PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

March 23, 2005

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
District Attorney’s Office

D.A. Donovan Funds Effort to Preserve DNA Evidence
***D.A.’s Office Funds Purchase of “Swab Dryer” to Assist Island’s Hospital Emergency Rooms Preserve Samples of Blood & Bodily Fluids***

STATEN ISLAND, NY - District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today presented representatives of Staten Island University Hospital and St. Vincent’s Hospital each with a “Swab Dryer” to be used to rapidly preserve DNA evidence collected from victims of crime. Each dryer will be deployed in the Emergency Room of their respective hospitals. The District Attorney was joined by Gary Laermer, Vice President, Office of Development and Dr. Brahim Ardolic, Director, Emergency Medicine of Staten Island University Hospital and Jean Gordon, R.N., Administrative Director of Emergency Department and Trauma, and James McMahon, Director of Communications and Development at St. Vincent’s Hospital Staten Island. Also in attendance were Yolanda L. Rudich, Chief of the Sex Crimes Special Victims Bureau and Christine Vargo, coordinator of the Rape Survivor Advocate Program for Safe Horizon on Staten Island.

“The donation of this equipment is yet another example of the cooperation between law enforcement and private industry that I have sought to foster as District Attorney,” stated Mr. Donovan. “The diligent work of Emergency Room personnel is essential to collecting evidence from crime victims that canlater be used to prosecute dangerous criminals.”

“Thank you so much for this equipment which will be used to improve and expedite the care we can give to the survivors of crimes,” said Jean Gordon, R.N. of St. Vincent’s Hospital. “For many victims of this type of crime “securing forensic evidence is the just the beginning of a long, painful and sometimes humiliating experience. We applaud the District Attorney’s awareness of and response to this part of criminal investigations, and provides us with the ability to cooperate more closely with his office while caring for the victim.”

“Unfortunately, rape and abuse are no strangers to our emergency rooms,”said Brahim Ardolic, emergency department director at Staten Island University Hospital. “Even in our City’s quietist borough,” said Dr. Ardolic, “we must remain prepared at all times to support victims medically and emotionally as they struggle to recover. It cannot be helped that for many victims the collection of forensic evidence may impose still further anxiety. Always eager to employ the best technology for the benefit of our patients, we are most appreciative of the District Attorney’s response to our request. The new equipment will speed the process for the patient as well as for law enforcement. We take this opportunity to voice our appreciation to the District Attorney as we anticipate additional cooperative efforts in the future.”

“DNA evidence is an essential tool used by law enforcement to prosecute some of the most complex crimes imaginable, such as sexual assaults,” stated District Attorney Donovan. “The collection of DNA allows us to prosecute and incarcerate dangerous criminals who otherwise may have gone on to claim other victims.”

Last, July, District Attorney Donovan’s office indicted the first DNA kit in Staten Island’s history. Just ten days before the statute of limitations was due to expire; an indictment was filed against the individual, identified by his DNA, for a brutal rape committed in 1994 in the Clifton section of the borough. The suspect, Joseph Pellegrino, was arrested two months later based on a “hit” in the DNA database. Had his DNA not been indicted, Pellegrino may well have never been held to account for his alleged crime.

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