DNA Legislation Passes the Senate

On Monday afternoon in Nashville, the Senate unanimously approved legislation that will require all persons arrested of violent crimes to submit DNA that will be checked against a DNA database. The legislation has been at the center of Joan and Mike Berry's crusade to bolster laws that will help solve cases like Johnia's.

Named "The Johnia Berry Act of 2007", the new law will take effect January 2008.

Knox News article

Memorial Walk at ETSU in Johnson City

In addition to the event scheduled in Knoxville to honor victims of violent crimes during National Crime Victims' Rights Week , we will also be holding a similar event in Johnson City on the campus of ETSU on Saturday, April 28 at 9am. The event will begin at the Center for Physical Activity and a memorial walk will follow. If you're unable to join us in Knoxville, please attend the event in Johnson City.

Click here for a map of the ETSU campus. The Center for Physical Activity is #75.

National Crime Victims' Rights Week

April 22-28, 2007 is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week – a time for all Americans to learn about victimization, reflect on the cost of crime to our society, and promote laws, policies, and programs to help victims of crime rebuild their lives.  The week’s theme, “Victims’ Rights: Every Victim. Every Time.” envisions a strengthened national commitment to the nearly 24 million Americans harmed by crime each year.

The U.S. Department of Justice will launch National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in Washington, DC with its fifth annual National Candlelight Observance Ceremony on April 19, and its Awards Ceremony, April 20, to honor extraordinary individuals and programs that provide services to victims of crime.  There will be many special events and programs across the state of Tennessee to commemorate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week from April 22-28, 2007.  Community members are encouraged to join in the week’s activities and get involved in helping victims of crime.

Johnia Hope Berry Memorial Walk

In recognition of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, a remembrance walk to honor all victims of violent crime will be held at 2:00 on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at Volunteer Landing Park, 400 Neyland Drive, Knoxville, TN. The 5k walk will begin at Volunteer Landing and continue along the Tennessee River waterfront and down the Third Creek Greenway by the UT Trial Gardens. The UT Faculty Club is the midway/turnaround point at which time we will return to Volunteer Landing.

Prior to the walk, officials from both the city of Knoxville and Knox County will present a proclamation declaring the week of April 22-28, 2007 to be National Crime Victims’ Rights Week to Jeanne Dotts Brykalski from the East Tennessee Victims’ Rights Task Force.  There will also be an opportunity for the families and friends of victims to speak and tables will be set up to display pictures or other information the families would like to share.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey.  Encouraged by the parents of Johnia Berry, Ramsey sponsored the DNA bill currently making its way through the legislature.  Under the proposed bill, named the Johnia Berry Act of 2007, a DNA sample could be taken from anyone arrested in connection with certain violent felony arrests.  If the person is later cleared of the crime, the DNA sample is destroyed.  The primary purpose of this legislation is to strengthen our ability to solve crimes and take violent offenders off the street.

For more information, please contact:

East Tennessee Victims’ Rights Task Force  
info@etvictimsrights.org
    
Dena HySmith
denahysmith@att.net             

Joan Berry  
jberry5916@bellsouth.net

The Johnia Berry Act: State Representative Jason Mumpower's Words

The Tennessean.com
Monday, 04/02/07

Strengthen the ability to solve more crimes

By STATE REP. JASON MUMPOWER

Johnia Berry had just graduated from East Tennessee State University and was preparing for graduate school at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She was ambitious, hoping to eventually earn a doctorate in psychology while simultaneously planning her wedding. But in the early morning hours of Dec. 6, 2004, an unknown assailant broke into Johnia's apartment and brutally killed her, ending many hopes and dreams that will never be realized. Now, nearly two years later, her killer is still on the loose.

Hopefully, the "Johnia Berry Act" will work to rectify this tragic situation and others like it. The act will require DNA to be collected upon certain violent felony arrests, and these samples will then be added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's DNA database. The primary purpose of this legislation is to strengthen our ability to solve crimes and take violent offenders off the streets. A simple swab is all it takes. Current law already requires that anyone convicted of a felony provide a blood sample so that TBI can extract the person's genetic code. This DNA test will be done by simply swabbing the inside of the person's mouth at the cheek, actually making it less physically intrusive than those tests done in the past. Implementing this measure will also improve and expand upon the state's current DNA database, which the TBI believes could really make a difference in bringing those guilty of violent crimes to justice.

Seven states — California, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia — already have this law on the books, and the results are impressive. For example, after Virginia passed the legislation, 288 crimes were immediately solved as a result. Not only were the victims and their families finally able to receive the justice they deserved, but numerous violent offenders were taken off the streets, potentially preventing other heartbreaking stories like Johnia's.

Opponents of the legislation argue that such databases violate the rights of those who supply their DNA samples. But the collecting of samples will also protect the innocent by exonerating them. And if a person is cleared of the crime, or subsequently found "not guilty," the DNA sample is destroyed.

DNA sampling has changed the face of solving crimes. For decades, police had to rely on fingerprint techniques to link suspects to crimes. Fingerprint analysis can be very subjective, while DNA sampling is virtually foolproof. The risk of a coincidental DNA match is 1 in 100 billion. If this legislation takes just one violent offender off the streets, that's one less Johnia Berry whose family has to suffer such a tragic loss. However, the positive effects will likely be far greater. Further, while the rights of the accused should and will be protected, the victims of heinous crimes and their families deserve the closure that comes with seeing a murderer brought to justice. We have a responsibility to protect our citizens from violent crime, and with this legislation, we will have the ability to do so.