DNA testing bill introduced in Nevada Senate

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A bill to require DNA testing in Nevada of anyone arrested for a felony has been introduced in the Nevada Senate.

"Brianna's Law" died in the 2011 session on the last day of the session. A similar bill, SB243, was re-introduced Tuesday.

The bill is named after Brianna Denison, a 19-year-old college student who was kidnapped in 2008 while sleeping on a friend's couch in Reno. Her body was found weeks later in a vacant lot. She had been raped and murdered.

James Biela was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to death. He was also convicted in the 2007 rapes of two other women.

Backers of the bill say Denison might be alive today if officers were allowed to take Biela's DNA sample after a previous arrest in 1996.