New York, NY \u2013 In light of revelations of the mishandling of rape cases in the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), the City Council today announced it will convene an emergency oversight hearing in the coming weeks. Reports indicate that more than 800 rape cases may have been wrongly handled, resulting in the submission of erroneous reports that damaged the criminal justice process.<\/p>\n
Speaker Quinn said, \u201cThe mishandling of rape cases is making double victims of women who have already suffered an indescribably horrific event. We cannot allow these women to wonder if their attacker remains free or to go one more day without knowing justice was served in their case. We must do everything in our power to resolve this matter. At our hearings, the Council will conduct comprehensive oversight \u2013 no question will remain unanswered and every victim will know her case has not been ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public must have confidence in the accuracy of test results produced by the Medical Examiner\u2019s office. Our emergency oversight hearing will provide a critical review of what happened here and an opportunity to address victims\u2019 concerns,\u201d said Health Committee Chair Maria del Carmen Arroyo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public trusts the Medical Examiner\u2019s Office to produce accurate results and it is shameful that over 800 rape cases could potentially have been mishandled,\u201d said Julissa Ferreras, Chair of the Women\u2019s Committee. \u201cOur emergency oversight hearing will get to the bottom of this and will prevent it from happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictims of heinous crimes like rape rely upon our Medical Examiner\u2019s office to provide thorough and accurate test results, I look forward to our emergency oversight hearing and the chance to help to ensure this never happens again,\u201c said Jessica Lappin, Co-Chair of the Council\u2019s Women\u2019s Caucus.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis extremely disquieting report in the Times, indicating the existence of a substantial number of false negative findings in rape cases – by a single lab technician from the New York City Medical Examiner\u2019s Office – calls decisions made on a decade-worth of reported cases into question,\u201d said Council Member Rosie Mendez, Co-Chair of the Council\u2019s Women\u2019s Caucus. \u201cThis is an unacceptable and offensive result for the victims of such heinous and brutal assaults against their personhood. At a minimum, we owe each victim a full investigation and accounting of what happened followed by the re-opening of criminal prosecutions when a second look at the evidence warrants it. Looking forward, we must take comprehensive steps to ensure that transgressions of this scope never occur again and that any future instances of human error are detected and rectified in a more timely and judicious manner.\u201d <\/p>\n
Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., Chairman of the Public Safety Committee and a former prosecutor said, \u201cWithout the crucial evidence provided by this lab, sexual predators will be free to attack again. This is a very serious matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Council\u2019s Hearing will be held by the Committee on Health, chaired by Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, January 22nd at 2:00 pm.<\/p>\n
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New York, NY \u2013 In light of revelations of the mishandling of rape cases in the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), the City Council today announced it will convene an emergency oversight hearing in the coming weeks. Reports indicate that more than 800 rape cases may have been wrongly handled, resulting in the submission of erroneous reports that damaged the criminal justice process.<\/p>\n
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