Original Release Date: August 6, 2021
In episode four of our 2021 Research and Considerations for Sexual Assault Cases season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Rachel Lovell, Research Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University, and Mary Weston, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney at the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, to discuss a recently published article detailing the case for an “investigate all” approach to sexual assault kit investigation.
As more jurisdictions submit their previously untested sexual assault kits, investigators are finding that many submissions do not result in a CODIS hit. But should investigators continue their efforts even though there isn’t an immediate suspect identified through CODIS? Dr. Rachel Lovell and Mary Weston provide a compelling case for investigating all previously untested sexual assault kits, regardless of whether there is a CODIS hit. Listen along as they discuss the recently published article, The case for ‘investigate all:' Assessing the cost-effectiveness of investigating no CODIS hit cases in a sexual assault kit initiative in this episode of Just Science.
This episode of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence [Award 2016-MU-BX-K110].
Some content in this podcast may be considered sensitive and may evoke emotional responses, or may not be appropriate for younger audiences.
View or download the episode transcript here:
Transcript
Guest Biography
Dr. Rachel Lovell is a Research Assistant Professor at the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a sociologist and methodologist whose research focuses on gender-based violence and victimization—particularly sexual assault, human trafficking, and intimate partner violence. With funding provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Dr. Lovell is currently directing large action research projects on untested sexual assault kits in Cuyahoga County, Ohio (in collaboration with the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Task Force) and Akron, Ohio (in partnership with the Akron Police Department). Dr. Lovell is also the Principal Investigator on a National Institute of Justice grant to employ machine learning technology to analyze the narratives of thousands of sexual assault police reports for "signaling" language regarding victims' credibility.
Mary Weston is the Supervisor of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office’s Cold Case/GOLD Unit. The Cold Case/Gold Unit focuses on (a) reviewing cold case sexual assaults and homicides for new leads, including the applicability of advanced DNA methodologies; and (b) the collection of Lawfully Owed DNA. Mary has been an assistant prosecuting attorney since 2006 and joined the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Taskforce when it was formed in 2013. Currently, she is the Project Manager for the Taskforce, overseeing all aspects of cold case sexual assault and homicide investigations, making charging decisions, presenting cases to the grand jury, and litigating cases in court and on appeal.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this podcast episode are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Contact us at ForensicCOE@rti.org with any questions and subscribe to our newsletter for notifications.
