Newsletter: July 2003: New and Improved

Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a notoriously difficult crime to prosecute. But a number of innovative tools and methods could soon change that, thanks to the collaborative efforts of service providers, state agencies and private companies.

One need in the prosecution of these cases is a specialized tool for collecting forensic evidence in cases of suspected drug-facilitated rape. When the New York Prosecutors’ Training Institute (NYPTI) surveyed District Attorneys throughout the state, all of the respondents were in favor of creating a standardized DFSA kit. The NY State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Violence Against Women Unit is dedicated to creating that tool. “Programs overwhelmingly want this, District Attorneys want this…the cry was out there for it,” said Kim Oppelt, Director of the unit.

Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault Blood and Urine Specimen Collection Kit for Hospital Personnel.

Efforts at DCJS began in earnest within the past year to create a DFSA kit that will be used in conjunction with the NYS Sexual Offense Evidence Collection Kit – the standard “rape kit” used by most hospitals. Each DFSA kit contains two blood tubes as well as a urine cup. Also in development are the accompanying alert sheets. When the project is complete, DCJS hopes to place bright, laminated signs in emergency rooms to alert examiners to what DFSA is, the signs that a rape survivor may have been drugged, and how to test for DFSA. This alert would also accompany all standard rape kits.

Consent forms to take samples and authorize release of the DFSA kit for screening are included, along with instructions on how much urine and blood must be collected and a lab information form. DCJS labs in New York State do not have the capacity to test for the more common types of date rape drugs, including gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and Rohypnol (roofies), so the kits will have to go to private labs for testing.

Another innovation that the media has paid significantly more attention to so far is the drug detecting drink coaster, developed by Drink Safe Technologies in 2000. Inventor Francisco Guerra was inspired to create the coasters and wallet-sized cards after a close friend of his became a victim of date rape. Drink Safe’s products test drinks for GHB and Ketamine (sometimes called Special K), two commonly used date rape drugs.

It is a helpful tool, but it is not failsafe prevention. The makers warn against using it with highly acidic beverages (such as those that contain fruit juice) or drinks containing wine, milk, or “creamy or oily liquors” such as crème de menthe. According to Mike Giles, a V.P. at Drink Safe, the tester “works like a charm in beer.”

Despite its usefulness for detecting GHB and Ketamine in some drinks, most victims do not need a coaster to detect the most commonly used date rape drug: alcohol. Marc Lebeau, Chief of the FBI’s Chemistry Unit, could not stress this enough when he spoke at length on toxicology and DFSA at a recent Alliance seminar. If a chemist finds alcohol in the survivor’s blood or urine and knows the time of the assault, he or she can testify in court to the amount of alcohol that was in the survivor’s system when the rape occurred and estimate the victim’s level of incapacity.

According to Mr. Lebeau, urine is “the specimen of choice for toxilogical testing.” Most drugs will remain in higher concentration for longer periods of time in urine than in the blood stream. Even so, it is impossible to predict exactly how long the specimen will contain detectable levels of a drug or its metabolite – the chemicals that remain in the system after the body metabolizes a drug.

Any toxicology report will depend on swift evidence collection. Therefore, it is critical to collect a urine specimen from the survivor as soon as possible. Mr. Lebeau even suggested that if the survivor cannot wait until arriving at the hospital, he or she could collect a urine specimen at home in a clean container and take it to the examination. Then the results of both the specimen taken during the exam and that taken by the survivor can be compared.

A number of new resources are available for those in the criminal justice system who work with these cases. The American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) responded to growing concern in the law enforcement community about the rising incidence of DFSA by creating a manual, “The Prosecution of Rohypnol and GHB Related Sexual Assaults,” and an accompanying video of the same title. These materials, and Mr. Lebeau’s textbook Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault: A Forensic Handbook (2001) can be viewed in the Alliance’s library.

As with all sex crimes, the number one tool we have for preventing DFSA and ensuring justice for survivors is collaborative effort. Rising concern about DFSA has been met with efforts to increase collaboration and specialized training because the nature of this crime requires an aggressive, well-orchestrated response that reaches across systems. The Alliance will continue to create opportunities for collaboration to bolster citywide efforts to successfully prevent and prosecute DFSA.

Kate Woodrow is the Outreach and Education Associate at The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. [[2] more]

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[1]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_author_1.html
[2]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_author_1.html
[3]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_article_133.html
[4]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_article_127.html

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