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SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the right of authorities to take DNA from people when they are arrested only partially assures that California's DNA collection program will survive court challenges, experts said Monday.
The high court upheld a program in Maryland that takes DNA from those arrested only for violent felonies and burglary. Maryland processes the genetic evidence only after an arraignment, and if the person is acquitted, the DNA profile is automatically expunged.
California's DNA arrest procedures, in effect since 2009, are different. Anyone arrested for a felony in California must submit to a mouth swab, and the genetic evidence can be processed and put into a state data bank at any time.
If charges are dropped or the person is acquitted, expungement in California is not automatic. Someone must apply to have his or her genetic profile removed from the database.
DNA profiles in the state's criminal database are routinely compared to genetic evidence left at crime scenes. A match can tie a suspect to a crime.
Monday's ruling protected California's right to collect...
The high court upheld a program in Maryland that takes DNA from those arrested only for violent felonies and burglary. Maryland processes the genetic evidence only after an arraignment, and if the person is acquitted, the DNA profile is automatically expunged.
California's DNA arrest procedures, in effect since 2009, are different. Anyone arrested for a felony in California must submit to a mouth swab, and the genetic evidence can be processed and put into a state data bank at any time.
If charges are dropped or the person is acquitted, expungement in California is not automatic. Someone must apply to have his or her genetic profile removed from the database.
DNA profiles in the state's criminal database are routinely compared to genetic evidence left at crime scenes. A match can tie a suspect to a crime.
Monday's ruling protected California's right to collect...