4-25-12: Changing How Maryland Collects DNA

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Maryland’s high court ruled yesterday that parts of a 2008 law allowing police officers to collect DNA samples at the time of arrest is unconstitutional.

The particular case the court ruled on involves Alonzo Jay King, Jr., who was arrested in 2009 on assault charges.  Police collected a sample of his DNA, which was entered into a statewide database.  While his assault trial was pending, his DNA was found to match evidence from an unsolved 2003 rape.   King was then convicted of the rape charge, and sentenced to life in prison.  Yesterday, the court reversed that conviction, saying it violated King’s Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights.

Sheilah talks about the ruling, and how Maryland’s law compares with those around the country, with Lisa Hurst, Senior Consultant, for DNAResource.com, a public website that looks at forensic DNA policy around the country.

Listen to the segment here:

Read the court’s opinion at this link.