Delaware

New bills would require Delaware to keep DNA evidence in criminal cases

Published

2 months ago

January 16, 2026

Press Room

New bills would require Delaware to keep DNA evidence in criminal cases

Delaware is one of the few states without a formal law mandating the preservation of evidence like blood, semen or hair.
Senate Bill 214 would require evidence to be kept as long as a crime is unsolved or a person remains in custody.
Two other related bills would modernize post-conviction DNA testing laws and allow challenges to convictions based on discredited forensic science.

Television crime dramas have trained audiences to believe DNA evidence is always collected, stored and available to be tested years later. In Delaware, that assumption is often wrong. A new legislative package would overhaul how the state preserves biological evidence, a change advocates say could determine whether wrongly convicted people ever get a real chance to prove it.

According to data from the University of Michigan Law School, Delaware has recorded just five known exonerations. That figure stands in sharp contrast to nearly 4,000 exonerations nationwide since 1989. Lawmakers and advocates say the disparity is evidence of a criminal justice system that makes it difficult to prove innocence after a conviction becomes final.

Efforts to address that concern center on Senate Bill 214, introduced by Sen. Kyra Hoffner. The bill would, for the first time, require the state to preserve biological evidence connected to criminal cases. The proposal is supported by Innocence Project Delaware, which has received nearly 200 requests for post-conviction assistance since opening in 2020 from people who say they were wrongly convicted.

Dan Signs, a staff attorney with Innocence Project Delaware, said Delaware is one of a small handful of states without a formal statute that sets clear standards for how long biological evidence must be preserved. As a result, there is no uniform system for maintaining blood, semen, hair or other material that could later be tested using DNA technology unavailable at the time of trial.

By failing to keep pace with national standards, Delaware leaves people with credible innocence claims unable to access evidence that could vindicate them.

What’s in Senate Bill 214?

If passed, SB 214 would mandate the preservation of all biological evidence in the state’s custody that is connected to a criminal investigation or prosecution. Evidence would have to be retained for as long as a crime remains unsolved or for as long as a convicted person remains in custody, regardless of whether the conviction resulted from a trial or a guilty plea.

The bill also spells out the when biological evidence may be destroyed. Under limited and clearly defined circumstances, destruction would be allowed only if all five of the following conditions are met:

More than five years have passed since the conviction became final and all appeals are exhausted.
The evidence is not tied to a Class A through Class E felony.
No other state or federal law requires the evidence to be preserved.
The state sends certified written notice of its intent to destroy the evidence to specified parties, including anyone still incarcerated because of that conviction.
No person who has received such notice files a motion for DNA testing or a written request to retain the evidence within 180 days.

For evidence that is too large or impractical to store, the state would still be required to preserve any portions likely to contain biological material. If evidence that should have been preserved cannot be produced, courts would be required to hold a hearing to determine whether its destruction was intentional.

The legislation would take effect 30 days after becoming law.

Legislative package to reform forensic justice

SB 214 is intended to work in tandem with two additional bills introduced by Hoffner that target other barriers to post-conviction relief.

SS1 for Senate Bill 57 would eliminate outdated technological restrictions and legal processes that hinder defendants from pursuing innocence claims. The bill would modernize Delaware’s post-conviction DNA testing law by removing time limits that prevent access for those convicted before DNA testing became routine and allow individuals to petition courts for post-conviction DNA testing.

SS1 for Senate Bill 58 would establish a formal court process for challenging convictions that relied on forensic methods later shown to be unreliable or discredited.

Advocates point to a growing list of forensic techniques once treated as authoritative but now widely questioned or rejected:

Bite mark analysis
Hair comparison analysis
Certain arson investigation methods
Comparative bullet lead analysis

Breakthroughs in DNA testing and forensic science have repeatedly exposed flaws in these methods, leading to exonerations in other states.

What happens next?

The two post-conviction reform bills are awaiting consideration in the Senate Finance Committee. SB 214 is expected to be heard in the Senate Corrections and Public Safety Committee later this January.

Supporters say the proposals together would mark a systemic shift in Delaware’s approach to justice. Instead of relying on procedural conclusions, the state would commit to preserving evidence and revisiting past cases when science advances or new facts emerge, allowing truth, even when delayed, a chance to come to light.

To share your community news and activities with our audience, join Delaware Voices Uplifted on Facebook. Nonprofits, community groups and service providers are welcome to submit their information to be added to our Community Resources Map. Contact staff reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

Delaware’s Calidore unlock origin story of their golden instruments

Published

2 hours ago

March 17, 2026

Press Room

Delaware’s Calidore unlock origin story of their golden instruments

The Calidore String Quartet, in residence at the University of Delaware, features instruments with unique histories.
Calidore’s next show is at University of Delaware on April 6.
The group’s oldest instruments are from 1775.

When you’re in a world-class chamber group like The Calidore String Quartet in Delaware, each instrument carries more than just a rich tune.

Those prized instruments also string together a colorful backstory.

Calidore, which serves as the Distinguished String Quartet in Residence at University of Delaware, unveiled the tales behind each member’s instruments, before their homecoming concert at UD’s Gore Recital Hall in Newark April 6.

Jeffrey Myers of Calidore rocks a violin from 1775

Chamber musicians widely recognize Antonio Stradivari, the 17th-century Italian craftsman, as the No. 1 violin maker, Calidore violinist Jeffrey Myers said.

The No. 3 spot is claimed by the guy who made Myers’ violin: Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, the 18th-century Italian who crafted his “Eisenberg” instrument in circa 1775. He currently uses bows by Dominique Peccatte and Francois Tourte.

