Jeri Elster is a Los Angeles resident who was brutally raped in her home on August 27, 1992. Ms. Elster's story bristles with horrifying terror - it is filled with angst, physical trauma leading to hospitalization, and a mental breakdown which further institutionalized her. The investigation of her case was riddled with divinely ordained mishaps and the system let her down, setting the field for her inspiriting battles to change the status quo. Ms. Elster is a breast cancer survivor, having completed aggressive treatment ending only weeks before she went "public" with her story in front of the California Assembly in February of 2000. She has been clean and sober for over fourteen years. Ms. Elster is constantly on the move from victim, to survivor, to activist. She delivers a strong message of hope and personal strength, tools for living, an impassioned viewpoint and she is visibly driven to action.

In 1992, rape kits were not tested unless there was a viable suspect. Ms. Elster's rape kit sat in a refrigerated truck for seven years until she came up with a suspect on her own and notified the sexual assault detective. With a viable suspect, approval for testing her rape kit for evidence was finally obtained. The identity of her rapist was discovered in late 1999, albeit not the original suspect - it was the first "cold hit" in Los Angeles. The district attorney mistakenly quoted the statute of limitation to be eight years and, though her rapist was an inmate in a California prison when the match was made, the statute of limitations had lapsed leaving prosecution barred.
___Thus, Ms. Elster has experienced the anger of a scorned victim and the healing and education of a true advocate. She saw the value in her story and how it could work in a positive way and proceeded with these purposes in mind:

The primary purpose for speaking publicly is to put a human face on the ramifications of the laws that needed to change (i.e., governing the statute of limitations on rape and/or sexual assault), as well as the reforms needed to local police practices and the justice system.
___A secondary purpose is to communicate that the crime of rape is second only to homicide in its seriousness.
___A third purpose is to decrease the silence and shame associated with rape and sexual assault.

Ms. Elster has made a deep impact by telling her story publicly. On two occasions, February 29, 2000, and June 27, 2000, she traveled to Sacramento to testify in support of bills which are now laws amending the California statute of limitations to be unlimited when DNA evidence is useable in court, as well as in support of the post-conviction use of DNA for convicted inmates to prove innocence.
___Healing for Ms. Elster emanates from taking action, sharing with others and the ability to use her story to turn her worst liability into her best asset. Consequently, notoriety has been commonplace, she has a long list of personal appearances, including television shows, and speaking engagements. The most outstanding are:

Television
A&E "Cold Hits" - aired on December 26, 2000
KCET (PBS) "Life and Times" - aired in December of 2000
KEYT (Santa Barbara, CA) "In Focus" - live show aired February 3, 2002
Oprah "What You Should Know About Rape" - aired February 15, 2002
Lifetime TV "Final Justice" - aired February 14, 2003
Lifetime TV "The Division" - aired February 16, 2003
KCET (PBS) "California Connected" - June 26, 2003
L.A. City View 35 "LA Woman" hosted by Linda Alvarez - begins airing August, 2003

Guest Speaker
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - June 23, 2000
California Sexual Assault Investigators Association - October 4, 2000
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault Fall Convention - November 13, 2001
Webb Schools (9th graders) - February 27, 2002
PEACE for Families Spring Fundraiser - March 15, 2002
Cate Schools (High schoolers) - March 6, 2003
LACAAW Donor Appreciation Event - August 21, 2003

Print
Los Angeles Times Newspaper - February 29, 2000
Featured in Marie Claire Magazine - September, 2001
Cover story in Los Angeles Times Magazine - January 27, 2002
Featured in Ladies Home Journal - October, 2002

Ms. Elster has most recently earned a Certificate of Commendation from the City of Los Angeles for her commitment and unwavering efforts to raise awareness of the tremendous need for DNA testing in the fight against rape and violence and for being an inspiration to fellow survivor/activists.
___One of the many roads Ms. Elster is still to embark on is the road to possible justice in her own case. She intends to use the California Sexually Violent Predator Act to keep her rapist from getting back on the streets in 2007 when he slated to be released. Since his sentence is determinant and he has two prior sexual assault convictions, he is eligible to be committed under the Act. It will require a jury trial at which she will be allowed to testify. If the state and Ms. Elster are successful in committing her rapist, according to Ms. Elster, justice will be served and the public-at-large protected.

