Sadly I have a friend that fell asleep drunk and was raped by a trusted platonic friend she has known for over 10 years. Needless to say she is pretty messed up and thinks she would have been better off if she didn't report the rape, she thinks no one will believe her because this scumbag is denying the entire thing and his good buddy is corroborating his story. After she had a rape exam done at the emergency room and filed a report with the police they told her that the DNA evidence could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years to process depending on how fast they wanted to proceed with it. The police also said they are going to wait until the DNA evidence is processed to question this guy. For me and her especially those numbers are almost unbelievable, I could see 2 weeks but is upwards of 2 years really a accurate depiction of how long DNA takes to process?

I've spent the last several days reassuring her that everything will workout and be OK with time. I've told her in the meantime to get a restraining order and to see a councilor, hopefully she listens to me.

How do most rape cases like this play out? Is there anything I can tell her to bring her confidence up that this guy will be prosecuted and sent to prison?

The machines that turn out the DNA reports can do so in less than 24 hours now.

The rest is how they prioritize it as there is obviously a queue.

I used to use 6 months as a guide.  It's rarely sooner.    Lots of smaller agencies contract with labs in other cities or even states.

We are are a smaller agency, and have to contract through the state. Depending on the state back log, it can take any where from 6 months to a year plus. I know the last item I submitted for DNA analysis took 9 months to hear anything back from the state.

If the state lab is very backed up, we'll sometimes go through a large metro PD that is nearby, if they will accept the sample. Sometimes they are so far behind they won't accept it, and we send it in to the state anyway.

I can tell you this, typically when we deal with sexual assaults, it's better/makes the DA and victim happy, if we can just get a confession and not have to wait it out for the DNA.

1-2 years is what our detectives tell me is usual.

In general it depends on whether or not there is a lot of DNA in line to be processed and the priority of the case.  6 months is pretty much a minimum in most places and a year being around the norm.


The vast majority of rape allegations are just what you are describing. Two people who know each other get intoxicated then go to an isolated location. Then they have sex. And the next day someone regrets it and decides to report it as a rape.


Now nobody knows whether or not your friend consented to said sexual act except her and the guy. And if she really was that intoxicated she may not even remember. But I suspect this case won't be very high on the list of priorities simply because they'll probably have several hundred other rape cases with very similar circumstances ahead of that.  Even if the DNA proves they had sex its going to be his word against hers.


He says yeah we went out then had drinks and went back to X location and we had sex. It was completely consensual. She claims its a rape. Now you've got one person's word against the next over what happened. Very hard to prove a rape occurred between two consenting adults who got intoxicated together then went to an isolated location together.


It happens all the time. I'd go as far as saying any male who engages in sexual activity with someone who's he's not in a relationship with should probably use an app on their phone to audio record events leading up to the sexual encounter. You'd be amazed at how many married women or women in a relationship claim they were raped with this type of event. Whats the kicker is if the guy was smart enough to get an audio recording of the night...


I'd seriously say a good 9 times out of 10 rape allegations go no-where because of these factors. I'm not calling your friend a liar, her case may be legit. But I am saying its unlikely it gets prioritized at the crime lab. And even if DNA proves they had sex, depending on his interview it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be arrested/charged.

similar to us too. All of our stuff along with about 95% of the rest of the state goes to the state police crime labs for analysis. Unless it is prioritized as needed fast, it is processed in the order it comes in. Even in the OP's senario that sounds about right for this kind of incident. My guess is it has alot to do with size of dept etc. With the senario that you posted about, we take prob 6 of those, almost word for word the same each month.

We had a serial rapist, legitmately stranger rape about a dozen women over the course of a couple of months and it still took about 4 months for the DNA to get fast tracked.


J-

Unless it's in the military and then he's fucked.  Even if he's not guilty of a crime, he's still fucked.




Back on topic, DNA is such a great and increasingly popular form of evidence that it takes a long time to get results back due to the backlog.  In my last department, I was an investigator and I was waiting on DNA in sex crimes for usually 2 months....and that was considered VERY good.  Property crimes were 9 mo to a year.

Reference the above part in red....I'm not calling your friend a liar but....I see a bunch of red flags here.  Not enough info to tell at the moment but definitely see some things that aren't adding up.  

As far as the restraining order....for what?  She might not get it anyway and with an open investigation, getting one just tips him off that something is going on....of course with him talking about having a buddy corroborate the story, sounds like he already knows what's up.  Unless he's bothering her now in some fashion, a restraining order isn't needed.  Could create more problems for the investigator later.  

Her story sounds suspiciously like someone who got drunk and had sex with someone who she later regretted having sex with.  The guy is a moron for having sex with a drunk girl....and she clearly made some poor decisions that night too.  

I know you want to believe your friend....but remember, your opinion doesn't matter.....only the truth matters.  If he truly raped her, then he should be punished.  But, if she gave him the green light in her  drunken stupor and then wishes she had not.....that's not rape. Poor decisions on both parties....yes.  But not rape.

Good luck.  Hopefully the truth will come out....regardless of what happens in the end.  

I wouldn't expect any shorter than one year.

Three to six months if suspect DNA is submitted, 12 or more months if not. Remind her she might be keeping this from happening to someone else in the future. Chances are this isn't the suspect's first time.

Just had a conversation with a friend here.  He said they are backed up 8 to 10 months. Large metro PD

If she was raped, there should be more evidence than DNA. The nurse's report of examination would show the detailed exam.

ETA- the time would be about 1-2 months here. Did they already get the guy's DNA?

This.  I work in a city with a very well-funded police department, and it took a coworker nearly four years to get charges filed on someone that raped her.  Fortunately in this state the statute of limitations is ten years for that crime.z

On CSI it only takes minutes.

There could be any number of reasons for that time lapse.

We are running about 4 months or so.

I know of a case where a guy was shot in the back with a .44mag who lived and GSI took almost 2 years

Average turnaround in my AO for what OP asked is about 6 months

I've had heroin sitting at our crime lab since July '14.  Sure would like to charge someone.

Took 4-8 months around here. We use a state crime lab along with other local agencies.