Chapter 02. Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits — Analysis

There is clear evidence disproving the allegation of sexual assault;

The facts alleged, if true, could not be interpreted to violate a provision of Criminal Law Article, Title 3, Subtitle 2, 3, or 6, or Title 11, Subtitle 3, Annotated Code of Maryland;

The victim from whom the evidence was collected declines to give consent for analysis; or

The suspect’s profile has been collected for entry as a convicted offender for a qualifying offense in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the suspect has pleaded guilty to the offense that led to the sexual assault evidence collection kit.

If a victim of sexual assault wishes to remain anonymous and not file a criminal complaint, the victim shall be informed that the victim may file a criminal complaint at a future time.

If a provision of Regulation .01 of this chapter is determined to be satisfied after the submission of the victim’s sexual assault evidence collection kit for analysis, testing may be terminated or not initiated.

Except as provided in Regulation .01 of this chapter, an investigating law enforcement agency that receives a sexual assault evidence collection kit shall submit the kit and all requested associated reference standards to a forensic laboratory for analysis within 30 days of receipt of the kit and all requested associated reference standards.

Testing by Forensic Laboratories.

The eligible results of an analysis of a sexual assault evidence collection kit shall be entered into CODIS.

The DNA collected from a victim under this chapter may not be used for any purpose except as authorized by this subtitle.