Brianna's Law has matched more than 1,000 DNA samples to crimes

There are crimes uncommitted because of Brianna Denison.

Denison, a 19-year-old college student who was raped and murdered in Reno in 2008, became the catalyst for a Nevada law that is preventing and solving crimes.

The law passed in 2013 requires that DNA from people arrested on felony charges in Nevada be collected and entered into a database.

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"We wanted something good to come out of something horrible," said Lauren Denison, Brianna Denison's aunt and a strong advocate for the law.

“Brianna’s Law was a proactive measure aimed at getting dangerous, repeat offenders off of our streets. This legislation was an accomplishment for our state and increased public safety by providing our law enforcement officials with access to resources that can help them solve crime," said Gov. Brian Sandoval. "It was an honor to sign Brianna’s Law and I believe it has made our children and communities more safe.”

Since enacted in July 2014, Brianna's Law has put names to more than 1,000 crimes, including matching more than 100 sexual assaults to perpetrators, according to state DNA database manager and Washoe County Sheriff criminalist Steve Gresko.

More than 61,000 felony arrests in Nevada have resulted in a data collection that is entered into a national database.

Although the data is still preliminary, Gresko said the collection of DNA has hit matches on approximately 500 burglaries, 86 automobile burglaries, 62 robberies, three arsons, 23 attempted homicides and nine homicides including cold cases that date back decades.

But the law still raises concerns for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

ACLU Communications Manager Wesley Juhl said it is a surveillance issue.

"You are innocent unless you are convicted, and your own DNA can be used against you," Juhl said.

He said it's not a top priority but the ACLU is monitoring the law.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police can take a DNA sample from someone who has been arrested, but not convicted, of a serious crime. It stemmed from a Maryland case where a man arrested for assault was sentenced to life for a rape committed seven years earlier when his DNA was matched to the previous crime.

The Denison family reached out to Jayann Sepich, the mother of a New Mexico State University student raped and murdered in 2003, soon after Brianna Denison's death.

Sepich has made it her passion to lobby for similar laws to the one she helped pass in her state, named for her daughter Katie.

The New Mexico law, passed in 2007, has helped match more than 1,400 cold cases to suspects through DNA collected during the time on an arrest. The first sample taken under the law matched to a double homicide

Sepich said Brianna, someone who could have been saved, was a big part of why it passed in Nevada.

"Brianna didn't have to die, and knowing that has given me so much commitment to keep going," said Sepich of similar laws in 31 states.

Brianna's murderer, James Biela, was arrested on a felony charge in 2002. Under this law, his DNA would have been in the system and would have matched evidence in the rape he committed in 2007.

Sepich said the success across the country has been far-reaching. In addition to cases being solved with the information, there are countless crimes that are prevented with criminals that are arrested and in jail on other charges.

'I don't believe criminals stay in their lane," she said. "They don't just do burglaries. Even those who commit the most violent crimes are shown to have committed minor offenses."

Eight states take DNA from those convicted of misdemeanors.

She said New York is an excellent example. Nearly 90 percent of New York’s 3,547 offenders linked to a sexual assault were in the database because of a non-sex crime including petty larceny and trespassing.

But Sepich said Nevada has done an incredible job implementing the law.

She said state labs have taken the law seriously and that funding was well considered by lawmakers when it was approved. The cost to take and catalog DNA can cost as much as $100 per sample. Nevada lawmakers funded Brianna's Law by adding a $3 fee to every person in Nevada convicted of a misdemeanor or felony.