In forensic first, grand jury indicts rapist on basis of DNA

Wednesday, March 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) -- In what authorities believe is a forensic first, a grand jury has indicted an unidentified man for three rapes based on his DNA genetic profile. The rapist is still at large.

District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said the indictment filed Wednesday names "John Doe," a man believed to be the East Side
rapist of Manhattan, and it was filed four days before the five-year statute of limitations lapsed for the first rape.

Morgenthau said the rapist has attacked at least 16 women, the last on Sept. 15, 1998. He said the rapist's DNA was collected at four rape sites and he expects at least one more charge will be filed against him.

"Although this is New York state's first grand jury indictment of a `John Doe' identified by DNA, I am certain it will not be the last," said Morgenthau. He said his office is reviewing hundreds of open cases that DNA technology might help solve.

Barbara Thompson, Morgenthau's spokeswoman, said she knew of two states, Wisconsin and Utah, in which the DNA profile of a "John Doe" was used to get arrest warrants. She said she knows of no state other than New York in which a DNA profile has been used to obtain an indictment.

A "John Doe" indictment is legal if it contains a sufficient description of the suspect, said H. Richard Uviller, a Columbia University Law School professor.

"DNA certainly fits that bill," Uviller said about the "genetic fingerprint," as it is called. "You can change your name, physical features, but you can't change your DNA."

The indictment cites three rapes -- a 29-year-old woman on March 19, 1995; a 25-year-old woman on Aug. 17, 1995, and a 25-year-old
woman on April 6, 1997.