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D.D.C.: Probable cause and need shown for DNA sample seeking to connect defendant to violent crime

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The government sought a DNA sample by buccal swab from several defendants to seek to connect them to physical evidence found at the scene of a kidnapping and assault with a box cutter. Only one opposed. The District Court held that taking a DNA sample was a search, and it had to be reasonable under Schmerber. Here, the government showed probable cause and need, and balanced against the invasion of personal dignity involved, the court found the search reasonable. United States v. Lassiter, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30741 (D. D.C. April 10, 2009): Once probable cause has been established, Schmerber and Winston require balancing "the extent to which the procedure may threaten the safety or health of the individual," and "the extent of intrusion upon the individual's dignitary interests in personal privacy and bodily integrity," against "the community's interest in fairly and accurately determining guilt or innocence...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).