GOP governors buy more ads hitting Cooper on crime lab

The Republican Governors Association on Friday announced another major TV ad buy aimed at N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper over tardy evidence processing in the State Crime Lab.

It features a string of women saying they feel less safe because of crime lab delays in the lab, which is under Cooper’s state justice department.

“When the women of North Carolina needed him most, Roy Cooper didn’t do his job,” said RGA Communications Director Jon Thompson in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Cooper let rape kits pile up and go unresolved, leading to wrongful convictions and criminals going unpunished. Because of Roy Cooper’s failure to do his job, North Carolina women are less safe.”

Thompson said it is a seven-figure ad buy that will cover the Triangle, Greensboro, Asheville and Charlotte areas.

There had been longstanding delays in processing DNA rape kits when Cooper became attorney general in 2000. He has said he cleared up a backlog of 5,000 cases. Until 2004, there was such a backup that no new requests were being accepted.

Still, it currently takes about 7 1/2 months to test new evidence for all crimes, from impaired driving to homicide cases, although it can be done faster if police or prosecutors request a rush.

“Down in the polls and desperate, Governor McCrory and his allies have resorted to outright lies,” Cooper campaign spokesman Jamal Little said in an email. “.... The truth is Roy Cooper has worked to make North Carolina safer by putting thousands of rapists and criminals in prison.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 2:33 PM with the headline "GOP governors buy more ads hitting Cooper on crime lab."