High Court ruling gives convicts easier access to DNA testing

SEATTLE – Washington’s Supreme Court on Thursday made it easier for convicts to obtain DNA testing that could prove their innocence.

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices said that in deciding whether to grant such testing, courts must presume that the results of testing would be favorable to the convict – significantly tipping the calculation in the convict’s favor.

The ruling came in the case of Lindsey Crumpton, who was convicted of repeatedly raping a 75-year-old Bremerton woman in 1993 and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. Crumpton was arrested running near the woman’s house, carrying bedding smeared with blood, a beige phone cord, several handkerchiefs and costume jewelry – all of which the woman identified as hers.

In 2011, he requested DNA tests on the woman’s rape kit, flannel sheets and other items. A superior court judge rejected the request, finding that Crumpton had not shown that the DNA test would likely demonstrate his innocence. That ruling was upheld by the state Court of Appeals.

But the high court reversed them both, saying that it wanted to formalize what lower court decisions had implied: that judges should presume DNA testing would be favorable to the convict. Writing for the majority, Justice Mary Fairhurst said it was important not to overburden state testing labs, but also to ensure wrongly convicted people don’t remain in prison. She was joined by Justices Charles Wiggins, Charles Johnson, Steven Gonzalez, Sheryl Gordon-McCloud, and temporary Justice Stephen Dwyer.

The three dissenting justices – Debra Stephens, Susan Owens and Chief Justice Barbara Madsen – said Washington’s law on post-conviction DNA testing does not include a presumption that the testing results will be favorable to the defendant.

Stephens said the majority’s opinion would lead to many convicts petitioning for such testing.