Myers’ instrument belonged to the late David Niwa, assistant concertmaster for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, who died young in his 50s in 2022. Myers is originally from Columbus, Ohio, and was already familiar with that particular violin, long before he started using it.

“I actually grew up watching and hearing this instrument being played,” Myers said.

Niwa’s wife, a pianist, has decided to loan the instrument to Myers on an extended basis.

“I’m very fortunate to get to play it,” Myers said. “These instruments are … they’re really just pieces of artwork.”

Jeremy Berry finds his stringed boo: ‘I never turned back’

Calidore violist Jeremy Berry has the youngest instrument in the group: one made by Umberto Muschietti from circa 1903, with a bow by Pierre Simon.

Berry said he stumbled across that viola when he was getting a previous one repaired and needed a substitute. That’s when Julie Reed-Yeboah, the acclaimed owner of Reed Yeboah Fine Violins in New York City, played matchmaker and introduced him to his current stringed boo.

Reed-Yeboah “was clearly a very good salesperson,” Berry said with a laugh. “She said, ‘why don’t you play on this for a bit?’ And I never turned back.”

Estelle Choi’s cello ‘has a lot of sentimental value’

Around 2013, Estelle Choi began playing a cello created by Charles Jacquot (circa 1830). The instrument was loaned by her former teacher Ron Leonard, an esteemed musician who was on the cello faculty at Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, before he retired in 2017.

Choi said she initially used a different cello on loan, but after taking it in for an “annual check-up,” she asked Leonard if she could borrow one of his.

“At that point, that’s when he lent me this cello that I now own,” Choi explained. After about a decade of borrowing the instrument, Choi finally bought it from her former teacher, just two or three years ago.

“I own the instrument that my teacher originally got as a teenager,” she said. “It sort of has a lot of sentimental value.”

Ryan Meehan knew it was love at ‘first note’

Calidore violinist Ryan Meehan uses a bow by Joseph Henry and a violin by Vincenzo Panormo (circa 1775). The instrument is tied with Myers’ for being the oldest in the group, and Meehan acquired it thanks to Robert Lipsett, the violinist’s former instructor at the Colburn School.

Meehan said Lipsett is a “world-renowned violin teacher” who is also “a great collector of instruments.”

When Meehan was looking for an instrument, Lipsett called to let him know there was a violin he might be interested in that another student passed on. But Lipsett didn’t know if the instrument was still available. Meehan eventually tracked it down.

“I knew from the first note that, that was [my instrument],” Meehan said. “After searching for so long, you know it when you know it. I feel very lucky.”

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters

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Delaware

Severe storms hitting Delaware. Is snow next? Check the forecast

Published

14 hours ago

March 16, 2026

Press Room

Severe storms hitting Delaware. Is snow next? Check the forecast

Delaware’s tornado watch has expired, but a wind advisory continues until 2 a.m. March 17 as a series of severe storms move through the First State, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms moved into Delaware around 2 p.m. and will remain in the area throughout the night, dropping between a quarter to an inch of rain throughout the state with high amounts possible with thunderstorms.

The storms also will bring strong wind gusts of up to 50 mph and possibly hail. Delaware residents should watch out for downed trees and power lines.

Tornado risk decreases in the region

The National Weather Service posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, at 5 p.m. Monday, March 16 that the threat of tornadoes was reducing in the northwest and southeast areas of the region, but the risk still remained along Interstate 95 and southwest of I-95.

At 6 p.m., the tornado watch for the state was canceled.

When will the peak of the storm hit?

The peak of the severe weather was supposed to hit the First State between 5 and 11 p.m., bringing thunderstorms, heavy rain and damaging winds, according to the National Weather Service.

Is snow hitting Delaware?

After the storms roll through the state, temperatures will start to drop as winds shift out of the west.

On Tuesday, March 17, New Castle County will see strong west winds at 20 mph and gusting up to 40 mph. Highs will reach 39 mph with increasing clouds and a chance of flurries after 1 p.m. Flurries will end before nightfall.

In Kent County, highs will reach 43 degrees, but there will be scattered flurries after 4 p.m. Winds will be out of the wet at 25 mph with gusts hitting 40 mph. Flurries will end around 7 p.m.

In Sussex County, highs will reach 44 degrees with west winds at 20 mph and gusts reaching 40 mph. Flurries will start after 4 p.m. and end before 8 p.m.

On Wednesday, March 18, the state will remain chilly with highs ranging from the upper 30s in the north to the low 40s in the south.

Temperatures throughout the state will start to get back toward seasonal norms on Thursday, March 19.

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Delaware

Delaware City Schools delays classes due to power outages at schools

Published

1 day ago

March 16, 2026

Press Room

Delaware City Schools delays classes due to power outages at schools

Delaware City Schools is on a two-hour delay due to power outages at schools, the district said in a post on social media.

Multiple schools across the district were without power, Delaware City Schools said in a Facebook post at about 6:30 a.m. March 16. The district said it would operate on a two-hour delay, and that district buses to other schools would also operate two hours behind schedule.

As of 7:30 a.m., about 3,500 households in Delaware County were without power, according to an outage map maintained by AEP Ohio. About 2,300 households were without power in Franklin County.

On March 13, high winds knocked out power for over 100,000 households around Ohio in the most damaging windstorm since the 2013 derecho, power officials said. Nearly 47,500 customers in Franklin County remained without power until at least 11:30 a.m. March 14.

Delaware was also under a wind advisory until 8 a.m. March 16, with the National Weather Service warning winds could gust as high as 40 mph.

Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.

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