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U.S. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION .
117TH CONGRESS REPORT
2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 117-280
HOMICIDE VICTIMS' FAMILIES' RIGHTS ACT OF 2021
MARCH 28, 2022.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. NADLER, from the Committee on the Judiciary,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3359]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3359) to provide for a system for reviewing the case files of
cold case murders at the instance of certain persons, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with an amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do
pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all that follows after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act of 2021.
SEC. 2. CASE FILE REVIEW.
(a) IN GENERAL.-The head of an agency shall review the case file regarding a
cold case murder upon written application by one designated person to determine
if a full reinvestigation would result in either the identification of probative inves-
tigative leads or a likely perpetrator.
(b) REVIEW.-The review under subsection (a) shall include-
(1) an analysis of what investigative steps or follow-up steps may have been
missed in the initial investigation;
(2) an assessment of whether witnesses should be interviewed or reinter-
viewed;
(3) an examination of physical evidence to see if all appropriate forensic test-
ing and analysis was performed in the first instance or if additional testing
might produce information relevant to the investigation; and
(4) an update of the case file using the most current investigative standards
as of the date of the review to the extent it would help develop probative leads.
(c) CERTIFICATION IN LIEU OF REVIEW.-In any case in which a written application
for review has been received under this Act by the agency, review shall be unneces-
sary where the case does not satisfy the criteria for a cold case murder. In such a
case, the head of the agency shall issue a written certification, with a copy provided
to the designated person that made the application under subsection (a), stating
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