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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Ind. Decisions - "Indiana court's DNA test ruling questions criminal testing procedures "
The Sept. 30, 2-1 Court of Appeals decision in Arturo Garcia-Torres v. State of Indiana -- see ILB summary here -- is the subject of a story in DUI Attorney.com. Here are a few snippits:
An Indiana appeals court recently determined police officers do not need a warrant before forcing the submission of a DNA test, a ruling that calls into question current DUI breath and blood testing policies.See also this ILB entry from Oct. 8th.The court ruled on September 30 that the inside of a suspect's cheek can be forcibly scraped in order to sample DNA if the officer has reasonable suspicion the person has committed a crime. The case came as a result of the rape conviction against Arturo Garcia-Torres. The suspect, in this case, was forced to submit a DNA sample without a warrant. The defense argued the practice was a violation of Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure. * * *
When an appellate court determines DNA tests can be forcefully obtained without a warrant, the same issue in terms of blood testing has obvious parallels. Few can argue that blood tests are not invasive on a physical level, meaning the same defense applied to DNA tests will not stand on this issue. However, many still feel warrants should not be required to retrieve blood tests.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 13, 2009 09:48 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions