departments responsible for collecting these kits and receiving funding.”

Insights from New York

Through its own efforts to address its backlog, New York City discovered the importance of testing every kit — a recommendation later supported by the National Institute of Justice. However, this standard was not adopted by Justice Department officials managing the federal grant program.

Although the issue of untested rape kits exists nationwide, New York was among the first regions to publicly recognize that thousands had accumulated over the years, even as survivors underwent lengthy physical examinations to collect evidence.

Linda Fairstein, widely known for controversially standing by the convictions of the Central Park Five — who were exonerated after DNA evidence and confessions pointed to a convicted serial offender — previously garnered attention for successfully prosecuting cold rape cases with DNA evidence.

Prompted by the police commissioner, Fairstein’s team began cataloging the untested rape kits stored in the New York Police Department’s evidence room in 1999, eventually identifying 17,000 kits. They initiated DNA testing to generate suspect profiles.

A new state database is being connected with the federal DNA database established by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to Fairstein, the DNA matches obtained from these tests provided significant insights, leading to nationwide initiatives to reassess the handling of rape cases by police and prosecutors in the past.

“We received some remarkable hits,” she recalled, discussing crimes they would never have solved without this technology. “A perpetrator moving to Illinois, visiting family in Texas, and suddenly, we get these connections from different locations.”

Even in New York City, DNA from previously untested rape kits linked disparate cases across different boroughs, uncovering serial offenders that investigators had overlooked or that prosecutors had deemed isolated incidents.

Cases that were previously difficult to prosecute due to the “he said, she said” nature now had stronger evidence, evolving to “he said, she said, she said, she said, she said,” making them easier to present before juries as rapes.

From New York and other innovative cities like Detroit, professionals in the criminal justice sector discovered that serial rapists were more prevalent than previously thought, targeting both acquaintances and strangers. They also identified that rapists often engaged in other violent crimes. Thus, it became evident that testing could yield valuable information, even if the victim was familiar with their attacker or if the likelihood of prosecution was low.

In 2015, Vance initiated a program utilizing asset-forfeiture funds, distributing $38 million in grants to 32 law enforcement agencies across 20 states to assist in resolving their rape kit backlogs.

Shortly after Vance’s program commenced, officials from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance began their own initiative. This offered funding for not just testing, but also for notifying victims of the results, investigating cold cases, and prosecuting the offenders. However, there was no stipulation to test every kit, nor a standard for the number of convictions to define success.

Still Untested and Unresolved

The federal government does not keep records of the specific reasons that led to the remaining untested rape kits noted by YSL News.

Investigative findings indicated that common reasons included prior testing with outdated technology, initial investigations marked as “unfounded” by detectives who doubted the occurrence of a crime, and cases that had led to convictions without utilizing the rape kit results.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice has made its reasons public, having received nearly $2 million from Vance’s program, along with an additional $9.4 million from the federal initiative.

In Wisconsin, approximately 2,300 out of 6,800 backlog kits were left untested. Of these, 710 were excluded due to established convictions. An even greater number – 986 – remained untested because the victim did not provide explicit consent.

During a public radio interview earlier this year, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul criticized his predecessor for excluding kits that lacked explicit victim consent, suggesting that testing could proceed if a victim later agreed.

Another 63 kits in Wisconsin went untested as the initial investigator categorized the cases as “unfounded,” a frequently misapplied designation used when an investigator doubts the victim’s account.

Former Manhattan Deputy District Attorney Karen Agnifilo, who was instrumental in launching the New York initiative, expressed her frustration with some police investigators and prosecutors still holding antiquated beliefs that certain women, including sex workers, are unassailable or that their accounts, like those of drug users, are less credible.

“Is the victim telling the truth? … Does anyone question that about a robbery or burglary?” she inquired. “Sexual assault is treated differently than all other cases.”

Wisconsin has produced around 600 DNA matches from testing the backlog started in 2015, with prosecutors securing 10 convictions thus far, amounting to only 0.2% of those sent for analysis.

In contrast, the prosecutor’s office in Cleveland, Ohio, boasted a nearly 8% conviction rate for backlogged rape kits tested by the end of 2020. This program has reported securing hundreds of convictions since receiving its first federal grant in 2015, with the number consistently increasing by dozens annually.

Fairstein believes that there is no reason other jurisdictions cannot achieve similar success, particularly with the training and financial support provided by federal grants.

“I can hardly fathom why the grant funding isn’t linked to an obligation to proceed with cases beyond mere testing,” Fairstein stated. “Why aren’t these victims given a day in court?”