Although she works full-time at an unrelated job, Ms. Elster continues her mission to change the status quo. She has found still another way to accomplish this. This year (2003), she has become a California State Certified Violence Prevention Specialist ("VPS"). Now she is afforded the opportunity to share and educate without having to identify as a "survivor" and to address both "before the violence" and "after the violence" issues. Although, Ms. Elster is on several survivor speakers' bureaus and treats the ability to give back to the community an honor, it is also very important to her as a VPS to voice the possibility that violence is preventable.

Courtesy JeriElster.com

Web posted March 18, 2000

Courtesy of the Augusta Chronicle

By Rovbert Tanner
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- With DNA solving crime after crime, some states are extending or dropping the statute of limitations on prosecuting rape and other violent offenses in case a genetic match that can prove who did it turns up decades later.

Such changes in the law challenge the legal tradition that says prosecutors have to bring charges within a certain amount of time after the crime -- a rule based on concern that evidence might get lost and witnesses prove untrustworthy after many years have gone by.

Generally, statutes of limitations for serious offenses run for four to six years, depending on the state.

Defense lawyers warn that dropping those limits would give prosecutors too strong a hand.

But such changes make sense to Michigan state Sen. William Van Regenmorter, who heads his state's Senate Judiciary committee.

``The statute of limitations served a function, particularly in pre-DNA days, with worries about memories fading. DNA doesn't rely on memories. Those old arguments fade away when you have DNA,'' he said.

Nationwide, at least 180,000 rape kits -- evidence gathered from a woman's body -- remain untested, according to the Justice Department's National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence.

Because crime labs are backlogged, kits that may provide the proof to inextricably link rape victim and rapist can take years to get tested. Meanwhile, statutes of limitations close the door on prosecutors seeking justice.

``Every single day we reach a point that the rape that occurred five years and one day ago is unprosecutable. And that victim has no recourse whatsoever,'' said Chris Asplen, an assistant U.S. attorney who directs the commission.

New DNA evidence has already freed many defendants convicted of crimes they didn't commit. It also helped prompt re-examination of the death penalty in Illinois, where 13 men have been freed from death row because of serious doubts about their guilt.

DNA -- the genetic molecule that can identify one person out of billions -- is now a crucial enforcement tool. State and national databanks already contain more than 220,000 DNA profiles of criminals and suspects.

While legislators debate changing the laws, prosecutors and police are already relying on DNA to buy themselves more time.

This week, New York City prosecutors filed charges against a serial rapist identified only by his genetic profile. In effect, they escaped the state's five-year statute of limitations and bought time to find the suspect. Authorities have done something similar in Utah and Wisconsin.

Some states have already reshaped laws involving sexual assaults. In 1997, Florida removed a statute of limitation on any rape case where potential DNA evidence has been collected. That year, Nevada eliminated its statute of limitations in rape cases. In California, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin, lawmakers are now re-examining their statutes of limitations.

Most proposed changes focus on rape, but some go further. New York legislators want to cut the five-year limits on prosecuting violent felonies such as robbery, rape and manslaughter. The state already places no time limits on arson and kidnapping. Michigan's Van Regenmorter wants no limits for all felonies with DNA evidence.

This month in California, a House committee approved a measure waiving the five-year limit on rape if new DNA evidence is discovered.

Historically, murder was considered too heinous to ever close the books, so states place no time limits on such prosecutions. But lesser crimes have always carried time limits.

Gerald Lefcourt, a past president of the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the statute of limitations protects defendants whose fate depends on witnesses or records that may be impossible to find after too much time.

Lefcourt also questions how lawmakers can give prosecutors the right to go to court with new DNA evidence, but not defendants who claim wrongful convictions.

Asplen, the federal prosecutor, agreed. ``It absolutely has to go both ways.''

Only two states -- New York and Illinois -- guarantee convicted criminals the right to test evidence in cases that pre-dated DNA testing.