Iowa Code 709.10 – Sexual abuse — evidence
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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1. As used in this section:
a. “Forensic medical examination” means a sexual abuse examination by a health care provider for the purpose of gathering and preserving evidence of sexual abuse.
b. “Kit” means a sexual abuse evidence collection kit that includes a human biological specimen collected by a health care provider during a forensic medical examination.
c. “Kit tracking system” means the automated sexual abuse evidence collection kit tracking system established pursuant to section 915.53.
d. “Laboratory” means the state criminalistics laboratory or similar qualified laboratory.
e. “Law enforcement agency” means any governmental agency that investigates persons suspected of or charged with a sex abuse crime. “Law enforcement agency” also includes any governmental agency that collects, stores, processes, transmits, or disseminates analysis of evidence collected in connection with a sexual abuse related crime.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 709.10
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. The manufacturer or distributor of a kit shall enter information relating to new, unused kits into the kit tracking system within five business days upon receipt of a kit. The manufacturer or distributor of a kit shall provide a health care provider with a new, unused kit upon request and shall document dissemination of each kit to a health care provider in the kit tracking system within forty-eight hours of dissemination to the health care provider.
3. A health care provider shall enter information relating to each new kit into the kit tracking system within forty-eight hours of receipt of the kit.
4. When a reported victim of sexual abuse consents to undergo a forensic medical examination and to having the evidence from the examination preserved, the health care provider conducting the forensic medical examination shall utilize a kit. The health care provider conducting the forensic medical examination shall contact the law enforcement agency under whose jurisdiction the sexual abuse offense occurred within forty-eight hours after the evidence was collected from a victim to notify the law enforcement agency to collect and store the kit. The health care provider shall document which law enforcement agency the kit is transferred to in the kit tracking system within forty-eight hours of collection of the evidence.
5. The law enforcement agency collecting the evidence shall obtain the kit from a health care provider and properly store the kit to ensure the chain of custody is complete and sufficient. The law enforcement agency shall document receipt of the kit from the health care provider in the kit tracking system within seventy-two hours of obtaining the kit.
6. The law enforcement agency shall store the kit in a clean, dry location for a minimum of fifteen years, or in the case of a minor victim for a minimum of fifteen years after the minor reaches the age of majority, even if the reported victim of sexual abuse has not filed a criminal complaint.
7. Prior to the disposal of a kit by a law enforcement agency, the law enforcement agency shall notify the reported victim of the intended date of disposal of the kit, the reason for disposal of the kit, and the options that remain available for retention and analysis of the kit, if any. The law enforcement agency shall obtain written approval from the appropriate county attorney and retain that approval in the victim’s case file prior to disposal. Any kit disposed of shall be documented by a law enforcement agency in the kit tracking system within forty-eight hours of disposal.
8. The law enforcement agency transferring a kit to a laboratory for analysis shall document the transfer of the kit in the kit tracking system within seventy-two hours of transferring the kit.
9. The laboratory shall document receipt of the kit in the kit tracking system within seventy-two hours of logging the kit into its evidence management system.
10. When an analysis of the evidence collected from a victim’s forensic medical examination is complete, the laboratory shall enter the results of the analysis into the kit tracking system and return the kit to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The law enforcement agency shall document receipt of the kit within seventy-two hours of receipt and shall store the kit in accordance with this section.
11. a. A health care provider shall provide a victim of sexual abuse with a consent form created by the department of justice prior to a forensic medical examination. The consent form shall include information allowing the victim to document the victim’s consent or refusal to the collection and storage of the evidence collected from the victim’s forensic medical examination, to release such evidence to a laboratory for analysis, and to make a report to law enforcement. The consent form shall also include information that the victim is not required to participate in the criminal justice system; to participate in an interview with law enforcement; to undergo a forensic medical examination; or to allow an analysis of the evidence collected; that the victim may withdraw consent for the collection of the victim’s evidence or an analysis of the evidence at any time; and that if the victim does not initially consent to make a report to a law enforcement agency or to allow an analysis of the evidence collected, the victim may choose to provide a report to a law enforcement agency or may consent to an analysis of the evidence at any time within the required kit retention period specified in subsection 6.
b. The consent form shall provide notice to the victim of the victim’s statutory rights pursuant to section 709.22.
c. A copy of the victim’s consent form shall be maintained by the health care provider in the victim’s records and in the kit with the evidence collected.
d. A copy of the consent form shall be provided to the victim.
e. A copy of the consent form shall accompany the health care provider’s billing statement for the health care provider’s exam fee submitted to the crime victim assistance division of the department of justice. The health care provider shall submit a copy of the consent form to the crime victim assistance division of the department of justice even if there are no charges associated with the health care provider’s examination.
12. The rights of a victim pursuant to chapter 915 attach when the victim consents to participate in an interview with law enforcement, to a forensic medical examination, and to allow an analysis of the evidence collected.
13. If a reported victim does not want the victim’s name recorded on the kit, the kit shall be deemed an anonymous kit and a case number or the number assigned to the kit by the kit tracking system shall be used in place of the name of the reported victim and entered into the kit tracking system by the health care provider within forty-eight hours of receipt of the kit. An anonymous kit shall not be submitted for analysis until a victim has provided law enforcement with a criminal report and has consented to an analysis of the evidence collected from the victim’s forensic medical examination. A law enforcement agency in possession of an anonymous kit may dispose of the kit thirty days after the fifteen-year retention period required under subsection 6.
14. A victim who initially chooses not to participate in an interview with a law enforcement agency may, at any point during the time period provided in subsection 6, contact the law enforcement agency to agree to an interview with the law enforcement agency and to consent to an analysis of the evidence collected from the victim’s forensic medical examination.
15. A victim who decides to participate in the investigation of a reported sexual abuse or in a forensic medical examination may choose to cease participation at any time and shall not be compelled to continue participating in the investigation or a forensic medical examination. If the analysis of the evidence collected from a victim’s forensic medical examination indicates a connection with another reported sexual abuse offense, the victim shall not be compelled to participate in the criminal or civil proceedings of the related case.