A.G. Gancarski
Outside the Duval County Courthouse on Thursday morning, State Attorney’s Office candidate Wes White had harsh criticism for the incumbent, Angela Corey, about her office’s handling of rape kits.
First Coast News reported this week that in about 2,000 cases, DNA evidence was left “sitting on a shelf,” unexamined for proof of rape. That follows on a must-read story by Jacksonville journalist Claire Reed in Folio Weekly that made similar observations.
“There are many reasons why a kit doesn’t get tested,” an assistant state attorney told First Coast News.
White wants answers.
“It is appalling that the rape test kits have been sitting on a shelf untested for months, years, and in some cases, decades,” said White, who added that the oldest kit dates back to 1984.
“This is a travesty and I am calling on State Attorney Angela Corey to immediately send these kits to the FDLE for processing.”
“Rape is a heinous crime and as every prosecutor knows, every day that goes by prosecution becomes more difficult. You can lose witnesses, corrborative evidence, and even victims,” White added, saying that “memories fade and witnesses move on.”
“Corey owes an apology to every single rape victim who is still awaiting justice, who believed that the system was going to pursue justice immediately and not somewhere down the line when it was financially convenient,” he said.
Corey has said the backlog is because of a funding issue. White called on Mayor Lenny Curry, whom White said ran on a public safety platform, and Gov. Rick Scott to ensure that funding these tests is prioritized.
Curry “will answer the call,” White said, who has talked to senior members of the administration about the situation and received a positive response.
Citing “mistaken priorities” in the SAO, White, who was in charge of the Nassau County office until 2012, noted that during his tenure the test kits “weren’t discussed at all” and “this issue was never brought to my attention.”
White contends that Corey put the issue on the back burner in part because she wanted to slot $400,000 for her pension three years ago. That money would have funded 500 tests at $800 per kit.
Corey opposes legislation, of the sort state Rep. Janet Adkins is filing, mandating that rape tests be processed in a timely manner.
White has spoken with Adkins about it. Describing the Fernandina Beach Republican as an “advocate for women and children,” White is confident that the head of the Duval Legislative Delegation “will get the job done.”
Rape is “horrific and inexcusable,” White said, who added that “most rapists are serial rapists,” and that it is, short of homicide, the most heinous crime that can be perpetrated on a person.
White faces an uphill battle for election. Defense lawyers, he said, are reluctant to give to his campaign because they fear blowback.
The media is not much help either; as one TV worker said before the press conference, impatient for the event to begin: “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
