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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 149 FILED ON: 1/6/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1987 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Adam J. Scanlon and Hannah Kane |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to establish a DNA exception rule for victims of rape. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Adam J. Scanlon14th Bristol1/6/2025Hannah Kane11th Worcester1/6/2025Dennis C. Gallagher8th Plymouth1/22/2025Brian M. Ashe2nd Hampden1/22/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/24/2025Bradley H. Jones, Jr.20th Middlesex1/29/2025Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/17/2025Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester3/6/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/6/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 149 FILED ON: 1/6/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1987 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Scanlon of North Attleborough and Kane of Shrewsbury, a petition |
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| 19 | 19 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1987) of Adam J. Scanlon, Hannah Kane and others relative to |
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| 20 | 20 | | the statute of limitations for the crime of rape and establishing a DNA exception rule. The |
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| 21 | 21 | | Judiciary. |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act to establish a DNA exception rule for victims of rape. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 97B ½ of chapter 41 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 20, after the word “cases” the following |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3words:- ; provided, however, that all kits shall be retained for no less than 15 years. |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4 SECTION 2. Said section 97B ½ of said chapter 41 of the General Laws, as so appearing, |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5is hereby further amended by inserting, in line 26, after the word “enforcement” the following |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6words:- , notwithstanding the statute of limitations of the underlying offense. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7 SECTION 3. Section 63 of chapter 277 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8amended by inserting after the sixth sentence the following sentence:- |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9 Notwithstanding the above, an indictment or complaint for an offense set forth in sections |
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| 39 | 39 | | 1022, 22A, 22B, 22C, 23, 23A or 23B of chapter 265 may be found and filed at any time after the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11date of the commission of such offense if the identity of the person who allegedly committed the 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12offense: (1) was identified after the limitation period set forth in this section; and (2) the identity |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13has been established through a DNA record, as defined in section 1 of chapter 22E, using |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14evidence collected at the time of the commission of the offense. |
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