Woman seeks answers as police lab backlog causes delays

Oregon’s stockpile of untested sexual assault kits is a longstanding problem.

  • By Wire Service
  • Tuesday, November 28, 2017 1:30am
  • Northwest

Associated Press

OREGON CITY, Ore. — Nearly a year after telling police she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance who she suspects drugged her with LSD, an Oregon woman is still waiting for the lab results and for authorities to conclude their investigation of the alleged attack.

Juliette Simmons told police of the assault last December. Simmons says she blacked out and then woke up in the passenger seat of her own car with the man over her.

The Associated Press does not generally name victims of sexual assaults, but Simmons told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she decided to go public with her name and her case to highlight the extraordinary delays in processing evidence from sexual assault kits.

Oregon has spent more than $1 million to hire new staff to address the backlog, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported .

“Nothing has been happening with my case,” she said. “I feel like there needs to be attention brought to what’s lacking in how rape cases are handled.”

The captain who oversees the Oregon State Police crime lab told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the delay is unacceptable.

“In nobody’s mind is that OK,” said Capt. Alex Gardner.

The sexual assault kit from Simmons’ exam was submitted to the state police crime lab Dec. 28, 2016.

Oregon’s stockpile of thousands of untested sexual assault kits is a longstanding problem that the Legislature tried to address last year with Melissa’s Law, named for Portland teen Melissa Bittler, who was killed in 2001 by a serial rapist.

The law is intended to ensure sexual assault evidence is tested in a timely way. The state got $1.5 million to hire nine DNA and biology evidence technicians, bringing the total number of staff who analyze the kits and other evidence to 44.

But Gardner said training new staff has taken more than 18 months and required the assistance of current employees, taking them away from analyzing kits themselves.

The agency has chipped away at the backlog even as thousands of new cases stream in, Gardner said.

So far this year, the lab has received about 26,500 requests to analyze a wide variety of evidence, such as firearms, fingerprints and DNA. Of those, 2,123 were for DNA, the majority of them in sex cases.

As of this week, the lab has a total backlog of 1,197 requests for DNA, an estimated 800 or so related to sex crime investigations.

Gardner said 20 “higher priority cases” are ahead of Simmons’ case.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Northwest

Alaska Airlines aircraft sit in the airline's hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. Boeing has acknowledged in a letter to Congress that it cannot find records for work done on a door panel that blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon two months ago. Ziad Ojakli, Boeing executive vice president and chief government lobbyist, wrote to Sen. Maria Cantwell on Friday, March 8 saying, “We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation.” (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
FBI tells passengers on 737 flight they might be crime victims

Passengers received letters this week from a victim specialist from the federal agency’s Seattle office.

Skylar Meade (left) and Nicholas Umphenour.
Idaho prison gang member and accomplice caught after ambush

Pair may have killed 2 while on the run, police say. Three police officers were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after the attack at a Boise hospital.

Barbara Peraza-Garcia holds her 2-year-old daughter, Frailys, while her partner Franklin Peraza sits on their bed in their 'micro apartment' in Seattle on Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)
Micro-apartments are back after nearly a century, as need for affordable housing soars

Boarding houses that rented single rooms to low-income, blue-collar or temporary workers were prevalent across the U.S. in the early 1900s.

Teen blamed for crash that kills woman, 3 children in Renton

Four people were hospitalized, including three with life-threatening injuries. The teenage driver said to be at fault is under guard at a hospital.

Whidbey cop accused of rape quits job after internal inquiry

The report was unsparing in its allegations against John Nieder, who is set to go to trial May 6 in Skagit County Superior Court on two counts of rape in the second degree.

LA man was child rape suspect who faked his death

Coroner’s probe reveals the Los Angeles maintenance man was a Bremerton rape suspect believed to have jumped off the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Logo for news use, for stories regarding Washington state government — Olympia, the Legislature and state agencies. No caption necessary. 20220331
Edmonds rep’s bill would try to stop police from lying in interrogations

Rep. Strom Peterson’s measure aims to make statements inadmissible if police use deceptive tactics to get those statements.

The exterior doors of Boeing's 737 assembly factory are shown closed Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Boeing mechanics in Renton mis-installed piece that blew off plane, whistleblower says

A source says the fuselage panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines jet earlier this month was reinstalled improperly at the Boeing facility in Renton.

Yvonne Gallardo-Van Ornam, left, and Clyde Shaver
Arlington council member to run for state rep against Shavers

Yvonne Gallardo-Van Ornam called it a “little embarrassing” to have Oak Harbor Rep. Clyde Shavers “representing veterans.”

Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, at right, looks over at Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, ranking minority member of Senate Transportation Committee, at left, after participating in a panel during a legislative session preview in the Cherberg Building at the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Edmonds senator wants LGBTQ+ history taught in public schools

Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, is the bill’s prime sponsor and one of the Legislature’s LGBTQ+ members.

Logo for news use featuring Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington. 220118
Island County pays $2.75M to former Navy chief shot after standoff

A lawsuit alleged the Island County Sheriff’s Office was responsible for “state-created danger.”

West Beach Road was closed and residents were evacuated during the wind storm Tuesday. (John Fisken / Whidbey News Times)
Whidbey homes damaged, road closed, ferry rocked in wild wind storm

A wind storm toppled a tree onto a house, canceled ferry trips and prompted evacuations Tuesday.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.