Authorities say a special prosecutor will review cases linked to 110 previously untested rape-evidence kits in one Michigan county.
Ingham County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick tells the Lansing State Journal the kits collected from Lansing-area law enforcement agencies in the county over the past two years were sent to the state police crime lab for testing and agencies are getting results returned.
McCormick says her office doesn't have the staff to review and investigate each case, so a retired assistant prosecutor could be hired as an independent contractor.
Many of the kits went untested for years because the victim declined to prosecute or the alleged rapist claimed the relationship was consensual. Fifty-six of the kits are from the Lansing Police Department and 23 from the Ingham County Sheriff's Office.
Thousands of untested rape kits were discovered in Wayne County in 2015, leading Attorney General Bill Schuette to ask legislators to set aside funds in order to eliminate rape kit backlogs throughout the state.
