Accused Hannah Graham-murderer Jesse Matthew, who was convicted of trespassing in 2010, inspired three bills in the General Assembly to add misdemeanors to the crimes for which DNA samples are collected. However, the versions that passed would not have prevented Matthew from crossing paths with Graham last September.
Had Matthew been buccal swabbed for DNA in 2010 after the trespassing conviction, he would have matched DNA taken from both a brutal 2005 attack in Fairfax and the 2009 murder of Morgan Harrington, and been in jail the night Graham wandered up the Downtown Mall, said proponents of the bills.
Local delegates Rob Bell and David Toscano and Senator Mark Obenshain got bills passed last week that target 13 misdemeanors, most of which involve sex crimes like indecent exposure, attempted rape and peeping—but not trespassing.
Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding, who pushed to get Virginia’s DNA databank funded back in the ’90s, wants to see DNA samples taken for all Class 1 misdemeanors, which is done in New York. Harding said he’s grateful for this first step, and noted that it took New York seven years to get its legislation passed. In particular, he wants trespassing, petit larceny and assault and battery on the list because of the large number of hits connecting those crimes with more serious felonies.
“I think it’s a win,” he said of the legislation that next goes to Governor Terry McAuliffe’s desk. “I was hoping for a bigger win. I feel very confident that the next 10 years, we’ll have all Class 1 misdemeanors in the databank.”