Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Jim Cooper

Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, speaks to a reporter at a news conference announcing the capture of a suspect in the East Area Rapist case. (Photo: Tim Foster

Assemblyman Jim Cooper was on hand at Wednesday’s press conference announcing the capture of a suspect in the notorious East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker/Golden State Killer case.

Cooper, a 30-year veteran and former captain of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, sat down with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the crucial role of DNA collection in the solution of this and other cold-case crimes. Cooper, who has authored legislation to expand the ability of law enforcement to obtain DNA evidence, noted that an unforeseen outcome of voter-approved Proposition 47, which reclassified a some crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, was a significant drop in the DNA that the state collects from suspects.

He said the East Area Rapist case may have been broken wide open by tracking “familial DNA” that led to the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo in the multiple murder-rape case that  has bedeviled authorities statewide f or decades.

Click here to listen ….

 

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