Delay in DNA tests unacceptable: Nfld. lawyer
A man in Labrador accused of sexually assaulting his niece had to wait a year-and-a-half for a DNA test that cleared his name.
Stacey Ryan, the lawyer representing the Sheshatshiu man, said the delay was too long and that such waits damage the rights of people facing criminal charges.
The man was arrested in the First Nations community in November, 2003. After several court appearances, his trial started last fall.
However, the trial was postponed because the RCMP had not yet completed forensic testing on a piece of clothing collected from the scene.
The charge was dismissed this week when tests on that sample did not match the DNA of the man who had been charged.
Ryan says a costly trial – and a lot of agony – could have been avoided.
"Certainly, a year-and-a-half to have something [like] a charge such as this hanging over one's head is certainly not beneficial to anybody," the lawyer said.
The RCMP waited six months to send the sample to a crime lab in Halifax.
Ryan says nothing happened until after her client had pleaded not guilty.
"I don't know what the reason for that would be, other than cost-saving on the part of the police," she said. "I suppose they want to make sure that an analysis is needed, prior to actually sending it."
RCMP officials could not be reached for comment.