A San Francisco woman whose DNA from a sexual assault examination was used by police five years later to arrest her in connection with an unrelated property crime, spurring a backlash and attempts to ban the practice, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city.
The woman, who is in her 20s and is referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit filed Monday, said police assured her when she reported a sexual assault in November 2016 that her DNA wouldn't be used for purposes outside the investigation.
However, according to the lawsuit, San Francisco police kept her DNA in a database until at least February 2022 and "tested it in hundreds, if not thousands of cases" by comparing it with DNA evidence collected from crime scenes.
