DNA Challenge
Under Indiana law (IC 10-13-6-10), people who are convicted of particular criminal offenses must submit a DNA sample which is then incorporated into the State DNA database. This law takes effect after the person is convicted of a criminal offense, not because the state has shown and cause to believe that they have committed some other offense. The right to be free of a search of your genetic code by the government is one of those liberties you give up because of the conviction of a crime.
This law is being challenged by a public defender in Muncie, Indiana. His client was a suspect in a child molestation. He had previously been convicted of burglary back in 1999, and was on probation, but the state did not have a DNA sample from him. However, the state pursued him for violating his probation because he did not pay restitution as ordered, and the trial court revoked his probation, sending him back to prison. The only trouble was, the court of appeals reversed the probation revocation, because the state waited too long to file it after it was discovered that he had not paid. The defendant also challenged the taking of the DNA sample, but this issue was denied for technical reasons (he challenged the DNA test at first because his probation did not require DNA sampling). [The Court of appeals noted that his argument on appeal was "thorough and well-researched," a rare compliment, but fruitless nonetheless]
Now he stands charged with a number of rapes in the area, based on DNA matching, and is again challenging the constitutionality of the mandatory testing statute. Specifically, he is claiming that the state must meet the requirements of the 4th Amendment before forcing him to undergo a search of the genetic code. News coverage is here.
